Episode 5 - The Devil Wears Nada
19 November 2009
Review
Synopsis: Carl is promoted to supervisor and makes Homer his executive assistant. Marge poses for a charity calendar and is soon ogled by the men of Springfield. Carl makes Homer work all hours of the day and he has no time to spend with Marge. Carl takes Homer on a business trip to Paris and he becomes increasingly miserable as he misses her. Meanwhile she almost kisses Ned Flanders while missing him.
The Good: You can’t argue with the tone of this episode. The abiding love between Homer and Marge can still warm the heart even twenty one years later. The theme of them missing one another is played up strongly here, so strongly that the ending where they finally have time together felt very fitting rather than just the same old ending.
Along the way there were some pleasant jokes. The bake sale for childhood obesity was typically clever satire and Marge choosing the theme of history from a headline entitled “A History of Genocide” was fun misdirection. Marge mistaking Andalusian with “An illusion” was a nice silly pun too. The sex game dice throwing up useless combinations was a nice bit of extra satire to show Marge and Homer’s inability to find any successful alone time.
The Bad: As has been the case for a long time now the writers seem to miss out on a large chunk of the plot. Carl’s rise to supervisor is essentially meaningless, purely a means to an end. In the early seasons of the show that story would have been important, reflecting on Carl or Homer in some way. But here it was simply a generic device to keep Homer from Marge. It’s a waste and makes me feel like story and jokes were left on the table. It wouldn’t surprise me if Nicholas Sarkozy took particular offense at his wife making time with Carl!
When Lenny tries to hide his beer bottle from Mr Burns he puts it in his pants pocket and it creates the visual of a urine stain. The joke is entirely ripped off from Family Guy (208).
Best Joke: Once in Paris Carl charms all the fellow high flyers of the energy world with a little help from Homer. Homer stands behind Carl whispering vital information into his ear.
Carla Bruni: “Monsieur Carlson, what have you most enjoyed about Paris?”
Carl: “Oh I really like the...(H whispers)...the Louvre. Everything about it is so...(H consults guide book and whispers)...closed on Mondays.”
The Bottom Line: An enjoyable and very pleasant episode which obviously could have offered more.
Feedback
Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.
|
’)