Scullyfied Simpsons: Wrap-Up

“Oh, I’ve wasted my life!“

So said Comic Book Guy during “The Homega Man”, the first segment of “Treehouse of Horror VIII”… the very first Simpsons episode aired during the “Mike Scully Era” of The Simpsons.

In that spirit, there’s a tiny part of me that’s using that quote to reflect on this seven-year, an on-again-off-occasionally-ultimately-finished project that I did to review every episode of the Mike Scully era. The results were not too shocking – I got to see the series decline dramatically in so many ways. Characterization, plotting, comedic timing, all of it went massively downhill in the span of four years. From some of the best television out there, the last few scripts I reviewed were mediocre at best and downright shocking at worst.

My big fear right now is repeating what I’ve said in my Simpsons reviews, though, so this wrap-up is going to be somewhat brief and focused on one thing… why?

(Just a quick PSA: my critique of certain figures with regards to The Simpsons is not an excuse to go out and harass them. Come on, let’s maintain civility.)

Steven Universe Reviews: Season 1B Wrap-Up

Poster by Rebecca Sugar, taken from Wikipedia.

“I’m a Crystal Gem, too!”

In that one simple line, at the climax of “The Return”, we get to take a look at the grand overreaching theme of Season 1B of Steven Universe – what is Steven? In exploring that theme, Season 1B takes itself several cuts above its predecessor and cemented Steven Universe‘s place in the science fiction and animated pantheons – the latter moreso than the former.

In fact, I would probably call 1B my favorite of all of the Steven Universe seasons so far – pending a rewatch of Season 2, of course. It’s strange because it probably has a higher ratio of “dodgy” episodes compared to 1A (“Fusion Cuisine”, “Horror Club”, and to a lesser extent, “House Guest”) and 2 (maybe “Rising Tides/Crashing Skies” there), but there were more episodes rated “Gold” or Platinum in 1B than in 1A. In other words, it was slightly less consistent but made the top of the rankings more frequently.