Scullyfied Simpsons: “Homer the Moe” (Season 13, Episode 3)

Please note, for those that are wondering why I’ve “skipped” Episode 2 at the moment, I explain my rationale here.

Alright, I hate Jerkass Homer as much as the next guy, but threatening to stab him with a broken bottle is going a tad bit over the line.

“It’s PoMo… postmodern… okay, weird for the sake of weird.” – Moe.

Airdate: November 18th, 2001

Written By: Dana Gould

Plot: Moe finds himself in a rut with his career choice. Fearing burnout, he decides to consult an old bartending professor for advice. What he finds is refurbishment can go a long way to revitalizing his passion. Ergo, Moe’s Tavern becomes “M”, a post-modern club targeting an upscale clientele. This does not please the longtime inhabitants of Moe’s, one of whom – Homer – decides to start his own bar.

Review:

Let’s go way, way back to Season 7 before we start today – not just as a reminder of what the show once was, but to try and effectively compare-contrast between two episodes with similar plotlines, albeit with two totally different executions. Spoilers, one is brilliant, the other quite a ways less so. And by “the other”, I mean this episode.

“Homer the Smithers”, from Season 7, revolves around Homer being temporarily promoted to the role of Mr. Burns’s assistant. Said promotion was a cynical move from the Burns-obsessed Smithers, a gamble to make sure that Burns would never depart from his closest confidante. It works out too well – Homer and Burns go together so poorly that the latter finally decides to take matters into his own hands and start fending for himself. It’s a great Burns-and-Homer episode, a fine comedic pairing with some insight into the character dynamics between the two as well as involving Smithers. And while a part of me does think it wound up being an unfortunate and unwitting precursor to Burnsie’s character derailment (as I’ll dissect in “A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love”), it is probably one of the finer “Homer Gets a New Job” episodes, given how character-driven it was and how it still managed to flesh out a small bit of Springfield.

Unfortunately, “Homer Gets A Job” episodes became a major cliche during the Scully era and beyond. It really does work to showcase Homer’s decay as a protagonist from a fully fleshed-out and relatable character into a vehicle for cheap jokes and tropes, many of which are executed in a way that makes him unrelatable and unlikeable.

This, my friends, is not the last “Homer Gets A New Job” episode that we’ll be covering, but it feels like the natural endgame. Homer becomes Moe, Mark II.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Hungry Hungry Homer” (Season 12, Episode 15)

“Dancing away my hunger pains
Moving my feet, so my stomach won’t hurt
I’m kinda like Jesus
But not in a sacrilegious way”
– Homer’s “Don’t Move the Team” chant/song

Airdate: March 4th, 2001

Written By: John Swartzwelder

Plot: After an experience with customer service at Blockoland, Homer decides to take up being a good samaritan, in particular, an advocate for downtrodden consumers. The ultimate challenge comes when he accidentally discovers that the Springfield Isotopes are preparing to move to Albuquerque. With the team trying to cover up their relocation, Homer declares himself on a hunger strike.

Review:

It’s 1984 – the year that brought us the debut of the Apple Macintosh, the breakup of Ma Bell, the UK Miners Strike, and the launch of the TED Conference.

The Baltimore Colts NFL Team had been looking to replace their longtime stadium with a more modern venue. However, team owner Robert Irsay was gearing for public financing of the hypothetical new stadium, something which the local and State governments in Baltimore and Maryland were very reluctant to grant. Concurrently, the city of Indianapolis had been gearing up for reinvention, up to and including the construction of a new domed stadium. By the start of March, Irsay had his eyes on Indiana.

In an attempt to block the move, on the 27th, the Maryland Senate granted permission for the City of Baltimore to declare eminent domain on the franchise. Two days later, the Maryland House of Delegates also passed the bill clearing the way for the team to be seized. Unfortunately, the bill was redundant – the night prior, Irsay arranged for moving vans to load up everything the team owned and haul ass to Indianapolis, complete with Hoosier police escort once they crossed the state line.

Baltimore was understandably livid – they lost their NFL team, they lost the name that had been connected to the city, they lost the franchise records, and all in an act of midnight treachery. Colts legend Johnny Unitas disowned the franchise, to say nothing of the legion of Marylanders who were livid at such a move. So infamous was this maneuver that when Art Modell decided to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996, he was eventually forced to dump the Browns history in Ohio and effectively start a “new” franchise in Baltimore, the modern-day Ravens.

They weren’t the first nor the last sports teams to leg it from their city, and certainly not the last under questionable circumstances. Relocation or contraction of a sports team is the ultimate act of betrayal if you are a sports fan, especially if said team is a major social point – which it often is. Even in larger cities, it can be a bit of a blow to the psyche. Small towns? That can be devastating – as was the case when Bury FC were thrown out of England’s Football League (different case, but still a similar level of upset.)

Hence the foundations of the central conflict in today’s Simpsons episode, “Hungry Hungry Homer” – a man standing up against corporate sports.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Worst Episode Ever” (Season 12, Episode 11)

“Well, if this is valuable, then back to the leaky basement it goes!” – Mrs. Prince, rejecting an offer for $5 for priceless merchandise. A few years in a leaky basement, $5 will be an absolute gold mine.

Airdate: February 4th, 2001

Written By: Larry Doyle

Plot: Comic Book Guy’s ornery behavior has reached a fever pitch, particularly after he boots Bart and Milhouse from the store for interfering with an attempted acquisition of priceless memorabilia. It culminates in him exploding at a Tom Savini meet-and-greet at the Android’s Dungeon, whereupon he has a heart attack. By sheer luck, Bart and Milhouse save his life. As a token of his reluctant gratitude, he allows the duo to oversee the store during his recovery.

Review:

Back in Season 11, The Simpsons debut the episode “Pygmoelian”. It was a look at one of Springfield’s local smarmy business proprietors, Moe Syzlak, and was an attempt to humanize what had long been a comically callous character.

It’s an episode I like, albeit more on its own merits rather than how it works as part of the Simpsons canon. On a broad scale, it did a number on Moe’s character, accelerating his transformation into a less amusing personality. But the execution as a one-off was coherent, rather well-executed, and still somewhat amusing. It was one of a select few episodes from Season 11 I would be willing to go back to, and from what I’ve read, most fans – even those that (like me) consider the show after Season 8 to be an insurance write-off – tend to agree. In retrospect, it feels more like a second run at this sort of plot, given that the first one, dealing with Mr. Burns, sank into the Loch Ness.

This actually seems to be a trend with the Scully seasons. Each of them has one episode that tries to humanize a repugnant character. Besides the aforementioned outings, even Season 9 had “Dumbbell Indemnity”, also with Moe Syzlak. It’s kind of peculiar to see this attempt all while the main characters became more and more cartoonish and less sympathetic. Besides, even the “humanized” characters became less interesting as time went on.

Season 12 breaks with the trend in one way. It does have an episode focused on a character that was rather odious from his first intro. But instead of trying to make him sympathetic, they embrace the obnoxiousness, pair him with an equally acerbic character, and move him into the background in favor of an A-plot.

The end result is… an episode title that’s actually inaccurate.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Pokey Mom” (Season 12, Episode 10)

“Maybe it’s the tear gas, or maybe this was the best damn prison rodeo ever!” – The Warden.

Airdate: January 14th, 2001.

Written By: Tom Martin

Plot: A trip to the Springfield Prison Rodeo results in Homer getting his back torn to shreds. While in the infirmary, Marge notices particularly beautiful paintings by one prisoner, Jack Crowley. Discovering his talent, she not only takes up a job as an art teacher at the prison, but works to secure Jack’s freedom and get him out into society. Meanwhile, Homer discovers a quick and easy cure for his back pains – falling on a beaten-up trash can – and tries to make money off of administering the treatment to others, much to the chagrin of the chiropractors there.

Review:

You know the drill by now. The Simpsons was once the best show on television, now it sucks, recovery is highly unlikely, the characters have become cartoons, the comedy is bad, the animation is in decline, yadda yadda yadda.

I’m on fumes with this show, if you can’t tell.

But just when I feel like I’m at the end of my tether, something gives a faint bit of hope for the rest of my coverage. “HOMR”, in contrast to the vast amounts of dreck preceding it, was actually rather watchable. Not the best of the season, mind you, but with a bit of tweaking, it could’ve been a genuinely good post-classic Simpsons episode. I don’t know if it’s necessarily raised my hopes for the rest of the season – it’s still gonna be a miracle if this isn’t worse than 11 – but at least we get some form of life. The question now becomes was it a one-off moment of relative competence that will give way to more insanity straight afterward? Or could there be a more sustained uptick, even if slight, in the quality of episodes released?

It is my pleasure to announce that this episode points signs slightly to the latter. Again, not that it’s the best episode of the series – not by a long shot. But “Pokey Mom” brings us a competent plot and, honestly, a better attempt at emotional resonance, both of which have been lacking over the past season and change.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “They Saved Lisa’s Brain” (Season 10, Episode 22)

“Oh, a sarcasm detector. That’s a real useful invention!” – Comic Book Guy. Standout quote. Glad it came in this wonderful season!

Airdate: May 9th, 1999

Written By: Matt Selman

Plot: Springfield’s culture, never particularly highbrow, hits a low point when a contest asking contestants to embarrass themselves collapses into a full-blown riot. In response, Lisa pens an open letter begging the townsfolk to better themselves. That letter catches the collective eyes of Springfield’s MENSA chapter, who encourage her to join. Despite a bit of terseness in the group, their concerns about Springfield’s culture gain more prominence when they inadvertently cause Mayor Quimby to skip town. Following the town charter, they take over as a quasi-junta.

Review:

OK, 21 episodes down, two to go in the tenth season. Only took me about two years to do so. And after that complete and utter debacle of the last episode, these next two might close the season out on a high note.

There is a sort of bizarre coincidence, though, that I’ve noticed. Despite this season overall being quite focused on Homer’s increasingly bizarre antics, the debut and penultimate episodes of the season take a closer look at Springfield’s favorite intellectual, Lisa Simpson, and examines just where she fits into this strange society.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Lisa Gets an A" (Season 10, Episode 7)

This grade is wrong, but not for the reason you might think…

Airdate: November 22nd, 1998

Synopsis: Lisa falls ill after being stuffed in a freezer to try and get some ice cream (no prizes for guessing who did it). Rather than study, she gets sucked into a video game, “Dash Dingo”. She gets so hooked into the game, she forgets to read The Wind in the Willows… and comes back to a quiz on the book. (“Game over, mate!”) Bart gets Nelson to hook her up with test answers, and she passes the test at such a level that the state no longer considers the school absolutely pathetic, and is willing to give them money.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned fridge-stuffer gets a pet lobster at the same supermarket. By “gets a pet”, I mean Homer prevents Marge from cooking Pinchy, a lobster that the family brought for dinner.

Review (SPOILERS): Lisa Simpson is one of the more divisive characters in the Simpsons canon. This stems from the trend during the “double digit” seasons to have Lisa as the mouthpiece for the generally leftish writers, with little reasonable dissent or critique of said positions. While I see where they come from, my opinion of Lisa stems from the early seasons of the show – as it should. And while she did have moments where she seemed overtly opinionated, they were just part of her role as a wiser, more mature eight-year old, who still fell victim to the same weaknesses that eight-year olds have.

“Lisa Gets An A”, surprisingly, has her fall victim to a trap that students tend to face – that of cheating. Not a bad idea, although does this episode execute it well?

Almost.

The idea itself isn’t exactly original, per se (“Bart the Genius”, anybody), but the proper tools can make something that seems cliche at first glance come off as rather well-done. This isn’t just an average kid deciding to cheat because of his or her laziness – this is Lisa Simpson (read, girl who only got one B… so far) getting so sucked into Dash Dingo, that she outright forgot that she had a homework assignment.  While one would question this lapse in judgement, I think it works to show that even Lisa isn’t infallible from everyday life. She’s eight years old – she’s going to have those moments where her judgement lapses.

It also fits into her perfectionist tendencies. When she got the aforementioned “B” in “Kamp Krusty”, she almost had a meltdown. (Yes, I am aware that The Simpsons has a wonky continuity.) Fearing that failing a test would have her banned from Harvard and sent to Brown fits in very, very well – Lisa isn’t the most pragmatic person out there. When push comes to shove, she’s willing to throw her ethics out the window… albeit not willingly.

Of course, episodes that focused on characters having to wraggle with themselves on their own failings have been done quite a few times – “Bart the Genius”, again. This episode decides to shift the focus somewhat from “Lisa cheats” to “Springfield Elementary is a cesspool”. Admittedly, this is a bit of a swerve in focus, but it does force Lisa to swallow her ethics even further.

The third act is kind of interesting, speaking from the keyboard of an aspiring teacher. The focus on Springfield Elementary’s finances is brought in again – episodes such as “The PTA Disbands” touched on it before. This time, there is an analysis of how financial grants and funds are spent. Springfield Elementary was doing so poorly in terms of grades that they were denied assistance from the state – seemingly keeping the school in a cycle of pathetic academia, technical lag, recreation decay, and funding drought.

Yet, when the school gets the grant – $250000 – Skinner proceeds to blow it on scoreboards, outdated tech (even by 1999 standards), and, most damningly, liquor for the teachers. The grant is thus kind of self-defeating, and at best, only serves as a short-term ailment to grave problems Springfield Elementary faces.

This actually raises quite a few questions – should education funding be punitive, or should there just be grants for better schools? Should there be more oversight on how the schools spend their funds? Are private resources in schools dubious? “Lisa Gets an A” does a good job at putting these ideas down on the table.

Here’s where the episode gets a little wonky. First off, the fact that Lisa’s A+++ managed to get the school a basic grant is a bit out there. It could work to show just how bad the rot is at Springfield Elementary, but the out there-ness stands. Secondly, there’s the entire concept of how the school was able to pull off a second awards ceremony to throw the State Education Comptroller.

Also, the first act of the episode seemed a bit light on the laughs. Not bad, but when you’re focusing more on comedy like Scully seems to be doing, you kinda need the laughs.

Before I go… the B-plot. It’s stupid, has Homer as a bit of an idiot… and I love it. It’s actually a very fun, cute plot, what with Homer coddling his pet lobster and treating it like a dog. That, and the end of that plot is one of the best examples of dark, tragic comedy in the show’s history.

After a rather rough start to the season, we seem to be getting back on track. Two good episodes in a row? Maybe Season 10 won’t be so bad after all…

Tidbits:

• For the uninitiated, Dash Dingo is a send-up of Crash Bandicoot, a PlayStation game which is actually set in Australia. And yes, there are quite a few Australia jokes in Dash Dingo. Thing is, I can’t help but feel that this was the start of the show’s transition from parodying concepts for the sake of mocking and deconstructing them to simply referencing them with a few word changes. (Mapple? Really, Jean?)
• Oh, wait, there is “Ken and Harry’s”. So, yeah, anytime you catch newer Simpsons episodes using “Mapple” and “Funtendo Zii”, this episode has some blame.
• Gil reappears. This seems to be all his sthick is – just a down-on-his-luck salesman who needs to go take business classes. I mean, I don’t hate him, but that may be from nostalgia – The Simpsons: Hit and Run and the ability to buy stupid cars off of him. Still, I don’t think he’ll ever be as brilliant as Lionel Hutz. (I think he gets a lot of scorn because his first appearances came when the show was in the midst of a decline – that, and he starred in the widely disliked “Kill Gil” episode.)

Zaniness Factor: 1.5 – the third act is a bit stupid, but otherwise, not too bad.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2 – the point is mainly for sticking his daughter in the freezer to get some ice cream, plus the borderline neglect of his kids once Pinchy comes into the picture.

Favorite Scene: I loved seeing how utterly decrepit Springfield Elementary is, but the gold moment has to be Mrs. Krabappel using a periodic table provided by Oscar Meyer.

Least Favorite Scene: Did we really need to see the entire second grant presentation?

Score: 7.5. Would’ve gotten an 8, but the relatively joke-free first act brought it down a bit.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "D’oh-in’ in the Wind" (Season 10, Episode 6)

Airdate: November 15th, 1998

Synopsis: While tracking down his middle name, Homer comes across a farm run by two former hippies, Seth and Munchie. Upon learning his middle name, and learning more about his rebellious mother and her interactions with said hippies (she painted a mural with Homer’s full name), Homer takes an interest in the carefree lifestyle of hippies, and becomes one… not understanding that Seth (Martin Mull) and Munchie (George Carlin) have moderated their practices, even embracing the capitalist aspects of the 90s.

Review (SOME SPOILERS, POSSIBLY FOR OTHER EPISODES): In hindsight, maybe the 60s counterculture was too good to be true. Intended as an anti-establishment movement meant to get humanity more in touch with Earth and the fellow man, as well as generate social reforms, ironically, not only has it become the defining image of the 60s (to the point of cliche), but arguably became absorbed and moderated by the mainstream itself. Not that this was a bad thing, though. However, there is an irony here.

In many regards, The Simpsons was a counterculture in and of itself, or at least represented a counterculture. After the seemingly conservative, politically and socially stolid 80s, where American morals and archetypes were reinforced, came this show that managed to lampoon (if not subvert) every single aspect of Americana. Unfortunately, episodes like “When You Dish Upon A Star” seemed to represent the show becoming mainstream. Here’s where the absorption of the counterculture in the mainstream proved to be detrimental – modern Simpsons episodes seem to run on cliche plots and hackneyed dialogue, attempting to be trendy and cool, and just coming off as a pathetic show that needs to be axed. Soon.

Now that that’s out of the way, “D’oh-in in the Wind” is, in all honesty, quite an improvement over the aforementioned last episode. (That’s not a hard feat, but still.)

Scullyfied Simpsons: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (Season 10, Episode 2)

Airdate: September 20th, 1998

Synopsis: Reaching a midlife crisis, Homer becomes despondent on life. After a projector breaks down, Homer rhetorically asks “who invented this thing?” Lisa responds, and Homer has a new goal – be the new Thomas Edison. He becomes obsessed with the man… and, when it turns out that Edison invented something that Homer seemed to invent – a chair with an extra set of legs on hinges – Captain Wacky becomes hellbent on destroying Edison’s chair.

Review: Sounds like a Scullyfied Simpsons. Ain’t been reviewed onto nigh for two months.

Tsk, tsk, tsk – trouble a brewin’!

Homer’s sorta pitiful life is the centerpiece of the greatest Simpsons episodes. Even when he is involved in something landmark (such as going into space), there’s this tinge in the writing that he got there by the thinnest of margins (aka, Barney going insane and falling off the top of a mattress factory). Despite this, he almost always maintained a love for the simple things you’d expect a 40-year-old to love – TV, Duff, all that jazz.

Indeed, deconstructing his simple life by putting him in a midlife crisis seems like tough ground to tread. It doesn’t seem like Homer would be the one to encounter that, but I’d be willing to excuse that somewhat as a deconstruction of what his life has been.

Then Lisa brings up Thomas Edison, and the episode becomes… a tad bit more haphazard.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 25: "Natural Born Kissers"

Nothing like your 11th anniversary to realize you have old cake in the fridge.

Airdate: May 17, 1998

Synopsis: It’s Marge and Homer’s 11th anniversary. However, recent events (such as having their anniversary dinner at a family restaurant) have them fear that the zest in their marriage has run out. While trying to get a motor for their freezer, the two get stuck in a muddy driveway in the middle of farm country. Hiding out in a farmhouse, the risk of the farmer catching them inside reignites the fire in their relationship, and the two realize that their relationship reignites when the risk of being caught in compromising situations increases.

Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa find Abe’s old metal detector. After finding tons of junk, the two eventually locate a copy of an alternate ending to Casablanca. Let’s just say, the ending isn’t what one would consider a classic.

Review: Shorter review than normal here, because there isn’t too much to dissect. Earlier episodes did the “Zest in Love Life” plot better, added more pathos, more character development, and were funnier. It seems like this episode was just done to appeal to fanservice, as well as see how far the writers could “push the envelope”, and didn’t really bother to make that many other benchmarks in terms of quality.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 21: "Girly Edition"

“K-I-D-Z. Z for Zap! It’s a program for ALL KIDS, made by ALL KIDS, and concentratin’ on all the subjects that ALL KIDS are into today!” (Damn you, Ben Elton.)

Airdate: April 19th, 1998

Synopsis: With the FCC cracking down on educational TV, executives convince Krusty the Clown to add a ten-minute news program hosted by kids to the end of his shows. Lisa and Bart are appointed as anchor and sports anchor, respectively. Bart’s goofy delivery impresses the executives more than Lisa’s straightforward delivery, and he is promoted to co-anchor. After hearing Lisa’s complaints about him, and after a brief consultation with Kent Brockman, Bart decides to go into more of a “sentimental” route, much to Lisa’s chagrin.

Meanwhile, Homer adopts a helper monkey, Mojo, to help him with his busy life- that is to say, getting food and sleeping. Marge is not amused.

Review: Now THIS is what “Trouble with Trillions” could’ve been: a satirical look at a particular organization or institution. In this case, the writers decide to take a huge bite out of the modern news media and traditional media in general, and it’s brutal enough to obscure any flaws that this episode has.

Let’s face it: with news fatigue and “social” news media on the rise, traditional outlets have to play the “tabloid” game even harder to try and retain viewers. The American news media does this especially egregiously- FOX News and the New York Post spin to the right, MSNBC spins to the left, CNN targets the lowest common denominator. It’s all in the quest for viewers- many of whom have simply stopped caring.

At the same time as this episode was being produced, the FCC cracked down on children’s TV shows on the networks. Believing that kids were getting stupider and fatter as a direct result of Ninja Turtles, the FCC began requiring that broadcast networks air three hours of “educational” TV. Basically, as long as it carried a message at the end, it got approved. The reason why this failed? Not only were kids just rebelling to cable TV, but strict advertising regulations made producing shows a loss for the networks.

This episode manages to hit two birds with one stone- exploring just how weak and phoned-in “educational” kids TV can be (hear me, Litton), while also taking a stab at the news media for covering “soft” news and sensationalism over hard news… even if it meant putting those that work for these companies in danger just to maintain their jobs.

As for characters… I actually can tolerate some of the characterization being a tad off… this time. In fact, I can’t say character here is too far off. One of the chief complaints against this episode is that Bart isn’t “proud” of being an underachiever here- he actually responds seriously to criticism. Yet, his response is far from genuine- it’s just an attempt to garner sympathy and prestige. That’s what American news media is, eh? Laying on the schmaltz and the flamboyance to get ratings.

Lisa, meanwhile, is often viewed by newcomers to the show as eons wiser and calmer than Bart. Episodes like these show why that viewpoint isn’t exactly correct. Sure, Lisa might be wiser and calmer, but the prospect of being one-upped brings out the absolute worst in her… and makes for some excellent character scenes. She’s far from irredeemable, shown when she comes to Bart’s defense at the junkyard, but the scenes where she sets Bart up for failure show a brilliant sense of short-sightedness in her.

This episode marks the second appearance of Lindsay Nagle. Nagle works best as a symbol of the callous executive- one that tries to stay hip, and one that likes the money, product be damned. (Ironic, innit?) Later episodes have received flack for overusing the character- a sign that the show’s well of ideas was on empty.

We also get our first appearance of the Crazy Cat Lady. Not a lot to work with beyond a joke or two, as funny as those are. For some reason, they gave her some episodes that tried to develop her character (running for mayor in “See Homer Run”, getting a backstory in “Springfield Up”, and injecting some pseudo-pathos in some Season 22 episode that I don’t remember), and the results were underwhelming.

But enough of that noise – let’s go to what everybody remembers about this episode… Homer getting a pet monkey! It’s cheesy, full of Homer acting like an insensitive child, and just hysterical. You see, Homer’s just childish enough to be lovable here- a limit that appears to have been overstepped in recent years. Seeing Mojo deteriorate under Homer’s “care” is pretty dark, yet is also hysterical. “Pray for Mojo”, indeed.

Overall, if this is the show’s last “above 7” episode, I’m not going to complain too much.

Tidbits:

• “The Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour” is one of the greatest send-ups to 80s merchandise-themed cartoons ever. “That’s barely legal as is!”
• Just wondering- how did Bart avoid punishment for effectively stealing half a shipment of Creamed Corn?
• Here’s the deal – Season 12 has an episode that sends up the British sci-fi drama The Prisoner. I’m not too worried about it, since at the pace I’m reviewing The Simpsons, the show will finally be cancelled. Still, I’m thinking that, during the 17 episodes before “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes”, I’ll also post reviews of The Prisoner alongside those reviews. If that goes through, expect the first Prisoner review to go out with “Faith Off”.

Zaniness Factor: 1.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2. No matter what, dragging his father in to get a monkey stretches the character’s likability, even by Scully’s standards.

Favorite Scene: Mojo steals donuts, and proceeds to hoard them. No wonder why Homer developed a callous to his health, and was relatively unmoved by dropping him off.

Least Favorite Scene: OK, I’ll admit that Lisa’s speech at the end of the episode was pretty over the top.

Score: 8.