[7.6/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] There was a fair amount of angst about this episode since in some interview, Matt Groening declared it was his new favorite episode. But while “Apocalypse Cow” can’t touch the high points of the series’s golden years, it is a very pleasant little post-classic Simpsons episode.
There are definite weaknesses here to be fair. There’s a lot of very cartoony gags where animals act like people (supposedly a Groening bugaboo). Some of the jokes are super dated already (hello Pirates of the Caribbean 3 joke!). And the whole hillbilly wedding routine is a wacky sitcom plot with some lazy redneck jokes.
But as Lisa herself points out, this is an episode centered on Bart caring about something, and he doesn't care about a lot of things. His friendship with Lou the cow is very sweet, and the lengths he’ll go to in order to protect his bovine friend is a good engine for the episode. At the same time I like Lisa trying to help him given her vegetarian principles and efforts to lure the family to that side. And Marge and Homer are well-used as side characters here, between the random silliness of them trying to get Maggie to eat spinach, to their joint plan to rescue Bart’s cow.
Zooey Deschanel doesn't really bring a whole lot to the table as Mary Spuckler, but it at least adds something to have a named character with something of a personality to Cletus and Brandine’s brood. And while some of the gags are lazy, there’s also some solid humor to the Spuckler side of things. Granted, Homer almost getting caught in a slaughterhouse is more looney tunes nonsense, but the core of this episode is good.
Overall, it’d be lunacy to call this one as good or better as when the show was pitching its fastball, but it’s a sweet little episode with a lot of chuckles and smiles to go ‘round.
Shout by KevibVIP 3BlockedParent2023-12-05T07:43:12Z
Had quite a lot of fun with this one, funny jokes, good story, POTC 3 joke, Zooey Deschanel (weird to hear a modern celebrity in Simpsons).