“Bart’s Dog Gets an F” is the weakest episode of the season and arguably the show so far. Santa’s Little Helper should never be the central character, and this episode proves that. There is hardly any humour, and the ending is as ham-fisted as anything this show has done so far. Tracy Ullman’s guest appearance was okay, but nothing memorable.
Overall, a weak link in this improved second season.
[7.7/10] This one starts a little slow and without much purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy how well the design team animated SLH’s antics; Homer’s battles of wits with the little mutt are amusing, and Bart trying to piece together Lisa’s proviso over who gets to go to school and who gets to stay home is quite funny. But the early section of the episode is more “slice of life” than anything else, with more chuckles than guffaws.
But things pick up considerably after that! I know Tracey Ullman has a love/hate relationship with The Simpsons, but she’s much better than I remembered as Emily Winthrop, the dog trainer. Her British battle axe vibe, sly putdowns, and principled railing against the slippage of standards among canine schools is all very funny. The set pieces set inside her school have a verve and humor that are more scant in the first act.
I also appreciate what’s going with the rest of the Simpson family. It is, again, a little more slice of life, but I like Lisa being home from school and bonding over a family quilt with her mom. Marge’s callous is one of the odder but funnier gags, and the way it sets up everyone to have something taken from them by SLH is nice. At the same time, it’s funny seeing Homer lose his mind over a pair of expensive sneakers and a big giant cookie, only to turn around and tell tall tales to get someone else to take SLH’s helper off of his hands.
But the best part in the episode comes from Bart’s love for his dog. His failed efforts to try to teach a poorly-behaved pup how to straighten up and fly right have some meaningful subtext coming so soon after the similarly titled “Bart Gets an F.” The fact that what breaks through SLH’s garbled perspective is Bart’s emotional state is a nice touch, and the show toys with your heartstrings enough to make that moment feel big and let you share in Bart’s joy and relief when SLH graduates from dog school.
Overall, this is an episode that crests on the emotional heft of that last second reprieve, and on a great guest appearance from Ullman, with some nice but not overwhelming material outside of it.
It's rare I feel a need to justify a bad rating, but honestly, I'm working through the Simpsons in order finally and this is the first episode that just failed to keep my attention. I can't articulate why. And literally I just wanted this here for when people try to figure that out on a later date.
Shout by Caleb PetersBlockedParent2022-02-18T06:39:40Z
Both pets haven't so much as been in the background of most episodes, so having this episode focus on one of them isn't bad.