26x09 I Won't Be Home for Christmas

[6.9/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Ehhhhhh. This one is so close to being good. As tired as I am of Homer/Marge relationship drama on The Simpsons, there is a solid throughline of Marge being mad at Homer for being late on Xmas, and Homer actually having a good excuse for once. Their reunion is sweet, and fits into the spirit of the season.

The problem with that is that Marge has good reason to expect Homer to have fallen down on the job without excuse for something like this, so her “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt” epiphany rings false. The episode seems to lampshade it a bit with the “You might have a good excuse, or at least an entertaining one” bit, but the premise behind the sentiment doesn’t really hold up if you think too hard about it.

STill, the episode is mostly an excuse to send Homer and Marge roaming through Springfield to interact with the show’s residents in a yuletide setting. At times, that makes it feel a little scattershot, with the lovers' quarrel being more of an excuse to do a series of sketches than a genuine story motiator.

Still, some of the sketches are quite nice. Homer trying to cheer up a lonely Moe on the holiday, comforting Fladners, and having a moment of honesty with Apu are all nice holiday moments. The problem is that a lot of this setup is just a way for the show to deposit a series of indiscriminate holiday gags and they are very hit or miss.

Bits like Moe trying to forcibly kiss Marge or Homer hanging by the neck from Xmas lights left a really sour taste in my mouth. And even the jokes that aren’t distasteful like that are more chuckles than outright laughs. There’s a few good bits (I enjoyed the swerves about the seemingly uplifting but actually depressing holiday movies), but otherwise this one is mostly mild in the humor department.

Still, it’s thoroughly watchable, and perhaps that damning it with faint praise, but it’s about the level of expectation for a late season Simpsons Xmas episode. With a few more drafts, this one could have been outright good, but as is, it’s still not bad.