[4.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I’m torn on the premise for the episode. On the one hand, I like The Simpsons exploring some tertiary characters. It had a surprising amount of success developing Sarah Wiggum, of all people, last season, so I’m here for it. On the other hand, Brandine has been such a one-note joke character for so long that I just don’t think she can sustain the “hidden depths” storyline this episode wants to go for.
What’s more, this episode basically has three plots and not enough time to do any of them well. One is the reveal that Brandine is secretly smart, which has its problems even apart from that conceit. It mostly comes down to the fact that the hillbilly humor just isn’t funny. This is a laughless hour, and the conflict with Cletus not liking his wife’s intelligence is weak. There’s a touch of heart when he gets a library card to support her at the very end, but it’s a slog to that point.
The B-story, about Lisa finding a secret group of nerds who hide their intelligence to avoid ostracism and bullying is junk. Lisa being socially punished for her smarty pants qualities isn’t the worst premise. But a secret society of nerds we’ve never heard of, despite there being a secret society of nerds in another episode, and a public group of nerds Lisa was a part of before, shows how empty this feels. I don’t need The Simpsons to adhere to strict continuity or anything. My issue is that it shows how many variations on the same idea this series has already done, and illustrates the hoops this episode has to jump through to justify the weird state of affairs. Plus, the “I am smarticus” stuff is one big face-palm.
I actually like the C-story, with Marge realizing that people think she could do better than Homer and Homer trying to prove he’s worthy of his extraordinary wife. But it should be its own episode rather than crammed in here! There’s just not enough time or space to deal with the idea properly, and the undercooked alternative is no great shakes.
Overall, a dud of an episode, founded on a character who probably shouldn’t be the focus of an episode this, and certainly not one with three underbaked stories jammed together like this.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-04-09T06:00:23Z
[4.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I’m torn on the premise for the episode. On the one hand, I like The Simpsons exploring some tertiary characters. It had a surprising amount of success developing Sarah Wiggum, of all people, last season, so I’m here for it. On the other hand, Brandine has been such a one-note joke character for so long that I just don’t think she can sustain the “hidden depths” storyline this episode wants to go for.
What’s more, this episode basically has three plots and not enough time to do any of them well. One is the reveal that Brandine is secretly smart, which has its problems even apart from that conceit. It mostly comes down to the fact that the hillbilly humor just isn’t funny. This is a laughless hour, and the conflict with Cletus not liking his wife’s intelligence is weak. There’s a touch of heart when he gets a library card to support her at the very end, but it’s a slog to that point.
The B-story, about Lisa finding a secret group of nerds who hide their intelligence to avoid ostracism and bullying is junk. Lisa being socially punished for her smarty pants qualities isn’t the worst premise. But a secret society of nerds we’ve never heard of, despite there being a secret society of nerds in another episode, and a public group of nerds Lisa was a part of before, shows how empty this feels. I don’t need The Simpsons to adhere to strict continuity or anything. My issue is that it shows how many variations on the same idea this series has already done, and illustrates the hoops this episode has to jump through to justify the weird state of affairs. Plus, the “I am smarticus” stuff is one big face-palm.
I actually like the C-story, with Marge realizing that people think she could do better than Homer and Homer trying to prove he’s worthy of his extraordinary wife. But it should be its own episode rather than crammed in here! There’s just not enough time or space to deal with the idea properly, and the undercooked alternative is no great shakes.
Overall, a dud of an episode, founded on a character who probably shouldn’t be the focus of an episode this, and certainly not one with three underbaked stories jammed together like this.