Okay this? This is solid. Great, even. The Badadook parody is a surprisingly sweet Marge and Maggie story. The Death Tome is pitch perfect parody from the animation to how it condenses and revamps the source material to work as a comedic short while still paying tribute to it. The salaryman joke, Steve Johnson not being a Simpson character stand in but just an homage to the original Ryuk performances while still doing its own thing, using environmentalism as Lisa's motivation, the 'only use a death once' twist as a way to spice up a short and get to some of the wilder deaths Death Note was known for. And Simpsonsworld is a surprisingly sharp commentary on the show's current image from writers who must be tired of being told they're not as good as the old ones and are only trafficking in the past. If the rest of the season is like this, then I really believe the talk of the show being on an upswing.
I actually like this Simpson in the Anime perspective.
“Global warming” death murder revenge fetish by the writers.
A low point for “The Simpsons”, they couldn’t even use the likeness of their beloved characters.
The Anime style part was actually great. Plus it had a serious undertone. Is it alright to kill bad people to save the planet ? If you could, would you ?
The Simpsons World part I liked more about all the cool references happening in the background. The plot itself wasn't so good.
I don't mentioned the first part for a reason. It's bad.
A future Treehouse of Horror classic! Great episode!
This Death Note version is much better than Netflix one (not very hard to accomplish though)
The Simpson’s nailed it this year with Treehouse of Horror. Especially with Not IT from last week. It was quite brilliant this year.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-11-01T04:04:47Z
[8.6/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Our Treehouse of Horror cup runneth over this year! Between this year’s installment of the famed terror-filled tryptich, and the full length IT parody, The Simpsons has delivered its best bout of quality Halloween yarns in ages.
It’s genuinely hard for me to pick a favorite here. The first segment, a parody of The Babadook is the scariest. Marge is legitimately frightening once she’s possessed by the Pookadook. The shift in her voice, creative use of shadows, and general malevolence from the normally kind caretaker is truly unsettling. I appreciate the story construction here too, with nice setups and payoffs for the power of “baby cheek” and the use of the outdoor vacuum cleaner. (Which I just learned is a thing!)
The segment also does a good job of mapping the original film onto The Simpsons’ universe. While obviously toning some of the mother/child business down, the show does a nice job of retaining the “beleaguered mother sublimates her resentment for the thanklessness of parenthood” theming in a way that fits with what we’ve seen of Marge. That tack provides a good excuse to give us the rare Marge/Maggie story, a welcome novelty that pays dividends with the setup and Maggie’s inventive defense mechanism. There’s not a ton of laughs in this one, but what it lacks in yuks, it makes up for in delivering some legitimately good horror.
The “Death Note” segment was superb as well. I’ll admit, I’ve never watched the anime, so I can't comment on how they adapt it here. But I know the basic premise, and love how they channel it to show how Lisa’s desire for activism slides into further and further excuses for murder and eventual self-preservation. There’s a suitable number of twists in this one that make it feel like a sharp bit of Twilight Zone-esque bitter irony and morality plays. And the animation is gorgeous, with stunning realizations of the show’s characters in another art style that feel different yet fitting, which is a tough line to walk. Not for nothing, there's also some good laughs in this one, mainly in Lisa’s increasingly contrived ways to off the people she needs offing. This one is distinctive and memorable as hell.
But the final segment is creative and exciting too! Mixing The Simpsons and Westworld is not a cocktail I’d have thought about as a natural fit, but they blend together perfectly here. I love the show using the concept of a robot park to comment on its own recursive fandom, with the most memeable and best-known bits and moments from the series being trotted out by fans who want to relive the show’s glory years.
The segment works on multiple levels. As a pure story, it’s exciting to see a self-aware robotic Simpsons family try to escape the park so they can live their lives. As a horror tale, it’s cool to see the potential for both physical and psychological fear of self-aware artificial beings rebelling against their creators and fans. As a bit of meta-commentary, it’s neat to see the show commenting on the way its iconic moments have been commodified and regurgitated ad infinitum for a hungry audience of nostalgic fans. And the short can have its cake and eat it too, because it’s just as fun for the inveterate die hard Simpsons fan to play “spot the reference” in this one as the show packs in scads of shout outs to classic eps.
Hell, as a big Bob’s Burgers fan, it’s just as much of a treat to see Our Favorite Family end up in the Belchers’ restaurant. Even the wrap-around segments, with some stylish stop motion animation, were a treat. All-in-all, this is one of the best Halloween outings The Simpsons has had in a long while, and I’m glad for the creative swings and good spooks.