Review: The Simpsons ‘The Winter of His Content’

Spoilers Below:

Oh gosh, I’m crashing fast. Why did I have to eat that huge burger? Damn you, Bob Belcher! Okay, focus. Simpsons. Let’s do this.

After the Springfield Retirement Castle was shut down, Abe (and a couple of his friends) moved in with the Simpson Family. After initially dreading their arrival, Homer eventually softened to his father, and ending up spending more and more time with him. Perhaps too much time, in Marge’s opinion.

In the alternate storyline, Bart struck up a friendship with Nelson, and started hanging out with the bully crowd. But when the leader of a Bully Summit was gunned down by a sling-shotted rock and Bart was wrongly blamed, the Springfield Elementary thugs went on the run, Warriors-style.

In Case You Missed It:

1) The small Shrek doll Homer stepped on said, “Don-kay!”

2) Dr. Hibbert’s dad is basically Redd Foxx.

3) The difference between diet cola and cola in the vending machine is a skinnier rat comes out.

4) The elderly dudes’ assortment of cereals included: Bran Flakes, Bran Cheks, Bran Logs, Branny Charms, and Count Branula.

5) When was the last Itchy & Scratchy episode we saw? I feel like it’s been a while since we had one. Thanks, guys! (It was last week or something, wasn’t it?)

6) One of the country club pool’s anti-women slogans was, “Death Before Ladies’ Tees.”

7) Patty referred to Homer as “The Lord of the Fries.”

8) The names of the Warriors gangs were: The Blinky Sneaks, Krusty’s Kids, The Purple Nurples, The Scary Potters, The Baseball Furries, and The SAT Preppers.

9) Nelson’s “weasels” were a blast from the past.

10) We should all be “gay for tolerance.”

As much as I’d love to rant about the good ol’ days of The Simpsons, when brilliant episodes were a dime-a-dozen, and every joke struck just the right chord, those days are gone. Nowadays we should at least thank our few remaining lucky stars that a show – while not blowing our minds each time – manages to avoid disappointment on a weekly basis, and that’s enough of an accomplishment already.

Oh my, that sounded too blunt, didn’t it? Well hey, I had some good stuff to say; it had the laughs, but the episode just didn’t have it this week. It was one of those scenarios where a good A plot line could save the B, or vice-versa, but unfortunately neither had the wherewithal to pull it off in the end.

Still, the laughs were enough to keep me amused, and I’m definitely thankful for that.

Today is Thanksgiving, right?