Review: The Simpsons ‘Days of Future Future’

Spoilers Below:

I’ll be honest, the idea of another future episode didn’t thrill me. I was never a big fan of “Lisa’s Wedding” (S6E19) as far as old-school episodes go; “Bart to the Future” (S11E17) was worse, though still not terrible; “Future-Drama” (S16E15) was forgettable, except of course for the fact that you need to be able to recall it in order to fully understand last night’s episode; and “Holidays of Future Passed” (S23E9) was great for a later-day episode, but still nothing to tweet home about.

This most recent installment, entitled “Days of Future Future,” wasn’t the worst of the flash-forward episodes, but it was probably second worse, so let’s not start celebrating just yet.

It began with Homer dying (didn’t see that one coming, right?) and being replaced by a clone of himself – repeatedly, over the span of at least a couple decades. The episode then examined the lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa, independently, as well as their connections to each other in the future.

Marge, fed up with Homer’s continuing reckless lifestyle, decided to leave him once-and-for-all. Bart struggled to cope with his feelings for his ex-wife (and mother of his two sons) Jenda, voiced once again by Amy Pohler. Lisa, still married to Milhouse, tried to decide whether she likes her husband better as a zombie.

Of course in the end everything turned out alright: Marge stuck with Homer, Lisa accepted the real Milhouse for who he was, and Bart realized he was better off resisting the urge to give his relationship with Jenda another try.

There was also this weird plot device about most of the episode being a simulation meant to show Bart his potential future with Jenda while he received an experimental treatment made to make him forget her à la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it was honestly unnecessary as far as I could tell, and it made the episode more complex then it needed to be.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Do abbreviated openings mean we get more of the episode? Because I always hope it does.

2) Moe’s business card read: “Moe Syzlak – Normal Person” and his second one said: “Moe Syzlak – Will Wear Bag Over Head.”

3) Another great use of music, this time with “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads.

4) I loved how one of the latter-day Homer clones yelled “Wait a minute!” from inside the cremation robot.

5) How was Grandpa Simpson still alive so many years later?

6) I want a screensaver of Homer’s head bouncing around. Seriously, if you can make it happen, Twitter me on the MyFacetagram.

7) The Jurassic Park attraction rip-off was called “Cretaceous Park.” (“Now correctly named!”)

8) The clowns Bart may or may not have slept with (along with Krusty, also still miraculously alive) were named: Beppo, Boppo, Emmitt Kelly IX, Frenchie, Insane Clown Polly, and Commodore Teehee.

9) Good to see Ralph Wiggum taking over the family business.

10) The diners at The Gilded Truffle included Martin and a robot date, Captain McAllister and a sea creature/alien thing, Principal Skinner and a skeleton of his dead mother, and Maggie and (now adult) Baby Gerald sucking down the same margarita.

11) I loved the scenes with Homer as a Terminator.

12) Was this the first time in 25 years that we saw Lisa drunk?

13) Things just never get better for ol’ Gil, do they?

This episode was packed with jokes, references, site gags, subtle humor, and lots of creativity. It clearly tried hard to include as many laughs as possible, and kept it up throughout the entire show. Amy Pohler was a superb voice talent once again, and I loved her line about reconciling with Bart “like a classic rock band whose holdout member finally needs money.”

Still, the episodes plethora of jokes didn’t deliver any particularly big laughs, weren’t especially clever, and the story was all over the place, with a lot to process in a 22-minute time span.

It also left me with a lot of questions. Namely, how are we supposed to treat this episode, continuity-wise? Is it like a Treehouse of Horror where nothing counts, or was it actually implying that Homer will soon die and be replaced by an exact clone of himself? This was clearly a sequel to “Future Drama” and “Holidays of Future Passed,” which were troubling enough considering they also left us with the impression that they represented the actual future (if we are to believe Frink’s machine really works, for the former at least) and not a fortune teller or casino manager’s vision. So is this the real thing, or can it at least be changed? And what the hell ever happened to Bart becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as we were led to believe way back in “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” (S4E6)?

Even the actions within the story were confusing. During one of the signature Simpsons heartfelt moments, Marge acted in a way that Moe summed up perfectly, saying, “I can’t tell if that was love, suicide, or a really boring video game.” Me either, but regardless, it was a bit sappy and, yes, incredibly confusing. Also, it was kind of pointless, considering the scene was contained entirely within the fantasy Bart had.

As if it wasn’t obvious enough, there were simply too many things happening in this latest episode, and not enough of them were nearly as amusing as the writer’s probably expected. There were enough chuckles sprinkled throughout the half-hour to keep it from completely failing, but the story really acted as a drag on the whole show. If this is what’s in store for America’s favorite yellow family, they’re better off turning themselves in screen-savers sooner rather than later.