Review: The Simpsons “A Serious Flanders (Part Two)”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Things for Ned and Homer go from bad to worse in the stunning conclusion of this SIMPFLIX prestige crime thriller.

Our Take:

As seen in the previous episode, Ned Flanders has gotten himself in a nasty pickle due to his good deed. What’s even worse was that we had to wait a whole week to see what happened next. Man, that was about as torturous as what Netflix is doing with Arcane. Thankfully, the wait is finally over as the second part of the Fargo-like saga reveals how Flanders will get out of this bloody mess.

Part two of “A Serious Flanders” takes place where part one left off. We see Ned attempting to pay the ransom to Kostas Becker (Brian Cox) to save Homer. However, to do that, he has to do the unthinkable: steal the money he gave away. However, Marge rescued Homer from Seamus (Chris O’Dowd) and Collette (Jessica Paré) before Ned could. Unfortunately, this resulted in a misunderstanding that has people calling Flanders out as a criminal.

The second part of “A Serious Flanders” showed no shortages of jokes involving streaming television and Fargo. More importantly, it shined more light on Ned’s family history and his struggle with doing what is right, even if it means committing a sin or two. The episode also shows Homer being a selfish jerk, which puts his marriage with Marge in jeopardy. Like part one, part two offered plenty of depth in the main characters and a scenario that’s both exciting and hilarious.

In addition to its well-executed comedy, the story did a suitable job exploring more of Flanders’s father, who’s revealed to be a dirty cop in the flashback. This sequence showed that the Flanders family isn’t always faithful to God. While it didn’t explore how the truth affected Ned even further, the episode had enough interest to make me care for the character. As for Homer, his selfish ways weren’t entirely new, resulting in some predictable moments. However, his antics were humorously entertaining, especially the scene involving him forcing Seamus and Collette to fight each other.

The humor was also quite enjoyable. Not only did it still feature jokes that parody Fargo and streaming, but it also had some decent dialogue and visual gags. The two prime examples that got me laughing the most were Seamus and Collette getting squashed by a bathtub and Kostas’ monologue being skipped over. The only main issue I had with the episode was that the ending felt rushed. First, it showed Kostas drowning in icy waters, and then it cuts to a montage representing everyone going back to their everyday lives. I was hoping to see more of Ned coming to terms with the truth about his father during the end. Maybe they’ll do that in a future episode centering on Flanders?

Overall, part two of “A Serious Flanders” is a solid conclusion to the latest Simpsons two-part event. Despite its plot shortages involving Ned and his father, the episode has enough laughs and intrigue to deliver a worthy challenge for Ned’s Christian beliefs. In conclusion, I would say that “A Serious Flanders” is another satisfying two-part episode from The Simpsons. It’s far from perfect, but it serves as an example of how the show can properly provide character development and situations in more than just one episode.