Review: The Simpsons “Guess Who’s Coming to Skinner”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When Principal Skinner discovers that one of his students is a runaway who has been living in the school library, he has to take the snarky, difficult kid into his home and is forced into a role he never expected or wanted—being a parent.

Our Take:

Believe it or not, The Simpsons has officially aired its 800th episode this week!  However, this milestone applies only to episodes produced, not to television broadcasts, as its actual 800th episode is scheduled for February.  Regardless, it’s still an impressive accomplishment for the iconic animated sitcom, which was bolstered by the family’s debut in Fortnite this year.  So, how does the show celebrate this latest occasion?  With Principal Skinner becoming a guardian, of course.  This episode has Skinner being promoted from school principal to a temporary foster parent to an ill-mannered runaway named Hub, voiced by Oscar-winning actor Kieran Culkin.  Following Homer and Marge’s advice, Skinner learns what it means to be a parent while seeking to express Hub’s talent through a Peter Rabbit musical.

With the episode’s title referencing the 1967 film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, one might assume it’ll involve an interracial marriage at a particular event.  However, that isn’t the case; instead, it sheds light on familiar premises involving someone parenting a runaway child or an orphan, leading to a blossoming friendship.  This is another concept that usually warms my heart through its developing bond that reshapes the characters’ perspective on life, regardless of its execution.  In this case, the episode showcases Skinner’s hatred for troublemaking children softening as he bonds with Hub, though he takes his parenting too far when he decides to make Hub a star by changing the musical’s script.  

The result is one of the most endearing episodes of The Simpsons that blends its humor with genuine warmth.  The plot is obviously familiar by design, but it benefited from Kieran Culkin’s sublime vocal performance as the young troublemaker and its well-balanced humor.  The snow globe’s whimsical snow from Skinner’s eyeballs was supposed to be the episode’s running gag due to the incident at the museum, but it was only shown a few times throughout its entire premise.  Nevertheless, it was amusing to see Skinner’s eyeballs become an actual snow globe, which serves a purpose in Skinner’s latest dilemma with his students.