Review: The Simpsons “Bart the Cool Kid”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
When Bart befriends a famous kid influencer who owns an ultra-cool skatewear brand, Homer leads a rebellion of loser dads against them.

Our Take:
Last week has the titular family facing cancel culture, thanks to Homer’s accidental mistakes. Here, we see them dealing with the definition of “coolness”. What better way to do that than with a young influencer?
The episode sees Bart at odds with Homer again when the latter bought him the bootleg version of Slipstreme sneakers from Mike Wegman (Michael Rapaport). Later on, Bart befriends the famous kid influencer named Orion Hughes (The Weeknd), who gave the family Slipstreme clothing. The two decided to create a brand new sneaker design that every kid would want to be popular. Unfortunately, their design release is in danger of being uncool when Homer leads a group of lame dads to make themselves cool with the sweaters.
The episodes involving Homer and Bart are usually the most entertaining ones of the long-running show, as far as I’m aware. Whether they’re at odds against each other or not, the father-son duo almost always tends to put a smile on my face regarding their chemistry. “Bart the Cool Kid” seems to be no different, as Homer and Bart are caught in the middle of a “cool” showdown. Along with some references to online memes and the “coolness” in middle-aged people, the episode offers one of the more humorous storylines in the show’s thirty-third season.
It delivers some chuckle-worthy comedy for Bart and Homer and provides a heartfelt yet predictable message about what it means to be cool, particularly for Homer. Bart has called Homer out for being uncool after Homer embarrasses him at the shoe store. However, after wearing the sweater Homer got from Orion, he sees himself as being cool and shares the other sweaters with the rest of his lame friends, which ruins Orion’s brand for his young fans. Finally, thanks to Marge, Homer realizes the error of his ways and prevents the crowd from invading Orion’s release party. In other words, the only way to be cool is to be yourself and do the right thing.
Like the previous episode, the message in “Bart the Cool Kid” is relatable because parents usually attempt to be like their kids regarding the trends, clothing, and many more. Unfortunately, their attempts can lead to embarrassing situations, mainly for kids, which I thought the episode portrayed pretty well. My only issue with the episode is that a couple of plot elements came and went, such as Orion not being a normal kid and him being his father’s clone.
The guest stars in this week’s episode did a suitable job providing some comedy and carrying the story forward. The most prominent guest star I enjoyed the most is singer-songwriter The Weeknd, who pulls double duty in voicing Orion and his father, Darius Hughes. That would explain the clone part during the end credit scene. Michael Rapaport as Mike Wegman also delivered a decent running gag involving him selling knock-offs.
Overall, “Bart the Cool Kid” is another cool episode in the show’s consistently strong season. It has a couple of pointless elements that kept it from reaching the top of its “popularity meter”. Despite that, the episode continues the strength of showcasing the show’s relationship between father and son, even though the trends involving online influencers, gifs, and memes take a back seat most of the time.