Review: The Simpsons ‘Bull-E’

Bull-E 2

Spoilers Below:

Please excuse my absence last week, as I was returning from vacation, and couldn’t cover The Simpsons. Apparently it was a real stinker though, as John scored it a 4. Yikes. I actually caught the first five minutes or so mid-flight, but the channel quality was poor, and I switched it over to ESPN to watch the Yankees finish their sweep of the Red Sox instead. From what I saw, the episode didn’t look all too great, and I guess it didn’t get any better. I honestly haven’t got around to watching it on DVR yet. (Whoops!)

This week, Bart went to his first school dance, won a dancing contest, and had his trophy destroyed by bullies. Marge whipped the town into an anti-bullying frenzy, and the police began cracking down on alleged offenders. Homer was nabbed for his constant bullying of Ned Flanders, and a bullying therapy group leader made him realize he terrorized Ned because he’s jealous of him. A “reformed” Homer was treated like a hero, but Ned still insisted on getting an apology, which Homer eventually gave. Ned accepted.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Couch gag: Homer tried to protect the couch/goal from a barrage of soccer balls kicked by Maggie.

2) Hey, it’s the Johnny Mathis episode!

3) Skinner referred to school dances as: “A treat for the popular children, and a chance for the rest of you to look within yourselves and ask what’s wrong.”

4) The school dance flier said: “Why don’t we do it in the gym?”

5) Someone who does stuff: the bully’s natural enemy.

6) Why did the police department have a “first dollar” hanging in their station?

7) “B.F. Skin-NERRRRRRR!”

8) The therapy group included Krusty the Clown, Bumblebee Man, Snake, Lou, Fat Tony, Superintendent Chalmers, Mayor Quimby, and Agnes Skinner.

9) New term for the Bible: “That ribbon-y book.”

10) There was a mustachioed planet Otto passed called Freddie Mercury.

One of the biggest gripes about latter day Simpsons episodes are the lack of laughs. They just aren’t as funny as they used to be. In my opinion, most newer episodes start out promising with jokes and story, but usually the plot tanks and so do the laughs. “Bull-E,” to put it frankly,” had a pretty lousy story overall, but the jokes were surprisingly abundant.

Let’s deal with the first part first. The story didn’t have much potential, but offered flickers of hope throughout. The episode began with a school dance, and appeared to be headed in a Bart-love-interest direction, but changed into something else entirely. (Good thing too, as there was a plot like this just last week.) But the bullying business ended up being lame anyway, as the idea of addressing Homer’s bullying of Ned has been done before, and giving it a whole show is overkill. They at least could have made a commentary on how needlessly caught up people are in the so-called “bullying epidemic” nowadays, but no luck.

I’ve always said the best stories on The Simpsons are the ones that have simple, funny-sounding synopses. The family goes to Itchy & Scratchy land. The family relocates to escape Sideshow Bob. Even something like, “Homer becomes best friends with Ned Flanders,” worked in the past, but “A new law forces Homer to confront his bullying of Flanders,” had no hope.

However, story isn’t everything, and some well-written jokes can keep a sinking ship afloat. This one managed to at least tread water for a half hour. So let’s talk about what worked.

The Puberty Demon character was a damn good invisible character. In the past, The Simpsons has succeeded with imaginary counterparts for Homer, like the talking Coyote and Cesar Chavez/Romero, and this one worked as a great guide to Bart. In fact, a whole episode featuring Bart and the demon probably would have been pretty watchable. Especially if he kept spouting out gems about puberty like calling it “the world of body spray, wiry hairs, and wondering what boobs feel like.”

As for other characters, it’s always nice to see Albert Brooks lend his voice, and I enjoyed his brief appearance as the group leader. (“Did you see that Indiana Jones movie? Did anyone tell him where that thing was?”)

Otto (a favorite of mine) had a couple funny scenes with the school-train fantasy. It got a little dark at the end, but it was a musical Simpsons sequence that I surprisingly cared for. Bart’s dance sequence on the other hand? Not so much. Also, I’m always excited to see Hans Moleman, because it’s hard to have a bad scene with him. However, “Bull-E” did.

So I’m conflicted and confused. The story was awful, but the jokes were awfully funny. (Speaking of confused: What the heck time of year was it? There was snow on the ground, enough to make snowballs in some places, yet the Flanders Family painted a fence beginning at sunrise? Wtf?!) I guess in the end it all adds up to another average episode.

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