Review: The Simpsons “My Octopus and a Teacher”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Bart can’t control his feelings when he gets a new teacher (Kerry Washington). Meanwhile, Lisa befriends an octopus. 

Our Take:  

It’s been nearly a decade after The Simpsons retired Edna Krabappel following the tragic passing of Marcia Wallace. Wallace had voiced Bart’s sarcastic teacher for 23 years until she died of pneumonia in 2013. Her final speaking role was at the end of the season 25 episode “The Man Who Grew Too Much”, with the show’s season 32 episode “Diary Queen” having Wallace’s archive recordings for Mrs. Krabappel. Since then, the series has provided multiple replacements for Bart’s fourth-grade class, none of which are capable enough to go full-time. Fortunately, that all changes with this week’s episode of its thirty-third season.  

The episode introduces its viewers to another new character, Rayshelle Peyton, who’ll likely serve as Bart’s permanent teacher in the show’s future. She’s voiced by Kerry Washington, widely known for playing Olivia Pope in the drama series Scandal and Mia Warren in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere. Peyton is a very thoughtful and capably unfiltered teacher who knows what the kids need. However, her actual test comes from Bart, who’s beginning to act weird towards her.

I enjoyed Washington in some of the projects I’ve watched, so I was pretty ecstatic to see her play a new character in The Simpsons, let alone Bart’s new school teacher. Based on what I saw, it’s easy to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Washington did a good job injecting some likability and sincerity into Ms. Peyton, which could mean a bright future is coming for these two regarding the long-running show.

As for the overall episode, it succeeds in continuing the show’s consistent season with a plot that sees Bart developing a crush, and no, it’s not on a girl his age. The episode’s heart comes from the developing friendship between Bart and Ms. Peyton, who saved the former from drowning while he was at the beach with his family. Even though Peyton doesn’t know who he is, Bart knows who she is, resulting in him acting out every time he sees her. It’s later revealed that Bart has developed feelings for Peyton. However, when he finds out that she’s married, he quickly becomes consumed by jealousy, resulting in him ruining the assembly.

Aside from Bart being destructive, “My Octopus and a Teacher” offers a sweet and humorous story that sees the character developing into a more mature boy, thanks to his encounter with Peyton. With Bart having a crush on Peyton, there’s a possibility of him actually trying to be on his best behavior at school. How long it will last would depend on the show’s direction.

The episode also features a side-plot involving Lisa keeping an octopus as her pet in secret after filming a documentary for a film festival. Unfortunately, it proved to be more difficult than she thought. She later frees the octopus into the ocean after overhearing Homer’s advice to Bart about his crush. The B-plot is a chuckle-worthy reference to the Oscar-winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher”, although it doesn’t deliver anything too exciting in its formula.

Overall, “My Octopus and a Teacher” serves as a decent piece of character development for Bart that sees him loving himself and his new teacher. The introduction of Ms. Peyton, voiced wonderfully by Kerry Washington, also helped provide more diversity both on the show and in the voice cast. Additionally, Lisa’s B-plot involving her friendship with a cephalopod is a cute albeit formulaic little distraction from Bart’s complicated situation. I’m not sure when we’ll see this relationship between student and teacher continue, but based on my experience with this episode, I hope that’s soon.