Review: The Simpsons “One Angry Lisa”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Lisa gets called for jury duty. Meanwhile, Marge becomes obsessed with her exercise bike.

Our Take:  

The thirty-fourth season of The Simpsons got off to a decent start with Homer encountering conspiracy theorists while searching for a turtle. Now, it’s looking at continuing the streak with an episode involving jury duty. It doesn’t seem very exciting compared to making up false theories. However, with this family around, I guess anything can be exciting.

The episode’s title is a cue from the 1957 courtroom classic, “12 Angry Men”, except there’s only one young girl on the jury. The plot focuses on Lisa being called for jury duty for a trial even though she’s way below the age limit. Of course, the people, including the police officer, think that Lisa is a woman with a body of an eight-year-old. She eventually got out of jury duty during a trial after accusing the judge of playing Wordle.  

The episode also features a subplot involving Marge getting fit with the new Pedalon exercise bike. Unfortunately, her obsession with getting fit with a handsome biking instructor, Jesse, causes her to ignore her family, including Homer. As a result, Homer decides to end her obsession by beating the crap out of Jesse in his home, which the latter uses for his sessions.  

This subplot follows a similar formula of Marge becoming addicted to something. In the season five episode, “$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)”, Marge had a gambling addiction due to Springfield legalizing gambling. Although getting fit on an exercise bike isn’t as harmful as gambling, the episode shows that being obsessed with an instructor despite being married can send mixed messages. In the case of Homer and the other husbands, they’re jealous of Jesse for “stealing” their wives through his fitness routines and charm.  

“One Angry Lisa” seemed more interested in Marge getting fit than Lisa getting sent to jury duty. This is due to Lisa’s subplot not having a narrative worthy enough of showcasing an issue on how the system chooses people for jury duty. However, it benefits with its share of decent gags, including Homer’s failed attempt to build the exercise bike and breaking his back from carrying the package to the house. While Marge being addicted to something isn’t anything we haven’t seen before in the show’s 34-year run, the episode shows that getting fit on a stationary bike is more fun than attending a trial as a jury.