Review: The Simpsons ‘The Musk Who Fell to Earth’

Spoilers Below

Elon Musk lands in the Simpson backyard, but we soon find out he’s got a bit of writer’s block when it comes to developing new inventions. Turns out, Homer’s got a WEALTH of ideas, and Elon’s loving every minute of it. The block breaks, and Musk decides to pitch something to Mr. Burns to help him make even more money the latter of which has no bearings on Musk. Smithers isn’t a big fan of Elon, probably due to the fact that Elon is earning Burns’ gaze which keeps Waylon in the dark. It isn’t long before Elon pretty much has turned Springfield into his own with residents riding around in self-driving cars and copters, large hamster displays, and a nuclear power plant that burns through cash.

That last bit is rather important because it seems to break the bond that Burns and Elon once had. Not only that, but massive layoffs at the plant ensue which causes the local economy to collapse and leaving Homer out of a job. As revenge, Burns decides to call in a hit for Elon Musk. Unfortunately, the sharp shooters that Burns hired are all 100 years old or older and both Homer and Elon are safe from incoming fire. Elon and Homer decide to go their separate ways, but not before Elon leaves a parting gift.

This week’s episode had a shaky plot at best. Don’t get me wrong, there were quite a few gags to be had that were cool, but they were more of the variety of ”Hey Look at That!” rather than huge laughs. But, it just felt like we weren’t able to stick with Elon no matter where he went. Whether it was Homer, Lisa, or Mr. Burns, Elon spent more time moving through the different tropes that we’ve seen countless times (i.e. Lisa meeting her intellectual equal, Mr. Burns taking on a rival/peer, Homer making a friend) that we didn’t get enough time to really dig our heels and see something develop. The interaction with Burns was probably the most thought out, but their climax just kind fell by the way side.

As mentioned, there were some light-hearted moments. The hamster being used as…well…a hamster. Elon pretty much destroying Springfield was a good idea, but there wasn’t much of a fix or an uprising against him and his self-driving cars. And just as Bart looked like he was going to spice things up a bit, we get a rather innocuous hand-off to mediocrity. As smart as Elon Musk is, even he couldn’t figure out how to fix this week’s episode.