Review: The Simpsons “Wad Goals”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Bart and the other kids learn a new racket so as to make more money…being a golf caddie! It doesn’t take long before Bart’s sweet-talking of rich people gets him a wad of cash which impresses his parents, but Marge soon worries about the means in which Bart is going about to make his cash. Meanwhile, Bart has his sights on the golfer known to shell out the most Jacksons and wants to do everything he can to get their.

Bart’s cash-flowing ways scares off his pals and makes Marge irritable to the point that she has to ask Lisa for assistance. Lisa isn’t impressed with the social issues of the golf club and the duo heads to city hall to file a complaint. When that doesn’t work, the girls do what most people without a job do, go to the internet and start an online petition to close down the golf club. When Bart learns of this he has it out with his family and then makes his play to go after the big spender who wants to help him shut Marge and Lisa down. Their fix? Turning the golf course into a religion to avoid having to pay any taxes.

The local religious leaders support the golf course and Marge makes one last plea to Bart who ends up not getting the highly sought after caddie job. This becomes the final straw for Bart who quits the course and comes back with an ATV like the Bart of old. Soon all of the town’s kids come riding with ATVs and destroy the course to no return. The cops show up and shut the club down for being an underground sex cult.

Our Take

Before you ask, yes, Kevin Michael Richardson is your new Dr. Hibbert. He comes in fairly early in the first act and it’s one line and it’s actually pretty good. In fact, of all of the voices that have been changed so far, Kevin’s take on Hibbert is the closest. In fact, Grey DeLisle-Griffin gives us another take as “Martin” and it’s still not working for me as a suitable replacement for Russi Taylor.

The irony of Kevin’s introduction of Hibbert is the premise of the episode which is all about a controversial golf club that nearly gets taken down by social justice warriors, the same type probably responsible for Kevin getting this gig in the first place. That’s not taking anything away from Kevin, he’s one of the best in the business, but it’s not lost on me the clever way in which he was introduced. Furthermore, the episode ramps up a bunch of the talking points that ultra-liberal audiences will eat up, the fact that money is evil, and the internet should do something about that. Though, the episode does feature a climax that shows what happens when you put a lot of money to good use.

There were a bunch of soundtrack songs this week that were well choreographed with the on-screen action including C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) by the Wu Tang Clan and a parody of a Pentatonix song at the ice cream shop, but I think the score playing during the ATV’s coming through the brush left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, there were enough laughs to be had with additional vocal contributions coming by way of Stephen Root who voices the Club President Bildorf and James Sie (Avatar: The Last Airbender) as The Lama, both of which were solid.