Review: The Simpsons “Warrin’ Priests (Part One)”

 

 

Overview:

With church attendance down, Reverend Lovejoy finds himself losing touch with Springfield. When a new youth pastor, Bode, rolls into town, everyone appreciates his modern message and unique views of Christianity. 

Lovejoy not only loses his connection to the people but his job as well.  Fueled by revenge to get his job back, Reverend Lovejoy embarks to uncover Bode’s mysterious path. 

Meanwhile, the new pastor continues to win over the hearts of his followers. But, we’re going to have to wait till next week to see how this one resolves in “Warrin’ Priests (Part Two).

 

Our Take:

Here we are in the backend of the thirty-first season, and The Simpsons are taking a gamble on their third two-parter in the series’ history.  

Of course, we all remember the summer of 1995 when “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” capped off and front-ended seasons 6 and 7. The Dallas rip-off was an extreme success airing at the tail-end of The Simpsons golden years and offering Easter Eggs and clues that fans still debate to this day. It is one of the few times that a multi-episode plot has successfully worked in a scripted sitcom.

The showrunners at the time knew that “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” was a lucky success, and thankfully never attempted to tarnish the show with any further ‘to be continued’s’.  

That is until decades later in season 28 when they decided to once again roll the dice. “Great Phatsby” was a two-part episode that aired back-to-back on a Sunday night in January 2017. It was a welcome one-hour of television in a month that typically airs but one or two new episodes. Despite offering a long list of guest stars, the event had mixed reviews.

Nobody honestly expected the show to attempt yet another multi-episode plot, this isn’t Family Guy, after all. 

Yet, here we are, with the first Simpsons episode not to offer a direct resolution since the mid-nineties.

Did this gamble at something different payoff?

Absolutely not.

In fact, I would say that this is the worst Simpsons episode I have ever had to review. There is a slim chance that this is a set-up for an epic conclusion in the second part.  But, the fact that I am dreading watching next week does not bode well.

The plot about Reverend Lovejoy losing his job to a young new star and gaining it back again by uncovering some shady secrets is a b-plot for an average episode on a bad year. 

Most of this individual episode was set-up, character development, and bad jokes.  A lack of substance towards anything other than this new pastor felt like a waste.  You would expect a two-part episode to at least offer a B-plot to thicken up the plot.

Season thirty-one has been a thrill ride. From “Thanksgiving of Horror” to discovering the origins of the old Sea Captainorigins of the old Sea Captain, there have been some great moments. But, if there was going to be any two-part episode, why wouldn’t it be “Bart the Bad Guy” which had a sequel theme, and a rich plot?  

Again, we can hope that the second part of this episode offers some redemption. Even if the chances are slim. It’ll be a lot easier when we get past this mistake and can forget about it entirely. The only shame is the taste left in our mouths this late in what was shaping up to be one of the best seasons in years. I am going to go check our rating systems to see if there is a score for wanting an episode to be erased from your brain forever.