REVIEW: THE SIMPSONS “Love Is a Many Splintered Thing”

Spoilers Below

Mary Spuckler’s back in town and you would think Bart would be psyched! Instead, the little S.O.B. cares more about gaming than he does about girls (granted he is 10).  Eventually Lisa tries to warn her bro that the path he is going down with the ladies is wrong and that soon Mary is going to leave him behind. As silly as this sounds to Bart, soon his little sis’ words would come to fruition as Mary writes a song for Bart and plays it at a local talent show. Unfortunately for her she didn’t win, and Bart is at a loss for words in trying to pick up her spirits. As luck would have it, Mary would meet a record exec and his handsome son, and both would end up wooing Mary away with promises of super stardom!

Despite the assistance of Woody Allen’s caricature, Bart still blows it with Mary and she breaks up with him. Worst yet, Marge kicks Homer AND Bart out of the house, which leaves the dynamic duo living on their own.  The guys end up at the Brokewood Apartments, and the first thing Bart does is call up Mary whom tells him all about the joys of breakup song-writing.  After throwing the greatest montage party ever with the other single guys at the apartments. However, the single dudes start missing their ladies, and as a result decide to invite them to a grand gesture. This patches things up for everyone except Mary and Bart who will forever remain unforgiven.

This is the stuff that makes The Simpsons special. Because, when the writers really want to lay it on thick, they put on some of the best production on the planet with characters that come to life with new yet familiar voice chops. Zooey Deschanel does a bit of a better job as Mary Spuckler this time around as opposed to the Season premier, but her accent is still terrible as the only thing that really saved her this time was her beautiful singing voice. Benedict Cumberpatch makes a funny cameo, but the real guest star hero tonight was Woody Allen who seemed to have thumb prints all over this episode. From the intro-outro scenes coming from Bart, to the outstanding musical direction of both the party montage and the climax, this week’s episode screamed class and brass tax. The morale of this episode for the writers is, stick to single plots! They come out better and they seem fresher than the shit we’ve been getting this season!

(9.0 out of 10)