"She of Little Faith": Worst episode ever.

Even worse than "The Great Louse Detective."

The Great Louse Detective hasn't aired yet!! And how could She of Little Faith be the worst episode?? After 3 years of pointless guest stars, extreme wackiness, and cop out endings, this episode has refreshing and lacked those 3 things (Except for the rocket thing)

"Emetib67334"

It's a cartoon for crying out loud! I think you are being a little too critical. It's not supposed to be an animated DRAMA. Enjoy the zaniness!!! There is still plenty of wonderful satire in current Simpson episodes.

jmartin92 wrote:

It's not supposed to be a random collection of zany events. The Simpsons has always been a mixture of comedy and drama. Many of the show's best episodes involve extracting comedy from otherwise dramatic events.

No, the problem with most newer episodes is a lack of sarcasm, subtlety, and coherent storytelling.

Yes, I actually liked She of Little Faith. Save for the first act, the craziness was very well toned down, and the story and satire were both well done. Plus, even though it was pretty wacky, the first act was some of the funniest material in years.

Exatron wrote:

Agree. One of the main problems of recent OFF episodes is IMO that the writers seem to be afraid of more serious issues and serious elements and endings. Everytime a story has potential for darker moments and emotional stuff, they think they have to "correct" it with even more fun and zaniness and thus spoil the episode and the story flow. It�s wrong to write episodes as a drama but it�s also wrong to overestimate the value of zany fun, what we need is balance in single episodes and in seasons. (I know, I say it all the time.) I never watched the Simpsons to see a row of zany stuff and slapstick, I can watch other cartoons if I want to see that.

It�s also wrong to say there is no seriousness any longer in cartoon shows, the Futurama writers aren�t so afraid of dark moments and "drama" elements in comedy and that makes Futurama a show with a much better balance and style than recent OFF. Futurama has lots of visual gags and even zany stuff but they know how to be more serious, for example in episodes like "Leela�s Homeworld" or recent "Jurassic Bark". I like that.

To come back to OFF: my main problem with "She of Little Faith" is the way too obvious in-your-face satire and the repetitive plotline.

There was much better satire about religion in the past, for example in Season 4�s "Homer The Heretic". "She of Little Faith" is no bad episode, I�d even count it among the better Season 13 episodes (I really enjoyed the almost normal Christmas story after years of killer toys and ball sacks) but it�s pretty weak as satire. But most new episodes are.

Chris

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that was a problem I had with Hungry Hungry Homer, which is probably the best episode of the last three seasons. it had a plot which progressed very smoothly, a great ending, no zaniness whatsoever, charming character-driven stuff - and then they stuck on the "I AM THE MAYOR OF ALBERQUERQUE!!!" bit. WHY?

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maybe once Futurama bites the dust (is there a possibility it's still an "if"?) its recent high level of quality will find its way to the Simpsons somehow...

too

remember the fact that the word Buddhist wasn't mentioned until the third act

(I really enjoyed the almost

the killer toys (Grift Of The Magi) was about the best episode in season 11 (that's not saying much, I know). i think many people hate this episode because they see the plotline as completely ridiculous, but it's actually a lot closer to reality than you'd think. it was constantly amusing, and had a odd but relatively satisfactory ending, but its satire needed to be a whole lot more subtle. the effect of it was somewhat lessened because it was dressed up in typical Scully era wackiness.

["Jamie"; Sun, 08 Dec 2002 17:39:44 GMT]

Er ... 'cause it was funny?

sez you, woman

["Jamie"; Sun, 08 Dec 2002 19:17:46 GMT]

Me a man!

I actually thought the "Mayor of Albuquerque" bit was a good laugh, but after watching the episode in syndication later, it works much better there. I actually found myself rooting for Homer as he ran around the field (not something that was very common in season 12), wheras in the original that last scene is a good gag, but spoils the mood.

Jamie wrote:

[Hungry Hungry Homer]

Actually, I liked the ending of "Hungry Hungry Homer". Of course, there wasn�t much point (as usual) but it didn�t spoil the episode with forced zaniness or abrupt self-irony or some other S11/S12 stuff.

There are IMO better examples for forced crazyness to correct a possibly serious scene, just take "Strummer Vacation". When Homer tries to sing on stage, we have a scene with character potential. But what happens then? All the funny guest stars go nuts, chase Homer, chaos, violence, loudness, superfun. Everything to celebrate the Scully traditions. "Strummer Vacation" is nevertheless the best Season 14 episode I�ve seen so far, but I haven�t seen the latest 2 episodes.

Take HOMR as second example. The plot about Homer�s alienation from society would have serious potential (and the writers would have used such a potential in a Season like Season 7, I have no doubt about that) but in Season 12, most parts of the story are slapstick and bathroom humor. The word "crayon" was mentioned after 11 minutes for the first time, not much airtime left for an actual story then.

That�s the typical 3-act-division in Season 13.

I�ve found a short review about "She of Little Faith" on my website. The review was written by Abman but it�s pretty close to my own opinion.

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She Of Little Faith (C+)

Sure, it was about religion, but this episode could have done so much more with its subject. Lisa searching for a new religion, that could have been worth a whole episode, but here, we just get a few minutes, and then just a few minutes of Lisa actually being a Buddhist, most of that time taken up by an annoying cameo from Richard Gere. Was the rocket storyline necessary? That was just a tangent to the church being destroyed, which as a tangent to the church being rebuilt, which was a tangent to Lisa quitting church.

I don't mind plot tangents, as long as they don't detract from the main story like they did here. The satire of over commercialization of religion, when the church is rebuilt, was too obvious to be funny. I didn't really feel for Lisa when she ran away from home, the conflict between her and Marge was just too rushed and forced with the time allowed. But, before sounding too ungrateful, I'll say that I didn't hate this episode. It was pretty funny throughout (Homer singing while flossing, the barking angel, "my Satan's sense is tingling"). And I liked the rich characterizations of Marge, who wants the best for her daughter but holds too tightly and blindly to her own beliefs, and Lisa, whose conflict with Marge is easy to relate to. The episode is realistic, with good satire (as well as a moral at the end) about religious intolerance. Really, a mixed bag of an episode.

---------------

BTW, all Season 12/13 reviews by Abman under the URL

http://members.aol.com/Chris84792/twelve.htm

Chris

All the

superfun.

that is a much better example, as that devil car thing brought the whole episode down by a substantial amount, whereas the Albuquerque thing was tacked on at the end and not really that much of a problem (though it did sour the overall taste a bit). I had been very encouraged by what i had seen in Strummer Vacation up to the concert part, and the Homer testing the mic scene was very well done, and so when the devil car rolled into action, my brain consequently writhed in pain. the car didn't even actually DO anything! it drove around a bit then crashed off the stage! it was poorly animated as well....sheesh

< and then they stuck on the "I AM THE MAYOR OF ALBERQUERQUE!!!" bit. WHY?>

Thankfully it was cut in syndication. By god, they did something right.

["jmartin92"; Sun, 08 Dec 2002 06:09:23 GMT]

Animation is no less subject to criticism than non-animation. And animation is not worthy of less respect simply due to its animated nature.

episode has refreshing and lacked those 3

pfft. the rocket was funny

"mmm....pie pants"

I thought the satire here was bang-on. Great ep!

"Jamie" wrote in message news:...

"She of Little Faith" was not bad except for the guest star as usual.

They are trying their best to ruin the simpsons episodes with their presence. What was that guy doing in Springfield on Christmas Eve?

anyway, if we ignore that part, the episode wasn't that bad.

["Dennis Wilson"; Sun, 08 Dec 2002 05:39:12 GMT]

Don't you know that anyone who uses the "worst episode ever" phrase is automatically knocked down three notches on the credibility scale?

You haven't kept up with the times. The cognoscenti are rapidly reclaiming the phrase "worst episode ever."

Jay

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