Well, status quo remarks aside, that was nice. This is the kind of Ned Flanders I like seeing best - not insanely self-righteous, just a saintly neighbor. It takes a lot to really anger him, of course; the dynamics and character between him and Homer (and Marge) were pretty neat - the sympathy, the handyman escalation, eviction and stuff (and even Homer messing up his second chance with Grampa). Actually, it even seemed to make a decent use of the new four-act structure. OK, so the ending was a little tidy, but still. Even though it's not really a Ned episode, it just had the sort of warm-toasty-Flanders feeling of Hurricane Neddy (4F07) and Alone Again... (BABF10). Some silly things I wasn't crazy about: Homer's actually-nice "surprise" (didn't match the tone of what preceded it), Marge narrating the cake, Bart's red hair, yeesh.
Opening notes (besides the obvious): -Crow left to right again -Ralph: "I see stars!" -Moe's Tavern: now with electricity! -Barney: "Bart!" -new sax solo (#35) -in LABF02 and LABF03, Disco Stu makes an utterance when Bart skates by, but not in LABF01 -TV falls off again (I notice that in LABF02 last week, when it didn't, it was nonstandard TV music too)
DYN: ...the title's namesake was used for BABF10 (Alone Again, Natura- diddly), another heavy Ned episode? ...Couch 1989-2009? (While they had a couch in the only episode shown in 1989, of course, it had no couch gag!) ...Quimby says it's 4 in the morning in Zurich? (at dusk in Feb/March (Mardi Gras) - if he is right, they're pretty far west in the country) ...Countryfine lemonade and mortgage? (I guess the lemonade reference is to Country Time) ...Gil sounds a little off? ...Homer's weight marks don't list age or another time scale? ...near the start of act 2, because of the new framing/scene setup, Lisa appears to be standing on top of the Fox logo? ...Ned tests "Jesus" on Biblical knowledge, even though you are not supposed to test him? ...the home DVD player is slot-loading now? ...unless I heard both the name and the voice wrong, the wife in the prospective rental couple is named Nancy and voiced by Nancy (Cartwright)?
Previous episode references 8F23: Couch gag features the death of a couch, reminiscent of the new couch in that episode 3F03: Homer and invitations to a huge party concerning Ned DABF13: Taking copper wire gag 3F23: Various Springfielders looking to buy the house 5F07: Taking all the Simpsons' stuff/empty house 3F12: Property auction of Krusty's stuff similar 4F07: The housing charity stuff with Ned and shelter scenes remind me of this