I�ve seen the two latest S14 episodes now, so here�s my short comment.
After the disappointing start of S14 finally some better news. The following text is of course very superficial, especially EABF03 would deserve a way more detailled review.
EABF02 Special Edna
Not bad. If that�s the official S14 vacation episode then it�s the best vacation episode for years. Pretty coherent story, some nice and imaginative jokes, almost no overdone and aimless rows of visual gags - a lot of positive aspects. Stuff like Homer�s funny dialogue with Little Richard or the entire Epcot/Disney satire (which is most of the time close enough to reality to work) gives the episode a certain quality, even the story flow is better than usual in these days.
A noticeable problem is maybe the now also usual division of the plot into more or less independent acts and the little too stretched story in the first half. Less stuff there (e.g. helicopter scene) would have brought more running time for the vacation plot, which starts pretty late. For an episode about character relation it�s also a little too plotdriven.
Whatever - a working story, a good selection of inspired jokes ("Enron�s Ride of Broken Dreams") and only a few crude jokes clearly lift the episode above S14 level and even far above the level of other (IMO truly bad) vacation episodes from S11 and S12.
EABF03 The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Another good episode, IMO even the best S14 episode so far. A big problem of recent episodes was IMO always that Homer�s behaviour towards Lisa was very mean or that he was way too stupid to show some real emotions. More positive material (like the ending of "HOMR") seemed too tagged on and too constructed. Thus I was very sceptical about a new Homer/Lisa episode - but it proved me wrong. The episode works surprisingly well, nice story, good characterization, and a lot of well-done jokes with sometimes almost classic flair.
The story works as a whole concept with almost no division into single sketch rows (a problem that we still see in parts of "Special Edna") and we see indeed 20 minutes of real story. That�s a very rare thing in recent seasons. There�s also a pretty high animation quality in the mirror scenes.
Critical remarks - there�s maybe a too strong tendency towards Homer torture, but it�s never too overdone or crude, only the screaming at the end seems a little inappropriate. Some jokes are of course more in recent style (Homer eats pants) and the scene with Skinner and the laser pointer is a matter of taste. Such things can�t spoil the episode for me, the story is too good and well-written. Here we have a candidate for grade B+ or even better.
Is there hope for EABF? We�ll see. S13 also had two good episodes in a row ("Jaws Wired Shut" and "Half-Decent Proposal") but couldn�t hold the quality level. It would be really great if there is a new awareness of quality among the writers and if the two episodes were indeed the first examples of real improvement in Season 14.
Chris