The latest two S14 episodes

I�ve seen the latest 2 episodes now, here some short personal comments.

After the surprisingly positive EABF02 and EABF03 back to the standard level of S14.

EABF04 "Strong Arms of The Ma"

Many people have noticed the contradictions in that episode, I just wonder if the writers didn�t know 2F21 "Springfield Connection" or if they just didn�t care about continuity and logic. Well, cartoons don�t have to make sense. The basic idea with Marge�s compensation of her fears isn�t bad but it�s IMO shown in a way too overdone and hasty way. We have some interesting scenes in the first act and there would have been much potential for an even more serious story than usual after the typical event/gag row with the visual gags (Homer eats knife, Tetris in the car) at the beginning.

But what happens then - a lot of crude gags, chaos, violence. Sure, the episode has some nice movie references but almost every character integrity falls flat. What would an OFF fan from the classic years say if you tell him that Marge rapes Homer? I know that Marge�s behaviour has some satirical meaning but I don�t think that story really works. Marge�s change of character at the end comes flat and abrupt, maybe because there�s no more airtime and jokes left.

Concerning the movie references - some scenes are too over-emphasized for my taste - the postman scene for example. The "Twilight Zone" reference itself should be quite clear, so is it really necessary that the postman reads a TZ magazine and that the TZ theme plays to underline the reference? It�s just like saying "There�s a reference. In your face."

EABF06 "Pray Anything"

We had some brilliant episodes about religious issues in the classic years, "Bart Sells His Soul" for example (read my review) and also "Homer the Heretic". The latter showed Homer�s own special relation to God and the church with smart wit and content. So what about a new episode that tries to repeat a similar topic in Season 14?

Aside from the usual dose of "funny" jokes (Moe wants to marry Gil, monkeys throw dirty diapers at peoples faces) I�d say the new episode reduces the classic idea to a collection of scenes with a more or less thin plotline. Some moments - like Homer dancing in church with KISS music - show a little irony and some jokes are almost nice or point towards unused potential. The story is pretty flat, the "message" constructed and the ending too tacked on. Symptomatic is maybe once again Lisa�s strangely passive behaviour. Serious implications about an issue? Nah. I think a comparison between this episode and "Homer The Heretic" shows how weak the show has become.

Not to be misunderstood - both new episodes aren�t really bad ("Pray" is better than "Strong Arms") but we�re back to where we were before the positive "Special Edna" and "Knew Too Little" aired - mainstream. The episodes are acceptable and better than S11/S12 but also uninspired, superficial, wasting characters, and somehow empty.

Chris

I pretty much agree with this entire post. While these episodes don't have the ridiculously awful quality of the season 11-12 episodes but they just lack something, aren't very inspired, and just feel empty.

Also agreed with Chris, for the most part. I actually disliked Pray Anything quite a bit more though (its my seventh worst). The "message", as you said, just wasn't that well done, and it almost seemed confusing with the gag/setup runnings going so fast (I actually somehow didn't catch that the house falling apart was the REASON for them to live in the church....it went so quick I could barely process it), plus the characterizations that made Bart Sells his Soul and Homer the Heretic (in the latter, for instance, Homer is actually incredibly lovable) work so well are pretty much non-existant and/or cheapened for jokes about animal "hanky panky" and Homer getting electrocuted in his tongue. The episode pretty much went against everything I like about the show, and that includes the fact that I also don't think I laughed once during the whole thing.

Anyways, though, good reviews as usual that I can pretty much agree with.