Well, that seemed like kind of a dud. I don't want to incur the wrath of the lurking writers, but the stupid/crass jokes and timing and general style reminded me a little bit more of a season 11 episode. For example, most of the Costington's scene (except Bart's part and the fashion commentary), half the town being stupid enough to fall for a phony wedding between someone whose surname most of the guests know and "Lotta Cooties" - even Moe usually knows when he's been had by a fake name, Wiggum and the bear... It was an interesting idea to see Bart actually spend a long time in juvie, but the execution didn't work out so well. On the other hand, I did like the way Gina was characterized and acted; I wish more time was spent on that, either in episode time or jail time, since by the time we got a good handle on it the episode was nearly over. Anyway, I did like some isolated jokes, and the plot was intriguing to consider - maybe it will improve on second viewing...so how about a B-...-.
DYN: ...Costington's finally has a slogan ("Downtown's last gasp of class")? [were there any others in previous episodes?]
Previous episode references 5F20, DABF01: Trying to make Lisa look like someone older 2F20: Thinking an enclosed area is some sort of bathroom (it seemed less tasteful here, though...) CABF05: Charles Napier as warden (now of juvenile hall) (Also in EABF19, not as a warden) 8F03: Bart in jail 3F07: Bart in juvie, at least in a fantasy 1F02: A very gory Itchy and Scratchy's very gory part is not seen 3G04: Reference to "Do the Bartman"
Other reference: The Shawshank Redemption: "His judgment cometh and that right soon" seen on the wall of warden's office
Goofs -Lisa says that Homer gave Bart "negative reinforcement" - since that means encouraging behavior by taking away something unwanted, I would imagine Homer generally used _positive_ reinforcement. I don't know if the distinction is cared about outside the world of psychology, but I like being a jerk about it. -During the I&S movie's screening, Kearney sounds like Dolph. -Bart's been in love before (9F06, 2F04, DABF06...), so he should know girls don't have cooties - but I suppose he's allowed to forget that.
Some other comments -Is the title "The Wandering Juvie" or just "Wandering Juvie"? It sounds like there should be a "the," but I've seen it listed in various places without one. I don't know what it's supposed to be a reference to, so that doesn't help... -Is "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" being postponed? There was no promo for it during the credits, and tv.yahoo.com now lists a rerun of "The Margical History Tour" instead... -Does anyone have some sort of insider scoop on why Fox is now wiping all the TV ratings onto the screen like a clock, and why most of the time it's blue? It seems like such an odd thing to change, so I have to wonder if there's some real reason for it.