I decided to write a new review about one of my favorite episodes, namely 7F19 "Lisa�s Substitute". Although the review is again pretty long, it covers IMO only some parts of the true conceptual range of main- and subplot. The complexity is again too high.
It wasn�t easy to translate, I hope (as usual) everything�s understandable.
The capsule to 7F19 begins with the words "I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me" - a line that already shows the immense emotional power of the episode.
Already the Bart-subplot contains some remarkable satirical and ironical elements, for example the sex poster (as I already said in another post), the brilliant parody ("Simpson Defeats Prince) of the wrong headline that Dewey beat Truman in the 1948 presidential election, Martin who bad-mouthes Ray Bradbury, both Martin and Bart use the same slogan "A Vote for Bart is a Vote for Anarchy" to attract voters (brilliant idea), the satire about voters behaviour, the re-count etc. - all these are hints that there�s a very complex satire below the surface of the story.
The social implications about voters behaviour and about the serious fact, that elections could be won by unexpected groups if people don�t vote or too less people vote (everyone cheered for Bart but nobody voted, so Martin won) are clearly thought-provoking material for further discussion but I�ll concentrate the review on the Lisa-Plot. As we�ll see, the Bart-Plot is an essential part of the entire story, at least on a more conceptual level.
The episode is basically a sequel to 7G06 "Moaning Lisa" from S1 and has (as I have to admit) more class and depth than its too direct season-1-counterpart. We see again the old concept that Lisa tries to find a person she can intellectually (and emotionally) relate to. At first sight, the episode is about a simple childish crush for a teacher (as seen in various other series/sitcoms) but at second sight it goes IMO way deeper. Lisa is searching for a substitute *father*, a person she could relate to, a person who is equal to her, a person who could help her to "escape" from the suppression of her creativity. In S1 and 7G06, BGM was that person (for her musical creativity) and in 7F19 it�s Mr. Bergstrom (for her intellectual and emotional creativity.)
It�s always difficult to define the term, but that�s true character depth. The episode isn�t really about a simple crush (that�s just the surface story) but about Lisa�s old childhood angst, the fear of being alone in a world without person she can relate to. We�ve already seen in 7G06 that Homer and Lisa don�t communicate on the same level (when Lisa tried to tell him about her angst, Homer was only able to reply with "Ride the Homey horsey". He tried to understand, but he couldn�t <= important. See my 7G06 review for more) and that conflict is continued in 7F19 on a more complex level.
Lisa tries to be equal to Mr. Bergstrom, she tries to change him, she tries to change her and thus she also tries to leave her old life behind her - and that�s the final tragic element of the episode. Lisa tries to distance herself more and more from the family during the episode, she sees her "luck" on another place (why should she be Lisa Simpson with "bad" father Homer if she can be Lisa Bergstrom with a real person she can relate to.) That�s pretty clear in a couple of scenes, for example when she and Marge fold the laundry and Lisa argues, that her "love" and empathy for Mr. Bergstrom is much different (and also better) than Marge�s love for Homer. Marge reacts of course angry.
Lisa also tries to distance herself from Bart and from his run for class president and comments one of his more tasteless actions with "You'll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator" (a line that describes the style of many episodes in new seasons.) Mr. Bergstrom notices that Lisa is on a wrong way of denying her roots and he says to her that she�ll miss Bart one day, when she will be on other and better places. The scene is very important - another person (namely her "bad father" Homer) will later use almost the same words as her over-father Mr. Bergstrom. A brilliant emotional complexity.
At the end, Lisa loses Mr. Bergstrom (a foretaste of the conceptual similar loss of BGM) and during the excellent scene at the train station, she has to understand that she has choosen the wrong father. Mr. Bergstrom even reveals himself to her in a form he wouldn�t show to another child - he reveals himself as a fraud, a person that has to be sometimes here and sometimes there and that has to take on the form and "character" that is needed. "That's the problem with being middle-class. Anybody who really cares will abandon you for those who need it more."
The train-station-scene is maybe the deepest emotional moment of the entire show (what a difference to the stupid and superficial nonsense of recent seasons.) I guess a lot of people haven�t even tried to understand what the note Mr. Bergstrom gave to Lisa meant The note gave IMO Lisa back what she thought she had lost - her own identity. She is not alone. She isn�t Lisa Bergstrom, who has to live now without a person she can relate to. She has a family. She has a person she can relate to, a person she had refused to believe in. You are Lisa Simpson.
However, Lisa doesn�t understand the message of the note yet and her fear of being alone transforms into sadness and anger and there�s only one person that anger can be focussed on. You may notice that her emotional outburst takes place at the dinner table, when Marge points to Homer and says to Lisa "Tell your father". That leads to the famous "Baboon" scene, but all her anger is so empty and fleeting that the sadness immediately breaks through and she runs off in tears.
The following talk between Homer and his daughter repeats parts of the concepts Mr. Bergstrom has tried to show to Lisa (he understood her tragedy) and in the very same way Mr. Bergstrom revealed himself as a fraud to Lisa at the train station, Homer reveals himself now as her father and "Monkey Man" who isn�t intellectually equal to her, but who will always be there for her in his own emotional way (unfortunately, the character destruction of recent seasons has destroyed that concept.) It�s not really clear why Lisa decides to forgive Homer, maybe it was because of the similarity between what he said and what Mr. Bergstrom said. Maybe she finally understood the meaning of the note.
Mr. Sam Etic, the voice of Mr. Bergstrom, was of course Dustin Hoffman, the episode refers partly to "The Graduate", for example in the scene when Edna tries to seduce Mr. Bergstrom and we see a camera angle through her legs. The final scene of the episode (Homer talks to Marge) is recycled in episode 8F03 "Bart The Murderer".
The bad news - there are some 93 seconds cut in syndication, over 1 1/2 minutes of partly essential scenes are completely missing. That�s very bad, it makes the episode IMO almost unwatchable and clearly reduces the quality. I strongly recommend a full version, the DVD will solve that problem.
What else can I say about 7F19? It�s IMO a masterpiece of character depth and plot design and the complete antithesis of the empty and "freakin� funny" mainstream of these days. It�s still fascinating how much empathy and identification with the characters and how much content and depth can be found in just 20 minutes (a lot of big budget animated movies with their perfect animation seem IMO pretty weak in comparison to that.)
7F19 is the kind of episode that is able to stir a wider range of emotions (much different from simple fun) and to send shivers down your spine and also the kind of episode that can make you even more angry if you see the degradation of todays show. And whoever thinks it�s crazy and laughable to say such things about a "crudely drawn" nonsense cartoon, allright, you�re free to think that. 7F19 is one of the best episodes ever (IMO) and of course grade A+.
Let me finish with the first line of the capsule ""I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me." And that�s it.
Comments are as usual welcome.
Chris
P.S. There�s an interesting comment by Paul Kornreich about the episode in the SNPP capsule. I recommend the comment, it shows some further thoughts I haven�t mentioned.
P.P.S. Comments would be really welcome, no comments make me always think nobody cares.