Season 2: Episode 6 - Dead Putting Society

Flanders is truly a legendary secondary character in the Simpsons. While modern episodes portray him as more of a religious nut who seem to have nothing else better to do other than scrutinize TV shows, the earliest of the classical era sees him as a normal religious man who maybe somewhat over-reliant on Christianity, but still full of character and life. In this episode, we get our first real look at Ned Flanders, and their relationship to the Simpsons.

When Homer is invited over to Flanders' for a cold beer, he is enraged by Flanders' better station in life than him. Whether it is in "Simpsons Roasting On an Open Fire" or here, the Flanders have always been portrayed as a family that not only is more financially well off than the Simpsons, but also seem more coherent and united as a family. Whether it is Todd kissing his father on the cheek, or his expensive playroom basement, everything seems to be planned to rub Homer in the face. As a result of Homer's outrage, Ned throws him out of his house and Homer stomps home.

At home, Homer is unable to find any faults with Ned Flanders, and is unable to express his dissatisfaction of the Flanders. As a result, when Homer and Bart meets the Flanders at a little putt golf course, Homer quarrels Ned into signing up their child to a putting league and placing a high stake of the loser's parent mowing the lawn in their wife's dress in order to have a chance at humiliating Ned. As a result, Bart is pressured into wining the league.

Here, we begin to see some of Homer's obnoxious parenting. Whether it is forcing Bart into giving his putter a girl's name ("Mom?"), or it is claiming that Bart is out of the family if he fails, Homer really is doing Bart more harm than good. However, you do have to feel for Homer for his dedication. From sitting at Bart's bedside all night before the tournament to asking for Marge's opinion on a less humiliating dress when he thinks all hope is lost, Homer is desperate to put down Flanders in order to satisfy his petty pride Luckily, Bart receives some proper putting coaching from Lisa and manages to make a tie with Todd on the day of the tournament.

Homer is nothing if not relentless and simpleminded. Even though Todd and Bart had a tie, Homer is still determined to humiliate Ned Flanders even if he has to wear a woman's dress himself. To his dismay, while Ned utilizes this opportunity to entertain himself and the crowd to make the experience more enjoyable, Homer is mostly annoyed that his plan not only didn't work, but also backfired.

Homer is a petty but determined man. When he sets his mind on anything, he will follow through in any way possible in order to accomplish the task. Whether it is humiliating Ned Flanders or, in a future episode, buying Lisa a pony, Homer is willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish whatever that he feels is right. At the same time, we see a bit more of Ned Flanders not only as a simple one dimensional character, but morphed into a real human being that generally has a better life than Homer, but also is a normal religious man.

Characterization: 5/5
Plot; 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 2: Episode 5 - Dancin' Homer

The Simpsons have always been small town people. Living in a small town like Springfield has its benefits and its disadvantages, and for better or for worse, the Simpsons are stuck here for all eternity. In "Dancin' Homer", we see what happens when small town folks like the Simpsons move into the big Capital City.

When the Simpsons go to a company outing for a baseball game and after Bleeding Gum Murphy's hour long anthem, Homer's rambunctious dancing nets the Isotopes their first win in 29 games. As a result, the team owner gives Homer a job as a mascot. While later years Simpsons will put Homer in random crazy jobs, here the job at least suits Homer with his impulsive happy-go-lucky personality.With this new job, Homer finally finds something he loves and is successful at. As more and more Springfieldians come to not watch the Isotopes but watch Homer, the owner offers a great opportunity to be a mascot in the capital city.

Here we see Marge being strangely supportive of moving to Capital City. Marge has always been a more cautious, an almost foil to Homer type of character. Her decision to support Homer in, more or less, impulsively moving to Capital City is somewhat strange to me. Nevertheless, the Simpsons go to Capital City and see all the great sites that they have missed over the years. From 4th road and D street, to a bum wiping their windshield, the Simpsons indulge themselves in all that a big city can offer. However, when it comes time for Homer to shine on the ballpark, he is horrified to find that big city people don't find his dancing entertaining, and sees it as a means to make a fool of himself.

With Homer's failure as a mascot for the big city, he is fired and moves back to Springfield. Even though Homer is disappointed that he humiliated himself in front of the big city crowd, he finds comfort among his family and his friends.

This episode definitely has it shares of bloopers. For one thing, while Homer and the Simpsons don't belong in Capital City, Homer was successful at entertaining Springfield and could have easily continued his mascot career back at home. Secondly, it seems as though Homer sold all their house possessions already before they left, so what are they going to live in if they sold all their furniture and such?

This episode certainly isn't the best the classic era has to offer. However, much like all other episodes, it grounds itself in reality. While its execution in both characterisation and plot maybe a little off, it generally has a theme that abides by the values the Simpsons portray. In the end, the episode still gave a more or less realistic portrayal of the Simpsons' trip to Capital City and its effects on them. The ending may seem a little forced and the characterisation may seem a little off and there are tiny plot holes, but the episode still is mostly portrays a workable Simpsons story.

Characterisation: 4.5/5
Plot: 2.5/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 8/10

Season 2: Episode 4 - Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish

As mentioned before, The Simpsons is known for its brilliant outlook on many different aspects of life. Whether it is family, gay issues or in this case, politics, The Simpsons always bring their views onto the table while giving fair presentations of both sides of every issue. In this episode, we get to see our every first glimpse of the writers' take on elections and politics in general.

When Bart and Lisa manages to fish a three eyed fish out of a pond that is being dumped radioactive waste from the nuclear plant, the nuclear plant is put up for inspection. Needless to say, the plant fails the inspection to such a degree that Burns attempts to bribe the inspector. After being forced to either shut down the unsafe plant or spend 55 million dollars fixing it, Burns, with words of inspiration from Homer, plans to run for governor. Here, much like the election team in real life, Burns' election team is split into two groups, where one is used to make an evil Burns appear like a saint, while the other to trash his opponent as much as possible.

Burns is an infamous character in Springfield, and to make him popular among voters is truly no small feat. With his brilliant campaign that are "the best money can buy", Burns soars in voters' popularity. It is important to realise that while it seems that the corruption of the election may seem to have only come from the campaign team, the writers' also point their fingers at the voters. While Bailey seem to trust that the voters are not "gullible fools" that Burns believe they are, Burns' campaign videos consisting of false and repetitive empty promises with flashy cover ups ("Super Fish!"). However, such phoniness do manage to sway a lot of voters like Barney and Grampa Simpson, who represent the less intelligent and lower class citizens.

To secure Burn's victory, the campaign team  asks him to dine in one of his employees' house on the night before election to reestablish his connection with the common man in the form of Homer Simpson. Throughout the episode, Marge and Lisa represents the righteous and more intelligent citizens, who are alone in their defence of the uncorrupted Mary Bailey. When Burns visits their house and threatens to overtake Bailey to win governor position. Marge pulls out a cooked three eyed fish and indirectly makes Burns devour his promises. When Burns spits out the fish, his campaign also falls with him as he trudges away back to his nuclear plant, not before vowing to make Homer's dreams unfulfilled.

"Two Cars In Every Garage and Three Eyes On Every Fish" not only brings up an important issue regarding to the nature of politics, but also represent them in a way that is much more mature than any other show could possibly imagine to present it. From bribing the safety inspectors to lavishing money on his campaign team, while The Simpsons points out the major problems of corruption regarding to candidates in the form Montgomery Burns, The Simpsons also recognises that the voters are either too greedy for their own good to choose a proper leader (such as Homer Simpson worrying about not getting fired), or just too stupid and buys into false promises( like Barney). It is a unique trait of the Simpsons possesses: the ability to present a view while not pointing out a clear villain, but claiming that all parties are responsible to at least some degree. Such mature and realistic takes on issues are one of the reasons why the Simpsons is one of the greatest shows ever.

Characterization: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 2: Episode 3 - Treehouse Of Horror I

Ahh, the very first Treehouse of Horror. A tradition that prevailed through the all of classical era and into the modern days. While the modern Treehouse Of Horrors are mostly lacklustre and forgettable, the Halloween special during the classical ages are a true show of the writers talents. For only one occasion every year, they are allowed to throw away plot believability, and write whatever their imagination carries them. In the classical era, the Treehouse Of Horror is a true indication of the writers' creativeness, and is still relevant years to come.

To me, Halloween specials don't necessarily have to be scary. Meaning, I don't really should have to have trouble going to bed after watching it. In a world where there are already children murdering their parents and people being burnt alive, it is getting increasingly difficult for people to be scared. However, although Treehouse Of Horrors don't necessarily have to be tamed, plot still must be coherent and characterisation must be at least reasonable: that means Homer is only allowed to want to kill Bart if he is possessed, but not by his own will.

Only the first Treehouse of Horror actually involves a treehouse, where the kids tell three scary tales in the treehouse with Homer outside eavesdropping on the stories. The first one involves your typical haunted house. When the Simpsons move into a house that is ridiculously under price, they find that the house is haunted. However, due to the low price saving Homer thousands of dollars, the Simpsons sleep through the night with the house mind controlling them into wielding a knife and running around in circles attempting to kill one another. When Marge finally confronts the talking house, the house is given a choice of destroying itself or living with the Simpsons. Seeing how the Simpsons is unwilling to leave, the house destroys itself.

The second story involves our first appearance with the aliens Kang and Clang. The aliens visit the Simpsons house and pick up the Simpsons onto their spaceship. At first, the aliens seem nice enough to give the Simpsons good food. However, a suspicious Lisa finds a cookbook titled "How to Cook Humans". The aliens interrupts and blows off some dust to reveal the title as "How To Cook For Humans". Lisa blows off some more and find it to be "How To Cook Forty Humans". And Clang changes it to "How To Cook For Forty Humans". In the end, the aliens are devastated that the humans suspected their welcoming gestures, and throw them back onto Earth, not before condemning their mistrustful nature.

The last story portrays Homer as a character in a poem where he confronts Bart the raven. Homer finds people knocking on the door, but no one is there. When Bart the raven flies into his room, Homer finds himself constantly pestered by this raven. After multiple futile attempts at chasing the raven out, Homer finds himself trapped in the room with the raven with devilish eyes and malicious contempt.

The Treehouse Of Horrors are truly interesting genre of the Simpsons. While they may not conform to your typical style of Simpsons episodes, each and every segment of the Halloween special has a very distinct Simpsons feel to it. Even though most of the stories are overused scary stories (haunted houses, alien abduction...), the writers always put a Simpson spin on all of them. While the Treehouse Of Horrors don't truly offer any tremendous insight into the Simpsons, its brilliant parodies of other works entertains those who do know the source material and still have something left over for those like me who doesn't.

Because it is a Treehouse Of Horror episode, there won't be distinct categories on marking. Partly because I don't really know how to be perfectly objective in marking these episodes, and partly because plot believability is out of the window and non standard Simpsons episodes are generally not my forte. So there only will be an overall mark.

Overall: 8.5/10

Season 2: Episode 2 - Simpson And Delilah

The Simpsons is considered one of the best shows and ground breaking for many reasons. Among them include an honest portrayal of a family that realistically resembles most families here on Earth. Another is its general take on major topics not blatantly, but with subtlety. In "Simpsons And Delilah", we get a glimpse of  how classic Simpsons handle some of such issues while remaining subtle and present a mostly objective look at such issues.

When Homer is presented a cheap commercial regarding a "miracle cure" to male baldness, Homer, in typical light headed impulsive Homer fashion, rushes to purchase said product. Upon finding out the product costs $1000, he finds a way to exploit the company insurance to pay for it. After he uses it, for once and truly miraculously Homer gets his hair and is immediately spotted by Mr.Burns. In typical "judge a book by its cover" fashion, Mr. Burns randomly promotes Homer to junior executive and to a "better life".

With his new position, Homer needs an assistant for himself. While looking for a good applicant, Homer finds a perfect worker for him in the form of Karl. Karl is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Homer. From teaching Homer company cultures that he must learn to survive as a junior executive, to finding a perfect suit for him to hide his less than perfect body shape, to even planning a surprise for Marge, Karl is much less of an employee for Homer than a life partner.  However, in typical classic Simpsons style, Karl's sexuality is done with subtlety. Rather than outlandishly giving Karl gay stereotypes, this episode handles controversial issues such as this expertly by portraying Karl as a normal nice guy, and just like all non gay characters.

With Karl's help, Homer becomes extremely successful. From being able to increase worker's production rate to decreasing accident rates, Homer is becoming more and more favored by Burns. After a bathroom incident of Smithers being shut down by Homer to dry his boss' hands, Smithers takes revenge by finding out about Homer's exploitation of company insurance to buy the hair product. With Burn's stingyness and Burn's permission to fire Homer. Smithers sets up to get Homer. However, again Karl steps in and saves Homer in the form of taking the responsibility and getting himself fired. Homer doesn't get away cleanly though, Karl is gone from him.

To make matters worse, Bart spills Homer's hair solution at home. Now without his hair, Karl does him one last favor by writing him a major speech for Homer to present where failure could mean being fired from the company. In a typical Simpsons style, Karl instills in Homer typical sitcom morals by telling him that hair is not the reason that Homer is successful. However, also in typical Simpsons fashion, the moral is flipped when Homer is undermined at the speech simply because of his hair. Back at the nuclear plant, Burns considers firing Homer, but instead demotes Homer back to his original job in a rare act of kindness.

The Simpsons in its classic era is boundlessly creative. Back in the 1990's, shows in general, much less cartoons, tend to avoid discussing gay issues. The Simpsons, however, not only portrays a real gay character in the form of Karl, but also is able to do it with such expertise while presenting a mostly non biased and realistic look at gay people. Whereas other shows may have ended with Homer making a brilliant speech at the end and reinforcing the age old moral, the Simpsons not only is able to challenge the status quo by providing a more realistic and mature look at the situation, but also gives a fair view of the gay issues in general.

Characterization: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 2: Episode 1 - Bart Gets An F

After a summer of Bartmania in 1990, the second season opens with a much more down-to-earth look at Bart Simpson. While season one was responsible for the creation of a portrayal of Bart that seems anti societal and as an American bad boy in general, here we truly see him where he is most vulnerable. And like a typical kid, he has hopes and dreams and fear of failure.

In "Bart The Genius", Bart was portrayed as a lackluster academic performer. That theme is continued here as Bart fails to give a proper book report on Treasure Island after Martin Prince's fantastic Old Man and The Fish report. When Bart flunks another test after utilizing many of his friends to give him false answers, he is subjected to the dreaded parent meeting where Mrs.Krappapple reveals that Bart must stay in the fourth grade if he should fail another test. Here we see a hint of the more natural and vulnerable side of Bart: Even though he seems to be a happy-go-lucky prankster most of the time, he is still as much a kid as any other children. When subject to a future of spending another year in fourth grade and being humiliated, he vows to pass the next test.

Bart definitely tries. However, just as any other kid, he is easily distracted and cannot concentrate. When Bart spends another unproductive night drawing random scribbles on his textbook, he prays for a snowstorm to delay his test. He gets his wish in the form of a brilliant scene of every character in Springfield playing and celebrating in the once in lifetime summer snow. To prevent himself from getting distracted, he locks himself in the basement to study. To his dismay, his studying can only come in the form of imagining congressman writing their names in the snow.

When the day of the test arrives, Bart is horrified to find that even through his most earnest efforts, he still fails the test. In a complete breakdown, he balls out at the teacher and accidentally utters historic references. In sympathy for Bart, Mrs. Krappapple raises his mark by 1, barely passing Bart who ecstatically kisses the teacher and leaps out of the room.

While the ending may seem a little cheesy and stretching the realism a little bit, "Bart Gets An F" adds another dimension to Bart's characterization. While he maybe a non conformist bad boy, he still is a kid who wants to do well in life. Just as any other human being who is at stake of failing a test, Bart has his fears and when it comes down to it, he will try everything in his capability to do his best, but that can only take him so far. At the end, Bart is never that good at academics and when he performs at his absolute 100%, he merely only gets a bare pass. Whether its tests or just life in general, sometimes when we give absolutely everything we have, we can only take satisfaction in a 60 marks paper next to a wall of 100 marks papers from other people.

Characterization: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1 Thoughts

The Simpsons began as a ground breaking show. After Season one's airing, Bart mania hit in the summer of 1990 as massive T-shirt and other crappy Simpsons merchandise sales exploded. At first, the Simpsons is mostly looked as a show to go for one-liners and funny jokes. After all, "D'oh" made the dictionary and "Aye Carumba" and "I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?" are so popular that it literally is known by everyone nowadays. However, as we all know, the Simpsons is so much more than that.

Many Simpsons fans writes off season one as a classic episodes. While a few of the reasons that have been brought up for this maybe valid, many of the reasons merely indicates the Simpsons characters look and behave differently from the later seasons. For me, I feel that the definition of Classical era is a close portrayal of a real and functional imperfect family. In Season One, while it can be said that Smithers is black (Herp Derp), Marge gets drunk, and Homer actually wants the family to behave and contemplates suicide, it is either so trivial or done in a way that is believable. For example, Marge getting drunk and Homer wanting the family to behave are off characterisations, but they don't affect that Marge is mostly unappreciated and loves her family for who they are, and it doesn't change the fact that Homer is a selfish buffoon but does everything he can for his family. Getting drunk and Smither is black are merely differences on the surface, but the heart in those characters never changed when transitioning from Season one to Season two and so on.

Ultimately, I feel that Season one is really the most underrated season in all of the Simpsons. While it is true that there is an off episode called "Homer's Night Out", episodes like that also exist in other classical seasons. In general, I feel that although Season One does have some surface differences compared to other classic seasons, the characters still conform to what we will see in later classical seasons. The characterisations and the storytelling are still consistent, and I do feel that Season One is a solid groundbreaking season that created a solid foundation for later brilliant seasons to come.

Note: All seasons will have the same rating format as episodes. Except that each scoring will be an average of all the episodes within the season. The only scoring that won't be an average is subjective section, which is my view on the season itself. The seasons will still be rated out of 10.

Season 1 Ratings:

Characterisation: 4.8/5
Plot: 2.9/3
Subjective: 1.5/2

Overall Season Rating: 9.2/10

Season 1: Episode 13 - Some Enchanted Evening

After twelve episodes that set the stage for the groundbreaking Simpsons, we end an amazing Season One with a more wacky episode that seems to be more Season 4 to 6 like. The animation in this episode feels off, and the episode originally actually had horrible animation because it was apparently created in Korea, but regardless I can easily overlook all of those surface faults to see the Simpsons at work underneath it all.

We begin the episode with Marge, calling a telephone hot line to Dr. Monroe, after being ignored by her family during breakfast, complaining that she doesn't get enough appreciation from Homer. Dr. Monroe feeds her horrible advice, claiming that her husband sees her nothing other than a mother for a pig. It is a wonderful satire about those radio telephone hot line, claiming to have experts on the line to help you with your marriage, but really offering nothing other than to break your marriage apart. However, Marge listens to the advice and plans to explode at Homer when he comes home from work.

Homer overhears the radio at work, and is horrified of coming home. Instead, he goes to Moe's and gets some advice there, and buys a bunch of flowers and plans a dinner at a fancy restaurant and a motel room. When Homer comes home with flowers in his hands and a timid "I love you", all is forgiven as Marge and Homer call for a babysitter for the kids and goes off into the night.

The other story in this episode is about the kids and the babysitter. After some prank calling entertainment from Bart, Bart and Lisa settles in to watch TV as Maggie is put to bed. However, the two children manages to spot a TV show about escaped culprits which apparently shows that their babysitter is a bandit. When the babysitter comes in, Bart and Lisa are tied up as the babysitter goes off to steal the family's items. Maggie manages to come downstairs and untie Bart and Lisa, and the kids hit the bandit on the head with a bat and hogties her.

Back at the motel, Marge calls home and finds that no one is answering the phone. Homer and Marge races home to find the kids missing and the babysitter hogtied. Without any questions, Homer frees the babysitter and lets her go free with triple pay. When Bart finally manages to get the police and reporters to the house to take the babysitter away, Homer is caught freeing the bandit. Homer moans about how stupid he is, and Marge consoles him by claiming that he is able to raise three kids that are able to hogtie a stranger.

While this story can be a little wacky and walks the fine line between unrealistic and probable, it is still a nice little show that is able to come up with a theme and tie everything together. Like "The Call Of The Simpsons", because this episode is also mostly based around wackiness and jokes and much less about realism, I have mixed feelings about it as well. If I really want to scrutinise this episode harshly, I can say that similar to Maggie taming a bear, it is impossible for Maggie to untie Bart and Lisa, so the plot believability maybe a little off. But again like "The Call Of The Simpsons", because this episode is also more about the storyline and less about the characterisation, I will mostly let it go as well. All in all, there are enough jokes and interesting and cohesive story telling in here to make me like this episode and deemed classic worthy.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 2.5/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 8.5/10

Season 1: Episode 12 - Krusty Gets Busted

In the universe of the Simpsons, Krusty has always been the most successful celebrity on TV and always will be. From the kids to the adults, everyone loves Krusty (and will kill themselves if Krusty goes off-air). Over the years, the show has used this character for many things. From meta commentary on their own show, to satirical comments about the general entertainment industry, Krusty and Itchy and Scratch always had a special place in the Simpsons. In this very first episode about Krusty though, we not only get our usual comments about the entertainment industry, but also get a look at how much Bart truly idolises the clown.

Our first look at the episode is about the nature of the Krusty show. From shooting sideshow Mel out of a cannon, to chanting “love Krusty" lines, we see that the Krusty show is just your typical kids' cartoon show which appeals to the kids' love for wacky physical abuse and glamorous set pieces. From there, we see Homer horrified at the fact that he has to sit through another one of the visits from Marge's sisters, and stops by to pick up some ice-cream. At the Kwik-E-Mart, Homer witnesses Krusty robbing the store and reports to the police. Back at home, we see Bart devastated at the news. The child truly idolises Krusty, and is horrified that his childhood hero turns out to be a crook.

With Krusty behind bars, Sideshow Bob takes over the show. Sideshow Bob is a completely different man compared to Krusty. While Krusty is a more glamorous clown who utilises shallow physical jokes to appeal to the kids, Sideshow Bob truly wants to instill something in the children. Unlike Krusty, he wants the children to learn something from his show. From reading novels to discussing preadolescence troubles, Sideshow Bob is someone much more learnt than Krusty and genuinely believes that the children can be something more than just Krusty's shenanigan eaters.

We also see the nature of the children's devotion. Unlike Bart, Lisa and the other kids merely see Krusty as a clown, a tool for entertainment. Also unlike Bart, Krusty is not truly their hero and so they aren't as devastated and bandwagons quickly to love Sideshow Bob. With the children completely switching their faith, Bart still believes that Krusty is framed and enlists Lisa to help him to prove it. At the Kwik-E-Mart, Bart's suspicion is confirmed as Lisa points out many holes in Sideshow Bob's framing of Krusty. At the Sideshow Bob's show, Bart reveals and proves Sideshow Bob to be the real crook on stage. Krusty is finally freed and Bart gets a signed poster from Krusty.

This episode is often credited with its introduction of Sideshow Bob and the chain of hilarious episodes about him afterwards. Here though, we also see that the children's devotion is Krusty is paper thin. They don't really love Krusty for who he is, but for his glamorous set pieces and his shooting people out of a cannon. It also shows that while it maybe true that Sideshow Bob is able to instill more knowledge in the kids and the show might be more beneficial to the children if ran by him, it is ultimately still the low brow, easy-to- understand comedy that the kids enjoy. After all, they are kids. So why should they be pestered with literature from a comedy show.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 11 - The Crepes Of Wrath

So after a lacklustre "Homer's Night Out", we get our very first Simpsons travel episode. While in the future travel episodes seem to be more about the country the Simpsons are in, in this very first travel episode we get more of a focus about the Simpsons compared to France. Furthermore, compared to future episodes with nothing to offer other than their overused stereotypes, I would much rather have a more down to earth episode about the Simpsons.

We begin the episode with Bart littering everywhere on the floor. His littering causes Homer to fall down a flight of stairs breaking his back. Marge comes home and demands Bart to clean up the mess and in the process, he finds a cherry bomb. At school, Bart's cherry bomb prank causes the school's toilets to explode, sending Skinner's mother flying into the air. As a result, Skinner recommends the Simpsons to send Bart to France on an exchange program so that the school doesn't have to deal with him anymore. Bart complies and in return to sending Bart to France, the Simpsons get an Albanian kid in return.

Upon arriving in France, Bart is horrified that his dream of shopping and touring Paris is crushed when he meets two malevolent winemakers who work Bart day and night. Compared to his life in Springfield, his life here is hell. From being forced to sleep on cold hard ground, to being walking hours outside in the freezing rain, Bart's situation is desperate as his luggage is picked apart and taken by the winemakers and he has to fight with a donkey just to get some hay to sleep on. It is not so much a description of France than more of a focus about Bart's particular experience in France.

Back in Springfield, Homer makes a special connection with the Albanian kid. From calling him daddy, to being interested enough to actually visit Homer at the nuclear plant, Homer is touched to have a "son" who seems to be so much better than Bart. While some people may find offense in Homer's claim that he wished he had a son like Adehl and not like Bart, it is only in character for Homer to feel that way. Compared to earlier episodes like "Life On The Fast Lane", and later episodes like "Lisa's Substitute", the Simpsons acknowledge that their family members are not perfect, and that Jacques maybe a better husband than Homer, and Mr.Bergstrom may be a better father than Homer, and in this case, Adehl maybe a better son than Bart. It is only human for the Simpsons to feel that way, but at the end Homer never lost his love for Bart. Eventually, Homer brings Adehl to the nuclear plant and we see that Adehl is more interested about the top secret plutonium than about seeing Homer. As a result, it is revealed that Adehl is a spy and has the SWAT team on his tails. Eventually, Adehl is deported back to Albania.

Back in Paris, Bart finally gets his opportunity when he manages to meet a police in the streets and report that the winemakers are putting antifreeze in the wine. The winemakers are captured and sent to prison, and Bart finally gets his freedom and is awarded for his efforts. Back in Springfield, the Simpsons are ecstatic that Bart is back and actually brought them something. Bart may not be a perfect son for Homer, but then again Homer isn't exactly a perfect father either. Besides, at least Bart won't fake an interest in Homer's work to steal power plant secrets and end up being a spy.

The first travel episode is unique in that not only is it the first, but it is also the only one that also offers something about the Simpsons and much less about the country the Simpsons travel to. Compared to future classical travel episodes like  "The City Of New York vs Homer Simpson", the episode feels different in that it has a completely different tone. However, this episode is definitely worthwhile in that it give us a perspective into the Homer and Bart relationship.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 10 - Homer's Night Out

So after a really down to earth Marge and Homer episode with "Life On The Fast Lane", we get our second Marge and Homer marriage crisis episode. This one is more of a blooper. Especially coming right after "Life On The Fast Lane", it is really memorable in that it really reminds you of modern Marge and Homer episodes. Apart from the setup of "Homer fucking up and redeeming himself to Marge", it is littered with problems of unrealistic resolutions and weird motivation changes that will be magnified hundreds of times in post classical episodes. Compared to modern episodes it is obviously much more solid and interesting. However, compared to classical episodes, it really is the worst so far; definitely the worst of season one.

We begin the episode with a look at Homer attending a bachelor party and Marge and the kids eating at the same restaurant. At the bachelor party, Homer's assistant (or supervisor) gets his final bachelor freedom when a stripper enters. The stripper takes a shine to Homer, and we do see Homer being uncomfortable about this. Homer obviously understands that he probably shouldn't dance with the stripper and understands how this will hurt Marge. But in the heat of the moment, he goes along anyways. When Bart, with his brand new spy camera, sneaks in and catches a glimpse of all this excitement, he takes a picture and now Homer's crime is recorded forever.

When Bart takes his picture to school to print it out, he is persuaded into giving Millhouse a copy. As a result, the picture is massively circulated and within a few days, it is reprinted so many times that literally everyone has a copy. I don't really buy this in that I really doubt that a picture of a random stranger dancing with a stripper can be this popular such that it becomes more circulated than newspaper, especially since its sources began with an elementary school. But anyways, when Marge manages to get a copy of the picture, she is understandably upset. She explodes on Homer when he comes home, and throws Homer out and Homer is forced to stay with Barney for the night.

Now at this point I'd like to point out that all the characters are still in their proper place. Homer made a mistake. He didn't really mean to do it and as we can see he obviously is sorry and cares enough to not go party with Barney and reminiscent about Marge at Barney's apartment. Marge is also sad that Homer did this and the lack of Homer in the house really did affect the kids as well. However, for some reason after Homer comes back on the second day, it seems that Marge seems to be upset about Homer for treating woman like objects. But wait a minute, I thought Marge is upset because Homer is disloyal to her. I don't understand why Marge would throw Homer out if she is merely unhappy about how Homer is treating woman. Couldn't she just talk to him about it? It maybe understandable for Marge to throw Homer out if she feels Homer no longer cares about her anymore to dance with a stripper, but I feel that treating woman like an object is a problem that should be talked over at home. Although it can be said that Marge realises that Homer didn't dance with the stripper on purpose, but is merely pressured into it, but I do feel that if that's so, we should be shown how Marge realises this and focuses on some other problems. It is like one minute Marge is upset at Homer for being disloyal to her, and the next minute it is completely fine. It just seems like the wild mood swing that modern Simpsons would have, and that it shouldn't happen in Season one.

It is sad to say that from there on the episode takes a turn for the worse. Marge demands Homer to find the stripper and apologise to her for treating her like an object. Homer obliges in order to make up to Marge. He goes to a ton of strip clubs and finally finds her. Then while talking to her, Homer apparently gets lifted up into the air and drops a flight of stairs. He apparently somehow is known by name by everyone at the strip club even though the photos never showed his name and dances with the strippers again. Upon seeing Bart, he realises that he needs to give a heartfelt speech about how woman aren't objects and as a result, the crowd is completely overtaken and muses about their wives and daughters and such.

First of all, I want to say given the stakes raised in this episode about Marge and Homer's marriage crisis, it shouldn't all of a sudden switch to Homer trying to find a stripper and apologise. It completely undermines any emotions the episode may have contained. Second of all, this episode really feels like it has lost its direction. It doesn't really know what it wants to be: a down to earth episode like "Life on the Fast Lane", or a comedic episode like "The Call Of The Simpsons". While the first part of the episode seems to setup a major crisis with Marge throwing Homer out, the second half completely switches gears into Homer being raised by a bird's cage and then falls down a bunch of stairs. I am not saying physical comedy shouldn't be in the Simpsons. "Call Of The Simpsons" had Homer getting stung by bees and something like 20 seconds of Homer and Bart screaming down the waterfall, but at least there it fits in the tone of the episode; it knows where it's going. Here, it just doesn't fit given Marge just threw Homer out of the house.

Finally, the resolution is just really bad. Imagine that if you are going to a strip club, and you hear some guy talking about how woman are not objects, are you going to show a picture of your mom to a stranger and then just leave? Does it sound plausible in real life? The Simpsons is a portrayal of real life, and Homer's speech shouldn't really move anybody, especially since he just danced with a bunch of strippers and the audience know Homer stuffed a dollar bill in Princess Kashmir's panties in the photo. While it is true that Springfieldians seem to be easily swayed by a heartfelt speech as shown in "The Telltale Head", there the mob are like a bunch of chickens with their head cut off. They have no purpose in forming a mob and did so just because they feel like it. The mob mentality is to go with the crowd. They don't have individual purposes or any reasons to be there other than just to be part of the mob. So when one person "aww"s at Bart's speech, the whole mob also "aww"s and leaves because they don't know why they are there in the first place. Here it doesn't work because the people paid money to see the strippers. They all have an individual purpose and a reason to be at the strip club; they all want to see strippers strip. That's why a speech from Homer shouldn't really sway them. Instead the audiences should have just thrown shoes at Homer and yell at him to get off the stage. Furthermore, for some reason Marge just appears at the strip club. We are never shown how Marge got there and I thought Marge told Homer to go teach Bart a lesson himself. I guess it is just the beginning of people randomly popping out of nowhere in random scenes.

"Homer's Night Out" is going to be the first episode that is way below 8.5. It doesn't deserve to be deemed a classical episode. While it is true that there are some genuine classical Homer scenes, the whole episode really screws up on characterisation and plot. Marge shouldn't just suddenly have a change of heart or just suddenly appear at the strip club. Homer's speech just feels like some miniature half-assed resolution that is magnified many times later on and plagues literally every single modern episode. Although unlike modern episodes where the problems are glaringly obvious, reality in this episode is completely lost and Marge doesn't really behave like Marge and Springfieldians don't behave like Springfieldians. It is really a let down after a brilliant "Life On The Fast Lane", but aside from the plot holes, the episode really is the first to have such major characterisation problems and plot holes and therefore is deemed the worst episode so far.

Characterisation: 4/5
Plot: 2/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 7/10

Season 1: Episode 9 - Life On The Fast Lane

In classic Simpsons, some of the best and most emotional episodes centre around Marge and Homer. From "The Way We Was" to "I Married Marge", it has always been interesting to see why would Marge, a woman with so much more potential and a brighter future, would settle down for a buffoon like Homer. "Life On The Fast Lane" is the first Homer and Marge episode and is no exception. It differs from later Homer and Marge episodes in that there is really no explanation of why Marge would settle for Homer and doesn't use the "Homer fucking up and redeeming himself to Marge" plot point that becomes the staple of Modern Simpsons, but merely illustrates a realistic devastating marriage crisis that really could happen to any married couple.

In this episode, we first get to see how exactly Homer treats Marge. Homer obviously isn't anywhere near the abusive husband he becomes in post classical episodes, but he merely doesn't lives up to Marge's colossally low expectations. None of what he does is really intentional, but when you buy a bowling ball with your name engraved on it for your wife who doesn't even bowl, you are bound to have one unhappy Marge. Here, we really see Homer at his most selfish. From completely forgetting his wife's birthday to buying a bowling ball for himself for Marge, Homer doesn't really cherish or appreciate Marge for what she has done for the family. So when Marge, in an act of passive aggressive behaviour, meets a very persuasive and romantic Jacques at Barney's Bowlarama, she is obviously instantly smitten.

Jacques is really a complete foil of Homer. Unlike Homer, he makes Marge feels appreciated. From receiving a bowling glove truly for her, to complementing her and making her laugh, Marge understands that those are all attempts of Jacques coming onto her but can't help herself because she hasn't been pampered for so long. Living with Homer is not exactly a dream life. As Marge, aside from the hours of gruelling housework, you don't get remembered for your birthdays much less a birthday present and you never get a thank-you from your kids or Homer for all the dinners you cook for them. With Jacques though, you get surprise thoughtful gifts custom made for you; you are always told how beautiful you are; and he drives you home and buys you brunch. For Marge, Jacques is just a much better man than Homer.

From the perspective of Homer, he didn't really do anything wrong. Remember that Homer really is a selfish man. So while he probably did buy the bowling ball for himself, it is completely within character for him to do so. Selfishness, stupidity and ignorance are all classic personality traits of Homer that Marge knows she can't change. To live with Homer means that you are forever undermined for your sacrifices and you probably will never receive any birthday gifts. It is a very negative portrayal of Homer and a very negative looming truth to this marriage, but you can't really blame Homer because Homer never meant to be selfish, stupid or ignorant. It is merely how he was raised and his environment that caused him to be who he is today and at the end of the day, he still loves Marge. So when Homer finds Marge's gloves, his suspicion of Marge's affair is confirmed and he is understandably devastated. This leads to his heartfelt attempt to show Marge his appreciation with his peanut butter jelly speech. It is poorly worded, but that's all Homer can muster up.

With Jacques, Marge finds it increasingly difficult to deny his advances. So when Jacques asks Marge to come to his apartment, Marge really faces a tough choice. It is a turning point where going to the power plant would mean staying with the selfish buffoon that she obviously still has feelings for and be forever unappreciated ( much like how Lisa feels). Or, continue her affair with Jacques at fiesta terrace and move on.... For Homer, it is just devastating because he really can't do anything about it. It is just a potential aspect he has to face where Marge just doesn't love him anymore for who he is and is ready to move on. But at the end, Marge comes back to Homer. It is never quite shown explicitly shown why she does so, but we can all assume that it is because Marge still loves Homer.

For Marge, it really is a difficult choice. By choosing to stay with Homer, she is choosing to continue to settle in for a life of mediocrity where she never is going to reach her potential and better her future, and is forced to drop her expectation bar of her husband lower and lower.  However, the overarching theme of the Simpsons is that the Simpsons always love each other and while they may not always be appreciative of each other, they are still a family. So while it maybe true that Marge sacrificed all her future and settled in for a life of unappreciation and mediocrity with Homer, it is still the buffoon who she loves.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1.5/2

Overall: 9.5/10

Season 1: Episode 8 - The Telltale Head

We all at one point or another have given into conformity. Whether it is giving up on a friend just because a bunch of other kids told you to do it, or it is doing something that you don't feel comfortable doing just because you want to fit in, we've all been there. We are human and we make mistakes. As one grows older, one may think that they are intelligent enough to avoid giving into peer pressure, but we actually subconsciously conform everyday without knowing it.

Anyway, in this episode, Bart also fucks up big time by cutting the town founder's head off. But before all that, we see some great Simpsons meta on the church. From the Sunday school teacher telling that all Christianity is is blind faith, to Homer pointing out the redundancy of human being apes and apes not going to heaven, it's all great mockery of religion that the Simpsons will continue to do in later years.

When Bart manages to get five bucks out of Homer to watch a movie, he meets Jimbo, Kerney and Dolph. Here we get our first look at the extended bullies of the schoolyard. The three bullies are truly malicious. From bullying kids to stealing from the Kwik-E-Mart, they truly are the bad models that parents tend to tell their children to avoid. However, Bart is just a kid trying to fit in. Unlike the Jimbo, Bart is merely mischievous, but not bad inside. We see Bart being pressured into doing things that he is not comfortable with. From throwing rocks at the statue, to sneaking into a movie, Bart would never do those things on his own. But because he looks up to Jimbo and hopes to gain recognition from the bullies or just to be "cool", he gives into peer pressure and does so.

When Bart is given the impression that the bullies will like him if he cuts Jebidiah's head off, Bart sneaks out at night to do so. His determination is reinforced by typical Homer's bad advice of popularity being everything. After Jebediah loses his head, the town goes into frantic mode. From Krusty telling children to betray their family members to Grampa wanting to cut the head off of the perpetrator, we see the impulsiveness of the town and the general stupidity of the people. With the growing pressure of the community, Bart eventually gives in and tells the truth to the family. As a result, Homer takes Bart to put the head back on Jebidiah.

On the way there, Homer and Bart meets a lynch mob out for blood, and is trapped and is on the brink of being torn to shreds before Bart makes an impassioned speech and puts the head back on Jebidiah's neck. The mob is moved and decides to let Homer and Bart go. I do buy this because of the nature of the Springfield mob. The people are generally stupid and really doesn't acutally know why they are there, but they just like to be in a mob, so the mob is easily swayed . So when a little boy makes a speech like that, it is probable that the mob will be easily swayed into not tearing Homer and Bart apart.

While this episode isn't anything special, we do get our further reinforcement in the characterisation of Bart and we get our first intro of Jimbo, Kerneay and Dolph. We also get some mockery of religion so in general I don't have any complaints.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 7 - The Call Of The Simpsons

For me, the Simpsons is all about realism. Whether it is the characterisation or the storytelling, being realistic and honest in both of these departments make me feel more connected to the story and the characters, and also makes the story more believable. After a realistic episode that is all about the characterisation of Lisa, here we just get a relaxed episode all about humour and fun. Now I don't have to sound like an asshole and just jumps on the bandwagon and say that this episode is completely fine in its plot since the episode really is mostly solid and it is really hard to pick on anything that seems to be out of the left field, but since here we are all about fairness and decreasing the amount of bias I may have toward the classical era, I will use the same rigorous scrutiny on this episode as I will use on the later eras. When we do so, we see that the plotting isn't as believable as it may seem.

The story starts out completely fine though. We see that the Flanders get a brand new RV, and in typical Homer jealousy style, he goes to a local RV mall and gets manipulated into buying a dilapidated RV in a petty competition against the Flanders. Since now he has got an RV, Homer takes the whole family out camping. When Homer impulsively drives over a river and almost off a cliff, he loses the RV which drops down the cliff and explodes, leaving the Simpsons clan stranded in nowhere land. As a result, Homer, an apparent experienced woodsman, and Bart goes out to search for food, while Lisa and Marge stays back and build a camp.

When the tiny squeaking sound of Maggie sucking on a pacifier terrifies Homer and Bart into sprinting into woods, Maggie finds herself alone and encounters a bear. In a cute little scene, Maggie shoves a pacifier into the bear's mouth and the bear brings Maggie back into its cave. Here all realism is lost but the general goal isn't really to portray any realism or believable story, but Maggie's plot merely acts as a cute side story to the main story. Anyways, while the apparently inexperienced Marge and Lisa are able to build a fire and a nice shelter, the experienced woodsman Homer and Bart almost drown in a waterfall and hurls their only chance at dinner miles away. While Marge and Lisa sleeps in the warmth of fire, Homer and Bart sleeps out in the open naked with their teeth clattering uncontrollably.

On the second day, when Homer accidentally falls into a dry river bed filled with mud, he is mistaken as Bigfoot. This apparently shocks Springfield into a frenzy Bigfoot hunt. From the newspapers to the researchers, it is a great meta about how gullible and easily fooled the general public is into believing in things that aren't true. When Marge and Lisa are eventually rescued, Marge apparently claims that Bigfoot is her husband and sparks a major attraction to the park with extreme controversy on newspapers. Even when Homer is found, he is rigorously tested and at the end experts apparently still can't decide on whether Homer is Bigfoot, or just an incredibly dumb human being.

To be absolutely honest, I really do have mixed feelings about this episode. I do want to say that it is really tempting just to drop all the skepticism and say this episode is great. However, I do feel that if I do so then I am being unfair when judging later modern episodes. For example, I feel that the whole determining whether Homer is human is just silly. I mean you can't possibly expect us to believe that experts can't tell if Homer is human or not. But I also feel that if this segment is done in modern Simpsons, people will just complain about the lack of realism and the irrelevance of this scene and lash out at the storytelling ability of the episode because of it. On the other hand, the whole point of experts not being able to agree on whether Homer is human is merely just another gag about how inexperienced and stupid those so-called bigfoot researchers are and perhaps the gag shouldn't be taken seriously as to whether it is realistic or not. Same thing applies to the Maggie's story. While it is true that Maggie's story is played mostly for cuteness and for laughs only and shouldn't really be taken seriously, but judging from purely a storytelling perspective, Maggie taming four bears is just silly and lacks any realism. Notice that for both Homer and Maggie, it is no longer a question of whether it is probable, but it is about whether it is realistic. While future plots in episodes like Bart's Inner Child merely is improbable, it isn't unrealistic. Here, Maggie simply can't possibly tame four bears. But for Homer, I guess I can give in a little and say given the context of the incapability of the researchers, it is probable that researchers cannot find Homer human? I guess?

In conclusion, I am just going to say that the plot is mostly solid. I guess I will take 0.5 marks off for Maggie's story, but I won't do anything to the Homer human or not scene. In general, stories like this one has always been really hard to give a mark. You attempt to find something bad about the episode, but there seems always to be a redeeming factor that you have to consider seriously before laying down the deduction. This episode is definitely tough.

Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 2.5/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 8.5/10

Season 1: Episode 6 - Moaning Lisa

One of the most iconic characteristics of the classical Simpsons is the degree of relativity we have to the Simpsons characters. Regardless of whether you acutally like the Simpsons on a personal level, at some point in your life you must have felt that no matter what you did, life always screws you over like how Homer Simpsons feels. Similarly, in this episode and like many of us must have felt at some point, Lisa simply feels unappreciated and unrecognized for her achievements and accomplishments. While on the surface, and through the first five episodes along with the Tracy Ulmann shorts that came before it, Lisa appears just to be a stereotypical smart kid with a high IQ, this episode is the very first true characterisation of Lisa as a girl who is much more complex and just in general unsatisfied of who she is and her environment.

The episode begins with some strong foreshadowing, with Lisa staring sadly into the mirror at herself. After that, we just see a normal day go by for the Simpsons, with a stress on how Lisa just seems to be saddened and unhappy about everything around her. Our first look at the root cause of Lisa's sadness is shown in the band practise, where Mr.Largo lashes out at Lisa for her creative improvisation outburst in class. Whereas other teachers may have promoted and even awarded such skilled sax playing, Mr.Largo merely crushed Lisa's spirits and descended her further into sadness.....

Lisa's sadness is discovered by the family when a note is sent home about Lisa refusing to play dodge ball. At home, family members attempt to help even though they have absolutely no idea what is bothering Lisa. Homer, being his oblivious self, comes up thinking that letting Lisa ride on his leg would apparently solve her problems. Marge's solution is to draw Lisa a long hot bath, and then Bart gets into an argument with Lisa about Maggie loving him more, resulting in Maggie declaring her love of TV over her siblings.

After a sad day with no comfort from family members, Lisa finally finds some comfort in the form of Bleeding Gums Murphy, a supposedly jazz man musician who is also lonely and shares Lisa's passion for music and is delighted to have someone to jazz with. Here, Lisa's improvisation and skilled sax playing is finally recognised, but she is then pulled away from the jazz man by Marge claiming Bleeding Gums is too dangerous.

At night, Marge, being worried about Lisa, dreams up a solution where her mother tells her to keep up a smile on her face to make her popular. Believing that this will solve the problem by making Lisa more likable and thus make her happier, Marge tells Lisa to do so on the second day. As a result as soon as she steps out of the car, Lisa is manipulated and used. Upon seeing this, Marge drives around and apologises to Lisa and tells her the first truly comforting words that Lisa needs, that the family will always be there for her no matter what, whether or not she is sad.

On the side of this, we get a B-plot involving Bart continuously beating Homer at video game boxing. After being repeatedly being beaten by Bart, Homer goes into a video arcade to learn the game from a "professional" kid boxer. On the night of the final battle, Homer almost beats Bart for the first time in 50 games, before Marge pulls the plug on the TV and announcing the whole family to go listen to Bleeding Gums Murphy's concert. At the concert, Lisa's improvisation piece is played and finally heard by all people.

If we look at the grand scheme of things, Lisa's life is truly sad. She is unappreciated even though she is special in many ways. As her song portrays, she's got a brother that bugs her everyday and a father that belongs in the zoo. Her mother, as future episodes will show and this episode showed to an extent, doesn't really understand her. At school, she doesn't have much friends and her intelligence along with her sax playing is not only undermined, but also discouraged. At home, family members don't understand her either and she is mostly overlooked as a middle child. Lisa's life is sad, and she knows she can't really do much about it.

Lisa's case can be said to be more tragic than Homer. While future episodes will show that some of Lisa's grieve is actually caused unintentionally by Homer, in the first six episodes we see that while Homer is usually dealt a bad hand in life, Lisa lives a bad life everyday. Her only outlet is through her sax and Bleeding Gums Murphy is really the only person Lisa can connect to at least on a musical level. However as Marge said, although Lisa may not really feel appreciated, her family does love her and will always be there for her. Lisa's sadness is never resolved in this episode since neither what Marge says or meeting Bleeding Gums Murphy can truly make Lisa be more appreciated at school or at home. Instead, Lisa has to take satisfactions from small opportunities like her song being played at the concert to make her feel happier and temporarily forget about her otherwise sad life.

Characterization: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1.5/2

Overall: 9.5/10

Season 1: Episode 5 - Bart The General

Unlike the previous two episodes, Bart the General, much like Bart the Genius, is just a normal classical Simpsons episode acting as our scopes peering into the Simpsons lives. Here, we also get our very first look at Grampa Simpson: the lonely old man who knows that his time is long gone, but still has enough grump and fierceness in him to lash out in any ways against the society.

Before all that though, we see Lisa baking cupcakes for her teacher. After taunting Bart rigorously, she decides to share one of her cupcakes with him. But upon arriving at the school, we see one of Nelson's weasels smash her whole box of cupcakes into mud, ruining all of Lisa's efforts. Upon seeing this, Bart decides to stand up for his sister and fight the weasel. When Nelson steps in, Bart accidentally punches him and gives him a nose bleed. As a result, Nelson begins beating Bart up everyday.

Here we get our first look at our classic bully Nelson. While modern era episodes would characterise Nelson as either a wimpy little kid missing his father or as a nobody who hangs out with nerds and listening to Bart's commands all day, in the classical era he is your typical school ground bully. Nelson rules with an iron fist, and would not tolerate anyone who dares so much as to lift a finger on him, let alone make him bleed. 

Back at home, Bart cries for help and receives it in the form of Homer and Marge. While Marge is your stereotypical mother who advices Bart to go to the authorities, Homer, in typical bad parenting fashion, reinforces the so called "rules of the playground". As a result, Homer teaches Bart dirty fighting and when Bart attempts to use those tricks on Nelson, he finds that those prove fruitless. Rolling in a trash can home, Lisa advises Bart to ask for help from Grampa, and Bart obliges by visiting the retirement castle.

Off the top of my head, I can't really think of any major ways that modern Simpsons ruined classical Grampa. While I will say that it seems Grampa barely appears in modern episodes anymore, in the classical era Grampa is truly depicted as a feisty individual who still has the steam inside him, but not much places to let out other than with a complaint letter to TV stations on a typewriter. Nevertheless, to solve Bart's problem, he brings him to Herman, a psycho strategist who helps Bart train a group of kids into water bombing Nelson.

From the point of view of an audience who has no idea what the following scenes are a parody of other than war, Bart leading a group of kids into battle against Nelson is still pretty in character to me. As future classical episodes will show that although Bart isn't exactly book smart, he is at least somewhat street smart and is usually able to rally up a group of kids to follow him as his election efforts proved in Lisa's Substitute. With the help of Herman, Bart and his battalion is able to corner Nelson and bomb him into surrendering. With another brilliance war reference, Herman draws up a peace agreement and Bart's "existence" is recognised again.

Bart the General is one of those episodes that doesn't really stick out to me compared to the other classical episodes. Compared to Homer's Odyssey or There's No Disgrace Like Home, there doesn't seem to be anything controversial or really ground breaking. The episode just seems like any normal classical episodes that is lives up to the high standards of the classical era, but mostly is forgotten (but not unrecognised) because of its normality. Nevertheless, Bart the General is definitely a very solid classical Simpsons and if nothing else, it should be remembered for its first introduction of Grampa.

Characterisation: 5/5

Plot: 3/3

Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 4 - There's No Disgrace Like Home

If you follow Mike Amato's review of the Simpsons here, you will see that he believes that Season one is much like a giant experiment for the Simpsons writers to find what their characters are going to be like. If we were to believe that, we can explain Homer's questionable ability to lead such a large protest in the last episode Homer's Odyssey. Similarly, we can also use that excuse to say that Homer feeling embarrassed by the others and Marge acting poorly in public in this episode are also part of the writer's big experiment in finding exactly what characters should be like.

Granted that both cases of slight off characterisations will lead to losing marks in the characterisation department, for some reason here it doesn't bother me as much. Either way, this episode is still credited with its further assertion of independence and of uniqueness compared to the other family TV shows that came before it.

Right when the episode begins we see something that TV shows that came before the Simpsons would have never done: the children arguing that the other one loves the father more. Then, we see Homer trying to get his family act properly in his boss' party. However to his dismay, during the party Marge gets drunk and dances on the railings while Bart and Lisa runs around causing havoc. When Homer sees another angelic family with the son kissing his father and the siblings not fighting over seats seemingly drives into "heaven", Homer (in a stunning brilliant scene) imagines his family as devils drives into the depth of "hell".

With Homer believing that his family is absolutely horrible and attempting to prove Lisa's theory that every family is like the Simpsons wrong, he beings the family out to go spy on other families. To their horror, the Simpsons find that their neighbours are literally exact duplicates of the Waltons (If you don't know what I am talking about, watch this). The father is always wearing a nice shirt with a tie; the family is always smiling, and the family actually enjoys talking to each other and enjoys each others company.

Believing that the Simpsons need professional help, Homer finds his solution on a cheap TV commercial with Dr.Monroe. To pay for the session, Homer pawns the TV that the family loves. At the session, Dr.Monroe is horrified to find that his electric shock treatment not only doesn't bring the family together, but causes the family to shock each other so much that Springfield almost loses power. When Dr.Monroe claims the Simpsons to be untreatable, Homer manages to get five hundred dollars out of the doctor's pocket. With this money, the Simpsons get a brand new TV. And for the first time, they are unified and walks peacefully into the night.

This episode is really a brilliant satire of old TV shows like the Waltons and the Cosby Show. Whereas those two shows may depict a perfect family with the kids kissing their father and the family never fighting, the Simpsons depict a much more realistic family that as Lisa said, is like every other family out there. While it is true that the Simpsons, just like most of our families, may fight every so often or always carry big smiles on our faces and the dad may not exactly always wear a nice shirt at the dinner table, the Simpsons will always stick together and is still a loving family. George Bush may be right in that America would be better off if every family were like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons, but every family, at its core, is still much more like the Simpsons than the Waltons.

Characterization: 4.5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1.5/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 3 - Homer's Odyssey

Back in 1980's to 1990's television, most TV shows about families are extremely positive. By that I mean it is your typical sitcom about a perfect family. The father is always morally correct and can read the kids' minds. The parents are always giving the best advices and life lessons possible to their kids, and the kids always have Lisa's brains and behaved the exact opposite of Bart. If the kids were to have made any mistakes, the parents instantly forgives them and gives them a big hug and instills upon them some moral lessons.

So when the Simpsons came around, the status-quo completely shifted. The father is much of an unsafe idiot, the mother is not always giving the right advices, the daughter is more of an emotional wreck as we will see later on, and the son behaves like a freaking serial killer (not literally of course). The Simpsons were the one and the only, left alone in the woods to take on tons of other different but recognised TV shows which took on a completely different perspective to the American family. At the end, like a martial artist beating up a bunch of bad guys, the Simpsons triumphed and destroyed all those TV shows. After all, it is the Simpsons you still see every Sunday at 8pm PST on Fox, not the Cosby Show.

If we take everything into perspective, we have got to give the Simpsons' creators some respect for creating this show. The Simpsons is not an easy thing to do, and to go against every other TV show out there at the time is like wearing pajamas one day to a school full of judgemental kids and bullies. In its early years, the Simpsons dared to tread water where no one has tread before, and it's got balls.

Homer's Odyssey is one of those episodes that really reflect this bravery the Simpsons carried. This is only the third episode in and the creators didn't even know if the Simpsons will last through season one. But the episode had the balls to make one of its most important characters, Homer Simpson, steal from his son's piggy bank and attempt to commit suicide. It is a very fine line. If anything is not perfect, your show is in danger of falling into the black hole where nobody watches and cares about and gets cancelled by episode six. But if done correctly, your show is setup to be one of the most innovative and daring TV shows in the 20th century.

This episode didn't begin ballsy though. It began merely as a normal class trip of Bart's class to the Nuclear Plant. Along the way we see more of the mischievous Bart, always trying to create a scene and being hyperactive. After a long bus ride accompanied by Bart's singing, we take our first look at the Nuclear Plant. From the three eyed fish in the river, to four gates indicating how radioactive and dangerous the inside of the Plant is and the irony of bringing kids unprotected inside, it is just a bunch of subtle satires of the Plant. However, everything turns sour when Homer is fired because he crashed right into and broke a gas pipe and is fired promptly by the Sherri and Terri's father, and worst of it all, Bart saw everything.

Homer wasn't depressed at first about losing his job. With the encouragement of his family, he searches for any job in Springfield. From applying to be a mechanic at a lube shop to becoming a salesperson, every single door is slammed on him. Eventually, Homer loses hope and searches for a temporary solution. He finds it in a Duff commercial which prompts him to smash Bart's piggy bank open in a desperate attempt to collect money for a beer, and completely ignores a touching cake the children made to him. When Homer realises what he has done, he leaves a note to his family and decides to commit suicide at the bridge.

At this point, it is important to realise Homer's intentions are still good and for his family. While it is true that he has broke Bart's piggy bank and plans to leave Marge a single parent with the burden of raising the children, Homer's intentions are still to provide for his family. Homer broke Bart's piggy bank because he is desperate to find a temporary solution to lessen the guilt of not being able to provide for his family. He plans to suicide because he feels that his sole purpose in life is to provide for his family and now that that's gone, he has no point in continue living. It is essential to realise that Homer is far from perfect and that at best he is mediocre. He merely didn't really think far enough to realise the cost of his suicide to his family and what breaking the piggy bank will mean to Bart. Homer is impulsive, but never were his actions driven by malice. He is merely a guy who does what he can for his family and responding to whatever situations he is in by using whatever little brainpower he can muster up.

Before Homer commits suicide though, he saves his family from getting run over by a car, and apparently believes that the street corner is not safe and decides to promote safety. And a few days later, Homer somehow becomes the most recognised safety promoter in Springfield. It is this part that I find questionable about this episode. I don't really understand why would Homer all of a sudden switch from attempting to provide for his family into promoting safety. If Homer is driven by mere impulse, I would feel better if Homer stopped after he successfully petitioned to put a stop sign at the street corner. It is just that it doesn't really make sense. While it is true that at the end Homer's safety crusade lands him his job back and even lands him a promotion, Homer didn't know that when he first decided to promote safety. I really think that the character motivation in this part of the episode is questionable. While it can be said that the safety crusade is to protect his family, it ultimately doesn't solve the problem that there won't be any income and that there is not going to be food on the table. The whole episode is motivated by Homer finding a way to provide for his family, and Homer can't possibly know that getting into a safety crusade will solve that problem. I just really feel that this is a major plot problem that characterises so many later era episodes.

Either way, Homer becomes a safety hero. It is also here that I feel that we are not shown enough how Homer is able to garner so much of Springfield's sympathy for him to put so many safety signs up and even antagonise Mr. Burns. Remember Homer is not a smart man, or any kind of a leader material. To ask me to believe that Homer is capable of leading a crowd against Mr. Burns would require more than just showing me how Homer is able to put up a stop sign at a street corner. I just feel that there is not enough explanation. Nevertheless, Homer is able to rally up a huge crowd in front of the Power Plant, and pressure Mr. Burns into negotiation. When given the choice of giving up his safety crusade for his job back with raise, Homer chooses to give up his moral safety crusade in being able to provide food for his family. While Homer may be ambitious and passionate about safety, he also realises that there are three mouths at home waiting to be fed and he can't burden Marge with raising three kids. This is the classical realistic Simpsons that we all expect. At the end, Homer doesn't say anything about whether the plant is safe, but is able to charm the crowd into chanting his name, and says the true and immortal line: "There is a bit of Homer Simpson in all of us." Ah how true.

When looking at it from a purely storytelling perspective, Homer's Odyssey barely makes it into classical era standards. Don't get me wrong, it is nowhere near the disaster that makes up the modern Simpsons, but there are plot holes and questionable character motivation within the episodes. As a result, the episode doesn't really meet the Classical era standards that demands perfection in every single aspect. However, this episode should be respected in that the writers dared. The episode dared to put Homer in such a negative light by showing him almost as a horrible father and husband, but still managed to portray him as just as any other father who is desperate in trying to provide for his family. What Homer's Odyssey lacked in the storytelling department, it certainly got my respect in that the story can go to such extreme extents to almost destroying their main character, and yet still garner enough sympathy from me to stand by Homer's side.

Characterisation: 4.5/5
Plot: 2.5/3
Subjective: 2/2

Overall: 9/10

Season 1: Episode 2 - Bart The Genius

After an very solid Christmas episode, we get our first normal Simpsons episode in early 1990. This episode is mostly about Bart, another fan favourite character that will spark the Simpson-mania in the later parts of the year.

The episode begins with the very first chalkboard gag, which illustrates the pointlessness and stupidity of making children write lines on the chalkboard with Bart writing "I will not waste chalk", and quickly  transitions into the continued introduction of Bart: a boy who is truly a little hellion, causing troubles here and there in the playground, but really just doing all that not with bad intentions, but just for fun. When Martin Prince sells him out to Principal Skinner for vandalising school property, he is sent to detention. But before all of that, we get our very first look at Martin Prince, another character who, in the later years will become a mere robot spewing one liners, but in the classical era portrayed as a smart, learnt genius child who never intended to be pretentious, but just merely doing what he thinks is right and saying what he feels like.

During an aptitude test, which is portrayed just as pointless and stupid as writing lines on the chalkboard (This test will merely determine your future career and financial status, if any), Bart is completely overwhelmed by the confusing wording of the test and falls off the chair. In a petty vengeance against his natural enemy Martin Prince for selling him out to Principal Skinner, he switches his aptitude test with the genius boy. During the detention, Homer and Marge is told that Bart has 216 IQ and transferred to another "school for geniuses".

The genius school is truly as pretentious as its name. The "Enriched Learning Centre For Gifted Children" is a great criticism of some of the private schools in today's society. From 10 years old wearing ties, to teaching fourth graders calculus and speaking in backward gibberish, the kids in the new school are both smart and snobbish. Unlike Martin, who is also smart but much more genuine and honest, the kids there merely tricks Bart out of his lunch.

Between all this school fiasco, we also see Homer for once truly proud of his son, and probably at his most attentive and caring towards his son compared to the whole of the series. Homer literally pampers his son, playing baseball with him, going to opera with Bart, and just being overtly nice to Bart. We also see Bart's increasing uneasiness about his deceiving scheme in getting into the pretentious school and his continuous lying to Homer about it. With Bart becoming more and more anxious with the children at school and with his father at home, the breaking point comes when Bart is finally discovered to be a "dumb kid" when he apparently causes an explosion by mixing acid and bases together, and turning himself green.

Back at home, Homer is still completely unaware and gives Bart a bath. In what is a very heartfelt speech, Bart tells Homer that his insanely high IQ is all a lie and that he loves him. In a more moral oriented but unrealistic show, we would probably see Homer forgiving and hugging his son. But on the Simpsons, there is no moral to be had. Homer just goes into a blinding rage and chases his naked son around the house. It may seem to be bad parenting, but that's impulsive Homer for you.

This episode really gives us further insight into the Simpsons family, but most importantly Bart. Bart may seem to be a malicious phantom who causes major disasters everywhere he goes, as seen by his principal, but at heart he merely is a kid who just want to have fun his way, and that happens to include drawing Principal Skinner saying "I am a weiner".  Bart is merely mischievous, not malicious in anyway. His mischief at the opera with his fart noises and comments are something that his family even enjoys at times. Compared to the snobbish kids at the "Enriched Learning Centre For Gifted Children", Bart is so much more personable and genuine in many ways.

Bart The Genius further defines the realms of the Simpsons family. We see Bart being put in an environment which doesn't fit him, and we see all the consequences of it. Bart may be in constant detention and cannot do everything he likes when at Springfield Elementary compared to the pretentious school, but Springfield Elementary is where he belongs and where he feels at ease. In many ways, it is also reflective of the Simpsons family. The Simpsons may not belong in an opera house like Martin Prince's family and understand opera, or understand derivatives like the kids in the snobbish school, but that is just who they are and they are perfectly happy without them.


Characterisation: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2

Overall: 9/10 

Season 1: Episode 1 - Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire

So we begin with pilot episode way back in 1989. Re watching this episode, My overall feel for this episode is that it is very genuine and realistic. While there are many jokes sprinkled in there, subtle and major, there aren't any real laugh out loud moments for me. But in general, the episodes feel so real in that nothing outrageous or unbelievable happens, and everything feels like a slice of life. 

We begin with the Simpson adults going to the school to watch the Christmas concert. Here, we are first introduced to the Simpsons kids, with Maggie in a star suit. We first get a basic characterisation of Bart: an anti-authority boy singing the infamous "batmobile version of Jinglebell" (Batmobile, broken wheels!!). We also get our look at the questionable Lisa dance.

From there, we spend quite a while taking a look at the Simpsons spending Christmas. Everything here is very low-key and maintained at a slow pace, from Marge writing an obligatory family letter, to the kids writing their letters to Santa, it all feels very Christmasy. Then, we also get the setup of Marge's sisters, whose dislike for Homer is first depicted.

From here on out the episode start focusing on the theme that Homer can't afford anything for his family for Christmas. From his Christmas bonus cancelled, to Marge's money jar being spent on Bart's tattoo (Bart, your tattoo makes you look so dangerous!), to seeing how much Flanders' decorations are better than his, we as viewers are presented a father who is beaten to the ground with not being able to provide the things that his family expects. Like Homer said, Homer, judging purely from a materialistic point of view, doesn't deserve Marge. But true to Homer's classical character, Homer doesn't give up trying. When he can't afford a Christmas tree, he risks his life chopping one for his family. And when he realises that his pork chop gift to Maggie won't really do, he gets a second job.

Like Homer in "Lisa's Pony", Homer is overworked in his second job, but unlike "Lisa's Pony", Homer's pay is merely 13 dollars. At this point, we truly feel for Homer because the stakes have been raised too high, especially after he is discovered by Bart. Since Homer has nothing left and is completely defeated by fate, he goes to dog racing with Barney and his 10 years old son.

Here we also get a great meta commentary from Bart about how Christmas miracle always happen on TV. By doing this, the Simpsons is able to distance themselves better from the unrealistic portrayals of "everything fixing itself on Christmas eve" on 1980's TV shows. Eventually, Homer's poor judgement on Santa's Little Helper screws himself over at a chance at winning and leaves him and Bart on the parking lot desperately searching for a winning ticket. He fails to find anything, manages to save the day and save Christmas by adopting Santa's Little Helper, a small victory for a man who tried so hard to make everything right, but just get slapped in the face by Life every time.

Whether it is because of the wonkier animation, or the lack of humor in the episode, the pilot episode always had been an underdog and had been not as recognised as some of the other episodes later on. However, it is important to realise that this episode is completely in sync with the characteristics of the Simpsons later on. Ultimately, it depicts the Simpsons as a normal "any family" spending a Christmas together. Whether it is Bart's meta on Christmas miracles, or families don't get along with Marge's sisters openly criticises Homer and gives him a hard time even on Christmas eve, nothing about the episode is ever unrealistic. Also, by having Homer repeated trying and failing to provide for his family, Homer is also setup as a father and husband who loves his family and is willing to do anything, but because of his poor judgements (betting on Santa's Little Helper) or because Life just loves to screw with him, Homer can only provide mediocrity at the very best. And that if Homer is successful at anything (not ruining Christmas), it is at best accidental.

Characterisation: 5/5

Plot: 3/3

Subjective: 1.25/2

Overall: 9.25/10

What The Simpsons Mean To Me

In many ways, science is religion, and really all religion is belief and faith. Whether you are doing a chemistry experiment or saying God created Earth, you always have a sense of uncertainty. Nothing is ever completely certain, just like you never know whether our existence are merely our brains in a jar controlled by a master computer which are creating all the images, sounds and smells in our heads. All in all, you can only believe, never sure of, that 1+1=2, that E=MC^2 and that mixing red and green makes black, just like how Christians can only believe that there is a Jesus.

The Simpsons, when you get right down to it, is like a religion, or a belief. And the Simpsons believe in family. Family is presented to be the most important factor in life, and everything else (wealth, fame) goes below it. This "religion" appeals to so many people because it is what a lot of us believe in. By believing in family, or the theme of the Simpsons, we believe that we achieve happiness. When we see Homer sacrificing his dream job in "And Maggie Makes Three", he is doing it because Homer loves Maggie,and cares about his family members. When Homer gets a second job in "Lisa's pony", it is because Homer cares about Lisa, showing that he believes in family.

Having a faith, or some people call heart, in a cartoon is really the highest praise you can give to any cartoon. The ability to make lifeless drawings into something that has heart and that can make people truly care about and believe in is astounding. When you compare all the cartoons that have been made in history, no other show has had the ability to present a belief while maintaining satire and other elements that appeals to its audiences. Unfortunately, as Classical Simpsons transitioned into Modern Simpsons, much of that heart is lost, much of the faith that the Classical Simpsons once held dear is forgotten and trashed away. As a result, you see what typical online fans call "jerkass Homer", improper characterisations and etcetera. In many ways, I believe, and this is my personal opinion only, that what makes a lot of online fans unhappy about current Simpsons is because the doors to the Simpsons "church" closed, and people who once "worshipped" there are thrown onto the streets.

Therefore, I watch the Simpsons because I believe in family and believe in the Simpsons "religion". As I have said before, the most important thing in this Simpsons "religion" is heart and faith, and those are directly affected by characterisation. When the characters act in character in a way that endorses family well-being, then I am happy. When the characters do not, then I am sad.

There are many people out there who say atheists are bad. But in my view, one cannot be an atheist. If you believe in science, you are not an atheist because science is a religion by itself. For me, I am definitely not an atheist. I don't believe in any religions, but I do firmly believe in science and the Simpsons.

Note: not that anyone actually cares, but I will be starting to post episode reviews beginning in September. I had a one week vacation for the last week so that's why there were no posts.

Marking criteria

In my opinion, when reviewing TV shows or movies or really anything, professional TV reviewers or amateur fans alike attempt to do it in two ways: objectively and subjectively. Whereas they may give what they think about each show, they also attempt to represent the views of at least a group of viewers that are most similar to them, and call that "objective review".

Other than the fact that one must realise that no one person can be completely objective at any time and is always biased to an extent, it is also important to factor in that my view in this blog is generally representative of me, and not anyone else. Although I will attempt to be as objective as possible, my motive is not to represent anyone else, but to give as fair a rating as I can provide for each episode. So even though many parts of the scoring criteria may contain an "objective" section and "subjective" section, it is important to realise that the "objective" scoring section is merely a feeble attempt by me to be as objective as possible to rate an episode. It, however, is not the final word. But it is a personal attempt by me to give a fair rating.

Anyways, I hope all that made sense. In general, for each and every episode, there will be a rating out of 10. Out of those 10:

Objective scoring:     /8

• Characterisation:   /5
• Storytelling/Plot:     /3

Subjective scoring:      /2

Grand Total:      /10

Again, while it maybe true that episodes have much more elements to it than just characterisation and plot, it is what I feel are the most important. And in my attempt to be as objective as possible, I feel that the most important elements to provide a fair and objective scoring is based on those two elements.

The subjective scoring section is really just a way to point out the bias I may have toward a certain episode compared to another. Since it is true that everyone is biased in some way, then it is best to indicate how much the bias account for in a marking scale. Also, subjective scoring allows me to truly be me, to truly give a mark not based on intensive character or plot evaluation, but allows me to say whatever I want.

The reason that characterisation is worth so much is because I feel that the Simpsons is special because of that. Many people have said before that what made the Simpsons different and better than any other TV show that had been on before or now is that the Simpsons had heart. It had the power to move you. It had the ability garner at your sympathy and break your heart. And really, I feel that the amount of "heart" an episode have is directly related to the characterisation. If the characterisation is not consistent, there is a lack of relatability and realism in the episode and therefore undermines the impact the episode has on the audience. If the characterisation is consistent, then the characters are more relatable, and the things the characters do and say have more impact, because in a way, they are just caricatures of ourselves.

Storytelling and Plot is also an important factor because it is what makes the story flow. Again, if the story progresses in a believable way, then the story is more realistic. If the episode has a plot that progresses with no plot holes and in a logical way, and has proper and consistent characterisation, then the viewers are more able to relate to the story.

In general, that is my general criteria on evaluating each episode, from the beginning of the classical pilot episode, to the very last Season 23 finale "Lisa Goes Gaga" episode at the time of writing this. At the end, it is just an attempt by me to rate every single Simpsons episode fairly and all based on one marking scale with as little bias as possible, and if there are any, point them out and separate them on another scale.