23.1 The Falcon and the D’Ohman
New power plant security guard Wayne (Keifer Sutherland) rebuffs Homer’s attempts at friendship. However, after Wayne attacks Snake during an attempted robbery (blowing his cover as a former CIA agent) Homer helps him escape from his enemies.
It’s not an outstanding episode, but it’s not horrible. Perfect middle of the road entertainment.
The best part was confirmation Ned and Edna stayed together.
23.2 Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts
When Chalmers chastises Skinner for his education of Bart, he responds by challenging Chalmers to teach him himself. Chalmers proves an excellent teacher, particularly his use of Teddy Roosevelt to inspire the boys in his class.
While on a field trip to see Roosevelt’s discarded spectacles, Nelson is injured and Chalmers is fired.
Unexpectedly, the boys rally the school to hire Chalmers back.
The John Kricfalusi opening gag was an excellent addition to the show’s canon.
Chalmers is often played as a pompous buffoon; it’s nice to see him as a competent teacher.
23.3 Treehouse of Horror XXII
As a rule, I love Treehouse episodes, but this one was not one of my favorites.
In the opening, Homer is trapped in a parody of 127 Hours. In the first segment, Homer is paralyzed ala The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The second segment is a parody of Dexter; Ned believes he is being told by God to murder, devolving into a critique of religion.
The third segment is a parody of Avatar.
None of it is very funny and some of it is just blandly offensive.
Na’vi = Nazi is extremely lazy and the parody of religion didn’t land for me at all.
23.4 Replaceable You
Homer’s new assistant, Roz (Jane Lynch). conspires to have him fired. With an assist from her old acquaintance Ned, Homer turns the tables on her and wins his job back.
Meanwhile, Bart and Martin create a science day project of robot pets. It’s initially a welcome addition to the Retirement Castle, until the robot breaks down and causes mayhem (killing Mrs. Glick).
There’s some funny stuff, and I love Jane Lynch, but I wish she had been given a better role. Homer having a work enemy has been done much better (Frank Grimes). Why try it again?
23.5 The Food Wife
Tired of Homer being the “fun parent”, Marge arranges a night out with the kids and somehow backs her way into a hit food blog with her two eldest children. When the trio are invited to a molecular gastronomy event, a guilty Marge initially invites Homer, but a dream convinces her to keep this to herself and she sends him to a false address which winds up being a meth lab.
Antony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsay, and Mario Batalli guest star, which makes the episode better, but The Simpsons take on food criticism has been done better elsewhere (Season 11’s Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner). There’s not enough substance for me to like this.
23.6 The Book Job
After discovering most successful books are ghostwritten by a committee, Lisa is horrified, but a consortium of Springfieldians (including Homer, Bart, Moe, Patty, Professor Frink and Skinner) see an opportunity to game the system, and work to create a popular novel, The Troll Twins of Underbridge Academy.
Along the way, they’re aided by Neil Gaiman and have to fend off an unscrupulous publishing executive (Andy Garcia).
It’s a fun, insightful parody of the publishing industry and the commercialization of reading, and there’s a heavy dose of heist film parodies (especially Ocean’s 11). I love a heist movie and I loved Neil Gaiman (although his involvement hasn’t aged particularly well).
This was easily one of the better episode of the season.
23.7 The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants
Homer backs his way into a promotion at work to “accounts man” and is mentored by Robert Marlowe (John Slattery).
Homer promoted beyond his competence is a tired trope. Workaholic parent struggling to maintain family life balance is a cliche straight outta the 80s / 90s.
I like the Mad Men references (including Slattery and creator Matthew Weiner in guest roles), but this was one of the lowlights of the season.
23.8 The Ten-Percent Solution
Krusty is upset Itchy and Scratchy are more popular than him, but his protesting gets him fired. Despondent and unemployed, he’s aided by The Simpsons and their new friend, entertainment agent Anni Dubinsky (Joan Rivers), who just happens to be Krusty’s ex.
Krusty’s yo-yo career has been the subject of a lot of episodes and can be fertile ground, but this take doesn’t feel fresh. Joan Rivers is a top notch casting choice and her banter with Krusty elevates this to slightly above average.
23.9 Holidays of Future Passed
In the intro, Bart and Lisa complain while taking the family Christmas photo and declare they will not have children.
Flash forward thirty years: Bart deals with his sons while Lisa (married to Milhouse) fails to bond with her daughter. Both Simpson children turn to their parents for advice.
Surprisingly, Homer proves a more effective grandparent than parent.
In general, I like future themed episodes (especially Lisa with Milhouse).
This was really fun.
23.10 Politically Inept with Homer Simpson
An unhinged rant about airline service leads to Homer hosting his own political talk show. He rises through the ranks of conservative media and is asked to help choose the next Presidential candidate. His choice, Ted Nugent, is a predictable disaster.
Homer as a kookie political operative has been done better.
This was bland and performative. As a general rule, the more political the show gets, the less inclined I am to like it.
This was easily the worst episode of the season.
23.11 The Do’oh-cial Network
Depressed, Lisa starts a social media app for Springfield: SpringFace to creat more interaction, but she’s sued for bringing the addictive app to town.
It’s a way too obvious parody ofThe Social Network, driven home by Armie Hammer parodying his dual Winklevoss role. It gets credit for accurately predicting the pitfalls of social media, but it’s not funny enough.
I did enjoy the Letterman cameo in the couch gag though.
23.12 Moe Goes from Rags to Riches
The life story of Moe’s bar rag is an excuse for the show to traipse through history, parodying everything from medieval France to the US Civil War.
It feels like a wannabe South Park episode.
The only amusing part is they somehow got Jeremy Irons to voice the bar rag.
Blech.
23.13 The Daughter Also Rises
Lisa has a brief, intense relationship with Nick (Michael Cera). While Bart and Milhouse are inspired by a TV show to debunk school myths.
I enjoyed the Mythbusters cameos and Cera was good. I loved the exploration of Willie’s origin.
However, making another “Lisa falls in love” as the A story was silly and pointless. I’ve seen it way too much.
There was some good stuff here, but too much focus on Lisa’s love for my taste.
23.14 At Long Last Leave
In the 500th episode, the citizens of Springfield vote to evict the Simpsons, forcing them to live in The Outlands (where for some reason Julian Asange is their neighbor).
The Springfieldians miss the family and move to join them, ultimately choosing to rename their new settlement …. Spingfield.
The similarities with The Simpsons Movie are noted by critics more astute than I, but in my opinion they’re not overbearing and the twist is inventive.
The Asange cameo was a coup; and the opening couch gag compilation was a fun way to acknowledge the show’s incredible longevity.
The Alison Krause version of the theme song was an added bonus
A solid episode.
23.15 Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart
The new Swapper Jack’s briefly causes the Kwik-E-Mart to dip in sales. As Bart and Homer feud, Bart puts graffiti around town to insult his father anonymously. While doing this, he meets several well known graffiti artists who (unbeknownst to him) are secretly working with Chief Wiggum to catch the new artist in town.
It’s a slightly above average episode.
The Swapper Jacks stuff was fun and the cameos from real graffiti artists Sherpard Fairey, Robbie Conal, Ron English and Kenny Scharf were really cool.
But Bart vs. Homer is not particularly fertile ground.
23.16 How I Wet Your Mother
When Homer starts wetting the bed, the family recruits Professor Frink to enter Homer’s subconsciousness, hoping to discover the reasons for his new malady.
After some semi-dangerous adventures, they uncover Homer’s repressed memory of a fishing trip with his dad tied to his mother’s disappearance was reignited during a fishing trip with Bart.
They help him release his trauma.
It’s an ambitious parody of Inception. I loved the call back to the Tracey Ullman Show and any excuse to see Glenn Close’s Mona is welcome.
Sometimes, the show’s parody titles are enough to make me chuckle and see the episode in a more positive light. This was one of those times.
A good, solid episode.
23.17 Them Robots
Mr. Burns replaces all nuclear plant employees except Homer with robots. Homer has a love / hate relationship with the bots, until it turns dangerous.
Robots and automation are low hanging fruit.
The only thing saving the episode was Brent Spiner as the voice of the robots.
23.18 Beware My Cheating Bart
Bart is smitten with Shauna and Homer becomes obsessed with a Lost type show.
Shauna is not my favorite character, and the meet cute between her and Bart is gross. He’s in fourth grade, and her “rewarding” him by exposing her breasts is wildly uncomfortable.
One of my least favorite episodes of the season.
23.19 A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again
During an existential moment, Bart decides he needs more fun in his life and convinces his family to go on a cruise.
Despondent the cruise is coming to an end, Bart tricks everyone onboard into thinking there’s a deadly virus outbreak so they can stay on the ship longer.
It’s a low moment (even for Bart) and post-COVID, this is very awkward.
A poorly thought out, poorly executed episode.
23.20 The Spy Who Learned Me
During a temporary leave from work, Homer takes inspiration from a famous on-screen spy and becomes a suave, sophisticated version of himself.
Parodying James Bond has been done better by the show elsewhere (I’m looking at you Russ Cargill), but Bryan Cranston was a fun cameo. And seeing Eric Idle return as Declan Desmond was delighful.
The subplot with Nelson stealing money and learning the dangers of Krusty Burgers was solid. I really like the Nelson / Lisa dynamic #TeamNelisa.
This was a solid episode, not outstanding, but surrounded by so much mediocrity in the season that it stands out.
23.21 Ned ‘n’ Edna’s Blend Agenda
Homer takes Ned’s place as Jesus in the annual passion play. Ned and Edna have secretly married and fight over how to raise Rod and Todd.
I love the Ned / Edna romance, Homer as Jesus was great, and Chazz Busby makes a triumphant return. I’m a Bob Fosse fan and this parody is thoughtful and intelligent.
It’s a rough season, but episodes like this demonstrate there’s still something left in the tank.
23.22 Lisa Goes Gaga
Lady Gaga stops at Springfield during her tour and tries to help everybody become less depressed (especially Lisa). After some bumpy moments, she successfully teaches Lisa to better process her emotions.
Lady Gaga in The Simpsons is fun and it was a more realistic way of introducing a guest star than their usual methods.
It had a few highlights, but could have used a better B story. Also, the tacked on ending felt like an unfair shot at Moe.
My ranking:
| 1 | Holidays of Future Passed |
| 2 | The Book Job |
| 3 | Ned ‘n’ Edna’s Blend Agenda |
| 4 | The Spy Who Learned Me |
| 5 | At Long Last Leave |
| 6 | The Falcon and the D’ohman |
| 7 | The Ten-Percent Solution |
| 8 | How I Wet Your Mother |
| 9 | Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart |
| 10 | Lisa Goes Gaga |
| 11 | Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts |
| 12 | Beware My Cheating Bart |
| 13 | The Daughter Also Rises |
| 14 | A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again |
| 15 | Replaceable You |
| 16 | The Food Wife |
| 17 | Treehouse of Horror XXII |
| 18 | Them, Robot |
| 19 | Moe Goes from Rags to Riches |
| 20 | The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants |
| 21 | The D’oh-cial Network |
| 22 | Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson |