The Simpsons: Kill Gil Vol 1 & 2

Homer: Why did you let that loser into our home?
Marge: I'll tell you why: Christian charity.
Homer: "Christian Charity?" What does a porn star have to do with this?

This was a repeat from Christmas, which somehow I missed. I was impressed with the overall holiday motif of this episode, especially the altered opening with snow, Christmas decor and Bart riding a snowboard (across dry pavement, even) rather than his usual skateboard.

Gil is the always unlucky salesman based on Jack Lemmon's character from Glengarry Glen Ross. He's a great character, but he can't sustain an entire episode. I know this episode was really about Marge and her inability to say no to people, thus Gil staying almost an entire year, but I simply didn't feel any kind of substantial dramatic build-up that would have warranted Marge and the family driving to Arizona just so she could finally tell him off. Still, the episode felt rather flimsy.

But enough of that. Here's what I did like:

• Krusty yet again hosting a Christmas special, despite being Jewish (and popping out of Baby Jesus' bed at the ice show)
• The sign outside Costingtons: "Christmas presents at Hanukkah prices"
• The "Away" sign for Santa with a picture of Santa on the toilet
• Marge "rented" a negligee
• The leprechaun from "Treehouse of Horror XII" returning
• Homer telling Santa's Little Helper that there's water under the seat as the dog sits inside a car in 117 degree weather

Also, I loved the Grumple that kept stalking Homer through the episode. It was a funny idea made funnier by the fact that it became more and more unclear what the hell this creature was exactly. At first one assumed it was just a guy in a costume, but then it bled green blood when attacked at Moe's.

The Simpsons: Springfield Up

I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it -- for the most part, the February 18 episode was "just okay" in my opinion. It was nice to see Eric Idle return as the snooty muck-raking journalist Declan Desmond (first seen in the episode "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"), but the episode felt like two different episodes battling for the same thirty-minute space.

I always enjoy it when the writers come up with ways to incorporate all the secondary and tertiary characters into an episode, but this one tried to tack on the bit about Homer being depressed with what he's become in life, leading he and his family to take over Burns' summer home and pretend it's their own.

One of my minor beefs with these latter day Simpsons episodes is that I don't think they always earn the emotional pay off for which they strive. In this episode we spend a lot of time learning about those who grew up in Springfield, but Homer's story is also wedged into the mix -- it seems the episode should have just been about Homer feeling depressed about his life, or a lighter episode focusing on all the resident of Springfield.

I'm not saying the episode was a complete write off, because I think it was still funny, just a little thinner than I come to expect from this series. Nevertheless, I loved Homer's "open casket caricatures" and Frink's invention of the "'eight-months-after' pill." Also, we finally know of the insane cat lady's origin: who knew she went to Harvard medical and Yale law?

The Simpsons: Little Big Girl

Homer: Why would I go to Utah? I love booze, caffeine and monogamy.

This episode, which first aired February 11, really felt like two episodes in one, with both Lisa's story about her made up Native American heritage and Bart becoming involved with an older girl (played by Natalie Portman). Overall, my first reaction --having only seen the episode once-- is that it felt like the quintessential Simpsons episode with plenty of smart dialogue and enough hidden gags.

The one thing that struck me about this episode, and some others before it, is how the writers will "cheat" in order to tackle issues that would usually be impossible because of the fact that none of the characters age. If this were a live-action sitcom, Bart would have received a driver's license at some point, but since he's perpetually a ten year old, they had to come up with another way of getting him behind the wheel. In this case, he's awarded with a license when he inadvertently puts out a town fire using stolen fire extinguishers (which caused the fire to spread out of control in the first place).

There's a kind of poetic correlation between Bart's desire to run away to avoid having to run errands for Homer all the time, and his new girlfriend's belief that marrying a ten year old will solve her problem of being a pregnant teen. They're both convinced they can handle things on their own, but neither really knows the first thing about what it means to be an adult.

Here's a few things I caught in this episode:

• Ralph Wiggum, at the school assembly to celebrate family history, is dressed as a puppy.


• Mr. Burns striking a Jack Benny pose when Smithers catches on fire and exclaims, "but sir, I'm flaming!"


• When Lisa is giving her speech, a Native American is wearing a shirt with the same corncob curtain design as Lisa's.


• The best exchange in the episode:
  Utah minister: How many brides will you be marrying today, Mr. Simpson?
  Bart: Just one.
  Utah minister: What are you, gay?

The Simpsons: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times

Marge: Revenge never solves anything!

Homer: Then what's America doing in Iraq?

It was time for a Simpsons mainstay: an episode divided into three parts, with three separate stories. Usually, this format is used in the Halloween episodes, but the last few years have had a Spring time counterpart to this Fall tradition. "Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Three Times" is such an episode, with Marge, Lisa and Bart trying to convince Homer that revenge isn't the way to go when The Rich Texan cuts him off in traffic.

"The Count of Monte Fatso" is a Simpsonian take on the classic revenge story "The Count of Monte Cristo". Like the Hamlet parody they did a while back, Moe eliminates Homer from the rest of his family. While in jail, Homer plots his revenge and kills Moe when he escapes. The twist is, even though he got his revenge, Homer's family rejects him. That's the plot, now the fun jokes: Homer and Marge snoring in French, Moe only has a door in his name, Homer's escape, and his Uncle Scrooge-like swimming in his new riches. This opening stanza had me in laughter and started the episode off great.

Unfortunately, the next tale, Lisa' "Revenge of the Geeks" was poor. It was the standard story about absolute power corrupting, with Milhouse seeking revenge on the bullies with a glove that grants him power. Milhouse then turns his powers on his friends, finally getting punished by Nelson with Nelson's own use of the glove. There really wasn't anything I found particularly funny in this second act, save for maybe a cardboard cutout of Hitler urging the kids to read and Bart's brief cameo in Lisa's story.

Luckily, the last revenge saga, Bart's "Bartman Begins" perfectly made up for Lisa's section. "Bartman Begins" is the reimagining of Batman's origins and adventures with Bart in the lead role. He seeks revenge against Snake, who killed Homer and Marge. He trains with Grandpa with old-timey activities (throwing a medicine ball, the classic vibrating belt) and dons the Bartman costume.

To get to Snake he has to go through visual and puny villains like The Toker (Otto as The Joker), The Diddler (Flanders as The Riddler) and Poison Lenny (Lenny as a transvestite Poison Ivy). By this point, I'm in stitches. When he finally gets Snake, now called The Serpent, he actually feels good about his revenge. Bart's moral? Revenge is certainly sweet.

Of course, by this time, Homer has caught up the Texan and they find they have a lot in common. The episode ends with a completely random memorial for all those who died in the Star Wars movie. This cracked me up, if only because it basically came out of nowhere. And yes, I understand the connection the episode's theme of "revenge."