Simpsons by the Season: 9

"Pray for Mojo."

The first eight seasons go off with no bad apple to spoil the bunch. No one episode was poor enough to actually say it was bad, which as I've now said for the past four or so blog posts, is incredible. It's an unparalleled run, but one that couldn't last forever. Season nine is the first one that slips.

Don't get me wrong - the season still has some top notch episodes. It opens with "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which is entertaining throughout and has a reasonable storyline. It also has a classic Krusty episode - "The Last Temptation of Krust" - in which he realizes he's sold out and his humour has gone stale, changes to an angrier act complaining about the industry, and eventually reverts back and endorses the Canyonero. The song that follows is Simpsons at it's finest. Homer becoming the garbage commissioner is a pretty great episode as well. It's not like it's gone completely off the rails; bear in mind that this is the same show that has an eighth season with Hank Scorpio and Frank Grimes. 

So they visit New York in episode one. It feels fresh, it's clever, it's got some great moments in it... bring on episode two. This one has got to be one of the more controversial episodes of the show, finding its way onto darn near every "Worst Episode Ever" list - "The Principal and the Pauper." As it turns out, Principal Skinner is actually an imposter. Believing his friend in the army - the real Seymour Skinner - was killed, the fake Seymour Skinner (Armin Tamzarian - oh boy, they're asking for trouble with going with such a ridiculous name to boot) lives his life from then on. Critics and viewers found the episode to be far too difficult to believe, and damaged a character they know and love. Oh boy. I can't help but imagine their reaction to some of the later plotlines. 

Don't get me wrong, it's a poor episode - in fact, it's The Simpsons' first failure. But putting it in the worst episode list is woefully inaccurate, as the last couple of seasons alone would have hatched ten episodes that wouldn't come near this one. At the core, it still has a few funny lines, the plot is stupid but not appalling (I understand that's generous, but it's relative to later episodes) and I don't believe it debased Skinner all that much. Worse episodes abound - and I believe there are two this season. 

There are some other poor episodes which would have been the worst if they had aired a season earlier - "The Joy of Sect" (Springfield joins the Movementarians cult) and "Simpson Tide" (Homer joins the Navy) spring to mind - but there are two that bottom out. "Lisa the Skeptic" in which the town finds a buried angel is by far the worst of the bunch. It's the beginning of the show's usage of their characters becoming mockeries of themselves. Yeah, the town of Springfield is stupid. I get that. But for them to all believe there's an angel that's become uncovered, that it's a harbinger of doom, only to be tricked by the whole thing being a publicity stunt for a mall? Come on now. Perhaps it's a hackneyed attempt to make a commentary on religious symbols and consumption or something, a way to revert back to what already seems like a Simpsons of the past, but it's painfully contrived, and the whole episode completely falls flat. 

Then there's "Lost Our Lisa". A lot of shows begin to lose their way when characters become too strong of versions of what they already are. Bill in King of the Hill went from sad to uncomfortably sad. Kevin in The Office went from stupid to possibly disabled. Here we have Homer going from lovable oaf to breaking into a museum, getting his head caught in a drawbridge and knocking over a priceless artifact (that's just sitting there behind a rope on a pedestal). He even at one point says to Lisa, "Feeling stupid? I know I am!". It's not an egregious example, but it's a sign of the times. And it's about to get a whole lot worse. 

Since I don't want to end on a bad note, as it isn't a bad season, we'll end on an odd one. I'm not big on the whole 9/11 conspiracy thing (in fact, it's a bunch of garbage in my mind) but Lisa holding up a paper right to the front of the screen talking about their bus fare with the price as $9 and the twin towers coming up immediately beside it? Well, it's odd. I'm not saying anything more than that, because that's all it is - odd. But nevertheless, it is an interesting tidbit of Simpsons lore.

Best Quotes:

"Fast kicking, low scoring, and ties? You bet!"

-The show's take on soccer

"Sorry son, I didn't know you, Jay Leno, and a monkey were bathing a clown."

-Best without context

"Come on, Homer, I'm one of your dearest friends! Remember when everyone said you were too drunk to drive? Who gave you your keys?"

-It's about time I got a Moe quote in here

Best Episode:

It goes to "Last Temptation of Krust". Krusty's transformation is just too funny. A nod goes to "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson".

Worst Episode: 
It's time for this category, sadly. The occasional episode is poor enough to warrant it. This season's worst goes to the reprehensible "Lisa the Skeptic".