That Eleanor Rigby sequence was something else (and not just due to the fun parody aspect). Really was a nice bit!
Oh yeah, the episode itself was super solid overall. It was surprisingly sweet and kinda heartfelt, in fact, and took itself seriously enough to work and all without making it some sort of a dour downer. It had a really nice, character-driven plot with Larry the barfly dying in his seat and Homer & Co ultimately coming together to make a road trip to a special waterfall for Larry's sake and give his ashes a burial: Having one of the background characters pass away and basing a story of that could easily have fallen flat (it is just like this show, in its modern era, to kill off a minor character whom hasn't really been an actual character and then making a huge deal about it), but the way they treated it with both heart and humor & the guys' reactions (and I think Marge's too) really made it click well and feel genuine (and we also learnt a fair bit about Larry in the meantime, so it wasn't just some blatant "care about this flat character no one frickin' cared about!" or anything but I did feel sorry for him & cared for the story). It was not perfect and had a few issues/nitpicks with it (and I absolutely missed Sam having a part in this, plus I did tihnk Barney should've been there, too), but I did not expect the episode to hit as well as it did.
Well, so I did like the opening sequence fine, with Larry being present in a "regular" Moe's scene and then being found out to have died, frozen in his usual position at the back end of the bar, though I did think the entire betting segment (with Homer & lenny talking Moe into betting on an American football game played in England) went on for way too long (and kinda felt nonsensical, with Moe being this much a cheapskate about a dollar & being a big time gambler since long before), but as soon as Larry was found dead, it kicked off he plot. The funeral home sequence was maybe a bit overlong too, but it did have some funny bits such as Bart & Lisa going around exploring & messing around, reverend Lovejoy being late and thinking it was Homer whom had died from the description of the deceased (the morbid sense of humor in these sequences was amusing), but I also liked the (cheap) Robert F. Quimby joke & the explanation to why Barney wasn't here (didn't expect him to be a volunteer worker in Mexico; kind of admirable of him, actually): The humor worked well in this one.
Though the main part (and highlight) this sequence was the ceremony for Larry, which was all about the characters: It shed some light on him (such as introducing his kindly mother, well-voiced by Grey, and that he really could draw well), it turning out that Homer and the guys (Moe, Lenny & Carl) hadn't known Larry at all or even cared about him when he was alive, now poorly improvising a fishing story, plus that abeformentioned Eleanor Rigby parody said so much about Larry with the song and the visuals (top notch stuff, also saying a lot about how well-directed this episode was, which I also noticed used a more matted, muted color pallet, befitting of the somber tone). I did also really like the dramatic element Marge chastising Homer & the guys for not having cared about Larry before he died (and I think she was absolutely in the right to be upset; also her dramatically stating that she was the most disappointed in Lenny was hilarious, keeping up with those random jokes about Lenny's importance at the same time as there was actual emotional weight in it, as Lenny is indeed technically the most sensitive and caring of the Moe's crew & should've been the one to have made more of an effort at knowing Larry).
When the road trip got going, it did so well with Lenny being inspired by Larry's drawing of him and them at the Serenity Falls (which also showed that Larry did care about them despite them not returning the favor, making him all the more of a lonely and sad character; I don't care that the show didn't do anything with him before he died, because this episode was doing him justice) to drive there with Larry's ashes to scatter them there (as it was probably what he had wanted); also I assume Marge's words also spurred them into action, at least somewhat (and Homer's complaint about going to serenity falls as it's "so stressful" was another dialogue-based joke that made me chuckle, but then again I think this type of blatantly contradictory joke lines can be very funny). But as the episode was 8 minutes in at this point, I really wish they could've cut to the chase earlier (I'd probably have trimmed away the football betting scene & Bart and Lisa going around the funeral home to get the trip going quicker and show more with the four guys and their road trip). It still worked, tho.
As for the road trip itself, it kind of became the highlight of the story, with each of the four (Homer, Moe, Lenny & Carl; sucks we couldn't have Barney here too, but it still worked out with these four) all having their part to play with their own motivation and mindsets of sorts, all interpreting the trip and its meaning(s) differently. There's the funny little jokes like Lenny being overly jovial and caring (maybe making up for mucking up not learning to know Larry sooner), the stuff about Naima and Kool And The Gang (was nice to get a Naima mention, but no cameo with Dawnn Lewis? Booo! Hiss!) and Moe being Moe, plus there was also some nice drama (such as there being a split between Lenny & Carl about their disagreeing viewpoints, with Lenny being ridiculously caring of Larry's urn & Carl being very shallow and all business) & then we also have their little bedtime debate about their varying opinions on what happens when you die? It both had depth and interesting interpretations, but it was also funny in an introspective, meaningful way and the animation work with the paintings behind the beds morphing to suit their viewpoints. It was easily one of my favorite scenes in the episode (possibly the season too).
Now, as for the sapphire smuggling plot that kicked in around this point (with Homer finding the gems stuffed inside the ashes and Moe discovering it too), I really didn't tihnk it was necessary and it did feel kinda thinly written as to have some sort of external conflict (and apparently it is rather large scale too, with Larry for some reason having smuggled these gems for Fat Tony) and to have the guys land in even more interpersonal drama (as Lenny & Carl soon find out Homer & Moe kept it a secret from them). I don't really fault the idea, them being locked up in the SUV trunk of that corrupt sheriff working for Tony led them to reflect on things, have some realizations and patch their friendship up (and it led to a really neat climax with the car, with them still in the trunk, going over a cliff in the forest), but it did feel like kind of an overly elaborate conflict plot for a relatively down to earth character study-type story (And I didn't really see the point in having that Larry had been a smuggler for the mob. Couldn't it just have been that Tony's goons hid the gems in the urn when no one was looking and now they were on the hunt for it, sending the corrupt cop? yeah, I'm not gonna overthink this so much).
But yeah, this smuggling thing did give some more good dialogue between their guys and I like how they settled their differences while in the trunk, plus the abeformentioned end setpiece with the car going over the cliff (due to Homer's attempt at threatening the crooked cop with a flare gun going awry, even if it led to the bad guy knocked out by a falling tree branch) was really kinda neat with some good intensity and animation that elevated that (and I like the joke of Larry "saving" Homer from getting killed, when the urn rolled down after the careening car and got stuck between the tire and chassi); it was a well staged sequence with some nice humor (such as Homer missing his mark to jump out due to the classic "on three"/"after three" type confusion). Though, I did think the staging of the corrupt cop being knocked down and a fire starting around him in the trees looked like it would lead to some kind of forest fire danger for the guys (as a second setpiece), but nothing became of it so I think the fire felt kinda pointless, but it's more of a personal nitpick, really.
Anyhow, I did like the ending where they have reached the waterfall but theres a really nice twist that it doesn't look anything like Larry's drawing of him and them, leading them back home and we get that reveal that the waterfall of the drawing really was based on a waterfall as pictured on a wall ornament at Moe's. It was really sweet and kinda showed that in spite of everything, Larry had truly felt at home at Moe's despite never really connecting with the other guys. This kinda makes sense, as the place is, as we have seen and been reminded of, isn't really one to make a lot of meaningful friendship connections at, but is more like, as has had been said, it a place for lost souls to sit at and drink beer & also have some more or less meaningless interactions and debates, but yeah, Larry did still get something out of it, so not really the all depressed miserable guy he seemed like to be (I would've loved to see Sam chip in on the entire situation). With Homer & Co having a drink there and celebrating Larry's memory, it ended and wrapped up the story on a nice and heartfelt note (and concluded their personal journey well, with all of them having gotten something out of it and learnt a few things about their fallen friend).
So all in all, this was immensly enjoyable, often surprisingly so. Sure, it did take a bit too long to really kick of the main story (and the smuggling plot did feel a bit overdone and kinda pointless, plus raises some questions) but what we got was fun, funny and intriguing, with more than enough good character moments and interactions (and Homer & the guys were all well portrayed & in-character; I liked Lenny being a nice guy, Carl being the rather serious and practical one & was fun to see scuzzbag Moe again, being shifty and self-serving and blaming Homer for his own idea; in fact, that with Homer being talked into keeping the sapphires a secret from Lenny & Carl worked as a nice callback to the opening scene where Homer helped talk into Moe into betting on the game. Marge was really good too in her small yet important role as thevoice of reason) as well as some bits of nice drama with heart & introspectiveness, plus a bit of intensity at the end (and there was a nice Fat Tony cameo somewhere in there too; Joe Mantegna never disappoints and always add to the fun).
While the episode certainly was fun and all, the character element was what made it work, with the guys' camraderie and conflicts & solution, but I think the story also did Larry justice (and didn't just joke his passing away) & the nuances and depth in terms of the dialogue (thinking on the guys debating the afterlife mainly, in terms of that, but there was also other moments) made the episode feel surprisingly poignant and meaningful in the end, even with the few issues I had (such as no Sam to be seen, let alone Naima nor Maya being present at all, which they easily could've been during the funeral; was nice to get a Naima mention, but yeah, she should've had a cameo at least, as should Maya). The general direction by Gabriel DeFrancesco was kinda stellar, with some excellent animation, fluidity & also a really apt muted and somber tone, both in terms of story itself but the animation direction as well, which I mentioned in regards to the downplayed colors, helped by the autumnual setting, which was fitting due to the passing of Larry being at the core of the story).
Giving this a 4/5, for sure. I did have those issues and nitpicks with it (such as the smuggling plot feeling a little pointless) so it could've been even better, but it's still a successful one in terms of plot, story, direction & character work, creating an interesting and compelling well-paced episode which worked as a nice and meaningful character piece at the same time as it was a road trip tale with the Moe's crew, so a really nice job by the creative team of Tim Long, John Frink, Gabriel DeFrancesco & of course Matt Selman and the animators, whom made the premise justice with the depth, introspectiveness, poignancy & questions asked. In a sense, kind of an unique episode. And they actyally made me care for a character whom was always a background presence, elevating the gimmick of killing off a character no one cared for and making it feel, well, earned in terms of the narrative & just being a really nice story in the end.
There was effort with love and care (and not a small amount of heart) put into this one so I was surprisingly impressed at how well it turned out. And Selman was only co-runner (and no Omine or Kelley in sight). This was a nice surprise. Had fun with it.