Rate & Review: "The Wandering Juvie" (FABF11)

[Tomacco]

Okay, here we go:

This episode had all the makings of an excellent episode, including great characterization, use of new and old secondary characters, and good pacing. I think everyone's pointed out the most obvious bright parts of the episode, so I'd like to draw on what hasn't been mentioned so much.

Pardon my poorly-chronologically ordered review, but I think my favorite part of the episode was the little subplot involving who to blame for Bart's misconduct. Marge feeling sorry for herself and calling herself a bad parent was something I thought would have gone ignored (although in early seasons it wouldn't have, but this shows proof that the show has improved again). The decision to realize the blame on Homer was an even nicer unexpected turn, and for yet another twist, I thought his scheme resolution to compensating for raising Bart badly was the best and most inventive part of the episode. I thought this moment where Homer actually realizes his mistake (not being there for Bart) and trying to fix it by becoming a guard to watch over him was heartwarming and funny at the same time. It was a nice attempt on Homer's part, but as shown, he really is only designated to his shift, and weekdays. A good Homer blunder.

The Itchy & Scratchy cartoon's prison-edit was a great gag too, despite its similarity to the seniors-edit one in "The Old Man and the C Student". It also worked to advance the plot, taking yet another thing away from Bart. I enjoyed Bart's walk through the prison yard, where we really get a feel for his lonesomeness. The slide beatings for one was a comical visual gag in the midst of a more serious scene. The Cletus scene was also great, with the wood-carving psychic being a new aspect to his weirdly hick character.

The Bart/Gina relationship was a different sort of love interest we've seen from Bart in the past, but far more short-lived, and therefore not really my personal focus of the episode. To me, she was there to advance the juvie story more than anything, and the love aspect was just on the side. It was a good way to create a conflict in the episode, where Bart wasn't at fault, and therefore could be excused later and sent back home. The family visiting Gina was just another nice touch to let us feel that Gina isn't completely ignored, since she did help Bart out of jail. I admit this relationship was weak overall, but since it wasn't my focus, it didn't bring the episode down for me. I also thought the Warden was a well-used character, nicely voiced by our friend Charles Napier. Judge Harm wasn't unwanted either. Her explanation for Bart's file was a chuckle.

All in all, I just found it to be a fresh-feeling enjoyable episode with no real cons, and lots of pros. Good stuff, and great addition to the season.

5/5

PS: I laughed at Homer's mistaken toilet stall joke. It was all in the delivery.

[Gorky]

I enjoyed this one, and I think it was one of the best Bart episodes in awhile. I'll break my review down into acts.

Act one: Meh. The basic idea of Bart faking a wedding was uh,... interesting. I don't think that it was the best way to land him in the juvie, but it worked.
Anyway, things I liked: Lauren MacMullan's name as director, Edna Krabappel and Seymour Skinner arguing (I consider it a bit of foreshadowing for next week, but that's probably unlikely), and Marge's scene.
Things that were so-so: The use of the 'Yesss' Guy, the crime that landed Bart in juvenile hall, and Wiggum's badge ("Cash Bribes Only", or something to that effect).
Things I hated: Homer confusing the dressing room for a bathroom stall.

Act two: Much better than the first. Bart was an enjoyable character and so were the rest.
Liked: Sarah Michelle Gellar as Gina, Bart melting after Gina's kiss, Charles Napier, and Bart's innocence in the face of the other kids (more later).
So-so: Nothing
Hated: Nothing

Act Three: Great. I can't put it any other way.
Liked: Bart and Gina's friendship, Bart's innocence (the cooties thing, etc.), developing Gina into a likable character with some type of depth, Gina getting Bart off the hook.
So-So: Napier's character breaking down in the end.
Hated: Nothing.

Okay, I love character-driven stories, and this is one of them. Bart and Gina had some kind of chemistry (by which I mean Nancy Cartwright and Sarah Michelle Gellar did a great job), were both likeable and well-represented, and had depth.

On the subject of Bart's innocence, which I mentioned earlier, he seemed like an innocent 10 year old kid, not only a prankster. I loved that he was slow in realizing that Gina had no family, and couldn't believe that there's no such thing as cooties. I think that Bart's innocence is something that you can really buy, even though I'm pretty sure that very few 10 year-olds are that innocent.

Anyway, definitely A material.

[pat]

This episode had what the last three this season: solid plot structure. The episode's main plot was introduced in the first act for once, instead of the first act just being a time-filler. I enjoyed this episode story-wise, it was easy to follow and didn't jump all over the place, and didn't have a massive subplot, which enabled the story to stay on Bart instead of shifting to another character without any real reason.

The portrayal of the juvie hall was well done, Charles Napier was great as the warden, and the relationship between Bart and Gina was developed right and, as I already stated, flowed well. I also enjoyed the Do the Bartman reference, but not as much as DotheBartman, for no one but DotheBartman can like the Do the Bartman reference more than DotheBartman. The ending scene with Gina accepting the Simpsons as her family was beautiful and well done, and a great line by the warden to end the episode.

If I graded the episode based solely on plot and direction, this would easily be an A. But humor plays a big factor in my rating of episodes as well, and this one didn't deliver humor-wise as it possibly could have, but I can stand to not laugh as much if the story is interesting, which this one was, so I'll be fair and give this one a B+, 4/5. #5 of the season, therefore breaking the rankings in my sig.

Season 15 Rankings:
1. 'Tis the Fifteenth Season A
2. My Mother, the Carjacker A-
3. The President Wore Pearls A-
4. Today, I Am a Klown A-
5. The Wandering Juvie B+
6. Margical History Tour B
7. Diatribe of a Mad Housewife B
8. Treehouse of Horror XIV B
9. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore B-
10. Marge vs. Many, Many People B-
11. The Ziff Who Came to Dinner C
12. Smart and Smarter C
13. The Regina Monologues C
14. Co-Dependant's Day C
15. I, D'oh-bot C-
16. The Fat and the Furriest D
Average: C+ (but inching closer back to a B-)

[MacGyver 666]

"The Wandering Juvie" was a terrific episode; the best since "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore". I feared that the whole Juvenal hall aspect of the episode would be handled in a more "Wacky" fashion, but thankfully it was more down to earth. Bart and Gina's relationship was also down to earth & it arose naturally, which I liked. The only real negative about this episode was it was a little lacking in the humor department, although it did have its moments such as Cletus's woodcarvings. (especially the Pillsbury Doughboy in a bear trap)After my first viewing I'd give "The Wandering Juvie" an A-/B+.

Season 15

Treehouse Of Horror XIV: B
My Mother The Carjacker: B+
The President Wore Pearls: A
The Regina Monologues: B-
The Fat and the Furriest: B-
Today, I am a Klown: A
'Tis The Fifteenth Season: A
Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays: B
I, D'oh-bot: B+
Diatribe of a Housewife: B+
Margical History Tour: C+
Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore: A
Smart and Smarter: B+/B
The Ziff Who Came to Dinner: B
Co-Dependent's Day: B-
The Wandering Juvie: A-/B+

[chris]

So was this episode written by both Frink and Payne, or was it just Frink solo? I thought I read on SNPP's upcoming episodes page some time ago that it was just Frink, but now it says Frink and Payne...anyway.

This is the type of episode that can certainly sit up there with "Moe Baby Blues" and "Special Edna" and the like of recent seasons. My biggest problem was that when Gina kissed Bart it pretty much, in a wholly uninteresting way, rehashed past Bart kisses, and also opened the door for some irritating cootie jokes that really seemed out of character for a guy who had no cootie-related problem with his first couple of girlfriends. That's my only major complaint, though.

I was surprisingly impressed with Marge in this one, both in dialogue and voice work; Julie Kavner actually sounded like she was trying again, which I suppose could be attributed to the fact that Marge wasn't a behaving like a dimwit for once (although the skin mite joke could count, I guess...still). I especially noticed an improvement in her crying, which didn't grate as awful as it did in, say, "The Bart of War."

And of course the direction was phenomenal; that blacksmith was among the best pieces of animation the show has ever done.

4/5 (a point deducted for the crappy romance angle)

Too bad that next week's episode has been yanked away from us.

[vox]

Originally posted by DotheBartman
Captain McCallister showed up for the first time in a long while? (I think) He used to be in the show all the time but seems to be used more sparingly lately?

He was in rehab last week, giving Marge the (literally) bootleg liquor at the end. I'm not sure if he had a line though.

[HomertheGreat]

Humor

I think I agree with other people in saying that this episode was a constantly funny episode, with many laugh out loud gags. There were a couple that didn't work for me (Homer's alien dream), though his line and the family's reactions after that were funny.

Plot

Here is where the episode got a little iffy for me. The plot pacing was overall pretty good. I didn't find that it was rushed like many of the plots have been this season. My only complaint was Gina. First, let me say that SMG did an excellent job playing her, unlike other girl guest stars she actually sounded like a girl. But she wasn't developed very well, and was really an odd character to try and figure out. I don't know if this was intentional or just poor writing. I think that I'm leaning towards the latter. And the little love relationship between Bart/Gina felt awkward and out of place. Other than these complaints about Gina, the plot was paced and played out fine.

Direction

Well... what can I say. She did a great job, once again. Why isn't she Executive Director? While this directing performance wasn't as impressive as "Moe Baby Blues" it was still above average and offered up many great scenes. Probably the two that stick out in my mind were the scene with Bart scanning all the Wedding gifts and the Blacksmith scene.

OVERALL: Solid episode. It had some minor flaws in it, but it's definately a step up from the past few episodes. B

[Maddog53]

3.75/5 (I really wanted to give it a 4). Voted for a 3 on the poll.

I'm agreeing more with Tibor and DTB on this one. While I don't see this as a bad episode at all, there were still some sour moments. I really didn't like Bart almost suffocating the people (yes, I know he didn't acutally seal the doors or anything, but his laughing just seemed out of character to me). There weren't any real big laughs for me in this episode. Homer's job was dumb too.

That being said, I thought Bart was extremely in character for the rest of the show. Gina was a great character introduce, and their dialogue was funny, and sweet at the same time. Here is the link to my complete review. A bit different format this week, hope you like it.

While I think this episode will definitely be remembered, I don't think it was great, even though it could have been.

Maddog.

[Ranadok]

There was a lot to like in this episode, and not too much to dislike. The animation was top-notch (the blacksmith and the scanning scene as two notable examples, as well as a lot of smaller things animated in the background that I normally don't see), the humour was great (Cletus's wood sculptures, most of Chief Wiggum's stuff, much of the juvie scenes, and so on), the plot was solid, but not too complex. Most of the characters were well written, especially Marge and Bart (Marge's response was exactly as it should have been, in my opinion, and it made perfect sense for Bart to be completely out of his league in juvie as he was).

The only problems were the lack of character on Gina beyond the basic tough girl thing, but that isn't a big problem, as she wasn't really introduced until about half-way through the episode. There were a few annoying gags at the store, (the sign and the escalator) but two bad jokes aren't bad. The changeroom joke normally would have annoyed me, but the delivery made it funny. One minor gripe: Bart's prison-worthy prank was pretty lame, but it didn't really negatively impact the rest of the episode. As a whole, I'm giving it an A- 4.5/5, a very solid showing.

[Tman]

5/5

Cletus had the funniest line ever,

[OldCootAbe]

3/5 Not too much funny that I can remember 3 hours later. Not a good sign. I remember I laughed about 4 times in all. Bart was very annyoing in this episode to me.

[Rowdy]

Perfect perfect episode. I love the character driven storylines that have been coming out lately (The Ziff Who Came to Dinner, etc...) They did a splendid job humorwise as well, with every gag and joke making me laugh. This was a very impressive package overall , arguably the best of the season.

[Jitb]

4.5/5
Excellent episode, one of the best 2nd acts this season. Great use of secondary characters like Chief Wiggum (hilarious) and Cletus.

[Ryan]

3.7/5 (gave it a 4)

The worst thing about the writing is, they did NOT know the direction of Gina's character. Why did she kiss Bart? Does she like him as a friend? Something else? And what's up with the "no family" shit at freaking LAST SECOND?! Oh, booo, hooo...oh, look. Two minutes left in the episode. I wonder how they're gonna tie this end.

And the entire "Family Guy" shout could be a coindindence...maybe a reference...probably an ode (though it IS coming back)...but is this really a shout that it's crap?!

I bet you when FG comes back, if it is a success, this'll be the parody...

(The Simpsons are watching TV)
Homer: Let's see what's on.
(FG is on)
Peter: Hey, Stewie, how's it going?
Stewie: I'm gonna to KILL YOU ALL!!!! Now cut to an unrelated scene.
(Cutaway to...the Simpsons?)
TV Homer: D'ohhhhhhhhhh.
(Angle on real Simpsons)
Homer: Jeez, if I was doing a parody of us, I'd make Bart say on of his hilarious catchphrases!
Bart: Eat my shorts!
Homer: There we go!


Something stupid like that...

[Glumplich]

For those who are wondering, the "anyone who beats you up isn't really your friend" joke comes from Season 3's "Lisa the Greek."

In the first act, when Moe and Willie "kissed" (breathed each other's air) I was expecting a reference to gay marriage (i.e., the others would think that Moe and Willie were the ones getting married, not Simpson and Cooties).

Notice that, as I predicted, Skinner and Krabapple appeared, probably to prepare us for "My Big Fat Geek Wedding."

I agree the Bart was well characterized, and so was Gina.

There were too many jokes taken from other eps. Grade: B+.

[bovine_university]

A decent effort, mostly because of many highs and lows that balance out to an average grade. This episode had a disappointing first half, but a very good second half. This episode began very slowly and didn’t really pick up or become all that interesting until Bart and Gina broke out. There wasn’t a whole lot of memorable humor in the first act, and there was that complete red herring of a plot point when Homer decided to become a guard (I’m glad they changed direction, but still I was upset that the writers would lead us all over the place like that). I also had a problem with Bart’s prank; I thought it was enough for him to steal the presents, but when he watches the tent deflate and hears everyone collapse to the floor while laughing maliciously, I just couldn’t help but feel he was being too sadistic. The real meat of this episode came when Gina finally showed up, and I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar did a very good job with her role (I could barely recognize her voice). The back and forth rivalry/relationship between Bart and Gina felt believable and enjoyable, and the resolution and ending were done well. Overall, I also liked Lauren MacMullen’s direction of the episode. This episode took a while to get going, but when it did, it was quite good. 3/5

[Max Power]

Four out of five. Nice try, Gellar, but just not good enough.

[Stackhouse]

yeah so i really enjoyed it. and the real kicker is it was written by john frink and don payne.

so lets start at the beginning. costington's was pretty lacking, hit and miss here. the whole fake wedding thing was so-so.

but did it ever pick up once bart went to juvie. wonderful all throughout. i loved the itchy and scratchy cartoon among other things. animation was hot. i too was surprised to see the emotion coming from marge saying she was a bad mother, wonderful scene. also here it seems the writers finally remembered a rule of comedy: "three is funny. two isn't funny, four isn't funny" with homer's grunt after his wonderful strangler line. as i'm not making much sense, ill close it up.. Gena was a great character I thought, and although was underdeveloped, was a welcome guest appearance. well yeah, so it was really good. A-

may as well do a season review since i havent all year.

Treehouse of Horror XIV- B-
My Mother the Carjacker- A
The President Wore Pearls- A
The Regina Monologues- C+
The Fat and the Furriest- C-
Today, I am a Clown- A-
'Tis The Fifteenth Season- A
Marge vs. A Few People- C-
I, D'oh-bot- B+
Diatribe of a Mad Housewife- A-
Margical History Tour B
Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore- A
Smart and Smarter- B
The Ziff Who Came to Dinner- B-
Co-Dependent's Day- B-
The Wandering Juvie- A-

seasons sitting at about a B, even though i mark pretty easily.

[Larson Something]

I hope we've heard our last Family Guy reference on the show. First time, in Missionary Impossible, it was one of the funniest things in that episode (not that that says much). The THOH one was a good sight gag. Tonight, it worked, but it seemed like a reach.

So, please, no more. We get it. There are similarites. Family Guy isn't taking anything away from The Simpsons. More references makes it look like the show feels threatened somehow by it, and there is no reason for that.

[chiefdan]

Treehouse of Horror XIV: 3/5
My Mother the Carjacker: 2.5/5
The President Wore Pearls: 2/5
The Regina Monologues: 4/5
The Fat and the Furriest: 3/5
Today, I am a Clown: 4/5
'Tis The Fifteenth Season: 2/5
Marge vs. A Few People: 2.5/5
I, D'oh-bot: 4/5
Diatribe of a Mad Housewife: 2/5
Margical History Tour: 3/5
Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore: 2/5
Smart and Smarter: 3.5/5
The Ziff Who Came to Dinner: 2/5
Co-Dependent's Day: 2/5
The Wandering Juvie: 2/5

[vox]

Tonight’s episode was a decent effort. It’s always refreshing to see a well characterized Bart with his “bad boy with a heart” persona as the star of a show, and this was no disappointment. Gina, while not as compelling of a character as Jessica Lovejoy or Laura Powers, was still a good use of a guest star, and her lines were delivered well, with life and emotion, unlike some others this season *coughSimonCowellcough*. No gags fell flat, Itchy and Scratchy was great as always, side characters were well utilized (Cletus and Snake were funny for the first time in a while) and Lauren Macmullan outdid herself with the direction. But while there wasn’t anything wrong with the episode, there also was nothing that makes it stand out, much like most episodes this season. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and deserves an 8.5/10. (B+)

[a1rickyg]

Yikes!!
Thats now 3 consecutive episodes of horrible writing. Nothing but simple minded and recycled jokes. The storyline was a good idea but the execution was poor. Once again Al Jean tries to sneak an emotional character building episode in 2 acts .. it just doesnt work.

[Channel Surfer]

Decent enough outing, best episode since "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore". A mostly solid if simple story that overall remains enjoyable, despite a few bumps along the way.

Humor wise, the episode was fine. Despite some duds like Homer peeing in a changing room (not just because its base, but it was a beyond obvious punchline), it was fairly consistent overall, the "Clockwork Orange" thing (Bart turning in his possessions), the Itchy and Scratchy toon, the Kent Brockman news scene with Snake, the little hooker lineup close line, the slide gag, and Homer taking a job as a guard (even if meta-referencing) being some standouts. Nothing really hugely funny, but there was enough, and helped some of the more sluggish parts of the story.

However, it’s the story that remains a tad unspectacular. Like others have said, I think I would've liked to have seen Gina be a little more than the tough chick who covers up her vulnerabilities (here not having a family) with a hard outer shell. Granted she sure as hell beats out other one-time girlfriends like Renee and Gloria, and even Bart's last love interest Greta. But she still wasn't very interesting, and her character ran well-traveled roads where she originally comes off cold and dangerous, but eventually comes around and saves the day by the end. Ditto for her relationship with Bart, and the ending really felt like it came out of left feel there, even if it more or less makes sense.

Gina aside though, there were a lot of things I liked about the story. It was nice that they kept Marge's anxiety over Bart being sent to juvie as part of the story. It was better done than in "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" where she just starts cleaning to relieve stress or something, subtle touches like her nervous knitting (as Tibor pointed out) when watching the news. Bart's story is also well done trying to cope in juvie, actually as compelling if not more so than "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", though in all fairness that episode focused more on Lisa's plight than Bart's. Bart was in character too. As Tomacco pointed out, he's frequently beat up by bullies and is hardly among the popular elite (despite "Summer of 4 ft. 2" suggesting otherwise). He's more of a misfit, say as you feel rebel who's not above exploiting/tricking people for pleasure or profit, if I had to sum him up in a sentence. He's no criminal. Just a petty thug.

Direction was great, of course, as if that needed pointing out.

As a whole, simple and enjoyable. A more developed character development between Bart and Gina would've been nice, as would a more satisfying conclusion. But worthy enough as an episode.

Grade: B, or a 4/5, despite not being the best episode involving a Simpson and the law this season.

[comicbookgoy]

Good but not great. Bart's Sgt. Pepper joke should've been followed by...'Whatever that is.' Yes, Bart knows the Beatles from his excursion into Ned's Beatles room, but still, it's too much like a joke written by an adult.

The blacksmith animation was the best I've ever seen on this show, reminded me of Simonson's artwork in Thor #337 (thinking no one even on this board is getting that reference).

It's so ironic that this episode was on this week, as I just wrote an article on the California Youth Authority's woes this week, except there kids are getting raped and stuck in feces infested cages, makes Juvie look like the box factory.

Also, loved the Itchy and Scratchy with the charging armies and the censoring.

[The Governor]

I liked it. B+

Season 15 Rankings:
-THOH XIV C+
-My Mother the Carjacker B+
-The Regina Monologues C-
-The Fat and the Furriest C+
-Today, I Am A Clown B+
-Tis the Fifteenth Season A
-Marge Vs... B-
-I, D'oh-bot A-
-Diatribe of a Mad Housewife B-
-Margical History Tour B
-Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore A-
-Smart and Smarter B
-The Ziff Who Came to Dinner C+
-Co-Dependents Day D+
-The Wandering Juvie C+

[Cole]

Originally posted by ComixFan
... they lost a lot of potential laughs by not including Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney, or Nelson as fellow inmates of Bart's ...

Possibly ... but the show did not have enough time for a plausible explanation of why they would all be in juvie at the same time. Plus, that adds some slight familiarity for Bart and the idea was that he was thrown into a situation where he was alone and frightened. Having fellow classmates, although they were bullies, would give him someone to relate to and take away from the feeling of alienation which I believe was a key element in helping the viewer sympathize with Bart.

[Gunstar]

Well, this is the first new episode I've been able to catch in ages. And lo and behold it wasn't half bad. The episode felt somewhat subdued to me, which is a nice change of pace from the more crazier stuff of recent years. I was happy to see Itchy and Scratchy make an appearance, and the censoring of their cartoon was funny. Cletus' scene was probably the funniest and most memorable part of the episode, but I hated the fact that they showed Wiggum getting mauled in the background a little later. The joke itself was funny enough, with Cletus predicting it would happen, and didn't need to be drilled home later on. Gina was probably the weakest part of the show, and was underdeveloped. It's been talked about quite a bit already, so I don't need to dwell on it here. The ending had a very sitcomish, 'let's tie everything up in a neat little package five minutes before the credits roll' feel to it, and aside from Gina, and the Wiggum bit, was probably the episodes only glaring flaw.

Overall, decent enough episode with some good laughs here and there, but nothing really spectacular or memorable. 3.5/5

[HoyvinGlavin64]

This episode started off good, became great, and suddenly dropped down into mediocrity. Act 1 was a good set-up for the episode, and the Simpson-Cooties thing was funny, and had the feel of a Bart prank of the early classic era (B+ for first act). Act 2 was classic, with a strong plot, no jokes falling flat, good Bart characterization, and some amazing animation dirrection (A+ for second act). However, Act 3 was just plain crap. The plot seemed undeveloped and rushed and the writing was horrible (C-). Overall, I'll round this episode to a B/B+, or a 3.75/5 to 4/5 (voted 4/5, although this wasn't the best Simpson-law-breaking episode this season, with My Mother the Carjacker taking that title).

Also, seeing Reigna Monolauges for the first time, I give it a C-. Akin to Dude, Where's My Ranch (though a bit better), with some hillarious gags here and there, but overall bad and disjointed.

[Magnum]

If it sucks so much why is everyone spouting quotes left and right? It was very funny, my love of Cletus has been reaffirmed and they were able to have sex jokes in an episode about kids without it seeming too creepy.

Also Gina is my new favourite one time character, even better that Jessica Lovejoy (but not Bergstrom of course) or hell any regular who's just a device for jokes in the guise of a character. She reminds me of half the girls I knew in school and because of that I think they hit the nail on the head on how kids can be nowadays in personality. None the less, sometimes you could see what she was about to do next a mile down the road but that's always the case in these stories. And the lame overused "Bart develops a crush" plot was excusable since it was Gina who had the crush on Bart at first and not vice versa.

Now the direction was excellent. Macmullan seem's to opt for subtlety more than flash now. The blacksmith, the way how when Gina looks at the rope at the dance is almost in synch with the music, Gina's beret/switch blade, how Maggie's asleep at odd times, the buttons on Homers sleeve, Bart using the pricing guns, the music from Black Widower, how when the kids run in the field the grass is uncut, the sign in the warden's office from The Shawshank Redemption, extra's from Simpson's Roasting On An Open Fire and I Married Marge visiting their kids (the tattoo guy and the guy getting married to "Aylene"), Kearney's son being in juvie and the kid with a mustauche were all great scenes/nice touches. You could see stuff like this every ten seconds.

My only problems other than Bart being a pussy (which was sensible), some predictability and the over the top "emotion" of the end were the usual ones like Homer being too dumb, Marge being annoying and a few jokes that made no sense. But despite all that this is probablly my favourite this season.

[ECioffoletti]

It was okay. A 3/5 for me. I liked the episode but I don't see how it was a standout for this season.

The first act (in Costington's) felt like it had been done before to me. I did like the scenes in the juvie. Also thought it was funny when Homer became a guard.