Rate/Review: On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister (GABF05)

[Binky]

Anyone realise that the location of Springfield was revealed in the beginning?

Where was that mentioned?

Looks like they're trying to get rid of inside and running jokes to not alienate the casual viewer who doesn't follow all the shows.

Actually, I'd say there have been a whole lot more inside jokes lately. Hell, even this forum got a (visual) mention this season. It doesn't get any more "inside" than that.

[NoJean]

I only tuned in around the part where Bart was bitching about how Homer made the poking stick.


From what I saw.


2/5

[BartSimpsonfan17]

Ok I haven't seen a new episode of The Simpson’s in along time and I must say it was a hoot. I have to agree with whoever said Lisa was out of character because she was, you can't deny it. Bart has done things far worse to Lisa than those stunts he pulled in that episode, and Lisa never once did or thought of putting a restraining order on Bart. And I thought it was funny when Lisa couldn't even think of one thing that Bart has done any thing nice for her. I mean in one of the first seasons if I recall right, Bart had 500 dollars from Krusty cereal nearly killing him. Bart had a chance of a life time to buy something he really wanted with that money, but Lisa was feeling so down about herself and the fact that Bleeding gum Merfy had died she wanted to some how let everyone know his music. So Bart gave his 500 dollars to Lisa to buy a CD of Bleeding Gum's so she could play it on the radio. Now if I don't think that counts as a good deed than I don't know what does? Again sorry I couldn't remember the name of the episode I can't think of it. Any who; I thought Bart was back in character from the late 90's I think he's been out of character since than. The subplot was ok, Homer was wack lol, Marge was a drag she was a little poor on her character. Nice seeing Maggie again hasn’t seen her in a while, and I loved it. The ending pure classic I loved it, Bart chasing after Snowball was genius. I didn’t like Lisa's character in this episode though. Over all I give it an B+

[bovine_university]

A meh episode overall. It had it’s memorable moments and it’s not so memorable moments. The story moved reasonably well, and the characterizations of Bart and Lisa weren’t overdone too much (except for when Bart became too fond of the wilderness). There were the usual amount of jokes that went on for too long (especially in Gary Busey’s unneeded and unfunny appearance), but that music montage was pretty funny. Homer’s subplot wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t all that great either. A satisfactory episode overall. 3/5

[Goty]

Anyone realise that the location of Springfield was revealed in the beginning?

It wasn't, and the couch gag was recycled from last year anyway.

[Tomacco]

Although many people have beefs with referencing past episodes, it seems to me that Bart's stunts on Lisa in this own were the "last straws" to which she retaliated. To strengthen her reasoning for the restraining order, I think a very quick flashback to a bunch of Bart vs. Lisa moments (extremely quick stuff, like Bart launching the water balloon in "Catch Em..") would have been nice. And in turn, instead of ignoring the nice things Bart has done for Lisa in previous episodes, they should have canned this 1-2-3 good things deal they had going and maybe do another little flashback sequence to the good stuff in past episodes he's done for Lisa.

Not to mention the effigy (sp?) thing was incredibly predictable.

[reyontoyeny]

I'm going to repeat what pretty much everyone else said. A mixed bag. The restraining order came out of nowhere. Homer's job didn't lead into anything. I liked the Global Warming jokes. Cutaways were used a lot in this episodes with mixed results. I tolerated some of the more "random" moments. 3/5 (I really do think I subconciously forgive a lot of the serious repeating flaws of the show lately.)

[Semaj]

You know, based from what I've been reading, I've noticed that they haven't had much clips lately. The last time I remember them using a clip from a previous episode was in "The Great Louse Detective".

[Glumplich]

Anyone realise that the location of Springfield was revealed in the beginning?

Where was that mentioned?

I think he means the couch gag. For more discussion of the couch gag, please see the relevant R&R thread for "Ziff Who Came to Dinner," which is most likely in the Voting Booth/Archives.

As for tonight's episode. I agree that Lisa was a bit OOC -- she'd never just poke Bart for the fun of it. It was funny at the beginning but went downhill in the third act. I agree with BSfan17 -- I was expect a clip from one of those episodes, not the young Bart feeding Homer the fake hot dog scene. The ending with Bart thinking he's an animal was too over the top. Grade: B/B-.

[Mike Scully]

There were some worthwhile scenes here. Some of the Wal-mart jokes were funny (if done slightly better on South Park). I enjoyed seeing Skinner's repeated atempts to make up with Edna. And I felt somehwat sorry for Bart, when undergoing repeated abuse.

Unfortunately, the whole plot was a washout, and the Bart/Lisa rivalry felt contrived and unfunny. This episode was really no better than Bart vs Lisa vs the Third Grade, for all the reasons stated by Tomacco.

The first act featured Bart annoying Lisa with flatulence type jokes, which stirred some bad memories of BvLv3rd. Afterwards, I did sort of want to see Lisa take a bit of revenge on Bart, but I found some of her actions hard to believe. Prodding Bart with the pole was fine and in character, showed a bit of her mischievous side, but I can't buy her unremorsefully letting Bart sleep outside for days, or eat lunch in the rain and laughing about it. Towards the end, she says she feels remorse, but nothing in the episode shows why she would have a change of heart. And I simply couldn't believe she couldn't think of more than 2 nice things Bart's done; I'm all for playing around with continuity, but this was just jarring and very unrepresentative of Bart/Lisa's relationship. Oh, and the family celebrating, while sort of amusing, felt like it would have fit better in season 11. Overall, it seemed like the episode was trying get a genuinely emotional story from some very contrived events, and the humor came more from surreal aspects (Bart running with the dogs), rather than witty and meaningful character interactions.

This episode is worth the few laughs it got rom the Homer subplot, and some of the surreal humorous moments, but there wasn't a whole lot to savor.

Grade: C-

[thrilling bargains]

GNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMES!!!

haha, great joke.

Global warming joke was too political. They're really making me angry with the politics of the show. I know that if they were doing things from my point of view I wouldn't be quite as bugged, but it still takes away from the timelessness of the show.

'Oh... my... God... that used to be a human face.'
great line.

[The Governor]

The ending was rushed and sappy, though I enjoyed the redux of Tijuana Taxi and Bart chasing Snowball II. Some clever moments such as Grampa screaming gnomes, the aforementioned video, Uter reappearing, and Skinner trying to win back Edna. 3/5

I pretty much agree on all points, but I think this is the third worst, but not by much. Anyway, like most of S16, this is a 3.5/5.

Did you notice Bart, after he became an 'animal' was somewhat like himself in "Bart of the Jungle"?

[ppg]

It wasn't, and the couch gag was recycled from last year anyway.

Eeeep. I'm sorry. No wonder it looked sorta familiar. I just plain plumb forgot about it. I still can't get over how they revealed CBG's name.

[Curtis]

DID ANYONE NOTICE RICHARDS HAIR WAS THE WRONG COLOR!!!

[NoOneFamous]

I decided to give this one a shot since Bart/Lisa episodes are usually OK.

I was wrong. The show has become so incredibly formulaic and downright LAZY that I really can hardly stand watching a full new episode.

The entire Bart/Lisa plot has been recycled so many times. Lisa gets annoyed by Bart's pranks and has to learn to accept him! That's NEVER been done on the show before! EVER! The beginning was pretty much exactly the same as Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third grade. How many more times can Lisa and Bart have this same exact dilemma as if the last one never happened? I realize the show has never been about continuity, but this is ridiculous. And clearly, this episode ignored ALL of Bart and Lisa's past history just to churn out some cheap "laughs" from a 20 foot poking stick. They could have, ya know, not ignored the fact that Bart has done many, many nice things for Lisa, or the fact that most of the time they work as a team, but why do that when you can have a joke about Bart creating a sculpture of Lisa to burn?

Other thoughts:
~OMG! Lisa protests something! She sure is being in character! OMG! Homer conveniently gets ANOTHER job! Didn't see that one coming! Take THAT, Wal-Mart! The Simpsons sure pulled a zinger on ya! Take THAT, 60 Minutes! The Simpsons are SO witty and relevant!

~Skinner's attempts at winning back Edna were not needed in an episode that already had a plot and side-plot and seemed to be just "thrown in there".

~I know the Simpsons' house's location has changed a lot, but come on, now it convienently has a fucking forest behind it? THAT is not "working Springfield around so it fits the plot", that is lazy writing. I'm sure even every casual viewer noticed it too - "since when do the Simpsons have a forest in their backyard?"

~Bart quickly turning into an animal-like creature was incredibly lame and the episode's ending was cliché and forced. As if you didn't know how it would end if you've seen any other "Bart vs. Lisa" episode.

~VERY few of the gags were actually funny. One of the only laughs the episode got from me was from the video explaining restraining orders, and how it was a "video within a video."

GRADE: D-
I'm so glad I don't normally watch new episodes.

[Dude in the Back Row]

3/5. Mixed bag.

[silentmike]

~I know the Simpsons' house's location has changed a lot, but come on, now it convienently has a fucking forest behind it? THAT is not "working Springfield around so it fits the plot", that is lazy writing. I'm sure even every casual viewer noticed it too - "since when do the Simpsons have a forest in their backyard?"

It is very hard to believe when you look at it, the logical answer could be it was all in Bart’s head, the stream forest all that. The "it's a cartoon" answer would be that, there was a time where the power plant was next door, so I didn't really give it much thought at the time.

I thought it was a good episode, the flash back bit was a little disappointing they used to be funny or touching, but it was just yet another homer getting hurt gag.

I didn't find Lisa to be out of character (or at least not as much as she has been in some past episodes), I would assume that the first restraining order only went of for a few days, and although it was cruel, I think Lisa really was finally given a chance to get back at Bart, so she went with it. But by the time Bart is sleeping in the back yard, she did feel a little bad, and it was really sooner or later she was going to forgive him.

A good funny subplot for Homer, I was never thinking get back to the main story.

Some joke that come to mind

Bart, Snake, and Loo in prison, very funny
Homer mistaking a Nome for grampa
People at wall mart (or whatever) not knowing what to do without a greeter
The owner guy turning from a nice guy to a jerk

I thought the part where Bart is turning into an animal went on a bit to long, the jokes where there, but I just didn't find it funny, and it didn't make allot of sense seeing as Bart wasn't that primitive when Lisa talks to him. It was funny when they brought it back at end though.

Good episode, another winner from season 16, possibly the best one this season, 5/5

[BartSim]

4.5/5 it was a great episode but i didnt like it when they made it look like lisa was worse than bart

[Homer Jay]

Although many people have beefs with referencing past episodes, it seems to me that Bart's stunts on Lisa in this own were the "last straws" to which she retaliated. To strengthen her reasoning for the restraining order, I think a very quick flashback to a bunch of Bart vs. Lisa moments (extremely quick stuff, like Bart launching the water balloon in "Catch Em..") would have been nice. And in turn, instead of ignoring the nice things Bart has done for Lisa in previous episodes, they should have canned this 1-2-3 good things deal they had going and maybe do another little flashback sequence to the good stuff in past episodes he's done for Lisa.

I agree with you that they should have used flashbacks to previous episodes, but I've always thought that doing that is a slippery slope. I know this is unfounded, but I would be concerned if too many are used, and Fox realizes it and demands more clipshows.

This has been done once or twice in the past, in Dog of Death there was a montage, and in a few of the Sideshow Bob episodes there were flashbacks to the previous Bob episodes. There were other times that I thought they should use clips from previous seasons, but they didn't so I have stopped complaining about this problem.

[Samuel L Bronkowitz]

I give it a C, meaning an OK episode...not the best, not the worst. Suprised to see a callback from The Crepes Of Wrath, and I got a chuckle from Seymour referring to himself as "The Skin-Man".

don't take this the wrong way, but are some of you guys grading on the curve? I mean, I see alot of A's getting tossed around...I tend to think an A rating should mean it's on the level of something from the best of seasons 3-6, and I didn't get that feeling at all from this episode. If these ratings are independent of other seasons, then never mind...

[Disgruntled Goat]

Also, did anyone else have trouble situating where Bart was staying? He was in the backyward I thought, but it kind of became something of a jungle... and where was Ned's house?

Yeah, technically he should have been in the power plant car park... It was just another one of those continuty jokes, as in the aforementioned Homer the Great.

My review:

Wow, finally a return to form for The Simpsons. This episode was a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stale and predictable humour of late.

Homer's subplot was also funny and provided the comic relief when the main plot was getting to the serious part, which is exactly how it should be. In fact the whole episode's pacing and plot interlinking were spot-on, something which has not been fully achieved for the best part of a year.

I don't think there was anything you could not like with this episode: it was free from lame and/or unimaginative jokes. The only thing which would come close would be Homer getting shocked by the Sprawl*Mart compliance chip. However, this wasn't as 'graphic' as other episodes (eg Sideshow Bob in 'The Great Louse Detective', Homer in 'The Fat And The Furriest'), so it was okay in my opinion.

Bart-Lisa conflicts have always made great episodes, and judging the Season so far, I didn't have high hopes for this episode. But I was proved wrong: there is still life in The Simpsons; Now if only every episode was this good, we'd be set.

[Binky]

did anyone else notice that the couch gag was recycled from last season's "The Ziff Who Came To Dinner", and that they replaced where Homer had previously said "wow" with "cool"? the mouth animation on Homer was even off, still forming a shocked "wow" with his lips.

Yeah, and I dunno why they did it. I thought it was much funnier when Homer said "wow".

[do what donny dont does]

I lowered my standards for new episodes a long time ago.
The "classic era" is over people, get used to it
That being said, 4/5

[I'M A BRICK]

I thought this was a really good ep even though Lisa was being a "Jerk-Ass" Lots of funny stuff, like Bart bonding w/ the dogs and becomeing a pack animal.

[Moses Wiggum]

Where was that mentioned?
in the opening shot it looks like Springfield comes out of the North West USA ( Oregan Maybe , Northorn Cali.)

[prince jafar allah]

agreed entirely with mike scully, except i felt the incredibly forgettable subplot didn't have anything going for it either. a spattering of great jokes, mostly in the first act, save it from a C minus, but this was a whole lotta nuthin, really. C

Didn't see that one coming! Take THAT, Wal-Mart! The Simpsons sure pulled a zinger on ya! Take THAT, 60 Minutes! The Simpsons are SO witty and relevant!

what the hell are you blabbering about? are you parodying brainlessly cynical and negative simpsons dorks....because i think the show already did that themselves.

Skinner's attempts at winning back Edna were not needed in an episode that already had a plot and side-plot and seemed to be just "thrown in there".

they were just side jokes that happened to be about an ongoing story arc. nothing wrong with that.

[OldCootAbe]

It was funny, though the plot was stupid, I'll give it a Grade: B- , cause there was enough funny one-liners especially at the beginning. Just hope they don't make Skinner into another Kirk Van Houten. Meaning, his patheticness with Edna was pretty funny this time, but don't make it a habit. As I said...

Grade: B-
3/5

[ppg]

When Homer was playing the xylophone, he strikes the same key twice in succession yet he produces two clearly different tones. Is it some sort of magic xylophone or something?

[thrilling bargains]

yes, it's a magical animated xylophone.

the only time to my recollection that they've animated someone playing an instrument the right way was in LETS. didn't they say some animator played the guitar and animated that the right way in the commentary?

[A. Gorilla]

I missed the first act of this episode so my comments are incomplete. What I saw of it though was dissapointing, mainly because of how it showed Bart and Lisa's relationship. I just didn't buy that Lisa would get a restraining order against him and then show so little remorse when he's forced to live in the yard and eat out in the rain. It also bugged me how she couldn't think of three nice things Bart has done for her, because even though Bart has been mean to her in the past, he's always come through in the end. I think of the song in Stark Raving Dad, taking the blame in Seperate Vocations, getting her yearbook signed in Summer of 4'2, and using his $500 to buy the Bleeding Gums Murphy album in Round Springfield. Not to mention the numerous times Bart and Lisa have worked together for one reason or another.

Then again, I would have been able to overlook this if I would have found it funny but the gags didn't work for me. 2/5

Geez. My first post and I come across as one of those ats people who denounced every episode from season 4 on.