RATE AND REVIEW: "The Debarted" (KABF06)

[The Governor]

i liked being beaten over the head XD lets not forget its a cartoon ppl!

[BartSimpsonfan17]

Skinner was awesome in this ep. I loved this part:

Chalmers: SKINNER!...Skinner?
Skinner: I'm alright sir.
Chalmers. ...Don't scare me like that.

Lol. "I'm gonna be on you like a numerator on a denominator" was great, and all of his other dialogue was awesome. I like the idea of Bart and Nelson being best friends, rather than enemies. It's cute. The subplot sucked though.

Yah its cute how they were friends in this episode agreed. You'd think Nelson would be more of Barts best friend, they have a bit in common

[The Law-Talkin' Guy]

Homer calling Lisa Maggie was great. So was Bart's toilet seat desk...

[ominousorb]

The whole thing with not giving the car back should have been handled much more realistically, and the tornado joke just scares and confuses me. That madee no sense, not even in cartoon logic. The milhouse/toilet joke was just lame writing, should've been cut. And topher grace's voice was way too deep, however, he made up for it with his acting. Oh, and lisa would never wear cleats, let alone be that intense at hitting barting in the face with them. That animation was intensely unrealistic, as was Skinner and Chalmers in the basketball court, however, the majority of the animation was pretty good. The magnets joke was pretty damn unrealistic despite its great animation, so I was kind of annoyed with that, even though it was a lot of fun to watch. I was happy with the animation overall. Um, altogethor, I did actually really like this episode. Not too bad. It's another 3.5/5. I just listed my complaints because they're easy to list, I liked a lot of things about this episode too. But, can't think of too much right now, so that's all.

[Dave Shutton]

Lisa had cleats when she was playing soccer in "Marge Gamer"

[Ryan]

Okay, so I really, really liked the main plot. So much so that if the main plot took up the entire episode, I'd give it a 5/5. However...I hated the subplot with a passion. It gets a 1/5 from me. Mix it up, add in the fact that there was no unrelated first act (yes!) as well as the obligatory comparison to our past two pieces of shit "That '90s Show" and "Love, Springfieldian Style", and I'll give this ep a modest 3/5.

The main plot was fucking great. Well written, good jokes, awesome Skinner/Chalmers interaction (Chalmers being scared for Skinner's life was the best part of the episode IMO) and I actually liked Topher Grace as the guest star. I (sorry Jake) even liked the Ralph line. Of course, seeing as how I loved the Departed, it makes sense that I would like this.

Now () for the subplot. Jesus, what were they thinking?! So stupid, so incredibly ridiculous, so amazingly pointless. Add in being a total fantasy. Yeah, like a car dealer is just gonna let Homer have the fancy loaner car, with his old junked up one as the trade. I know its a cartoon, but Christ was that unbelievable. Some bizarre gags (Homer laughing, the car storm) and a horrific ending that is so rushed that I had to pause to take it all in. I sat there thinking, "They better get back to this..." But, no, of course.

So, this gets a 3/5. I adored the main plot so much, and it pains me not to give it a glowing review, but with that subplot that took up eight or so minutes of the episode...it had to be knocked down a couple notches, sorry...

The best news? We're back to straight traditional episodes! Well, this one was slightly a movie parody, but it still counts...right? Right?...

[catbox_9]

I need to rewatch it because I forgot what my complaints were.

A very good episode that could have been outstanding if now for a few flaws. There were a couple parts in there that were pretty unrealistic and/or unnecessary. The storm in the car, the magnets, etc. There's a couple other things that were totally unrealistic and did nothing to contribute to the episode but they were minor enough to where I've forgotten them.

I give it 4/5 and this review is horrible.

[thebeck]

Like most here, I enjoyed this show a great deal. I have seen the Departed and enjoyed the faithful spoof. I also got a kick out of the B story (especially after King of the Hill's episode was also about a car).

Anywho, one thing I noticed was Lunch Lady Doris (I assume this was her) while playing nurse and inoculating Bart her words didn't match her mouth movements. Anyone else notice this? Also, I thought I heard Lunch Lady Doris wouldn't return since Doris Grau passed away.

[G.K. Willington]

Really good episode. A strong plot, and it didn't feel like it had been done before. Donny's voice was a bit too deep for a 4th Grade student, but it wasn't too bad. The humour was ok, some was funny, and some (such as the Cletus/Milhouse gag) was a bit embarrasing. The Homer sub-plot was ok as well. I would rate this episode as the second best of the season so far, behind Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind. I would rate it a B+ or 4.5 (I put 4/5 on the poll, as it wasn't really 5/5 material). Hopefully next week's episode will be just as good or if not better.

[ominousorb]

Lisa had cleats when she was playing soccer in "Marge Gamer"

alright, that was a picky comment anyway, and not altogether that serious -- however, that scene still seemed wrong

[CousinMerl]

This was a great episode, and I must say it was better than "That 90's Show" and "Love Springfieldian Style", it was nice to have another Bart episode since it was a while since we had one. This episode reminded me of how funny Willie is. I thought that Donny was an interesting character, though he seemed and sounded a bit to old for being in Bart's class. The subplot was okay, but nothing really special, but I liked some bits of it, like Homer calling Lisa Maggie. The ending with Ralph "The rat symbolizes obviousness" was one of the best yet oddest post-classic era endings so far.

5/5

[Drunk Barney]

Okay, so I really, really liked the main plot. So much so that if the main plot took up the entire episode, I'd give it a 5/5. However...I hated the subplot with a passion. It gets a 1/5 from me. Mix it up, add in the fact that there was no unrelated first act (yes!) as well as the obligatory comparison to our past two pieces of shit "That '90s Show" and "Love, Springfieldian Style", and I'll give this ep a modest 3/5.


Now () for the subplot. Jesus, what were they thinking?! So stupid, so incredibly ridiculous, so amazingly pointless. Add in being a total fantasy. Yeah, like a car dealer is just gonna let Homer have the fancy loaner car, with his old junked up one as the trade. I know its a cartoon, but Christ was that unbelievable. Some bizarre gags (Homer laughing,

That was the entire point - Homer laughing. Yes it incredibly ridiculous which is exactly why Homer kept on laughing. I think to be honest your taking the subplot way too seriously. I thought there were many great gags thrown in, and I loved how they got Marge, Lisa and Bart all in the car at seperate times.

But anyway, I thought it was a great episode, the best of the Season just behind "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind". The main plot was certainly better and provided many jokes. I loved the end with Skinner and Charmers as well.

Characterizations were good all round, with great performances from Bart and especially Skinner.

To be honest I haven't got many complaints. The ending may of been a tad rushed, and it seemed to often go along time without any decent jokes, although nearly all the gags were pretty good except the Willie writing on his arm joke. Though that wasn't terrible.

Overall: A very good episode, just what the Season needed. B+

[The Governor]

That was the entire point - Homer laughing. Yes it incredibly ridiculous which is exactly why Homer kept on

I'm surprised Jean didn't pull a "Blunder Years" and have Homer laugh like a moron during the entire subplot.

[Cartoonnetwork]

"Running away ruuuules!"

"It was a rat within a rat, just like Willie's dinner!"

"Too Siamese. Too Siamese."

"SKINNER! SKINNER!? Don't scare me like that!"

"Kick mediocre study habits"

This episode had some of the funniest moments of the season, and the gags coupled with a focused and well-paced story made for a solid episode. I've never seen The Departed, so a few of my complaints about the show may be premature (the predictable nature of Donny saving the day, Ralph's final line, which everyone who's seen the movie seems to love), but there were some gags that fell rather flat either way. Specifically, Lisa kicking Bart in the face with cleats was odd, and some of the car lot scenes dragged. One gag in particular strikes me as particularly gross--were the hillbillies who planned to buy Homer's car really going to do what I think they were?

On the plus side, good one-time character, good story, good gags. The breach of trust reminded me of Three Men and a Comic Book, and we even got a nice screw-the-audience joke as well ("Donny...grab Milhouse's legs"). All in all, very well done down-to-earth episode, with good music and art direction to boot.

Nice to see a good showing that doesn't bend the rules of The Simpsons. 4/5 B+

That sums up my opinion as well. Very good episode, I'd love to see more like this one. The story was actually interesting, actually more interesting than the one in The Departed IMO that kinda dragged a little.

It's a little soon to consider this movie as a classic (like Cape Fear) so I don't know if I like this full-parodies of recent movies, but this was pretty good cause it mostly worked on its own.

Happy to see an episode about Bart again, and in good character. The use of Willie, Chalmers and Skinner was also very good.

Homer's subplot was silly but there were some good gags in it. "Come ooon", "Owner of a lonely hearth" spoof and "Sorry, Maggie" were all pretty funny.

I actually think this one is better than Eternal Moonshine overall.

[Drunk Barney]

/\ "Sorry, Maggie"

On paper the joke souds cheap, but the way it was executed was great. Casual and quick. And it worked well.

[Kit Starter]

Strong plot which is always gets a big plus from me and strong characterization on Bart which was refreshing to see. All of the pranks were top notch and liked the couple of twists in the episode (Skinner's blue tongue and Willie being a rat).

Didn't understand Ralph's line at first as I haven't seen the Departed but after reading the explanation it makes sense and probably would have laughed if I had known it. B-plot was decent. A couple of failed jokes bring it down a grade but my high expectations for it were fully met. 4/5.

[Dr. Colossus]

Best episode to this point of the season. 5/5

[Cartoonnetwork]

Forgot to say Nelson was great in the episode too.

Also I shouldn't mind the full-parody thing so much cause the movie is well chosen. Even though I found it kinda mediocre, The Departed is going to be remembered cause Scorsese finally won a director award with it.

The self aware silliness of Homer's subplot and the two twists Kit Starter just mentioned were even mildly reminiscent of Mirkin's episodes.

[Property of Ned Flanders]

Sorry Maggie was hilarious, especially since we didn't see Maggie at all the entire episode (correct me if I'm wrong. The storm was...strange (I kind of wish that would happen, would prove for many an entertaining road trip). Raised an eyebrow at the Willy tattoo, and again later when we found out he was on Skinner's side (why did he tattoo himself then?). I actually thought the Cletus/Milhouse joke was damn funny, I know I'm not a fan of the Simpsons going in a Family Guy direction with a joke like that, but I still laughed. Didn't get any of the movie parodies. All in all, probably 2.5/5. Another mediocre episode but it did prove to have a couple memorable jokes. And what the eff, man...they shouldn't even try to bring Doris back. Although I think this may have been originally unintentional. They probably had a generic school nurse and once it went into final production some jerk must have had the idea that it would be "cool 4 teh old simpsons fanz" to see Doris again and decided they'd replace her with Doris.

[jsc2600]

I was very pleased with this episode. It seemed to flow very well. 4/5

[bobservo]

This episode really did surprise me; while I'm a little sick of the Rugrats/Recess device of showing that the kids lead lives very similar to adults, "The Debarted" was, overall, pretty good. First, though, there's a few complaints I want to get out of the way: the reveal on Skinner's blue tongue was good, but why oh why did we need additional flashback cutaways to something that happened less than ten minutes ago? It was more than a little insulting, and just questionable; was this for the benefit of the viewer who walked in during the last act? Donnie also explains the "blue stripe" connection when Bart catches him, making things even more needlessly obvious.

Oh, and, for the love of god, can we please stop bringing back Lunchlady Doris? At least Tress Macneille tried to do an imitation of Doris Grau the last time this character showed up--this time it was just her "generic old lady" voice. I don't know why Al Jean wants this character back in the show, but Grau put her stamp on the minor role (which Al and Mike brought to The Critic) and it's just disrespectful to bring the character back. I'd feel the same way about Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure.

Forgetting about the terrible b-plot--the joke of a car full of outlandish gadgets had been done in the show around 5 years ago, not to mention the resolution made absolutely no sense--it was nice to see a Bart story. Bart is probably the most inconsistent character on the show; he jumps from being a loser to being popular, from following trends to being eccentric. And while this episode went with my least-favorite of the Bart characterizations, the story was interesting and actually surprising for someone who didn't see The Departed or read the episode description. I also liked seeing some good Skinner jokes, as well as some good stuff involving Willie--and did anyone else find Skinner to actually be likable in this episode, despite being the antagonist?

In the end, it was just nice to see a good episode after so many weeks of REALLY bad ones; the last one I can say I enjoyed before this was Eternal Moonshine. I hope I won't have to wait three months to see another one like "The Debarted."

3/5

[Captain_Smiley]

Can somebody explain to me Ralph's line at the end? I have never seen The Departed so I might be missing something. I liked the storm inside the car, it makes me want to try that. Was this episode preempted anywhere else because NASCAR ran long?

[simplysimpsons]

By far, the best of the season. One of the only episodes where I hadn't found myself looking at the clock partway through which is just great. I was laughing and really interested in the story throughout the entire thing. Donny was a great new character and the whole idea of him being the rat was incredibly well played, I thought. Characterisations spot on all round. The subplot was good too, tons of jokes I found really funny. A couple of iffy lines and extended moments here and there but that's very minor, to be honest. Bart episodes are normally the best and this proves the point here. A-

What was with Doris' voice? I thought Tress did a really good job voicing her in that episode last season, but she sounded really off here.

Edit: I didn't even mind the storm joke because it was short, not overdone, and so crazy it was just very funny. Also, great to see both plots wrapped up properly by the finish and lots of funny Skinner/Chalmers moments.

[Tamaki Suoh]

The entire episode felt too short again, and nothing was developed as interestingly as it could have been. The whole thing was kind of a blur, and nothing stuck out as being fantastic. However, it wasn't bad either; it was actually rather good. There were no atrocious jokes or horrible characterizations like most of season 19, and the episode had a more classic feel to it.

Donny was a pretty good one-time character, Nelson was actually very funny, and Bart was mostly in-character as well. Some of the conclusions made seemed far-fetched (Bart calling Nelson his other best friend? Skinner saying Bart was the only boy who cared about Donny? To me, Bart didn't seem to care much about Donny genuinely at all), but overall, it was a good episode that was thankfully absent of anything too cringeworthy and just as thankfully present with a handful of good gags.

4/5

[Whip-Smart]

Okay so I really enjoyed this episode, So much better then what I have come to expect from this season (and the show). The episode was not without its faults I felt most of the jokes could have been executed better and the storm in the car did not work at all. But it was still a very strong entertaining show overall with a lot of funny and compelling moments. I’d give it a 3.5/5. (voted 4)

[KoenSoontjens]

this is obviously one of the best episodes in season 19.just when i think the season is going to completely suck they pull of an episode like that.ofcourse the b plot wasn't that good but the main plot made up for it.
4.5/5

[D DEBBS]

Very good ep-4/5

[CHU-LIP]

SEE? This show is still capable of offering us some brilliant episodes. : DDDD

[sung]

Looks like I missed out again. Yes, I went to the gym to watch it, but that damn TV didn't have FOX (it had FOX news channel and everything that I can think of but not FOX that shows the Simpsons)

Seems like this exceeded some of your's expectations, I'm looking forward to watch it

[Ryan]

That was the entire point - Homer laughing. Yes it incredibly ridiculous which is exactly why Homer kept on laughing. I think to be honest your taking the subplot way too seriously. I thought there were many great gags thrown in, and I loved how they got Marge, Lisa and Bart all in the car at seperate times.

What am I supposed to do? Pretend its not there?! Besides one line ("Sorry, Maggie!"), I found the subplot to be utterly pointless. And I get why Homer was laughing, I just thought it wasn't...what's that word I'm searching for? Oh, yeah: funny. I really, really loved the main plot, but subplot took up nearly half the running time, so for that it drags the episode down. Maybe I'm in need for a rewatch, because the ending kinda was the last straw for me...