Rate & Review “Lisa the Drama Queen (KABF22)”

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

That's because some people on this board went in looking for Lisa to be a Lesbian.

Saying Lisa's a lesbian in this episode is like saying she's an future alcoholic because of the milk scene in The burns and the Bees.

I don't think it's just that, since the source material for this episode mentions the fact that some people suspected the two being lovers. For two 8 year olds to be seems to be stretching it a bit, but it's not like posters are clouded by the fact that they are looking for it.

I thought the big parody this episode was based the book & movie "Bridge to Terabithia"?

Yeah, that too. I didn't catch that, but my girlfriend did. I'm not actually sure what part it was though.

[Tyler]

This episode amazingly shattered my expectations and turned out to be one of the most creative without being too odd episodes in a while. LONG REVIEW TONIGHT, BTW.

Wow, where to begin? Guess I'll start with the bad. Don't really like the four acts format. I guess I'll get used to it. To me, absolutely no jokes fell flat, there was only maybe...two I didn't smile at. I didn't care for the Darth Vader joke I remember. Lame sign gag near the beginning.

With the bad outta the way, here's my full review.

Opening sequence/Act I: Nice blackboard. Couch gag was pretty cool. Anyone notice on the FOX broadcast it abruptly ended the opening with no black screen and went straight to the lame sign gag?
The karate reminded me of the old Butterfinger commercial. Comic Book Guy was actually pretty good. Nice joke with the kids attacking him, especially the one biting him arm, nice touch. Lisa's art class scene was not too slow - just seemed kinda odd. Looked like Colin was in there for a few shots, but the hair seemed too dark to be him. Juliet, throughout the episode, was voiced very well, as was Lisa, and even Bart. Marge seemed off in Act I, however. The Josh Grobin gags were alright. The singing went on a little too far, however, after thinking about it...they're 8. More on this later in my post. I loved the joke about "someone has to rule it". Nice act I break, if I remember well.

Act II
The dinner scene I remember was pretty funny. I liked Homer giving him money to check out his back. Juliet looking into Equalia was fantastic. Especially some of the animation and detail. The sprinklers were a great gag! Homer mistaking Principal Skinner talking about Lisa didn't fall flat, however, wasn't the funniest. My favorite animation point of the episode was either in this act or the next: the scene in which Juliet and Lisa ride along the path, complete with the road turning gold, trees sprouting up, etc. That was really great, some cool animation on the trees. Best joke was "Bart Simpson, Age 10". Really nice act break as well!

Act III/Weird Act IV break thingy
Kearney enjoying the girls' story was a really enjoyable point in the episode, Kearney's always been more or less used only because he's with the bullies, and to see him with the girls was really nice. No "my son" jokes from him, either! Only real problem with the episode was Juliet and Lisa's quick seperation near the end. I share similar opinions with icewynd on this one, so just go read that post. The "cuckoo" joke wasn't good. The ending was pretty joke-filled, Homer's biography jokes I liked.

I guess they had to throw in, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Fall Out Boy", since they appeared nowhere in the episode, thankfully. Considering the Simpsons have had many ending themes ranging from grunge to punk, I guess Fall Out Boy, who I dread, wasn't that bad. I don't even know what genre they belong to. Punk-Pop? Emo?

Overall, a fantastic episode that helps me deliver my first 5/5 of the season. Well done tonight, Simpsons writers!

The relationship between Lisa and Juliet was kinda creepy after awhile. At first, it seemed like they were just best friends. You know, like Bart and Milhouse. But then Juliet asks Lisa to run away with her, which gave off weird lesbian vibes to me. It's really weird to say that about two characters that are eight years old, because they're obviously not lovers or anything. Their closeness just got kinda weird/creepy toward the end. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the writers or if I have a warped brain. It just seemed like that was the way it was written.

To the casual viewer, the episode was probably misleading. The lesbian jokes could get people to think, "Oh, ok, this is really gay. Lisa's a lesbian, look, she's dancing in circles around rainbows". First, I would like to make clear, they're only 8...they're expanding their imaginations by making up a magical land with unicorns...like alot of 8 year old girls.

Lisa hasn't had many friends throughout the series, and having her first "real" friend in this episode was important to her character. She didn't seem to want to let go of her newfound best friend. Just like an 8 year old. It's not lesbian for them to circle around with their imagination swirling around them, it's not lesbian for two lonely 8 year olds who seem to need each other's company to run off together and have fun writing a story...they're only 8. You would need to put yourself in a 8 year old girl's shoes, particularly Lisa, who hasn't had much real friends...without them becoming a rival (Lisa's Rival), or them being much older (Summer of 4'2).

No offense to you, Jims.

[TriforceBun]

Season 20 is fast becoming the season with a lot of great ideas but less-than-great execution. Tonight's episode started off rather cute and charming, but I never felt that the fantasy element really completely took off the way it should've.

I did enjoy the atmosphere and excellent animation that permeated throughout the whole show (not just in the fantasy sequences, but in the way the characters moved and showed expression through their poses, as well as the overall direction and camera angles), and the story had a nice, cute charm for awhile. But Juliet's character, while interesting, was underdeveloped for her purpose in the story. The climax didn't cover the issue of "reality vs. imagination" very well. Juliet afterwards briefly mentions how the imaginative world is better than the real one and is dismissed by Lisa...but didn't their imaginations just save them from the bullies? I would've liked to see more of Juliet using the world as an escape--it's a solid idea and they touched down on it, but the episode didn't feel cohesive enough by the time it wrapped up. And the two of them parting ways with Lisa just saying "coo-cooooo" was very unsatisfying.

The story started off quickly enough, but the pacing following that was largely uneven. The story didn't really progress in a "full" enough way, and more exploration of Juliet and the contrast between the real and the fantastic (and not just visually, but like if Lisa found Equalia to be a safe haven as well) would've gone a long way in making this a classic.

So would better writing, in fact. A lot of the one-liners just fell flat tonight, although there were a handful of great gags (Lisa escaping followed by "Bart, age 10" was excellent, and I also enjoyed CBG's karate class, the fake-out with the family and bullies, Kearney getting beaten up, and Marge listening by Lisa's door). The humor was pretty sparse overall, though. And geez, how many times do we need the "character sticks weird things in his ears to block out annoying sound" gag?

Despite my complaints, the episode is still a memorable, unique one, and fun to watch thanks to the high-quality direction. All things considered, I'd rather them take risks and fall short (like several of this season's shows) than settle for bland same-y stuff (S17, 18).

B- 3/5 on poll

[Ramier Wolfcastle]

What the heck, I'll give it a 5/5 because it was the first new episode in 7 weeks.

First off, the couch gag: Very innovative, #429 for the 429th episode to air. (Though many get repeated.) Also, it was nice to see the full opening one last time before it gets revamped.

But WHY is the show divided into four acts now? Something really felt weird when it cut from the TV shot of the opening credits right to the start of the act (no fade to black either, just like in King of the Hill and Family Guy). The show felt longer, but I guess they just want more commercial time. (Ironically, the repeat of Double Double Boy in Trouble that aired after this episode still cut to commercial after the opening.) I don't get why they start the format this week (we were still in the holdovers) and not with the start of the new production line, like the switch to HD and the re-done opening.

Anyways, onto the episode: I found the only parts wrong where Homer gives Juilet's dad money to look at a piece of gum on his back. The "joke" would have been fine with "that's not the kind of doctor I am." For those who don't know, it's a reference to him just having a Ph.D and not being of any medical affiliation. The other thing I didn't like was the reference to Facebook that Skinner made. Come on, Lisa's only 8 years old!

Marge seemed in character too. "I'm Bart Simpson's mother, I know all the tricks." And it was nice to see Bart in black like he was back in "The Telltale Head." And how iPods are still called Mypods. And Fall Out Boy's version of the end credits was fantastic! Although I would have enjoyed a live-action scene like at the end of "Take My Wife, Sleaze." Still, the "ladies and gentleman, Fall Out Boy!" was not necessary over the Executive Producer credits.

Overall: A-

[OfficerWriter]

The other thing I didn't like was the reference to Facebook that Skinner made. Come on, Lisa's only 8 years old!

For those on Facebook . . .

Here's Lisa's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/p...7acc1665&ref=s

. . . and Skinner's:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/p...dac0d6fd&ref=s

[Ryan]

This episode was unfortunate fangirl bait. Very unfortunate.

Anyways, this was a rather mediocre episode. I'm a big fan of the four act structure, so it's gladly welcomed. With that out of the way, I enjoyed that the episode immediately started with the plot (I was expecting Lisa to meet Juliet at the end of act one), but that's the only thing I truly enjoyed. The jokes were hit and miss, but I really enjoyed Homer trying to fantasize at the end there. Bart and Lisa's discussion about candy was well-written as well. The animation was okay, not extraordinary.

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great, or even that good. 3/5 is pretty appropriate here.

To another three weeks 'til new episodes! Now, that one will be interesting, even if the plot is very "eh"...

[bovine_university]

Not bad, not bad at all. Pretty good even.

I hear what alot of people here are saying about the episode not diving into the deeper themes of Juliet using her fantasy world to escape an unhappy life and parental relationship, or the consequences of living too much in a fantasy world, and while those would have been interesting story ideas I liked the story that they ended up using just fine. I loved the animation shifts from the real world to Equalia, especially the bike riding scene, and I didn't know where the plot was going to take me next, and it was entertaining to see where it went, even when the bullies got involved (geez, I never imagined myself calling the bullies entertaining again). I didn't like how quickly and easily Lisa and Juliet decided not seeing each other anymore and the plot could have moved a little faster at the beginning, but overall the animation was inventive and fun to look at, the story was interesting, and there were some very good laughs tonight (Nelson with his dolls, Bart at age 10, Kearney getting beat up, the fake-out with the family silhouette). In my opinion, this was one of the stronger episodes of the year so far. 4/5

[Pedro Sanchez]

It was okay, nothing really stood out. Harry Shearer had an easy week I think he had like 5 lines in the entire episode.

[Jims]

I don't think it's just that, since the source material for this episode mentions the fact that some people suspected the two being lovers. For two 8 year olds to be seems to be stretching it a bit, but it's not like posters are clouded by the fact that they are looking for it.

It's not really that I was looking for it, because I wasn't familiar with the movie source material. It was primarily the scene in which Juliet asks Lisa to "run away with [her]." Just like in those cheesy romantic movies. The way they staged the scene, it was just a weird moment between them.

Mind you, I'm using the word "weird," because Lisa's only interest thus far has clearly been in boys at school (Hugh, Nelson, Colin, etc). So it's kinda like a characterization thing. It would be like if suddenly Marge became a body-builder.

Oops, bad example.

To the casual viewer, the episode was probably misleading. The lesbian jokes could get people to think, "Oh, ok, this is really gay. Lisa's a lesbian, look, she's dancing in circles around rainbows". First, I would like to make clear, they're only 8...they're expanding their imaginations by making up a magical land with unicorns...like alot of 8 year old girls.

I don't remember where I said in my post that the fantasy sequences seemed gay. They just seemed like a brightly-colored acid trip to me... Thanks again to Josh Groban.

Lisa hasn't had many friends throughout the series, and having her first "real" friend in this episode was important to her character. She didn't seem to want to let go of her newfound best friend. Just like an 8 year old. It's not lesbian for them to circle around with their imagination swirling around them, it's not lesbian for two lonely 8 year olds who seem to need each other's company to run off together and have fun writing a story...they're only 8. You would need to put yourself in a 8 year old girl's shoes, particularly Lisa, who hasn't had much real friends...without them becoming a rival (Lisa's Rival), or them being much older (Summer of 4'2).

You're right, there is a little inconsistency here. After all, I don't think her friendship with Alison Taylor or the "Summer of 4'2" girl came off as having such subtext at all. To take things further, Marge literally ran off with Ruth Powers in "Marge on the Lam" and there weren't any vibes there either. Of course, that episode didn't have a dramatic, "Will you run away with me?" moment. It's probably the romantic movie cliche that put it into my head.

It just became an odd moment in the episode. It's not the kind of moment we typically see in a Lisa episode.

No offense to you, Jims.

None taken. I just wanted to clarify what I said earlier. I was also buzzing off the recent acid trip, so my main point probably got muddled.

Overall, it's an interesting discussion because of the source material. As X'tapalatakettle pointed out, in the original source material, the two characters did become lovers. The writers probably didn't want to imply the same feelings between Juliet and Lisa... But they had to stick to the structure of the parody. There's a definite balance there, so you don't imply something you don't necessarily mean. Do you change that scene, just in case, or would that be straying too far from the source material?

It's a fine line, I guess.

[The Sovereign]

3.5/5, rounded up to 4

pretty good, nice to see Lisa act like a kid for once

episode DEFINITELY had a creepy vibe, though

[Sprocketeer]

Original storytelling becomes scarcer as time goes on in this series, which is why it's disappointing when an original plot does come along and doesn't live up to its potential. While Juliet had a great quirk and guest voice, I didn't feel satisfied with how lightly her insanity was touched upon, nor with how quickly she left the scene.

They could have done a bit more with animation and plot in the imaginary world, as most else in the episode felt fairly generic. My guess as to the Lisa/Juliet "relationship" was that it was some sort of reference (to what I did not know), but really, even Lenny & Carl have had much more blatant "love" parts written for them, and they aren't gay no matter what anybody says. There was a fair absence of jokes in the episode, but none really struck me as being totally awful. Music montage in the museum...bah humbug.

Since I feel obligated to list the things I actually LIKED in each episode, the highlights here included the couch gag (the last CBG "Worst _____ Ever" line I recall was back in Season 15), "Bart Simpson, Age 10" (best gag in episode), and even some of Homer's oblivious remarks in the few scenes he appeared. Kearney having a slightly significant role was also nice. As for Fall Out Boy and the people complaining about them, would you seriously have preferred that they showed up in the episode itself and filled time pointlessly like so many other guest bands?

Grade undecided as of now, but anywhere between a 'C' and a 'B-' seems like fair game. May rewatch.
Bring on LABF now. The start of new production runs tend to have some good things.