Rate & Review "Rednecks and Broomsticks" (LABF19) (now with polls!)

[Capt Hammer]

That sure was an episode. Oh boy.

Anyway, here come the numbers.

1. When they first did the Bop-It parody, it seemed like a pretty stale reference at first. They don't need to do completely contemporary stuff, but it's been a long time since I've seen Bop-It, so it was kind of a weird reference. The scenes were executed really well overall, though. I liked how it tied into them crashing the car instead of being a complete throwaway.

2. The plot of the episode felt like a Scully Era plot in how over-the-top and wacky it became. I mean, come on. A parody of the Salem Witch Trials? It's almost as if the episode was self-aware of how ridiculous the premise was, when the judge threw the case out (which I liked). After that, I wasn't even sure what the point of the episode was. Was it that mobs are bad? Okay. But they've had so many angry mobs now, it's almost like the show is jerking off over them now.

Yeah, yeah, angry mobs. What else do you got?

3. The Homer subplot was handled pretty well. I was a bit nervous at the beginning because it was quickly becoming an, "Oh boy, look at those crazy redneck stereotypes!" cliche in the first act. I did see the conclusion with the water supply coming, though, due to all the water in the surgery room. Looking back it, how does that work anyway? Does washing hands make you blind too? It's not a huge deal, but kinda weird.

4. I really liked Cletus' comment about the hillbilly generalization regarding "Deliverance". It's too bad that Moe's over-the-top response kinda killed the moment. You know, you can play off, um, Moe's curiosity more subtly and we'll still get the joke. I swear we're not stupid. Just make Moe say "oh, okay" slightly disappointedly and frown a little as he departs. It's kinda depressing how much the writers think they have to dumb down the show so much for their audience. Way to make the show less smart.

5. Speaking of a smart reference, the "Sideways" parody was the best part of the episode. It was a neat flashy moment that some people would get and others (who hadn't seen the movie) would still enjoy looking at.

Completely agree with this, 4/10

[Astray]

Hilarious episode; not an ep I haven't liked!

[Denis Dufek]

Not great, the part with Moe and rednecks is not convicing,and the three witches are poorly characterized...

[Diversity Pumpkin]

Those wiccans were attention whore skanks. Especially the fat one.

1/5

[Charlie]

Those wiccans were attention whore skanks. Especially the fat one.

1/5

I'm giving this a thumbs up, this post is funnier then a lot of the last few seasons

Personally, I liked a lot of things in this episode, but there was also a lot of weird stuff too. I preferred the Homer plot to the Lisa one, but overall it seemed to flow very nicely and no one really seemed out of character (Lisa is debatable, but I saw her as just an 8 year old that isn't sure what the hell is going on). One thing I picked up on in the first five minutes - I think this is the best music composition in years, I thought it was great. Overall though, fairly average and run of the mill.

2.5/5

[biffwestwood]

Anyone think it would've made more logical sense that Neve Campbell's role would've originally been given to Fairuza Balk? In addition to her being in one of the four lead roles in The Craft, she is also a Wiccan in real life.

But then there is the possibility that Fairuza Balk declined the role and the producers decided Neve Campbell was their second choice.

[Simpsons Population Census]

Hello ! First post for me !

I have a question about the Cassandra character , which one is it ? I don't know neve campbell voice enough to ear it.
I just noticed it can't be the one with the light skin because she says her name was Stacy Deathsatan aka Gwendoline Nightshadow (am i right there ? )

Thx !

by the way i've put 2/5 on this episode.

[Zutroy.]

This was actually the first S21 episode I've watched. Reading the synopsis, it seemed the most captivating. However, I was extremely disappointed with it.

The thing is, this ain't unwatchable. But plot development was shambolic, and there seemed an over-reliance on visible gags, often graphic, cringeworthy ones at that. All of the following made for uncomfortable viewing:

The Bambi sequence
Wiggum and the fly
The possums
Moleman's self conducted operation,
Homer's stupidity at the end
All of the grenade scenes (wtf?!)

Even those aside, the episode, as is so often the case these days, ploughed along far too quickly and seemed to neglect the main idea. It took a full seven minutes to even catch a glimpse of the Wiccans. We found out virtually nothing about any of them, and Lisa actually wishing to join them in the first place just seemed a little...unusual.

Things then really did accelerate. Lisa's 'initiation', the festival, the police coming to the scene, the protests and the blindness - all in about 90 seconds! In about four minutes of viewing, Lisa had gone from being a little inquistive about the Wiccans to defending them in court! There seemed no development of the relationship between Lisa and the Wiccans. At the end, Lisa says something along the lines of "these past few weeks you guys made me feel cool!". Really? Weeks! WTF? And where precisely did they make you feel cool?

A wasted opportunity, because it was a smashing idea for an episode. But there was no character development, no plot development, and a large portion of the gags were a let-down, too.

On the plus side, the supply teacher's appearance was amusing, as was the other "Bonk it" family.

D

[Agent Polar]

Was there even someone called Cassandra in this? All I heard was Stacy Deathsatan, but I can't remember if she said something before that.

Anyway, the episode had some good jokes, but was mostly pretty boring. Why was Lisa just skating around at the end???
Best joke for me was probably Bambi and the 'sideways' parody was really good too.

I'm pretty tired right now, so I don't know if that contributed to some lack of enjoyment... 2/5

[Granto]

A nice couch scene set up a pretty funny first act with the deer being whacked, the Snowed Inn sign gag and the Bop It run, despite it going on too long all getting laughs from me.

The "Wiccapedia" joke was funny also but was the only highlight of the second act which was too heavily story based. The witches storyline was strange but I enjoyed the Crucible parodies and it was nice to see Blinky in a cameo appearance.

The ending was a nice resolution but the 4th act seemed very unnecessary.

3/5

[CousinMerl]

I think this was a good and enjoyable episode. Both of the main plot (Homer and the hillbillies) and the subplot (Lisa and the wiccans) were nice and I like how they got linked together at the end (I believe it was some time since both the plots of an episode did that). There were some amusing and funny gags and jokes (like the Hell/Dell computer one) and I liked the movie references, like the Bambi parody and when Cletus referred to the infamous scene in Deliverence. I must admit that the ending with Homer disappearing in the water and then appearing through a hole in the ice in the end credits scene afterwards was a litte wierd.

3.5/5

[Rest your giant head]

Here’s another recycled and worn out storyline – Lisa meets her new heroes and decides to become one of them. The episode just didn’t offer anything spectacular. I thought the biggest highlight in the episode was actually some of the animation, especially in the nature.

The trip scenes at the beginning felt stale, but the episode picked up a notch from the moment Cletus and the hillbillies kicked in. The bluegrass bears were amusing, as well as Bart playing with grenades. There were some cruel jokes here and there, but I didn’t care as long as they made me laugh.

I wasn’t impressed by Wiccans at all. It didn’t seem natural for Lisa to decide to join them so quickly. The appearances of Moe and Kent Brockman were pointless and not even remotely funny.

The explanation at the end would work if Homer became blind after drinking the water with hillbilly moonshine, and the last scene with Homer being drown made me shudder. I was glad to see Blinky again, though.

C-

[Monty Burns]

It's started off like most other recent episodes have, little or no laughs. In fact, the only time I did laugh in the first act was the exploding snowmen. The "bonk it" went on too long, felt like filler to me. Would have preferred it to have been cut. I couldn't really tell what was the A-plot or the B-plot as they are both given equal amount of times.

The witchcraft which craft thing was clever, but not funny. Moe and Chief Wiggum weren't funny either. Bad lampooning of Wikipedia, just like Mypods. The hell-dell confusion was funny.
Blind scene not funny. Courtroom scriber thing was another good'un.

"Gummerment" = stupid. Reference of 9/11 and Hillbilly stuff also stupid. Lisa skating before the credits was just humiliating.

Another bad episode to join the list. 3/10 which comes to an F.

Treehouse of Horror XX next.

[Charlie]

Sorry but I'm just curious, how does 3/10 - 30% - equal an F?

[Real Melvin]

in what setting could 30% not equal an F?

*Australia joke*

[Monty Burns]

Sorry but I'm just curious, how does 3/10 - 30% - equal an F?

Hmmm... I haven't explained my grading system in detail yet, your confusion is understandable.

100% would be an A* for me
90% is an A
80% is a B
70% is a C
60% is a D
50% is an E
Then you get below half and it becomes F,G and U (Ungradable)

I haven't really given it much thought to be honest, as I don't review episodes that often. I almost base my system on the grading of work at A-Level in England, but not completely.

[Bartesque]

5/10 - Dunking witches to prove whether they are real or not was done a lot better in "Easy Bake Coven".

The poll looks like a sideways middle-finger!

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

1/5

[Gatorsrule]

Sorry but I'm just curious, how does 3/10 - 30% - equal an F?

I'm confused. How does it NOT equal an F? Grading systems, at least in America, go like this:

90+ = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D
59 and lower = F.

OR Some places have this:

A 94-100
B 87-93
C 78-86
D 70-77
F 0-69

In both cases a 30% is not only an F...but pretty damn bad. I guess I thought everyone used this, or a similar grading scale. I still don't understand how 30% could be construed as anything other than failing?

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

hahaaha at least in america