NHC Weekly Episode Club (Simpsons Spin-off Showcase)

[Ryan]

...so, what's the next episode?

[cinco]

...so, what's the next episode?

Dunno, if you have a good proposition, let it come !

[hammster]

I'm just interested to know peoples opinions on how the literal existance of the soul is presented. I feel it is presented as a pyscological entity. And ironmanGLC whatever someone nominates.

[CousinMerl]

I nominate 'Homer At The Bat' as next week's episode.

[Richard Nixon]

I think it would be good to go by alphabetical order, so if everyone else does aswell, here is the order we would pick episodes in:

(hammster can go first because he started the thread)

hammster
ahhgoobras
Animal
arii
B*O*R*T
Burnin'
CaclculatedChaos
cinco
Colonel Hap Hapablab
D'ohmer
EthanRunt
Fear of Flying
Green Man
Guy Haines
ironmanGLC
Joe Miller
Leo Pard
Mr. Trampopoline
Naru-1
NumberZone
qwertyuio
Richard Nixon's Head
Squeaky Voiced Teen
the chilliman
the real melvin
The Sovereign
You Only Move Twice
zartok-35

ahhgoobras is choosing next weeks episode

[Ryan]

while "homer at the bat" is one of my all-time favorite episodes, it's a gag-heavy affair that would probably just lead to little discussion outside of "I love this joke!"

I can't decide between three episodes:

1) Marge vs. the Monorail (my second favorite episode of all-time)
2) Homer's Enemy (would lead to an interesting discussion)
3) Principal and the Pauper (controversial episode)

edit: hammster started the thread, not fear of flying. he should be the one to decide how the nominations work out.

[hammster]

Whats the protocal if ahhgoobras is a no show... Also answer my effin question someone!

Edit: I'm fine with FoFs suggestion but need to know the protocal.

[Léo Pard]

2) Homer's Enemy (would lead to an interesting discussion)

Homer's Enemy is a good choice.

[CousinMerl]

I also like the idea of the name order list, so i'd say we wait for aahgoobras to reply with his episode of choice.

I'm just interested to know peoples opinions on how the literal existance of the soul is presented. I feel it is presented as a pyscological entity.

I think I have to agree with you, it's presented as a psychological entity and it is embodied in solid form as the piece of paper with the text 'BART'S SOUL' written on it.

[zartok-35]

I'm just interested to know peoples opinions on how the literal existance of the soul is presented.

It's obviously a physical object! If the soul is a psychlogical entity, then why bother having that piece of paper at all?

....Nah, you're probably right. I'm not smart enough to talk about this sort of thing.

[Jesse Pinkman]

if we do homer's enemy we have to have Jake here, because of his hatred towards it, could make good discussions IMO

[Ryan]

I'm just interested to know peoples opinions on how the literal existance of the soul is presented. I feel it is presented as a pyscological entity.

depends on how you look at it. lisa and milhouse offer differing variations on what a soul technically is, whether it be physical or metaphysical. it is implied by the end of the episode that bart views it through milhouse's perspective, as a tangible entity, even as lisa muses on how it's conceivably either something transcendental or entirely mental, but can only be earned through faith and trust.

the paper is symbolic of bart's soul, but the episode itself knows that it is merely just a emblematic representation. in the end, it's only a macguffin that drives the story forward and forces bart to endure his arduous journey that leads to redemption.

in the end, the episode has no real and true answer on what a soul literally is, and it's all the more greater for that.

[Capt Hammer]

I Hereby Choose "You Only Move Twice" as the next episode.

[Ryan]

you chose...

wisely.

[the secret code]

Just so everyone knows, I wasn't trying to control the thread by making that list, I was just trying to help, so that if we did do it alphabetically then we would have the list ready.

Also, good choice for next weeks episode ahhgoobras, I'm sure it will be another interesting discussion.

[the secret code]

-Double Post-

[Nauru-1]

I would suggest that if we run into a situation where the person does not respond by the middle of the week, we just go to the next person. The person who missed can put in their choice the next week if they show up afterwards.

Regarding the soul, I somewhat agree in that the occurrences are largely psychological (and in some cases, a form of karma). I've always felt that it was treated in a borderline supernatural way, but whatever it is, it works for me.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

i think any episode can be discussed thoroughly, even Homer at the Bat. i don't want this to be a series of hot topic episodes or obvious canonized greats.

also i'm still not on the list.

[Ryan]

i think any episode can be discussed thoroughly, even Homer at the Bat. i don't want this to be a series of hot topic episodes or obvious canonized greats.

well, of course, but I feel as if we need a bunch of deeper, more heavily structured episodes first before we can discuss gag-heavier, simpler episodes in order to shape everyone up. if we just jump into those, it will promote laziness since they're slightly easier. when everyone gets used to how things work, then I feel we can start laying on the lighter episodes.

"you only move twice" is kind of a move in both directions, though. we'll see how it goes.

[Squeaky Voiced Teen]

My grandpa came to town so i didn't get a chance to review so hhere it is:
This episode starts off with an "ok" couch gag(never really a huge fan of the couch gag but there is a few exceptions).
The first act starts off well with a funny opening scene in the church. i love Love Joy's Rock and or roll line and Milhouse looking out the window and seeing the crows always makes me laugh.
The Moe sub plot is one that really stands out to me as one that almost mimics the main plot. As Forbiddendonut mentioned before I believe both have a lot to do with coming to terms with "selling out". we see that Bart has sold his soul for a measly 5 bux which he gets a pathetic bunch of foam dinos in an attempt to scare his sister(not a great part of you to give up for something so useless). We also see Moe and Bart having a hard time dealing with "selling out". We see Bart unable to open doors and impress local bullies and we see Moe losing out on money and having kids annoy him with his birthday fries. We both do see them finally realize there mistake once they hit thier respective breaking points(Moe snaps at a child and in the same restaurant we see Bart burst after Lisa's ragging on him.)
What seemed off in this episode though was how strange Milhouse acted. Instead of being Bart's subservant sidekick we see him as someone who tortures Bart to no end by not giving him his soul. I have a hard time figuring out why that is. Is it because he truly just wants the 50 bucks or is it something deeper such as since Bart doesn't believe in souls he doesn't deserve one? possibly. He only see him act this cruel in "Das Bus".
I felt that the ending was very touching. Bart begging for his soul with the long shot camera angles makes the audience feel as if they are God looking down on this poor child begging for his soul back so he can finally feel whole again. I find it truly touching.
A great episode written by Daniels. It always goes up my favs list every time I see it. A

p.s. There was some funny parts

[arii]

What seemed off in this episode though was how strange Milhouse acted. Instead of being Bart's subservant sidekick we see him as someone who tortures Bart to no end by not giving him his soul. I have a hard time figuring out why that is. Is it because he truly just wants the 50 bucks or is it something deeper such as since Bart doesn't believe in souls he doesn't deserve one? possibly. He only see him act this cruel in "Das Bus".

If Milhouse gets any kind of taste of power, he uses the hell out of it. It's so rare that he's in any sort of dominant position that when he is, he can't help but lord it over and go to an extreme extent. This also ties in with how Bart treated him before Bart fell - "Any time, chuuuuuuuuuump" - Milhouse isn't happy about being called a chump, not when he believes that he's the right one. He doesn't do anything about it because Bart still exudes confidence over him, and there isn't really anything he can do.

But when Bart comes to him, he's in control, and he takes full advantage of that; it's a kid-like form of petty revenge and as we've seen, he's much more willing to bend over backwards for Bart or to any authority figure than he is to stand up for himself... But now, he's in control of Bart, from both his and Bart's points of views. He's victorious and he's living it up here.

By the time it's 2 AM he probably doesn't care anymore because he's sleepy. But before that happened he was definitely living the life.

[the secret code]

I updated the list with the people that wanted to join, and the episodes they picked:

hammster - Bart Sells His Soul
ahhgoobras - You Only Move Twice
Animal
arii
B*O*R*T
Burnin'
CaclculatedChaos
cinco
Colonel Hap Hapablab
D'ohmer
EthanRunt
Fear of Flying
Green Man
Guy Haines
ironmanGLC
Jims
Joe Miller
Leo Pard
Mr. Trampopoline
Naru-1
NumberZone
qwertyuio
Richard Nixon's Head
Squeaky Voiced Teen
the chilliman
TheForbiddenDonut
the real melvin
The Sovereign
The Wiggs
You Only Move Twice
zartok-35

[Squeaky Voiced Teen]

But when Bart comes to him, he's in control, and he takes full advantage of that; it's a kid-like form of petty revenge and as we've seen, he's much more willing to bend over backwards for Bart or to any authority figure than he is to stand up for himself... But now, he's in control of Bart, from both his and Bart's points of views. He's victorious and he's living it up here.

By the time it's 2 AM he probably doesn't care anymore because he's sleepy. But before that happened he was definitely living the life.

I did notice this too when Bart goes to getr his soul back he seems to go back to the same old Milhouse, willing to do anything fo Bart and saying akward kind of dumb things such as " I cant play right now it's 2AM".

[the secret code]

Well, it is 2 AM, and since he doesn't even have the soul anymore he would be back to normal, I assume.

[Real Melvin]

[cinco]

And if Itchy wears shoes, it got to have a reason!

[cinco]

This went well.
But still... shouldn't this be a little less review and a little more discussion/debate?

[Real Melvin]

I liked the episode. Your position?

[Nauru-1]

What in particular do you want to discuss about it?

One thought that occurred to me about the episode is how Bart literally just leaves the family at the restaurant and is out all night in sketchy areas of the city. It was particularly interesting, given that Homer and Marge were basically out of the loop to his whole problem.

[qwertyuio]

This went well.
But still... shouldn't this be a little less review and a little more discussion/debate?

Yes. But in the case of Bart Sells His Soul I don't see many chances of debate since it is an unanimously loved episode. However, I'm fine with the thorough analysis and interesting interpretations I've read so far in the thread, so if there is not an actual discussion about this one I don't think it makes a problem.