Rate/Review: Chief of Hearts (MABF09)

[CousinMerl]

What exactly is wrong with that, Numberzone? I'm not saying Herman shouldn't get a few lines (he's a great character) but calling out Lovejoy, of all characters?

I think you've got me all wrong there; the Reverend is a character that I like and he was one of the first characters I thought of comparing Herman to since he, like Herman, is not seen too often and doesn't get many speaking parts.

I didn't call his name out because he's a bad character if you thought that; I have no negative feelings towards him at all, so chill out

[Reverend Lovejoy]

Yeah, I must've got you mixed up there. Sorry.

I do agree that Herman should've been able to say something. I wonder what he did to end up in that situation?

[Goty]

Whoa, what a surprise. First episode since the "Brother" one that i truly enjoy, i wasn't expecting that. Homer was in character, Wiggum didn't annoy me as i thought, heck, even Marge was consistently funny.
Gets a well-deserved 5/5 from me.

[OttoMann14]

I just saw this episode again, and I noticed Maurice Lamarche was in the credits. It sounded like he was playing Edward G. Robinson. Just a little something for you guys at wikipedia.

[Rest your giant head]

Now that I think about it, we’ve never actually explored this social side of Chief Wiggum before. Goes to show that the writers can still come up with a fresh idea for an episode. I just wish the episode was a bit stronger in terms of comedy, but I still liked it.

I enjoyed the quick gag with Homer in the bank. The scenes with Homer and Clansy bonding were funny, especially the bit with Snake killing the moment. I strongly disliked the joke with cocaine in Krusty’s nose – does he really such a big drug addict? There were some references in the past, but this was just too much.

The episode got a bit disjointed when Clansy started to act like a total idiot. The scene at Moe’s tavern was dreadful in particular. However, I liked how the whole thing ended, with the mobsters being cool as usual.

The subplot was nice, although nothing special. I liked how Marge believed Skinner and Chalmers about Bart being a dealer, and the part with Marge going through Bart’s room searching for drugs made me laugh.

B

[JimBob]

Overall I didn't like this episode that much mostly because the story and the writting was weak and even the directing was poor,I also didn't care much for the subplot ethier,there were one or two OK parts but overall I didn't care for this episode.2.9/5.

[Solachinx]

I didn't really like this episode.

First of all, in regards to S. Bubble's post how no one can't do anything without being called gay: it's just that the dialougue and how Wiggum was acting (mostly during the bus scene) that made it look very obvious. I'm a guy that likes subtlety; for example, a 60s-esque type friendship between two guys is something I like (where there are some homosexual overtones, but it's not waved in your face). In this, it's like the writer is screaming "SEE?!?! IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE WIGGUM IS ACTING LIKE A WOMAN WITH A CRUSH DOES!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!1111" and I hate that type of writing.

We never see the relationship between Homer and Wiggum: it goes from Wiggum want a sandwich to them have philosophical discussions about life. It never shows them asking each other what they like/dislike/whathaveyou and, overall devoping their friendship.

Which brings me to my next point; the B-story could've been left out in time for more development in the A-story. Really, what purpose does the B-story serve in this episode? It has nothing to do with the A-plot and just kind of ends, it doesn't have a real conclusion. That, and it seems like a random string of events (Bart goes to party, Bart becomes interested in a card game, skinner thinks he's dealing drugs (????), Marge searches his room, Marge gets interested, Bart flushes card game down the toilet). Also, the "I'll listen some more to gain context" is just redundent. Rule 11 in writing: Show, don't tell.

There were some jokes in here that I found funny, like the Bank scene, and some parts in the montage (mainly the poker part), but a lot of jokes were ruined due to explanation. For example, when Moe accidently has a Amber Alert put on him (which doesn't make sense, Amber Alerts are used for missing children, not informing people of pedophiles) and, after seeing the people arround looking at him menacingly, says "This is not a good time to be holding this cake." NO S*** SHIRLOCK! We can see that from the joke! We're not all 5! And while we're on the subject of bad jokes, I hate all these monotonious list jokes. Types of parm? That's supposed to be funny?

The story was boring because I didn't really care about their friendship; to do that I have to care about the characters, and Homer doesn't really have a character in this episode while Wiggum lacks any character traits for the first two acts. If I don't care about the characters, why should I care about what happens to them?

After we get into act three, though, things start to pick up with actual development in Homer's and Wiggum's relationship and things are generally better, with the exception of "Oh, so that was a tire jack that was poking me" >____< oh, and all the corny dialogue, like the final line Lou said in the episode. I thought the ending with Flanders was pretter good though.

2/5, or a D-

[qwertyuio]

Eh... 5/10

Probably being the first episode I watch in quite a long time may have some effect on my rating, but anyway it was a worthless show that somehow could entertain me during its length.

What I don't like from this episode, specially, is how some jokes tend to be overexplained to the point that makes them lose their strength. Bart's cupcacke is a good example of it. So we really had to see another boy biting exactly the same part and making a direct reference to it? Another one: Homer mentions that his car is filled with print papers from work ----> image of the car. And the last example I'd come with is the ex-convicts cooking. On the contrary, I liked Moe's joke, it was quite clever in the sense that -at least on me- it left something to imagination (was I the only one who thought of what could be inside the cake?).

The main plot doesn't work in the sense that it doesn't make you care for the friendship of Homer and Wiggum. I'm so tired of the "look gay" jokes if they ever worked, and in its development the story is cliched and forced to say the least. But it is, at least, entertaining.

On the other hand, Bart's story was quite lacking. I think it needed a lot more focus than what was given, so in the end it felt like a wasted effort. Maybe its biggest con is the use -again!- of a highly inquisitive Marge being aware of her own reasoning flaws. Does the writer of this episode think that it is a clever reference to the audience or what? And the use of the "-What if shit happens? -Shit happens" formula is awful.

I don't know. Didn't get any special annoyment out of it. I found the episode mildly amusing, but quite uninspired to say the least.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

1/5