Rate and Review: "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart" (PABF09)

[lolcats]

-666/5

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

Some of the plot was a bit contrived. The host of the show getting so mad that Marge didn't pick up the phone seemed unnatural. Most TV show hosts would play it off or eventually stop calling. Also, Homer being a little bit too ignorant that his face was being used for all this graffiti. The bunny was kinda funny, but it came out of nowhere.

That being said, I laughed quite a bit. I really enjoyed Homer's conversation with his brain. Also, the exit joke "Pig in a Blanket" got a laugh out of me. Let's go with B-/C+

[The Governor]

Why have an opinion at all, you're just gonna die.

/first post throwback

You need to have a life, first.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Which is why I'm never gonna die >:3

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

-666/5

Make your voice heard, vote 1/5 in the poll and if you do I shall buy an annual supply to all of your productions!

[lolcats]

Good thing you reminded me...

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

...So how 'bout that episode, guys?

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

After the first viewing, I think I will give 3,25 or 3,5/5 ! I will tell you my real note after seeing this for a second time.

[Tubbb!]

...So how 'bout that episode, guys?

To borrow one of my favorite lines from Smart and Smarter: "It's a poopy!"

[zach]

1.5/5 not terribly terrible.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart

Do you remember the review I did about the 500th episode? Well I think I realize now that I was a bit too harsh on the episode, because I recently watched an episode that was worse then the 500th one; this one! Who's idea was it to have Bart become involved in the graffiti scene; I mean granted it is a decent idea and there was commentary that could of been made but this is old; they should of done this in 2006 when Mark Ecko's video game was released and people would appreciate this as having aired during the time when this stuff was popular. Because it airs in the year 2012 where graffiti doesn't have much of an impact as it did back then; it just serves to showcase something that The Simpsons have not parodied yet.

Let's start off with the main problem the episode has; it's disjointed. It has very little idea as to what it wants to be; on one hand it wants to be a Bart episode but on the other it wants to be an Apu episode. Both plots aren't used to their fullest potential and the worst part is, alot of them are awkward. For example, Homer's plot appears to focus on Marge, but then it just shifts focus to Bart so awkwardly that I didn't even notice because the episode was trying soo hard to be funny that it was making me focus on those particular moments. I mean really, your focus has to be clear; you can't have something appear out of nowhere and then poorly lampshade it, that just insults the audience and indicates that you don't care for them one bit. Even the fuel behind Bart's reason to get back at Homer is weak and unclear; I'm trying to make sense of it but I don't understand how Homer putting Bart in a cage then letting him out would even cause him to get back at him? (and yes, I did watch the scene involving Marge.) I guess they needed something to fuel the pitiful graffiti plot.

Apu is forced to play the role of a person who combats the weak Trader Joe's parody "Swapper Jacks" because it threatens his business. Apu's stuff would be understandable if he was in character but this is just his character dialed up to 11 doing stuff that wastes time and serves no purpose whatsoever; even the scenes where he tries to rob them serve no purpose. They didn't even get the Trader Joe's parody right (except for the scene involving Jailbird Snake), it is true that they have alot of stuff that's different and niche but they should of focused on the aspects such as the sampling, the different tastes, the supposed freshness of it, how it makes it's products appeal to the masses by making them look wacky; I have been to Trader Joe's a lot of times, I can parody Trader Joe's better then the people who have barely been in one for like a few minutes. Apu's plot only comes to the end by way of a revolution that seems as rushed as the characters spitting out the dialog necessary to wrap up the plot; which was appropriate seeing as how the entire thing seemed rushed. The episode title is called "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart", I assumed that it would involve Apu; why is it that Apu barely plays a part in this episode?

The focus on graffiti is one of the most pitiful parodies the show has ever done; there is barely anything that screams social commentary, even the reasons for why they do it seem common. Grafitti has a lot of things, it's art, it's going against authority, it's even a part of a cities culture. Hell, you could say that grafitti has been there since the dawn of time. Instead of digging deep however; they have Bart do stuff that resembles graffiti and they have guest starts who's only purpose is to sprout out lines as written by the writers and try to be a cool and hip as possible. Even at the end, it still doesn't improve and as such it's in a state where it just gets worse and worse as the episode goes along; the surprise at the end of the episode notwithstanding but that's because it's actually a surprise. There is a lot of time wasting unfunny gags in this episode. I mean from what I can remember, there were more gags that existed to seem cool and waste time then there were gags that were designed to be funny. A more specific example would have to be Homer fighting Apu in a small sword fight; I mean aside from the tininess of the swords, there is barely anything that even makes this scene appealing except for the fact that two people are fighting and those two people are Homer and Apu; funny! Let's not forget about what happens on the dinner table (the family sensibilities cannot be denied but still...); seriously you'll be in shock as you witness Homer yelling and an answering machine joke that doesn't even necessarily lend itself well to the episode and that joke is supposed to start the plot. We most certainly can't forget about Bart and Milhouse and their willingness to eat spraypaint and other poisonness stuff... Ugh.

There is still a plot though and it comes at the later end of the episode; which makes it clear that it was Homer v. Bart all along. However, none of it matters because the plot itself is seemingly forgotten about until the last minute where the writers rush as quickly as possible to create a plot that's both funny, meaningful and emotional. You can just tell that they were rushing as there's no buildup and there's no conflict; it just seems like Homer and Bart are acting normally up until something calls for them to act hostile to each other and then make up in the end; and even the make up scene in the end is weak because it has moments that are entirely undeserved. Writers, you have to build up to your moments and your endings; you can't have Bart say "I didn't know parents had feelings" and then have him do some grafitti to make up to him (especially when it's known that things will return to normal.); that is cheap, that is really, really cheap. I want a Homer & Bart plot to have emotion, not to be an sidelined by a grafitti plot which shouldn't of been thought of in the first place.

Then again; I really shouldn't question anything. With characters that appear out of nowhere, plot points which fail to establish themselves as plot points and stuff that is just plain questionable; it's like the writers are testing the viewers to "stay tuned", to "just accept what is given in front of your screen.". So far our patience is wearing thin because we can't stand stuff like characters trying to be relevant, stuff that appears out of nowhere and things that are plot points but become plots, like Marge and the Rabbit. In the case of the end, the sudden surprise is decent but it's ruined by the stuff that comes afterwards. Characters that don't act like themselves, character facts being forgotten (Bart went to juvie you know.), things like the cage being brought back and then being used in a way that doesn't even reinforce the point of what the cage was trying to be in the first place. Yeah...

This is an episode you should not see; it's poorly plotted, poorly focused, all over the place and it wastes it's potential like it was a millionaire throwing money around foolishly. What's worse is that they weren't even trying with this episode; they were hoping that the 500th episode would rub off on them and therefore trick people into thinking that this episode is better then it is; It is not. This exposes more then the 500th episode ever did, in the realization that this show is in the lowest state yet; if they can write episodes like this one and get away with it then why should anybody care at all about quality? I'm including the writers and the Fox Broadcasting Company in general. At least the 500th episode tried to do something with the family, this does nothing with them. Avoid this at all costs.

1.0/10

I see Le Jake liked this episode; guess I have officially crossed over into The Twilight Zone.

[Tubbb!]

Okay, as I'm re-watching this, I'm loving the first act. Too bad the episode had three more to go.

Can anybody place the reference the couch gag is trying to make? It has to be a reference to something, or is it just intentionally odd?

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Okay, as I'm re-watching this, I'm loving the first act. Too bad the episode had three more to go.

Can anybody place the reference the couch gag is trying to make? It has to be a reference to something, or is it just intentionally odd?

I assumed it was just a reference to an online computer world but tvclub says it is supposed to be the opening to Game of Thrones, a show on HBO, which I've never watched...

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Can anybody place the reference the couch gag is trying to make? It has to be a reference to something, or is it just intentionally odd?

I think it's both intentionally odd and making a reference to something; some famous fantasy series perhaps.

EDIT: Thank you Raspberry!; I would of never figured it out without your help.

[Tubbb!]

Thanks for the info!
Here's a link for folks like me who had to look that up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of...28TV_series%29

I can see by the ratings provided there why I've never heard of this. That, and I'm an old fuck.

Wiki also said the series won a 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design. Oh well. I guess if you can't achieve greatness yourself, then rip it off!

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

EDIT: Thank you Raspberry!; I would of never figured it out without your help.

I only got the reference by chance while reading the tvclub review of the episode. As I said in my review I thought I missed a reference for the couch gag and I was correct. You're welcome anyway though zombies

[That Don Guy]

3/5 - I probably would have given it 4 except that both the Paula Paul and the whole Kwik-E-Mart subplots had weak endings

Written by Marc Wilmore
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Couch: Springfield resembles the opening to Game of Thrones, with the buildings rising out of the ground, gear-driven, and a giant couch overlooking the entire town
Special Guest Voice: Robbie Conal, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf
Also Starring: Chris Edgerly, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille
End title theme performed by: Nick McCaig
Overseas Animation: Rough Draft
TV Rating: TV-PG-DLV

If the rabbit chewed through the cord that connects the phone to the wall, then there shouldn't have been any messages on it.

Homer never showed Paula Paul a picture of Marge, yet Paula's show had a drawing of what Marge looked like.

Every one of the "Dope" posters is identical, despite the fact that Bart had to put in the shading for each one separately.

Bart writes Skinner saying "I AM A WIENER"; in 7G02, he spelled it "WEINER" (which "is an acceptable ethnic variant", according to Martin).

Again with monkeys from Brazil? Do they not want Rupert Murdoch to be able to broadcast any part of the 2014 Soccer World Cup or the 2016 Summer Olympics anywhere in the world or something?

Does this mean everybody knows now that Bart is El Barto?

Nick McKaig "performed" the closing credits (yes, he does all of the "voices"); he has a number of other themes on YouTube, including Family Guy.

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

thank you for this review, you've pointed out several things I had not noticed in this episode!

[bomberswarm2]

I thought this episode would be bad. And I was wrong. Pretty good episode, but last night I watched 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore', It seemed to drag on for a really long time (which was good) but this seemed very fast. Didn't realise that Apu had a plot until the final scene of his story, and it made little effect on the story.
3/5 on the poll, B+ on the graph, which brings season 23 up to 69 points and hauls it out of the last place tie for top season.

[Marge-Fan]

1/5

Easily the worst of the season...
If the next episode is going to be something like that I'm done with the show... for some time....

[Brad Lascelle]

Zombies Rise from the Sea needs to harness all of that negative energy from this episode and apply it to something more worthwhile than a 1,419 word forum rant (yes, that's an accurate number). It's rants like that one that are the primary reason we as fans no longer have a voice with the creators of this show that amounts to anything. They'll take one look at that hot mess of grammatical errors, typos and unnecessary italicizing and outright dismiss any of the worthwhile points of criticism expressed here by people who elect to be far more concise.

All in all this ep turned out a lot better than I expected it to be based on the premise and that's about as all I could hope for from a Marc Wilmore episode.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Zombies Rise from the Sea needs to harness all of that negative energy from this episode and apply it to something more worthwhile than a 1,419 word forum rant (yes, that's an accurate number).

Similar words could be said to other negative reviews; I at least point out stuff relating to the plot and try to obscure the plot as much as possible to make it seem less like a person ranting about an episode. (A rant would have far, far more detail.)

It's rants like that one that are the primary reason we as fans no longer have a voice with the creators of this show that amounts to anything. They'll take one look at that hot mess of grammatical errors, typos and unnecessary italicizing and outright dismiss any of the worthwhile points of criticism expressed here by people who elect to be far more concise.

To be fair, I am trying to use the italics in a proper manner and I not italicizing every word. Typos and grammatical errors are representative of every post, you can't fix all of the errors that pop up. Also you're right; I should be using the energy for something constructive, such as trying to figure out what makes this episode 4/5 material. I take notes, I try to make worthwhile points but it's hard to when everything is so similar; I'm not writing this long because I want to get all the hate out for the episode, I'm writing it long because it sucks and I want to explain why I think it sucks instead of saying that it sucks.

[ModernSimpsonsRocks]

Another terrible episode of Zombie Simpsons. For starters, the rabbit thing was really weird and only served as a weak setup. I will now hover am itemized list of this episode's problems.

1. Bart doing something nice out of the blue like that is out of character.

2. The real Marge would have objected to the rabbit, complaining about the responsibility tacked with it.

3. A 10 year old with drawing skills like that would NOT get an F in art.

4. What happeed to that rabbit? (Actually from that one scene, I think we can deduce it ran away).

5. Like Dark Homer said, can't we have an episode where the new interest doesn't involve a guest star that specializes it?

Belch. Typical new Simpsons. D+

(Yes, Raspberry, in Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, we learn Marge's birthday is in May.)

There is such a thing as Zombie Simpsons!!!

To those who enjoy putting episodes scores in their signature: your scores are rigged and do not represent the opinion of the idiot fans.
You have outgrown this show, so walk away and leave it to those 8yr old's who enjoy it.

[Kayla]

Pretty good stuff, minus the Guest Artists voicing themselves. I wish they could've made up a bunch of conformist-rebellion street artists instead of using people who can't really voice act. The best part of the episode was when they realized the phone line was chewed through till the end of the audience's reaction of Marge not answering.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4. Third best of the seasons behind "Holidays" and "Book Job."

i agree with this. this episode was funny enough, but i felt the kwik e mart subplot would've been better in another episode, felt a bit tacked on. B

[alex_on_ice]

I liked it. I'd say it's the third best episode of Season 23, after "Holidays of Future Passed" and "The Book Job". Some good jokes, a good atmosphere. I didn't really like the guest stars though. I thought they were pretty useless. 4/5

[Homer I Am]

Great episode, I actually laughed at the gags. Nice plot as well! 4/5

[Friz]

To those who enjoy putting episodes scores in their signature: your scores are rigged and do not represent the opinion of the true fans.
You have outgrown this show, so walk away and leave it to those who enjoy it.

Hi Al Jean.

[HMS pinafore]

There is no such thing as Zombie Simpsons!!!

To those who enjoy putting episodes scores in their signature: your scores are rigged and do not represent the opinion of the true fans.
You have outgrown this show, so walk away and leave it to those who enjoy it.

And there goes my faith in humanity.

You don't happen to be the youtube user from my tag do you?

[Cartoonnetwork]

I thought it was kind of good for a modern episode.

I mean, the references were a bit too elaborated, like Bart now being too much of a good artist, and all the graffitis were very well drawn, but that really is putting effort in something that is not really that important and actually makes things less believable. And the guest stars also felt a little unnatural, but they didn't bother me too much this time around.

Apu's subplot was just there so the title made sense, but it had some amusing parts like Apu trying to steal from Jailbird for once.

I didn't mind the change of focus from Marge to Homer/Bart. In fact, even though it was a bit too long to get into the story, I found it pretty natural. Homer was mad at Bart because he screwed his present to Marge and he couldn't have sex. Marge was not the focus of the conflict. Homer wasn't angry with Marge and Marge wasn't angry with Homer cause his intentions were good. And Paula Paul's conflict with Marge was just a joke.

I do agree with Zombies that Bart's reason to get angry with Homer was a little weird (it wasn't clear if Bart was bothered because Homer put him in the cage or because he wanted him out of the cage), but I guess it was both things, he was just tired of his abusive parenting.

What made the episode to me was everything involving Bart in the cage, crazy at it was, it was kind of funny (and they remembered to use it again at the ending, which usually gives a good sense of conclusion) , and also the fact that both Homer and Bart were in nice character. I actually kind of liked that Homer was ignorant about the whole thing at first. I also really enjoyed both of the gags Xt'Tapalatakettle mentioned: Homer talking to his brain (when was the last time we had one of those?) and Pig In A Blankett.

And, Zombies Rise From The Sea, I agree that it's good to ask for some coherence and logic in the focus and conflict, but sometimes the episode is funny enough to forgive some of those flaws. It's a matter of opinion, but I think the plot in this one had some contrived points but overall it made enough sense to carry the jokes. Not every episode has to be a deep character study or have huge emotional moments. If you put the same negativity when analyzing classic era episodes like A Star Is Burns, Marge In Chains or Burns' Heir I think you could pretty much suspend those episodes too. I think your rants include some well reasoned criticisms, but sometimes it looks like you are too willing to give every new episode a extremely low rate from the start, especially at this point of the series. I may be wrong but I think you would have been more generous with this particular episode if it had been aired in season 15.

C+/B- from me.

[Redlion]

Is is just me, or the writers forgot that Marge's birthday is in May, not March ? Please tell me if I'm wrong because I could swear I heard that Marge's birthday is in May. Otherwise, I would like to know what happened between the end of the 500th episode where everybody didn't want to live in Sprongfield anymore and now, they still are in Springfield... Sometimes, when the plot continues at the end of the episode, it comes back at the next one.

Well, overall, I didn't get that episode.. 1/5