Rate and Review: "The Spy Who Learned Me" (PABF13)

[Cromulent182]

free blood! haha

[Financial Panther]

This was outstanding! True, marriage crises have been done to death, but this episode had some jokes that were truly spot-on and hilarious. I loved the Borders joke; I was heartbroken when they closed. I was also glad to see a return of Declan Desmond, although the documentary did get a bit disturbing toward the end. The episode also did well letting both plots develop, though a bit unoriginal as they may have been. Overall, an episode that provided the laughs with some truly funny stuff.

5/5

[The Governor]

This was outstanding! True, marriage crises have been done to death, but this episode had some jokes that were truly spot-on and hilarious. I loved the Borders joke; I was heartbroken when they closed. I was also glad to see a return of Declan Desmond, although the documentary did get a bit disturbing toward the end.

That was the best part of the episode: the epilogue that talked about his foot having an aftertaste.

[cymek]

An average season 20-present episode. Not very exciting, but still quite entertaining (one of my favorites is the Holocaust/Non-holocaust joke). Stradivarius Cain got a little annoying after some time, B-plot was good but I think it could have been done better had they shown obese Nelson trying to steal lunch money from kids. 3/5

[Mozy]

My review might suck but I didn't want to post stuff that's already been discussed. With that said, here we go:

I gave this episode a 4/5. The return of Decland Desmond and that parody was quite a surprise and a nice one as of that. Although a lot of you are tired of the "marriage being in jeopardy" episodes, I actually like Homer and Marge episodes! I really got a kick out of the conversation between Krusty and his personal trainer:

Krusty: I want him to look like a superhero!
Trainer: Like Wolverine Hugh Jackman or Alicia Silverstone as Batwoman?
Krusty: HE ALREADY LOOKS LIKE HER!

Although I'm sure I'll get jabbed at for laughing at this, I thought the scene where Cleatus the Fox Sports robot was pretty funny. Cain was sort of obnoxious but it seemed to work and it was funny to see him shoot Lenny's imaginary friend.

Overall, a fun episode that deserves another viewing.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

That was the best part of the episode: the epilogue that talked about his foot having an aftertaste.

I enjoyed that as well, it was quite funny.

[Shaunbadia]

Homer's plot was pretty damn good...nothing overly special, but an amusing little outing nonetheless. The Nelson thing was fucking stupid though, especially when Lisa actually helped him out (I know they've dated in the past and they've alluded to them still liking one and other but that still wasn't enough to salvage Lisa siding with him) I liked Bart's line at the end though.

3/5. Being generous as this episode will be easily forgettable...actually you know what? That gag with Lou disappearing was so retarded I'm going back to 2/5.

[That Don Guy]

3/5 - the main story felt like the same old thing, but the B story seemed better, even if it was based on a years-old premise (and based on a movie done by the man who did the Simpsons documentary, too)

Written by Marc Wilmore
Directed by Bob Anderson
Couch: the couch gag is on a giant card stunt
Special Guest Voice: Bryan Cranston, Eric Idle, Marcia Wallace
Also Starring: Chris Edgerly, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Russi Taylor
Overseas Animation: Rough Draft
TV Rating: TV-PG-DLV

Lenny said "SNPP" - how come nobody says "No Homers" (well, besides Patrick Stewart)? Okay, Marge occasionally says, "No, Homer," but it's just not the same.

When Homer high-fived Lenny and Carl from his car, the lines on the road weren't moving.

You can hear Flanders say "Ow!" when Homer threw his shoes, but Homer threw them in the opposite direction from Flanders's house.

[Mozy]

How do you know for a fact that it was Flanders?

[Tubbb!]

When Homer high-fived Lenny and Carl from his car, the lines on the road weren't moving.

Yes they were, they were just moving slowly. Perhaps to give some impression of "persistence of vision" in film. You know, how film captures motion, and the brain interprets it as moving slower than it actually is? 24 FPS and all that. (For example: wheels on a car that appear to be standing still, although the car is obviously moving at a high rate of speed.) That's the only logical reason I can come up with for that. Could be that the animation director was lazy. Who knows.

Lenny said "SNPP" - how come nobody says "No Homers" (well, besides Patrick Stewart)? Okay, Marge occasionally says, "No, Homer," but it's just not the same.

Hey, hey, hey now. We got the mention on the Season 14 box set. That ain't too shabby!

How do you know for a fact that it was Flanders?

He's not the only one who thought it was Flanders.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

I missed the scene in question, but it isn't impossible that Flanders was doing something outdoors and was hit anyway even if he wasn't by his house. It probably was a mistake though, sounds like an ADR line that wasn't needed.

[Tubbb!]

I missed the scene in question, but it isn't impossible that Flanders was doing something outdoors and was hit anyway even if he wasn't by his house. It probably was a mistake though, sounds like an ADR line that wasn't needed.

It did sound like an ADR line... but here's another thought. One of Flanders' relatives did move into Ruth Power's old house next to the Simpsons in a not too distant episode, no?

EDIT: Ned's cousin Ted and his daughters Connie and Bonnie move into Ruth's old house at the end of "The Bob Next Door." However, I think it was just Harry doing an ADR line.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

The Spy Who Learned Me

Homer & Marge together can be a wonderful thing if used properly, I mean just look at episodes like "Duffless" and "The Way We Was"; however, it can be a pretentious thing if overused and also improperly used. This Season 18 episode contains a plot about Homer & Marge together and while it does have potential, it ultimately comes across as stupid and pretentious.

For one, there is barely any consistency throughout the plot. First Marge is mad, then she's mad and then she's happy and then she's mad and then she's happy again? Consistency means everything in a love plot, if we can't get exactly what Marge is feeling and how it contributes to the plot then the entire plot fails. Another thing, it doesn't seem like they try to utilize the whole conflict in a reasonable way. From what we've seen Homer knows when Marge is upset and it bothers him, even during happy times; so why have him act ignorant? The writers may think having him act ignorant is good for the episode but we think otherwise, it's not a major slap in the face but it is a slap to those who think that Homer would at least care about Marge; the conflict may not seem like something that would happen often in real life but it's a conflict that nobody should mostly ignore throughout the episode. (not counting those scenes where he does care)

Homer being taught by a suave super-spy in Homer's head is okayish but it never reaches the heights that it should of had; instead it feels like one of those Season 17 episodes where they attempt to use the romance in a way to make the plot super special but fails at the end. They do try to make it romantic though, there are some scenes where Homer comments on his wife, his state and his unappealing but those are contradicted by scenes in earlier episodes, even in this season. I suppose we're supposed to treat this like it's been happening for a long time but really, have we seen Marge complain about this stuff? and keep in mind that the reason for Marge being mad at Homer is because of the stuff in the beginning. Anyways, there are even scenes where Homer is trying his best to learn the lessons his spy friend is giving him (and seeming somewhat romantic at that) but every attempt to feel romantic rings hollow; more of Homer's lessons should of been shown, how to romance, how to pick up chicks, how to dance, how to do spy moves, how to do cool stuff that nobody else can do and it should of all played up to the moment with Marge that Homer's skills would of been put to the test, leading up to a romantic ending that wouldn't of been great but better then what we got. I mean they have a spy teaching Homer and all they can come up with is something that barely involves Marge? I would of liked to see Homer putting his skills to the test and Marge being enchanted but ultimately missing the old Homer that he fell in love with so well, it may have been done before but at least it would of ringed true and provided something that wouldn't of been forgotten in later episodes. (in terms of character, because you know after this episode ends, Homer will return to his oafish self.) it is nice that they tried but still...

I guess the wonder of this episode is how stupid it is... It's so stupid it's almost funny; Burns forgetting how to drive, imaginary friends, the black gangster, the dancing robot thing, it's like almost brilliant; there are tons of moments like this in the episode that you can't help to laugh at, you'll laugh even more if you turn your brain off like Reese in Malcom in the Middle; in fact this entire episode requires you to turn your brain off, least you get hit with your brain asking "how does this make sense?". Turning off your brain makes the episode that much better as you don't care about the plot or the characters or even how it turns out, no you laugh at what's on screen and you enjoy those 30 minutes as if you were drunk; however, you shouldn't have to turn off your brain for you to enjoy an episode. I can't turn off my brain and I don't want to be required to turn off my brain to enjoy it, I just want something that I can enjoy without having to turn my brain off; still, it's a wonder that they included a lot of stuff in a somewhat enjoyable way. There are some non-stupid things in the episode, things like Mr. Burns's ivyprofin comment; things like "you said it so mean" and even some of Homer's comments. I'm impressed at the number of non-stupid things that they manage to include, it's almost like there was some moment of clarity in the writing room; this is the kind of stuff we should be seeing in Modern Simpsons episodes. However, the stupid stuff overwhelms the non-stupid stuff; still there is some non-stupid stuff in this episode, so that's nice...

One of the best things the episode has going for is it's subplot; which in my opinion should have been the main plot. I mean just think about it, Bart getting Nelson addicted to hamburgers just to stop someone from bulling; even though Nelson (and most of Springfield) is already fat, it has some potential right there but alas, we'll never know what happened because they used it in a subplot. The subplot itself is decent but it's just a reminder of what could of been, Nelson eating Krusty Burgers, Lisa confronting Bart about this, Bart confronting Nelson about the bullying, him getting super strong and Bart having to confess to him about what he did; there is just a lot of stuff here that could of formed a pretty good episode. While you enjoy the subplot, you just have to wonder what happened had they reduced the Homer thing to a subplot and made this into a main plot; even the documentary featuring the return of Declair Desmond (one for which I did not care about) was decent, containing one good foot line despite the entire thing (and the child obesity thing) feeling like a 2012 update of something that was done in 2005. It's execution is a bit awkward but I'd like to think that's because of it being neglected to a subplot and not a main plot but no matter; if there's something that you'll remember from this episode, it'll be this.

The episode fails it's mission of being romantic. There are trace hints of what could of been but the episode is held down by an inconsistent plot and and problems which are easily fixable; it tries it's hardest to be romantic but every attempt at being romantic rings hollow and just reminds you of what could of been. It's stupidity does make the episode worth watching but you shouldn't have to turn off your brain and ignore everything else to enjoy something that you shouldn't have to turn your brain off to enjoy. The subplot ends up being the most memorable thing here, it's decent but it just leaves you wishing what happened had it been given it's own episode rather then being forced into a subplot with this episode. Those who have their brained turned off will enjoy it, those that don't will be disappointed; still... they could of done more though.

3.5/10

[leprechaun_dan]

Good points:

- Nice, unique but simple couch gag. I like it.
- The car high-five ma