Rate & Review: "Cremains of the Day" (35ABF09)

How would you rate this episode?

  • 5/5 - R.I.P. Larry Dalrymple Barfly🕯️

    Votes: 9 20.9%

  • 4/5 - Cremains is the Cromulent Way of Saying Remains

    Votes: 22 51.2%

  • 3/5 - Intoxicated and Larryless

    Votes: 8 18.6%

  • 2/5 - Ashes to Ashes, Duff to Duff

    Votes: 3 7.0%

  • 1/5 - Lord of the Barflies -1 Sam

    Votes: 1 2.3%
  • Total voters
    43
The start with another in-tavern talking went someway long. That guy's bond felt as usual - funny, placed, plus Larry. Take a background character and make him\her special for an episode.

Larry's life story that he did consider to be part as group is something. Sadly, real life is so - there are bands and additions to them nobody cares.:sigh:

Gang's trip adventure was quite strong. Nothing we hadn't seen before with guys, but good enough with nice premises. The different (and in-characters, and funny) views of afterlife with GREAT animation got me. As well, as dilemma - either one survives, or everyone dies. And, I subconsciously understand that was predictable cheating, but I like the solution Larry saved Homer.🙂 Though I'd prefer his urn then fall with the car, and scatter the ashes itself.

Probably scenes in locked "front frunk" were the poorest. I yawned several times:boring:. Or tie them with Bart and Lisa visit funeral. I'm not fan of that humor, and understand that was a time-filler, though.

R.I.P. Larry🕯️ This mark is made by your friends. 3,5/5 to 3.

And to said, Marge was Marge here. I have nothing who-knows-what from it.:marge:

P.S. When the end credits montage of what happened in the episode did become Simpsons thing?
 
Generally I thought the episode was awfully bland, although Mickey No-Loose-Ends livened things up a little. There's a lot of time spent on these joke sequences (watching the NFL play in England, the Old El Paso thing) that I didn't find funny. I did like the joke where Marge specifically scolds Lenny though. There's an attempt to make things visually interesting with the Eleanor Rigby parody and the guys' various visions of the afterlife, but it's not enough to overcome the story. The conflict with the sapphires felt a little rushed, there's like 3 seconds between Homer and Moe conspiring and when they're confronted about it.

I haven't seen the episode with her debut so maybe I am missing some context but presumably Carl's girlfriend is a fellow millennial born in the 1980s while Kool was born in 1950. Problematic age gap much?? Not impossible obviously but it feels like they wrote this joke about a guy feeling distraught whenever he hears Kool & the Gang decades ago and finally found a place for it.

My main gripe is why would you do an episode about Larry and not feature Sam at all. It's like doing an episode about Sherri without Terri. Like I get from a casual audience perspective that it would be weird to have this background character you never noticed before suddenly talking and acting like one of the guys, and it would undercut the story they're trying to tell, but his absence was glaring. He's one of the guys on Mt. Lushmore! It also kind of peeves me that just because we the audience don't know anything about Larry means that the characters in-universe don't know anything about him either, like they simply don't exist when they're not onscreen.

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume alcohol contributed to Larry's death, and having recently rewatched "Duffless" and "Three Gays of the Condo" where alcoholism is a major issue I find it a little odd that it's barely touched on here. If this was an Al Jean episode Larry's death would be a cautionary tale provoking more soul-searching for the guys.

In closing, my headcanon is that Sam absconded with the REAL Larry and they're living together on an island somewhere

Dark Homer said:
Rewatched "Duffless" and felt relieved that even though they're probably killing off Larry in "Cremains of the Day," there will still be a backup

two_larrys.png
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Generally I was feeling like this episode was sort of like a way for the writers to acknowledge their less lively than we think it is universe, with all those almost anonymous characters whose purpose is to fill in a certain location to make it look not too empty and give it sort of an extra feeling, which come to think of it is kind of appropriate for a place as sad as Moe's. A place filled with souls that just wander around, with no definite purpose other than watching time pass by with a beer in the mouth. I do like this angle, but as said, the complete absence of a guy like Sam, never seen nor mentioned here, sounds a little like the writers are indulging in it, as if much like the main quartet, they'd only "care" about such characters when they die, vessels for a rather ambitious plot - quite literally in this case, given the inclusion of the sapphires and Fat Tony's scheme - but vessels nonetheless. Not that it bothers me that much, but it does show where the crew might think they're going deeper than they actually do.

Still, I really dig the vibe of this episode, and how death and the unease brought on by the unknown (both what comes next and what a background guy's life was all about) tie it all together. It's both a contemplative and stressful trip for the guys, but I never felt like one thing was overstepping the other, even if the beginning was a bit long before getting to the point - but I get it, the trip must fully kick in just before the first commercial break because it makes for a good intermission. The rather sinister way to make those guys hang out together (like debating on what death is like) works well, I like how they all balance each other out, and I do find amusing that the ending implies Larry was content with his life at Moe's even if none of the other guys was giving any shit about his presence, again if we want to be overanalytical I suppose there's a way it's for the writers to have their cake and eat it, but it's both sad and sweet, I liked it. And really, Marge's role in this one is fine. I can't blame her for scolding Homer on spending more time with a guy whose name is the only thing about him he knows, than with his own kids. Plus, gotta love the call-back to her weird obsession with Lenny, it's my biggest laugh of this episode.

I'm glad Gabriel DeFrancesco got to direct another episode. His supervision feels less insecure than 'The Very Hungry Caterpillars' and there are solid bits of animated acting. Plus voice acting in general, spontaneously I thought they were all great in this one, even Harry Shearer as Lenny. 4/5

Nice that Naima got a mention too but I hope to see her do another physical appearance in the near future. I mean, it's not like Dawnn Lewis is unreachable, right ?
 
FINALLY, a funny episode. “He’s a drunk, and we’re just social drinkers who also drink alone,” got a huge laugh out of me.

I liked this one a lot. I disagree with the earlier contention that portraying Moe and the barflies as a long-time friend group is a bad thing. The four of them (plus sometimes Barney) have a great track record of HD Selman episodes, from Saga of Carl to Last Barfighter to (kinda) Carl Carlson Rides Again and now this episode. Just because its a product of the HD era doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, I think it’s a great new dynamic in the show to see Homer with his adult friends beyond just sitting at the bar. Honestly, I think it’s actually kinda lifted from Family Guy, since Peter+Quagmire+Joe+Cleveland were a narrative friend group long before Saga of Carl solidified Homer’s cohort. But just because Family Guy did it first doesn’t mean Simpsons can’t do it too, and its not like this friend group was totally absent in the early years, like in the aforementioned Blunder Years which showed them as childhood friends, or even scenes like them all playing poker together outside the bar in Secrets of a Successful Marriage.

Anyway, I laughed a lot throughout this one and loved the twists and turns of the plot plus the emotional bits like everyone contemplating the afterlife. I do wish that Barney could’ve played a role, or that the other mostly-silent barfly Sam could’ve made an appearance.

Nonetheless, 5/5. Best non-Omine episode of the season in my opinion.
 
HomerFan1998 said:
Yeah, he'll post or vote in this thread whenever he does so or not. So I'm pretty sure tagging him is not really gonna help
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Okay, I get it. It's just that he hates a lot of the new episodes. So I'll just let him post or vote in the thread whenever he does or not.
 
This episode felt like a nice tribute to Larry. I like how he stayed this background character which the audience, cast and probably even the writers don't know anything about his life other than being a regular bar fly. Though they should have included Sam somehow as they were often paired together and might(?) have interacted the most. I don't like how they keep Barney out of everything, but at least he got acknowledged in a random gag. Its one of these episodes that no one asked for but it still feels appreciated to get.

The first act has a nice set up but it was also the weakest act. Pretty sure Moe has done gambling before. Its sad to see Larry dead like that, but at least he died where he liked spending his time the most, though I'm unsure how exactly he died. Liked the jokes with Homer and his family where they get to excuse his funeral and Bart having planned that day, and the trick question of Lisa asking Homer what her best friend is. Also liked the whole awkwardness of Homer and his friends having to tell anything about Larry. The animation for Larry's montage was solid. I liked how Marge scolded at Lenny.

The road trip is where it gets better with them somewhat bonding over Larry's urn and ending up needing to hold onto it for smuggled crystals. I liked how each had a different idea for Larry's afterlife. The whole crystal plot doesn't really go anywhere as it was just a quick transition in the plot to get Homer and Moe against Lenny and Carl, which also ends the moment they get ''arrested'' by one of Fat Tony's mobs. I do like how it leads to the climax with everyone having to jump out at the same time and Homer mistaking when to jump. The ending was kinda nice where they didn't actually find the place they were looking for, and they thought that it was at Larry's stool with a different background. The credits using screencaps of the whole episode felt kinda lazy.

While not a great episode it was an enjoyable watch that did some justice to one of their oldest background characters. It feels like they could have done more with it as the pacing felt off at times. Personally I would have made the first act shorter as we didn't need that many of the funeral scenes, and make the road trip to be a lot more funnier and adventurous with them thinking that Larry is having his last trip with them in his urn. He could also work as a judge where the bar flies question their decisions on what to do with the crystals. This episode lacked some good jokes aswell but makes it up with some more emotional scenes. I like how they managed to use Marge, Bart and Lisa for some good scenes. This surely needed more of Sam and he could have made the plot better. But nonetheless its a solid episode thats gets a:

4/5
 
I liked this. I don't know if I loved it. I wanted to, but I'm not convinced by the smuggler twist and I wonder if the exposition and attempts at humour throttled the dramatic potential of the story. I'll have to watch this again before I settle on a more concrete position, but that's par for the course for me.

In any case, is this really the same John Frink who wrote such abominable episodes as Angry Dad: The Movie, Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson, Black-Eyed, Please and The 7 Beer Itch? Prior to Pixelated and Afraid, Frink had written or co-written 20 HD episodes. According to my personal scores, his average across this 13 year time period was a measly 2.32. Now he's written three good to great episodes - including an all-time great - on the trot. Like, how? No writer in the history of the series has had a turnaround of this magnitude. Where has this version of him been hiding all these years?
 
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B-Boy said:
he's written three good to great episodes - including an all-time great - on the trot.
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He's written a great one for Omine, a great one for Kelley, and in this case, a very solid one for Long. If he does it again for Price and LaZebnick, I'd definitely say he's one of the writers who benefited the most from the split showrunner duties, if not THE writer.
 
It's very quaint to think that John Frink's last script before Pixelated and Afraid was Treehouse of Horror XXXII and his only script under Selman was one of his weakest (Go Big or Go Homer, although I don't hate it as much as the others). Almost as if the change in showrunners could be noticed (even conceptually his episodes feel so distinctive). I mean, the same John Frink with concepts like "Bart impregnates a teacher with voodoo"?

Tim Long wasn't exactly on a hot streak either after his first three inaugural episodes. So also kudos to Frink for evading that and delivering what is pretty much one of Long's best co-running episodes to date (which in my case is only the second best).
 
B-Boy said:
I liked this. I don't know if I loved it. I wanted to, but I'm not convinced by the smuggler twist and I wonder if the exposition and attempts at humour throttled the dramatic potential of the story. I'll have to watch this again before I settle on a more concrete position, but that's par for the course for me.

In any case, is this really the same John Frink who wrote such abominable episodes as Angry Dad: The Movie, Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson, Black-Eyed, Please and The 7 Beer Itch? Prior to Pixelated and Afraid, Frink had written or co-written 20 HD episodes. According to my personal scores, his average across this 13 year time period was a measly 2.32. Now he's written three good to great episodes - including an all-time great - on the trot. Like, how? No writer in the history of the series has had a turnaround of this magnitude. Where has this version of him been hiding all these years?
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He was being kept trapped in Al Jean's basement.
 
personally, I loved it. I've seen some people mention sam's absence, but I'm not majorly hung up on it. it's surprising, but the episode's story works the best when it's not cluttered by a fifth character (sixth, if you already count larry). the only way I think sam could've fit into the story without him feeling shoehorned would be if he died alongside larry, but having the two of them together would take away from larry's development.

barney's absence was disappointing, but expected. barney has long been an outcast among the barflies, so it makes sense that he continued to be excluded here. I just hope that he gets another focus episode one day.

character exclusions aside, I think the episode had a good emotional core to it. it's nice--even if unexpected--that larry got an actual personality. his life was bittersweet: sweet in his sincere love for his fellow barflies (and moe), but bitter in his alienation from them. they managed to make you (or at least Me) sympathize with larry within the first act alone, painting him as a very likeable yet isolated member of society.

it was interesting seeing how the four handled larry differently during the second act: lenny was sensitive and nurturing, carl just wanted to get things over with, moe was focused on his own gain, and homer was basically just along for the ride. marge's criticism of lenny after the funeral really stuck with Me: I wonder if lenny was so nice to larry (post-mortem) because of marge's remark, or if he simply was treating him how he always would have if he bothered to notice him.

I think the episode was a great depiction of the homer/moe/lenny/carl dynamic. I enjoyed their moments together, and I think the differences in how they interacted with larry's ashes demonstrates their personalities rather well. it's absolutely a must-watch for any moe, lenny, or carl fans (especially lenny fans; I think he shined the most in this episode).

despite all My praises, the jewel-smuggling plot lost Me a bit. I didn't really understand it while I was watching and I still sorta don't. initially, I thought that the jewels in his ashes were decorative, but going back to the episode, I realize that larry was actually smuggling them. but why? what does that have to do with his character? what does that say about larry? how does that contribute to larry's story? I don't get it.

now, I do think it contributed to the plot--which I still enjoyed--but it felt convoluted, like it was just put in there less to make sense and more to introduce conflict to the story. I don't tend to have a lot of issues with suspension of disbelief, but this is getting Me a bit.

that aside, I enjoyed the episode the whole way through. overall, I'd rank it at 4/5. I almost gave it a full 5/5, but the jewel-smuggling plot twist took it down a ranking.
 
B-Boy said:
In any case, is this really the same John Frink who wrote such abominable episodes as Angry Dad: The Movie, Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson, Black-Eyed, Please and The 7 Beer Itch? Prior to Pixelated and Afraid, Frink had written or co-written 20 HD episodes. According to my personal scores, his average across this 13 year time period was a measly 2.32. Now he's written three good to great episodes - including an all-time great - on the trot. Like, how? No writer in the history of the series has had a turnaround of this magnitude. Where has this version of him been hiding all these years?
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Putting it simple, it seems like John Frink's output is all about whom the showrunner is. Selman, Omine, Kelley and their little crew seem to know how to handle the Frink scripts the best and get the most out of his work (some exceptions of course, such as 'Go Big Or Go Homer'), while Jean usually tend to not do too well at all and screwing it all up, either by inaction or just an inability to know how to make the script pop.
 
CousinMerl said:
Putting it simple, it seems like John Frink's output is all about whom the showrunner is. Selman, Omine, Kelley and their little crew seem to know how to handle the Frink scripts the best and get the most out of his work (some exceptions of course, such as 'Go Big Or Go Homer'), while Jean usually tend to not do too well at all and screwing it all up, either by inaction or just an inability to know how to make the script pop.
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I personally have Frink close to the same tier as Vebber (a few more offerings like this week and I'll have them side by side) in that the one criteria that matters is "not Jean".

Whereas I consider someone like Koh to be more of a showrunner-scaling writer where he'll do great with Selman-Omine-Kelley, decent with the remaining co-runners and then absolutely dreadful with Jean.

The reason I'm so unenthused for The Tipping Point (whose premise we'll hear about in the next day or two) is that Burns seems to be underdelivering with everyone right now irrespective of the showrunning and has been for the better part of a decade now (pretty much since Steal This Episode).
 
Brad Lascelle said:
The reason I'm so unenthused for The Tipping Point (whose premise we'll hear about in the next day or two) is that Burns seems to be underdelivering with everyone right now irrespective of the showrunning and has been for the better part of a decade now (pretty much since Steal This Episode).
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I love Flanders' Ladder, but aside from that I agree it's been slim pickings. He hasn't delivered a great episode under Selman yet. Maybe third time's the charm?
 
There's a really reflective tone at the nadir of this story that I like; Larry's lonely song, the boys' opinions regarding the afterlife, the first act beginning with the boys spending time together. It's a slow episode, but I think that's where its charm lies. There's a funny way this episode intensifies things little by little: the sapphire plot, as out of place as it is, but I like how it represents the lowest moment of these guys. And what are the sapphires here? Sapphires are associated with protection and peace - with meditation and protection. It's just one of the many reasons these guys cared more about their dead friend than their living friend. Stone created to feed the most selfish side of two of the 4 boys. As simple as it is, but I think that's its purpose, friction at the lowest moment.

As someone who doesn't mind the modern invention of treating Lenny/Carl/Moe/Homer as these lifelong friends (which one could very well argue this episode shows), I think there's a genuine acknowledgment of that in the story. Larry's solitary song is a good example of this in that it seems to play into Larry's point of view on how he perceives the quartet of friends (or else the quartet's point of view on how Larry felt). I don't know, many interpretations here. I thought that both that and their different views on the afterlife were a clever way to acknowledge that: as much as they are shown spending "time together" there is still a lack of emotional bond between them. Sure, they could make a montage of them having fun, but there are still things they don't agree on and that goes hand in hand with their different philosophical views on death (or the way each of the four have their different ways of handling Larry's death).

And now the question. Who is Larry exactly?

For us?

For us? He's just a blank slate that's just been killed off, one-note characters, forgettable characters. For the boys? A person who only had a single note - going to Moe's bar to get drunk, someone forgettable in their lives, a person who they always forgot about. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? He's just a main target to pursue - a gimmick of a character who just died and this is where I think the episode succeeds - the gimmick is where he finds this journey of self-awareness using the death of a character we don't know. it matters. Larry is just another character in the repertoire of dead characters in this series and it is difficult to make us care about his death, but to make his death a goal cause and leave him at Moe's bar, a place where he only saw the 4 guys always having a good time. There's a way in which the episode resonates with that commentary on depression, while at the same time avoiding completely bastardizing the boys. Of course, there's Marge being the "voice of morality" but I like how her part is the one that ends up giving them the idea that they can still do something with their "friend" and specifically the side of how it is the same revelations about Larry that end up leading the boys' guilt trip (his past as a sapphire smuggler, his mother's recognition, his diary that detailed how alone he felt). You know, there's a certain irony about how the more the kids know about Larry, the more problems they'll have with how they both handle the side of his death. The contrast between the knowledge of this person whom they never met and the consequences of his death in the way it is reflected in the group, and that this is truly where their different tensions come from during the trip, although the part of the sapphire scam with Tony felt like another story mixed into one (although you know, I think I get the point here).

The smart thing is how the episode recognizes that, Larry can be a complete nobody to the kids and to us too, yet it also recognizes that idea that maybe there was something more inside, even if the trick is the death of a character feels from a genuine place to start. It's very meta, but it's curious how that text can add something or not, playing with those different assumptions that could be had with the character ("and where is Sam, were they friends, acquaintances?"). Idk, maybe this looks better to me given the awful track record this series has with deaths, but I think there's a genuine place. A pathos in the story of these four and in the meta-commentary on the character, from the way he dies to how the revelations are to give value to a character who did not have it. Although it works, sapphire aside, none of these revelations are particularly surprising, they are simply the hobbies, family and fears of someone who has already passed away. Take that through this nothing character, the aforementioned comment, and the quest to give it closure, there's an effective way in which the episode can have its cake and eat it too. Again, I guess my perception is inflated by the history of the series but it rings true to me. Even the way Selman "promoted" the episode adds a certain layer of irony to the matter.

I also think they were right not to have Sam here.

Nice story together from the main four, genuine pathos and meditation through a character who practically means nothing to us (although Barney should have been along for the ride, I guess it helps focus the plot between the 4 of them) . The episode's attempts at humor (Bart and Lisa's scenes at the funeral) seemed to make some time for the story, although they were joined by the episode's biggest laugh with Lovejoy mistaking the deceased for Homer (cute little dark humor that works and I like it in the context of Larry's character). I also really liked the animation direction (Gabriel DeFrancesco has a very good talent for shadows), plus the warm color palette in particular manages to support the darker tone of the story (in certain parts I felt a very autumnal vibe). Some things that don't quite work but for the most part come together into a solid package, I was almost going to give it a 5 but some things I don't think work at all. Either way I round it up to a strong...

4/5
 
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Wow, it was suprisingly enjoyable and the best episode we've gotten since ''Iron Marge'' at least. I love the dynamics between Homer, Moe, Lenny and Carl, I only wish they would find a place for Barney, but I know that the episode would became too crowded if they did. It's a shame, I love this character and nowadays he barely exists (but I have to admit, his small apperance was at least so random it was funny.) Anyway this episode contained some of the best jokes I've seen in this season (Larry's death, the funeral service, wife-banger) and the ending felt really sweet and cute, but hilarious at the same time.
It's nice to see that sometimes this show can still be capable of delivering fun episodes.
 
Curse You Magic Beans said:
She hasn't even reviewed the last 4 episodes so why make it a separate video not insulting her just pointing that out
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That's what surprised me, maybe she'll say why at the end of the video (still watching it)

Update: She doesn't mention them but does say she plans to do a Season 35 retrospective video
 
One thing this video got me thinking about is that it would be nice if Larry's urn remained a fixture in Moe's bar atop his stool at the end underneath the waterfall picture as a permanent tribute... but, of course, they will probably never mention him again and, given that there's a Jean-verse now, there's a greater than 0% chance that Larry will show up in a background scene in Moe's bar in one of his episodes because he didn't get the memo that he's dead.
 
I actually really liked this episode. A nice episode about friendship. I’m surprised they decided to make Larry a jewel runner for the mob, bit of an odd choice. But I think it’s one of the strongest episodes. Seeing moe look at the sapphires with the cup in his eye was hilarious.
5/5 A-
 
That Eleanor Rigby sequence was something else (and not just due to the fun parody aspect). Really was a nice bit!

Oh yeah, the episode itself was super solid overall. It was surprisingly sweet and kinda heartfelt, in fact, and took itself seriously enough to work and all without making it some sort of a dour downer. It had a really nice, character-driven plot with Larry the barfly dying in his seat and Homer & Co ultimately coming together to make a road trip to a special waterfall for Larry's sake and give his ashes a burial: Having one of the background characters pass away and basing a story of that could easily have fallen flat (it is just like this show, in its modern era, to kill off a minor character whom hasn't really been an actual character and then making a huge deal about it), but the way they treated it with both heart and humor & the guys' reactions (and I think Marge's too) really made it click well and feel genuine (and we also learnt a fair bit about Larry in the meantime, so it wasn't just some blatant "care about this flat character no one frickin' cared about!" or anything but I did feel sorry for him & cared for the story). It was not perfect and had a few issues/nitpicks with it (and I absolutely missed Sam having a part in this, plus I did tihnk Barney should've been there, too), but I did not expect the episode to hit as well as it did.

Well, so I did like the opening sequence fine, with Larry being present in a "regular" Moe's scene and then being found out to have died, frozen in his usual position at the back end of the bar, though I did think the entire betting segment (with Homer & lenny talking Moe into betting on an American football game played in England) went on for way too long (and kinda felt nonsensical, with Moe being this much a cheapskate about a dollar & being a big time gambler since long before), but as soon as Larry was found dead, it kicked off he plot. The funeral home sequence was maybe a bit overlong too, but it did have some funny bits such as Bart & Lisa going around exploring & messing around, reverend Lovejoy being late and thinking it was Homer whom had died from the description of the deceased (the morbid sense of humor in these sequences was amusing), but I also liked the (cheap) Robert F. Quimby joke & the explanation to why Barney wasn't here (didn't expect him to be a volunteer worker in Mexico; kind of admirable of him, actually): The humor worked well in this one.

Though the main part (and highlight) this sequence was the ceremony for Larry, which was all about the characters: It shed some light on him (such as introducing his kindly mother, well-voiced by Grey, and that he really could draw well), it turning out that Homer and the guys (Moe, Lenny & Carl) hadn't known Larry at all or even cared about him when he was alive, now poorly improvising a fishing story, plus that abeformentioned Eleanor Rigby parody said so much about Larry with the song and the visuals (top notch stuff, also saying a lot about how well-directed this episode was, which I also noticed used a more matted, muted color pallet, befitting of the somber tone). I did also really like the dramatic element Marge chastising Homer & the guys for not having cared about Larry before he died (and I think she was absolutely in the right to be upset; also her dramatically stating that she was the most disappointed in Lenny was hilarious, keeping up with those random jokes about Lenny's importance at the same time as there was actual emotional weight in it, as Lenny is indeed technically the most sensitive and caring of the Moe's crew & should've been the one to have made more of an effort at knowing Larry).

When the road trip got going, it did so well with Lenny being inspired by Larry's drawing of him and them at the Serenity Falls (which also showed that Larry did care about them despite them not returning the favor, making him all the more of a lonely and sad character; I don't care that the show didn't do anything with him before he died, because this episode was doing him justice) to drive there with Larry's ashes to scatter them there (as it was probably what he had wanted); also I assume Marge's words also spurred them into action, at least somewhat (and Homer's complaint about going to serenity falls as it's "so stressful" was another dialogue-based joke that made me chuckle, but then again I think this type of blatantly contradictory joke lines can be very funny). But as the episode was 8 minutes in at this point, I really wish they could've cut to the chase earlier (I'd probably have trimmed away the football betting scene & Bart and Lisa going around the funeral home to get the trip going quicker and show more with the four guys and their road trip). It still worked, tho.

As for the road trip itself, it kind of became the highlight of the story, with each of the four (Homer, Moe, Lenny & Carl; sucks we couldn't have Barney here too, but it still worked out with these four) all having their part to play with their own motivation and mindsets of sorts, all interpreting the trip and its meaning(s) differently. There's the funny little jokes like Lenny being overly jovial and caring (maybe making up for mucking up not learning to know Larry sooner), the stuff about Naima and Kool And The Gang (was nice to get a Naima mention, but no cameo with Dawnn Lewis? Booo! Hiss!) and Moe being Moe, plus there was also some nice drama (such as there being a split between Lenny & Carl about their disagreeing viewpoints, with Lenny being ridiculously caring of Larry's urn & Carl being very shallow and all business) & then we also have their little bedtime debate about their varying opinions on what happens when you die? It both had depth and interesting interpretations, but it was also funny in an introspective, meaningful way and the animation work with the paintings behind the beds morphing to suit their viewpoints. It was easily one of my favorite scenes in the episode (possibly the season too).

Now, as for the sapphire smuggling plot that kicked in around this point (with Homer finding the gems stuffed inside the ashes and Moe discovering it too), I really didn't tihnk it was necessary and it did feel kinda thinly written as to have some sort of external conflict (and apparently it is rather large scale too, with Larry for some reason having smuggled these gems for Fat Tony) and to have the guys land in even more interpersonal drama (as Lenny & Carl soon find out Homer & Moe kept it a secret from them). I don't really fault the idea, them being locked up in the SUV trunk of that corrupt sheriff working for Tony led them to reflect on things, have some realizations and patch their friendship up (and it led to a really neat climax with the car, with them still in the trunk, going over a cliff in the forest), but it did feel like kind of an overly elaborate conflict plot for a relatively down to earth character study-type story (And I didn't really see the point in having that Larry had been a smuggler for the mob. Couldn't it just have been that Tony's goons hid the gems in the urn when no one was looking and now they were on the hunt for it, sending the corrupt cop? yeah, I'm not gonna overthink this so much).

But yeah, this smuggling thing did give some more good dialogue between their guys and I like how they settled their differences while in the trunk, plus the abeformentioned end setpiece with the car going over the cliff (due to Homer's attempt at threatening the crooked cop with a flare gun going awry, even if it led to the bad guy knocked out by a falling tree branch) was really kinda neat with some good intensity and animation that elevated that (and I like the joke of Larry "saving" Homer from getting killed, when the urn rolled down after the careening car and got stuck between the tire and chassi); it was a well staged sequence with some nice humor (such as Homer missing his mark to jump out due to the classic "on three"/"after three" type confusion). Though, I did think the staging of the corrupt cop being knocked down and a fire starting around him in the trees looked like it would lead to some kind of forest fire danger for the guys (as a second setpiece), but nothing became of it so I think the fire felt kinda pointless, but it's more of a personal nitpick, really.

Anyhow, I did like the ending where they have reached the waterfall but theres a really nice twist that it doesn't look anything like Larry's drawing of him and them, leading them back home and we get that reveal that the waterfall of the drawing really was based on a waterfall as pictured on a wall ornament at Moe's. It was really sweet and kinda showed that in spite of everything, Larry had truly felt at home at Moe's despite never really connecting with the other guys. This kinda makes sense, as the place is, as we have seen and been reminded of, isn't really one to make a lot of meaningful friendship connections at, but is more like, as has had been said, it a place for lost souls to sit at and drink beer & also have some more or less meaningless interactions and debates, but yeah, Larry did still get something out of it, so not really the all depressed miserable guy he seemed like to be (I would've loved to see Sam chip in on the entire situation). With Homer & Co having a drink there and celebrating Larry's memory, it ended and wrapped up the story on a nice and heartfelt note (and concluded their personal journey well, with all of them having gotten something out of it and learnt a few things about their fallen friend).

So all in all, this was immensly enjoyable, often surprisingly so. Sure, it did take a bit too long to really kick of the main story (and the smuggling plot did feel a bit overdone and kinda pointless, plus raises some questions) but what we got was fun, funny and intriguing, with more than enough good character moments and interactions (and Homer & the guys were all well portrayed & in-character; I liked Lenny being a nice guy, Carl being the rather serious and practical one & was fun to see scuzzbag Moe again, being shifty and self-serving and blaming Homer for his own idea; in fact, that with Homer being talked into keeping the sapphires a secret from Lenny & Carl worked as a nice callback to the opening scene where Homer helped talk into Moe into betting on the game. Marge was really good too in her small yet important role as thevoice of reason) as well as some bits of nice drama with heart & introspectiveness, plus a bit of intensity at the end (and there was a nice Fat Tony cameo somewhere in there too; Joe Mantegna never disappoints and always add to the fun).

While the episode certainly was fun and all, the character element was what made it work, with the guys' camraderie and conflicts & solution, but I think the story also did Larry justice (and didn't just joke his passing away) & the nuances and depth in terms of the dialogue (thinking on the guys debating the afterlife mainly, in terms of that, but there was also other moments) made the episode feel surprisingly poignant and meaningful in the end, even with the few issues I had (such as no Sam to be seen, let alone Naima nor Maya being present at all, which they easily could've been during the funeral; was nice to get a Naima mention, but yeah, she should've had a cameo at least, as should Maya). The general direction by Gabriel DeFrancesco was kinda stellar, with some excellent animation, fluidity & also a really apt muted and somber tone, both in terms of story itself but the animation direction as well, which I mentioned in regards to the downplayed colors, helped by the autumnual setting, which was fitting due to the passing of Larry being at the core of the story).

Giving this a 4/5, for sure. I did have those issues and nitpicks with it (such as the smuggling plot feeling a little pointless) so it could've been even better, but it's still a successful one in terms of plot, story, direction & character work, creating an interesting and compelling well-paced episode which worked as a nice and meaningful character piece at the same time as it was a road trip tale with the Moe's crew, so a really nice job by the creative team of Tim Long, John Frink, Gabriel DeFrancesco & of course Matt Selman and the animators, whom made the premise justice with the depth, introspectiveness, poignancy & questions asked. In a sense, kind of an unique episode. And they actyally made me care for a character whom was always a background presence, elevating the gimmick of killing off a character no one cared for and making it feel, well, earned in terms of the narrative & just being a really nice story in the end.

There was effort with love and care (and not a small amount of heart) put into this one so I was surprisingly impressed at how well it turned out. And Selman was only co-runner (and no Omine or Kelley in sight). This was a nice surprise. Had fun with it.
 
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Also, as an extension of my above review, I'd like to add some on the criticism of Marge on the last page:

She did nothing wrong in the episode and was very understandable in calling the guys out on never having cared to get to know Larry while he was alive, acting as the conscience on their behalf and kickstarting their own consciences and the actual road trip plot; I also appreciated how he just didn't take Homer aside and tore into him but called them out as a group (and I for one liked how it wasn't Larry's mom who chastised them, letting just her be a really kind and sweet old lady, and let Marge be the one who called them out on their ignorance).

Plus Marge being disappointed in Lenny specifically is still hilarious (one of the biggest laughs for me, if not the biggest one), but like I said also had some weight to it (due to Lenny being the nice one of the group and definitely feeling like the guy whom would have tried to get closer to Larry at some point). Plus I did like the sweetness and the dashes innocence to Lenny's portrayal in this one.

Lastly, maybe the guys learned some lessons after this and will try to get to know Sam a little? Hope we'll get a Sam story (I think them acknowledging the absence of Sam on Twitter do show they haven't forgotten about him and had him in mind).
 
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