In the grand scheme of things, what will most people take away from The Simpsons in its 25th year? The ideal goal is that it turned in one of the best seasons ever now that it is half a century old. If anything, there should be some marketing gimmick thrown in involving a lackluster DVD set akin to that of the then historic 20th season. The answer lies somewhere in the middle. If last season was problematic for being too excessively artistic, this season was in some ways an improvement. However, the stories weren't all that great of a compensation.
To discredit the season is to deny the strange achievements that it has had. Yes, every season after the 15th has been increasingly hit-or-miss. Even then, the show has taken on a more artistic side of things and thus the comedy suffers. Homer (Dan Castellaneta) has grown to a problematic character for mixing moments of intelligence with those of downright stupidity. It can be charming, but the series definitely suffers from a feeling of being out of place with modern culture. The way that it satirizes technological advancements and futuristic events only recall to the days when they could do it with more ease. At best, they still have some of the most creative couch gags in the show's entire runs. Also, anything not named "The Homer Shake" is a welcomed installment.
Even then, there was a lot of admirable moments. While the premiere episode "Homerland" may be lost on those not into Homeland, it actually was a promising start. It was high concept with absurd supporting characters revealed in a manner that made the plot delightfully complicated. It may be the downfall of the series sometimes, but it is also credit to the series essentially being a hodgepodge of experimentation. However, things really picked up with "Treehouse of Horror XXIV," which remains its best installment in many, many years. Along with an impressive Guillermo del Toro directed opening sequence, there was fervor and life in the horror as it parodied Dr. Seuss and Freaks. They may not ever be "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace," but to discredit the ability to rhyme and turn whimsy into violence is quite criminal.
However, towards the later episodes, The Simpsons got bogged down with multiple reports. It was creating itself into a hype machine. 2014 saw the death of producer Don Payne and Marcia Wallace (a.k.a Edna Krapabble), which left many to speculate how the series could continue without its most beloved teacher. In one of the few moves that the show got right, it paid tribute three times to Wallace. Once in a chalkboard gag and a bookend still R.I.P. message. This was follow up on with a short clip at the end of an episode in which Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer) reminisces on his fallen wife: a plot point that may seem problematic to those that gave up on the series. However, she does appear once more in "White Christmas Blues" during the opening credits next to an angel of Payne. If anything, credit should shown to the writers for paying apt tribute to their fallen staff.
Then there's all of the other ridiculous stuff that makes The Simpsons sound desperate and out of touch, if not hypocritical. There are plans next season for both a Family Guy crossover and a Futurama crossover. Yes, both have made brief appearances on the series before, but never a full-on episode. To many, this integration of former Animation Domination partners is a little sad. With the Family Guy plot made public and it being based around a Duff Beer-Pawtucket Beer feud, it does sound like the show has run out of ideas. Add in that there is a significant character death coming and the series is making season 26 sound like the craziest season ever. Hopefully they don't pull a Family Guy and reverse the death and ruin any credibility.
Which brings us back to season 25. There was practically no hype for this entire season. Nothing really happened that struck the internet with questions and excitement. This may be argued to have been the case for years now, but where last year had a plethora of strangeness, it at least was interesting. The one benefit is that season 26 doesn't have nearly as much filler, and what it does have is actually relevant to the initial story. That alone shows progress. Then you get moments like the singing scene in "What to Do When Bart's Expecting" and you get a depressing reality of what the series looks like when it tries too hard. The singing wasn't so much a problem, but contextually, making fun of Les Miserables didn't make much sense. For some reason, it is a gag that stands out as being overly desperate not only because the song is awful, but because the plot of trying to impregnate a horse is pretty dumb.
There are some great episodes in the batch, though. The much hyped about Lego crossover episode "Brick Like Me" was about the only thing that The Simpsons has gotten recognition for season 25 in during 2014. It makes plenty of sense, especially with all of the production that went into it and the great (yet visually different) Lego toys that came out in the week following the episode. In the episode, Homer wakes up as a Lego figure and the episode's mechanics dive into an emotional relationship with Lisa (Yeardly Smith) and introduce The Hunger Games parody that we so deserve. The episode was full of creative winks and some of the strongest jokes of the season. Comparisons (as true as they are) to The Lego Movie shouldn't dissuade viewers from thinking it is lazy, but one of the many examples of great story incorporation of a different medium to discuss inner turmoil. If anything, The Simpsons proved that it could do the concept better than Community (whose "G.I. Jeff" episode is way too pandering to be good).
Then there is the other episodes that are likely to enter cannon. Even if the series cannot do much relevance when it comes to discussing technology, it does tackle broad issues well. In "Steal This Episode," Homer bootlegs movies to show in his backyard. Conceptually, it works in its simplicity with cameos from Judd Apatow and whoever he has worked with in the past two years. It is one of the more scathing take downs of how we view modern content that the show has done in quite some time. It may not have definitive answers, but that is where the series succeeds. It raises issues and points out the absurdity while somehow making wrongs seem right.
Then there is probably one of the best new characters of the season. In "Married to the Blob," Comic Book Guy (Hank Azaria) falls in love with a fellow nerd named Kumiko (Tress MacNeille). While many can see Comic Book Guy as a continually pandering character, he does have some vulnerability that makes him empathetic after a few decades. Besides an amazing tribute to Hayao Miyazaki's films, this episode works largely because it counterattacks an earlier episode in which Comic Book Guy temporarily dated the elderly Agnes Skinner (Macnielle). It may have been a gimmick episode and the first in a long line of "Comic Book Guy dates _____" one-offs, but Kumiko feels like an upgrade largely because she is a great alteration to the nerd. Yes, the ugly guy/cute girl thing may be a little cliche, but in terms of strange coupling, this is one that I hope the series improves upon. She only made one appearance so far, but it was an affecting one that sadly hasn't been referenced since. In the show's quest to continually expand its racial depictions, this Miyazaki/nerd combination was a nice touch.
With exception to these, it is hard to really say any episode was particularly strong. Most of the guest stars were reduced to unmemorable roles. Lisa dated Lucas (Zach Galifiankis) in "Luca$," which only felt like a retread of sorts from early guest stars like Frankie Muniz and Michael Cera. The dysfunctional marriage thing was also predictable and wrapped up nicely in episodes like "Specs and the City." Even "The Man Who Grew Too Much" that showed the return of Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer) was lacking immediacy. For all of the show's strengths after all of these years and ability to make compelling characters, it sometimes seems like they don't know what to do with them.
To sum it up, The Simpsons is not as bad as you think. It is also not as great as it was. It is simply an impressive experiment that only wants to make its world into a surrealist depiction of American society. Where Bob's Burgers continually redefines the genre, there is a content to The Simpsons that is both humbling and frustrating. It may not produce as many great episodes, but there are still five memorable ones from any given year that justifies its existence. Even the way that it handles its memorials is impressive. It is a towering giant that frankly I saw dying this year because of how appropriate a quarter century looked. Also, it was kind of because the series has tapped out on making infinite stories, especially with there being over 550 episodes.
That isn't to discount its relevance. It still does some things right better than the "baby" series like Community. However, with the news of Animation Domination coming to a close and "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting" having the show's lowest ratings in years, it does feel like the dawning era for the show. At best, next season is the chance to pull out all of the stops, do some crazy things, and remind us why we care. "Brick Like Me" did a fantastic job like that. However, it also felt like more attention went into that episode than most of the season, suggesting that special episodes will damage everything around it. This makes me weary of the crossovers to follow. Even then, season 25 may have been less successful in strangeness than season 24, but with "Brick Like Me," "Homerland," "Steal This Episode," "Married to the Blob," and "Treehouse of Horror XXIV," I think that we can consider it to not be a total waste.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
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