With the Every Simpsons Ever marathon less than 12 hours from premiering, I thought that I would share a personal secret: there is one episode that I loathe more than any other. With exception to the post-Golden Era, the episode that I hate the least from the series is one that came in what many consider to be their "best" season. The one that not only defined the series, but also gave us reason to believe that the show was on another level. As great as season four was, there was no way around the one dud that was so foul that I still skip over it every time. It is far worse than any cries from "The Principle and the Pauper." Along with "Simpsons Bible Stories," I loathe seeing it pop up. I am talking about "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show."
While it is expected that every series out there has a weak episode, it is strange this episode is never brought up. It serves as one of the few times that the series has gone to the form of a clip show. While the constructs are actually rather intriguing with the focus being centered around April Fools Day, the subversive nature is quickly diminished when it is revealed to all be a charade and that Homer ends up in the hospital after opening a can of "explosive" beer. How does it get "explosive"? Bart sticks it in a paint shaking machine at a hardware store. While the series should never be taken for realism, this is a far fetched concept that blows my personal interest in the rest of the episode.
Given already that it is a clip episode, there aren't too many expectations for it to enter the great pantheon next to season four's echelon of iconic episodes. In fact, there's very little about it that feels like cannon. Beyond montages of Homer getting injured and other recollections from the show's short run, it adds no weight. With exception to a solid One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest reference, it is all about reflecting over how Bart hurt Homer to the point of a coma. Everything comes together and we see a slew of characters that don't really deserve to be there. In the end, the trick is that Homer overheard everything and chooses to strangle Bart in a fashion that has comedic value, but speaking as it was all handled better in "Homer's Triple Bypass," the choice to have a comatose character adds nothing of value. Even the spontaneous cameos have little value beyond familiar references.
So the question is: Why am I singling out THIS episode? There have been numerous clip shows and episodes that have flung further off the rails. Don't get me wrong, there are some that are really bad, but in the golden era, there is only one that I downright hate. But why this clip show? Why not hate the concept as a whole? Frankly, this is just like South Park's April Fools parody "Not Without My Anus," but without the sting of supplying important information. It is a removal from the greater episodes surrounding it. Where South Park had the reveal of Eric Cartman's father to achieve, The Simpsons had nothing. This wasn't Bart's biggest prank. This wasn't Homer's most emotional beat. This was all a charade to suggest that the writers came up short.
Even then, let me express that there have been a lot of great Simpsons clip shows. In season six, "Another Simpsons Clip Show" dialed back on the conflict and instead replaced it with a dissection of what love actually is. Then there was the best to date with "All Singing, All Dancing" managing to turn even presenting the clips into a musical revue. To say the least, the series got more creative with how they handled an excess of expectations and not enough content. It actually had themes and a great wraparound "plot" that centralized everything about it. However, "So It's Come to This" hurts because of how little service the clips feel like they provide. It felt more like rehashing of familiar plot beats from the better episodes prior. Also, it dampens the greatness of season four's reputation.
So as Every Simpsons Ever finally gets underway on FXX, I will be watching in my free time as they do the unfathomable and make me discover episodes that I forgot all about. Will it be for the best? I'd like to hope so. This series means a lot to me and to have it this readily available gets me excited, even if I own all of the DVD's. I will be singing, dancing, and quoting along. I will just be overlooking this episode because frankly, it is really pointless.
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