Season 02 in Review

General Thoughts: What a difference a year makes. Starting with the very first episode and continuing on through the finale, season two is (for the most part) a dramatic improvement over season one. Now, again: I don't hate season one. It has a lot of good moments, but unfortunately most of them fall in like two episodes. Season one isn't as notoriously bad as I'd remembered it being. It's just that the bad, for the most part, far outweighed the good. With season two, things are immediately *so good* that I really don't have anything bad to say about a lot of these episodes.

The show is getting a lot more comfortable (and successful) with sentiment. Season one swung for the fences in a lot of ways - like having Homer try to commit suicide. Season two dials it back and focuses more on smaller issues that are more identifiable. Entire episodes are devoted to dissecting characters in some of the funniest (and most touching) ways possible. Very, very rarely is an episode ever less than 100% successful in what it tries to accomplish. 

Which, obviously, is both extraordinary and really surprising. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that they must have replaced the entire writing staff in between seasons. It's that noticeable of a change. However, something even better happened: these writers were able to figure out what the show is and what it has the potential to be and were able to hit the ground running in the new year. I don't know that something as good as season two could exist if they hadn't made (and obviously learned a great deal from) the mistakes of season one.

There are still misses here, but they're all generally more enjoyable than the misses from season one because A) they're often a great deal funnier, and B) the pace is dramatically improved. Gone are montages where we get one joke every thirty seconds or so. The pace still isn't quite as "break neck" as it will eventually become, but it also isn't the glacial pace of certain episodes of the past. The show is also getting a bit more comfortable with the types of jokes that it's telling. We're getting a combination of great visual gags, snappy dialog and great pop culture references - all often within a few seconds of one another.

The humor is also coming directly out of the characters and plot, for the most part. There aren't any "references for references sake" to be found, even in something as pop culture reference heavy as "Three Men an a Comic Book."

It's clear that the writers still have a little bit of learning to do, but they've more than proven that they're capable of doing it.

This season has some really, really great guest appearances. The highlight is obviously Dustin Hoffman, under the pseudonym of "Sam Etic" as the wonderful Mr. Bergstrom, Lisa's substitute teacher. However, people like Danny DeVito and even Jon Lovitz all turn in wonderful performances throughout the year. The show is both letting these people play to the best of their strengths and using them to tell some wholly unique and really satisfying stories. Nobody shows up in a "Hey, isn't it WACKY that _______ is visiting Springfield?!?" capacity. The closest we get to that is Ringo Starr, and even he's worked into the plot in a way that is both funny and plays off a few great Marge-centric character moments.

The animation is really working itself out. There are still some signs of "early in the season jitters," but all in all everything looks very smooth and polished (note: those are synonyms, so the previous sentence might not make much sense).

A major theme of the second season is, surprisingly, love. We get a lot of episodes in a row, especially towards the back half of the year, that deal with relationships between characters. Patty (or Selma, I can never remember) tries desperately to find a husband. Lisa experiences her first crush (sort of). Homer and Marge continue to have marriage issues. Even though the show is animated and even while all the funny jokes are going on, the writers still manage to ground these characters in a sense of reality and have them go through genuine experiences.

All in all, with the type of consistent quality on display coupled with the fact that the writers are clearly interested in telling interesting stories beyond just fishing for laughs, "The Simpsons" has set itself apart from almost every other show on television almost immediately with its second season. Three of my top ten favorite episodes in the history of the series (at least for right now) are in this season. Three. That's a damn good record.

Is "season two" the best that "The Simpsons" will ever be? No. But that really does say quite a bit about just what's about to happen to this show in the coming years.

Best Episode: If "Bart the Daredevil" was one of my favorite episodes of "The Simpsons" ever, "Lisa's Substitute" is one of my favorite episodes of anything, period. It's so, so good. It's a story that single handedly makes little Lisa Simpson one of the most interesting residents of this entire fictional town. It makes her unique, identifiable and REAL. And at its core it's kind of a really adult story pulled off in a shockingly successful way for not just an animated comedy series but for a half hour television show, period. The writers don't waste a single moment and, thankfully, don't miss a single mark, either.

Worst Episode: "Principal Charming." It's not bad as in "this sucks", but bad as in "this does nothing for me." I don't find Patty and/or Selma all that interesting, and certainly not interesting enough to want to watch an entire episode devoted to them where Sideshow Bob isn't trying to murder one or the other.

To be honest, there really isn't a truly "bad" episode in the bunch. There are ones that I like a lot more than others. There are ones, like "Principal Charming," that don't really do much for me or I don't think are as effective as they could be. There was nothing that made me cringe, though. Nothing out and out "bad" in the strictest definition of the word. So when your bad isn't even really technically bad in the strictest definition of the word, you know you're in good shape.

Season High Point: For me, Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Bergstrom. Not only does he turn in a wonderfully subdued performance that manages to make me forget that he's Dustin Hoffman, but he also has one of my favorite lines ever AND his character gives me one of my favorite moments of all time: "You are Lisa Simpson."

Season Low Point: Homer's "Terminator Vision" from "Principal Charming." I get the joke. Really, I do. I just don't think it's funny. And it's a weird break from reality that isn't really worth it in the end.

Episode Scores (out of 10):

1. Bart Gets an F: 8
2. Simpson and Delilah: 8
3. Treehouse of Horror: 8
4. Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish: 8
5. Dancin' Homer: 7
6. Dead Putting Society: 7
7. Bart vs. Thanksgiving: 9
8. Bart the Daredevil: 10
9. Itchy & Scratchy & Marge: 9
10. Bart Gets Hit by a Car: 8
11. One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish: 7
12. The Way We Was: 9
13. Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment: 8
14. Principal Charming: 6
15. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?: 8
16. Bart's Dog Gets an F: 8
17. Old Money: 8
18. Brush with Greatness: 8
19. Lisa's Substitute: 10
20. The War of the Simpsons: 9
21. Three Men and a Comic Book: 10
22. Blood Feud: 7

Season Score Total (out of 220): 180


Final Season Score (Average): 81/100


Letter Grade: B-