R&R: Lisa the Treehugger

Lisa the Treehugger - an overlooked OFF masterpiece? You decide!

  • 10/10

    Votes: 12 8.1%

  • 9/10

    Votes: 23 15.5%

  • 8/10

    Votes: 49 33.1%

  • 7/10

    Votes: 20 13.5%

  • 6/10

    Votes: 23 15.5%

  • 5/10

    Votes: 9 6.1%

  • 4/10

    Votes: 6 4.1%

  • 3/10

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 2/10

    Votes: 3 2.0%

  • 1/10

    Votes: 3 2.0%
  • Total voters
    148
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IAMHOMER

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Just saw this episode tonight, and for a season 12 one I found it to be surprisingly good. It has a coherent plot with minimal wackiness or tasteless gags, delightful characterisation (no jerkass Homer for once, and Lisa' crush on Jesse is very believable) laced with good humour that wouldn't look out of place in the sixth or seven season. Only criticisms are that the town's mourning over Lisa's so-called death is somewhat overdone, and the ending seemed a bit abrupt - most of the last 5 minutes seemed to be devoted to the Lisa log sequence, funny though it was, and the credits seemed to appear before the story really had a chance to resolve itself.

But anyway I give this ep a solid 8/10.
 
Good episode. The ending with the log was a bit weird and random, though. 7/10 or B-
 
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It's not a perfect episode, but it's one of the few I have seen from the later seasons that to me seems to recapture the feel and flow of the older, 'classic' Simpsons episodes (Days of Wine and D'oh'ses being another example), if not being quite up to the standard of the best of the earlier ones. Hard to believe this is sandwiched between such horrors as A Tale of Two Springfields and Homer vs Dignity.
 
I'm going to say 8/10, the ending may not be good, but it's great for Scully seasons
 
Great episode, I gave it a solid 8/10. I especially liked Jesse's pocket-mulching and the solar-powered electric chair ("Dude, we've been here all morning! Could you at least remoisten my head sponge?"). The ending with the log was weird, but funny. I love absurd humor, and here it was done right.
 
Wow this is overated, just because it's a slightly more gentle Lisa episode, it's hardly a great episode, it's still got inane wacky shit dumb characters and just isn't very funny or intresting.
4/10
 
As a matter of interest, Homer Thompson, which mainstream episodes from seasons 11 & 12 would you consider worthy of a high grade (obviously not counting Behind the Laughter and THoH ones)?
 
Aside the fact that Marge jumped through numerous character changes during the episode (she was a complete IDIOT in the first section, then changed to a worrying self in the second...WTH?), Homer's "The Simpsons Are Going To Paris" 'joke' (which wasn't even funny) and probably the log thing, the episode was very good, and one of the best of Season 12...

...though, of course, since this episode doesn't involve any of the other things that Season 12 held, like Homer's guts getting torn open, Homer's thumb getting sliced off, Bullies reacting to stink, animals behaving inproperly, stupid guest stars, pointless plot twists and even pointless episodes all together...I think I've listed just about EVERY S12 problem. This episode, along with Hungry Hungry Homer, didn't have ANY of this.
 
HellKat666 said:
Good episode. The ending with the log was a bit weird and random, though. 7/10
Click to expand...

I agree. That had to have ment something, Were the Writers paroding anything? Out of control fandom? Runaway deforestization? :uhh:
 
Homer_Thompson said:
Wow this is overated, just because it's a slightly more gentle Lisa episode, it's hardly a great episode, it's still got inane wacky shit dumb characters and just isn't very funny or intresting.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd have to agree, this episode seems to get a lot of praise just because it's a Lisa episode, and other than that it's pretty dull. Not bad though. My grade is 6/10, 5/10 is the average Scully-era episode.
 
This episode is virtually free of Scully's trademark flaws. Not fantastic, but still good. B
 
I'm not the biggest fan of Lisa episodes, but think this isn't one of the best.
There is no huge downside or something in the story, mostly it's entertaining
and has some funny moments too, but overall i think it is slightly above average.
There are better Lisa episodes imo.

3/5
 
This episode was a nice surprise. Like "Insane Clown Poppy," I didn't remember much about the episode before watching it, so a lot of it was pretty fresh and new.

It has a lot of cool moments that I forgot about. Act 1 starts pretty nicely with the Thai menu subplot and we got a cool appearance from Ninja Bart. The transition to the environmental main plot is fairly seamless and doesn't feel like a big jump in the story, like other episodes.

The Lisa/Jesse dynamic was pretty nicely done too. You would think a character so into environmental stuff would be one-dimensional, and maybe he is, but there are a lot of little funny jabs at Lisa he makes, to underline how little he cares for her. Lisa likes this guy so much that she's willing to play Second Love to environmentalism with him.

The plot is interesting too. It's kinda lame how she gets out of the redwood tree because she misses her family. Because, gee, I wonder what's going to happen? Luckily, that predictable plot element is saved by the slightly-less-predictable plot element that the tree was struck by lightning instead. The following development, where the town thinks Lisa is dead, is pretty interesting too.

And did I mention yet that this episode has the best Rich Texan appearance ever? Good for it.

Jokes good, etc. 4/5. I mean, 8/10.
 
I think this is the worst season 12 episode. There were some funny moments, but I didn't find the plot very interesting and I thought Lisa was kinda annoying. I thought the plot was executed well for what it was with good plot twists and characterization, this type of plot is just not my cup of tea. 3/5
 
The only hints of cartoonish wackyness are the Rich Texan and the log ride. The Rich Texan is probably one of the worst characters, and a symbol of the post-classic era.

Otherwise a very good mix of suspense and comedy. And it's one of the very few episodes of any season where the pity is tolerable and fits the plot and the characters. 9/10.
 
One of the season 12's best episodes. I think that its most remarkable quality -and probably the main reason for the praise received- is the fact that, unlike almost all of its contemporaries, the storyline of this episode remains solid and does without the typical Scully-ish plot holes. Despite it has a little story with Bart that doesn't get anywhere, when the main plot is introduced it keeps the linear narrative and doesn't leave it till the end.
Apart from that, it has some interesting qualities. The characters, though not perfectly-depicted, are relatable at all. There is not Jerkass Homer in this episode, and none of them was exaggerated or badly-portrayed. Lisa, despite not being one of her best appearances, remains believable and functional. Jesse is probably my favorite episodic character from this season, and his interaction with Lisa was probably the most outstanding point of the show.
The humor is fair, not really good IMO but it makes the whole episode pretty entertaining and, apart from some bad gags, it is consistent in that sense. This is also one of the few where I didn't find any cringeworthy joke at all, the ending could be somewhat ridiculous but it was easy to bear and actually made me laugh sometimes.

It's not a classic, but I am very glad of its soundness. Actually, a few episodes like this one make it harder to understand how terribly the show ended in the Scully years. If every episode from this era had the characteristics of Lisa The Treehugger, the series would have certainly lost some of its old excellence, but it would still keep its dignity. 7/10
 
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Fairly solid episode, as much as I dislike the Rich Texan. I went with a 6/10, though a 7 would have sufficed just as well. Nice to see Lisa pursuing things somewhat for other human motivations than only moral outrage.
 
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