Rate & Review: "101 Mitigations" (YABF07)

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Brad Lascelle

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Season 30, Episode 15
Original Airdate
: March 3, 2019
Writers: Brian Kelley, Rob LaZebnik & Dan Vebber
Director: Mark Kirkland
Showrunner: Al Jean
Synopsis: After Homer steals Comic Book Guy's car, he must either prove his innocence in court or reconcile with the jilted nerd.

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R&R Poll Average Score: 3.48 / 5 (as of September 25, 2021 / 33 votes)
IMDB User Rating: 6.5 / 10
 
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This was OK I suppose. A Comic Book Guy-heavy episode was a breath of fresh air, and he was portrayed with a little bit of dignity in this episode. More than usual, anyway. I liked the beginning with Homer’s joyride, and Lisa acting like a kid and enjoying it was nice to see as well. As usual, there was stuff that went on too long, this episode’s offenders being the video for Burns and Bart’s whispering to Homer. The scene with Marge talking to Comic Book Guy was quite long and laughless, and the episode was fairly light on laughs as a whole, but it had more than last week’s snoozefest. There were some decent parts, though. I liked the first shooting where Homer tried to get people to say nice things about him and then the subsequent heavily edited video. The forgiveness with Comic Book Guy crushing Homer’s key chain was OK, but it could’ve had more weight if we’d ever seen that key chain before and known Homer liked it. 3/5
 
I really enjoyed this episode from the Guillermo Del Toro references to more CBG and Kumiko. This was a treat:)
 
The premise sounded promising. The actual episode is okay. For me modern episodes typically lack energy and humor and can be dull or not very watchable as a result. This one isn't loaded with humor, either, and Homer doesn't quite act as freaked out as he could have over the prospect of going to jail... although it's not like he had never been in jail previously.

Comic Book Guy's speech in court is good and the ending is quite good for an episode with this premise. The part with Bart and Skinner at the very end is lame, though.

On a side note: Marge's voice sounds markedly different at this point.
 
This was OK I suppose. A Comic Book Guy-heavy episode was a breath of fresh air, and he was portrayed with a little bit of dignity in this episode. More than usual, anyway. I liked the beginning with Homer’s joyride, and Lisa acting like a kid and enjoying it was nice to see as well. As usual, there was stuff that went on too long, this episode’s offenders being the video for Burns and Bart’s whispering to Homer. The scene with Marge talking to Comic Book Guy was quite long and laughless, and the episode was fairly light on laughs as a whole, but it had more than last week’s snoozefest. There were some decent parts, though. I liked the first shooting where Homer tried to get people to say nice things about him and then the subsequent heavily edited video. The forgiveness with Comic Book Guy crushing Homer’s key chain was OK, but it could’ve had more weight if we’d ever seen that key chain before and known Homer liked it. 3/5

It's kind of funny that CBG has more episodes than Carl and/or Lenny. He has this, the one where he gets married and the one where he dates Agnes and the one where he dates Edna features him prominently as well.
 
I really enjoyed this episode from the Guillermo Del Toro references to more CBG and Kumiko. This was a treat:)
While it was nice seeing Kumiko in this ep, I don't like that the show treats her like some mute that waits on CBG hand and foot. She reacted negatively to Comic Book Guy declaring Homer to be his new best friend (which is good) but we never get to see her confront him about that issue. They did a better job of giving her incidental dialogue shortly after her introduction in Season 25 than they have recently.

Otherwise, I enjoyed tonight's episode quite a bit.
 
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Overall this was an enjoyable episode,

I think my favourite bit was when homer 'gave' back the leaf blower to flanders, I Thought reversing the shot was a really nice touch, in fact most of the video montage was nicely executed.

There were a few bits that really didn't sit too well with me.

Firstly that bit about the ducks eating watermelon followed by homer eating a watermelon, out of nowhere, I feel like this is something Family Guy would do and I just hate to see it used in the simpsons.

Secondly, as little as I care about Kumiko as a character I thought her involvement in this episode was really a waste.. It's as if the writers had to include her because she's now canon, I wouldn't be bothered if she just disappeared because at this point there's no reason to just include her in this capacity.
 
Ok the thing is Comic Book Guy episodes aren't really my favorite and to tell you the truth I think his character sucks. So going into the episode I wasn't expecting a lot.

The episode started out funny and whimsical but it turned into meh really quick. The best part was the beginning with the massage and the brunch. Homer's flashback to when he sees the car as a kid was funny as was him explaining parts, such as rolling the windows up and down is air conditioning. Then after he came back the jokes started to suck. Why would Homer drive through a cornfield? Did every other joke have to gho on forever? The del Toro joke about names all the monsters he like went on forever. If I wanted to watch a long winded joke I watch Family Guy.

There were also major plot holes. Now understand, Homer is guilty of theft and thats all. Homer apologised and promised to get the damage fix. But when CBG turned it into an issue about respect, he lost the arguement there. I'm sure CBG would be happy to get rid of all thoses Little Lulu's, but no way in hell is going to take shit from Millhouse. He would have said, "Get out of my store thank you." CBG is pretty much an ass and doesn't treat anyone with respect, especially his customers, so how can he expecct someone to give him respect in return. Don't forget he tried to rip off Martin's mom when she was selling some of his stuff. Last, GBG forgiving him by taking Homer's keychain and smashing it really shows how small of a person he is in general.

Things that were funny:

The massage sequence was funny as she tensed up when Homer did something stupid.
The Smithaur was funny.
Homer as the Hulk works because, "Homer smash good!"
Parts of the car you think Bart would know.

Not funny:

Harrison Ford joke: He wouldn't go to comic-con. (He let himself be killed off. Yes, I'm still bitter).
Jokes went on for to long.
Bart explaining about the comic book went on to long.
Bart trying to get out of detention went on to long.

By dissecting this epsiode: 2/5
 
The episode was enjoyable and better than last episode. I didn't really enjoy the part where Comic Book Guy and Marge talk and it went on too long. The cutaway where Homer pecks at the watermelons is funny but mainly cause I like Family Guy style humor. When Homer "gave" the lawn mower back to Flanders was funny too. Also the last ending scene with Bart and Skinner was entertaining. Voice acting and animation is good as always. 4/5 I also liked Family Guy's tonight episode.
 
The massage sequence was funny as she tensed up when Homer did something stupid.
And to think we've always assumed Bart gained his powers as Stretch Dude due to radiation. Turns out it's hereditary and he just needed an excuse to discover them.

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So it's now only a matter of time until we get our Incredibles parody. Perhaps next Halloween. Just need that Disney deal to go through and they can make it happen.
 
"Totally relaxed" Marge sounded like Selma. I wouldn't be surprised if that was intentional.

I think that's just the state of Kavner's voice.. when marge drove to the restaurant and yelled at homer, I don't think I've heard her sound worse than in that scene.
 
[watches 22 minutes of Hank Azaria coughing out CBG lines like he has a bone stuck in his throat] wow, Julie Kavner sounds terrible!
 
only things that made me laugh were lisa's "His favorite thing is Star Wars, and he hates Star Wars," line, and Skinner's appearance in Homer's video. otherwise, this was about on par with the rest of the season. 2/5
 
Kumiko Nakamura speaking/non-subservient role when?????

0/5
If I was a betting man, I'd put money on the next Tim Long episode that features Kumiko in any kind of supporting capacity. Between Married to the Blob and Springfield Splendor, he's the only one that's demonstrated any sort of vested interest in giving her character depth or agency beyond a mere cardboard cutout that shows up in scenes with Comic Book Guy. Which still puts Kumiko in a better position than Barney Gumble, who clearly has NO writers invested in him as a character. So she's got that going for her.

That said, given that it's a travel episode, I can't imagine that D'oh Canada will offer up much on this front.
 
A decent episode that gave us some more of Comic Book Guy, at least a secondary character that I wouldn't mind to see more of unlike Krusty from last weeks episode. A lot of nice bits with the family aswell, like Bart being a pranker, Lisa acting like an actual child, Marge helping out Homer (though her voice was way off in certain scenes), even Maggie and the pets had some screen time.

The first act starts off well with Homer and the kids using a misprinted coupon to eat at the Gilded Truffle for free, while giving Marge a Swedish massage with the money they save. Apparently Marge sounds more naturally like Patty/Selma when she is out of tension. Some good gags with the family burping to the waiter and the kids learning how an old car works (despite that they were alive in the 90's). I liked how Marge was all tensed again when she felt Homer doing something stupid. Good but long scene with Homer and Comic Book Guy talking about his car, and please let me never hear Marge scream like that. Its good to see Judge Snyder some more in the court scenes. Homer yelling ''I'm not the one on trial here!'' was so random and it was probably meant as a joke, but it felt to stupid to me.

Good to see Marge trying to convince Comic Book Guy to drop the charges, where he then says its not about the car but about respect. But then he ends up doing what a snarky Millhouse orders him to do. This was actually way out of character for both of them, considering that CBG has always acted like a huge jerk to the kids, even banning them from the store at some point. I liked the ''don't let the door hit you on your way out'' joke with the door having been painted. The gooses eating from a melon was completely random, and I agree that it felt more like a Family Guy gag. I did really like the rather long montage with Guillermo Del Toro, lots of good gags and having some of the animation stick true to the couch gag he did in Treehouse of Horror XXIV. I believe the scene with Marge imagining Homer as a water monster comes from The Shape of Water, not sure about that one.

I found all the editing scenes to be really funny. I only didn't expect Marge to make them, it seemed more like something Lisa would do. The only thing that didn't make sense is that Skinner sounded like he was unhappy with Lisa being in his school aswell. Got a good laugh with the reversing scene of Homer borrowing a lawn blower from Ned. Another good scene at the court with Judge Snyder rejecting Homer not to go to the movies at the end. The dinner scene had a very unnecessary whispering gag with Homer and Bart. Then they get to the other comic book store and see a comic that CBG would probably lvoe to have, which also seemed to cut shrot as we never see Hoemr actually buying the comic from her. Instead they just end with a gag where German sounds the closest to Klingon. A good ending to the plot where I didn't expect CBG to actually smash Homer's keychain, where he sticks to his dick'ish character. And then still considering Homer as his new best friend, where Homer is unsure if going to ComicCon is better than going to jail. And yet thats not how the episode ends... instead we get a random scene with Bart distracting Skinner as he ditches out of detention. It was a pretty decent gag though.

Overall I liked this episode, but it has some flaws. There were a lot of scenes that dragged on for way to long and there was a lot of random attempts at humor (like the gooses eating from a melon bit). Millhouse felt out of character to Comic Book Guy, who wouldn't just be ordered around so rudely. Not much other bad stuff other than Marge's rasping voice that felt extra noticeable due to her screaming and such. The good parts are that Comic Book Guy played a solid role in this episode, and his interactions with the Simpsons family were done well. The kids actually acted like kids and Marge like a caring wife. Some good jokes aswell, my favorites being the Guillermo del Toro montage and all the editing scenes. The story had a proper flow to it where it helps that there is no sub plot. It had a nice beginning, middle and ending to it.

3/5
 
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It's a testament to how much of a petty, unlikeable jerk Comic Book Guy is that even though Homer was absolutely in the wrong, I still found myself siding with him and wanting to see CBG fail. I feel like they actually had a good idea with him wanting respect, but bungled it by having Milhouse berate him into capitulating, when it's not at all the usual dynamic with CBG and his customers.

It felt like there was something with more potential there, and I think it could've led to something more interesting if he'd been cruel to Milhouse (as usual) and have it pointed out that he doesn't inspire or earn respect because he never shows anyone else respect or decency. Instead, it comes down to him being petty and wanting to hurt Homer as Homer hurt him. I guess it's within his character - and there's arguably a fairness in it given Homer did do the wrong thing - but it was a rushed and flat ending. It was a nice touch to show the key chain in the first act so it didn't quite come out of nowhere within the context of the episode, but the fact we've never seen it before does add a little to the abrupt and contrived ending.

With that being said, I did like the first act with Homer and the kids scoring a free meal, Lisa acting like a kid, and messing around in CBG's car. The gag with the painted door and the video editing shenanigans were pretty solid too (I liked Bart using his own mitigation video as a decoy at the end, and Skinner being unable to stop the clip), as was the joke about CBG's favourite thing being Star Wars but actually hating it. The overly long gag with Bart telling Homer how much a vintage comic book would cost was a bust, mostly because it doesn't really make sense. It wouldn't take Bart that long to tell Homer the price, and sure, that's overthinking the joke, but that's the problem with it going on so long: you end up paying too much attention to it.

It was a pleasant enough watch, and I did find myself oddly invested in Homer beating the charges, if only to see a character who's always been an awful person have their petty vindictiveness blow up in their face. Unfortunately it didn't quite go down that way, but at least Homer got through to him in the end, even if it was by giving up his pound of flesh. The jokes I liked, the fun scenes with Homer and the kids at the start, and that investment throughout adds up to a rating of 3/5 for me. It wasn't quite as cathartic as I'd have liked, there could've been a few more laughs, and it does feel like there were a couple of wasted opportunities with the story, but it was alright. Far from brilliant, but entertaining enough.
 
Didn't expect much but enjoyed this one. Not fantastic by any means but a fairly solid and well written episode overall. The plot about Homer being mistakenly handed the keys to Comic Book Guy's car, an vintage 1950's beauty (which mirrors the one he always wished he had), and taking the chance to use it to take the kids for a spin leading to him being sued and put on trial for theft and facing jail time unless him, with the help of the rest of the family, settling the matter with an unwavering, bitter CBG who refuses to stand down was a good story, down to earth and didn't go too crazy or ridiculous (aside from a few little gags such) which I liked; it was also very likeable to me with the overall tone and the family working together and at times kinda felt like a plot that could've been done in the classic era. One of the better efforts of the season.

I quite liked how it opened with Homer and the kids at the restaurant (taking advantage of a coupon misprint saying "100 % Off") and having a bit of fun (even Lisa) before Homer is handed the key's to CBG's car and taking the kids on a little trip just to give them a bit of a good time before returning it to the parking valet with very minor damage which just consists of a small scratch (if not counting a mint condition Radioactive Man comic which was in the car for some reason and got ruined; how was CBG thinking there?) which sets the car's true owner off and Chief Wiggum takes Homer away. The court sections were well done and I really enjoyed the bits with the family taking inspiration from Mr. Burns sentence mitigation appeal video (heavily manipulative and romanticised) to make one for Homer, which led to some very amusing scenes (the bit with Maggie and SLH was nice for one thing) and an equallly amusing, poorly edited video with bad cuts and reversed footage before they have a perfect one with Lisa's help.

I also liked how we got to see a different side of CBG with Homer's punishment being incredibly important to him due to the car having been given to him from his dad and him desperately wanting to win due to his hurt feelings and ego and coming off as an real jackass, not even wanting to settle outside court and refusing any try to appeal to him. The way the conflict was resolved with him being exicted about Homer's old keychain (which Homer tells the story behind) only to smash it with a hammer and then forgiving Homer and being all chummy was ridiculous (considering he valued cheap revenge over an replacement mint edition Radioactive Man comic book which Homer aquired) but it was well done, I liked how it subverted expectations and we've seen him petty, small minded and douchey before and this really took that cake. He was the antagonist but you understood his point and he technically was in the right as Homer did take his car but he never came off as likeable (rather progessively more unlikeable) while the regetful Homer was the sympathetic one.

The episode wasn't packed with jokes and gags but there were some pretty good ones in there like the video editing (the only one I didn't really like at all was the extensive one of Bart whispering to Homer about the cost of the comic book), the animation was nice throughout and it was well paced, progressing nicely from scene to scene. I wa surprised with the characterizations that were nice, especially the family which was really good and on point (and they even had Lisa joining the fun in the first act, following Bart's burping joke suit by burping herself and aside from one brief objection to Homer "borrowing" the car; to see Lisa not being an all serious killjoy was a lot of fun). CBG was well portrayed too with his angry overzealousness; while it maybe was exaggerated I felt it worked and was in line with the character. The guest star director Guillermo Del Toro did an all right job with his part, being the director of Burns' video and appearing as himself, addng a bit of humor with the monster references and such.

So bottom line, a fine and enjoyable little episode. It wasn't anything special and didn't have something really new or groundbreaking (aside from adding a bit of layer to CBG as he was rather tough here) but for it was a decently nice one for what it was, presenting a good and simple plot, a grounded conflict for the family that banded together for a common goal (their struggle was strangely investing), some good humor here and there and good, likeable characterizations for the family too. Aside from a few of the jokes going on for too long (well, for me only really Bart's whispering) and Kumiko being a prop as per usual (she should've been important here) there was nothing I really objected to so most of it was fine. It could've worked better and been more smooth in parts but it was a nice one. Would certainly like to see more of these lower concept plots.

3.5/5 rounded up to 4/5
 
Signs from Young Homer's flashback:
8 Track Shack
Peter O'Tool Hardware
Age of Aquariums
Waterbeds, Bath, and Beyond

So Lisa's an accident again? That means "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage" is re-retconned!

Signs in the Android's Dungeon:
Closed: For Taking of Umbrage
Open: But Still Seething

Other things inside:
Everyman Comics ("Homer the Whopper")
Avengers: Infinity Cast (No Hawkeye) Poster
Tonton in Paris poster
Radioactive Man: Never Opened (though we see him put it back in the box)
The Radioactive Man meets the Kansas City Royals poster
From Heck comics
The Reformers poster ("The Greatest Story Ever D'oh-ed")
Itchy, Scratchy, and Poochie bobbleheads
Bobbleheads of baseball players (possibly the ones from "Homer at Bat"?) and The Grumple ("Kill Gil, Volumes 1 and 2")

Snoopy poster: "Happiness is a high body count"

Homer calls the video website "YouTube" but when the duck and watermelon video shows it says, "MyTube". Boy, I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder.

Ol' Gil's Wedding Videos sign: Let Our Dying Institution Record Yours

"Sad Granddad" is one of the bottles at Moe's. Don't think I've ever seen that one before.

On the back of the Radioactive Man comic, it says "Footlocker of Fun"

Front:
CCC Quality Grade
Giant Poster Inside
The Origin of Radioactive Man

Seen in Zorbot the Geek:
Poochie bobblehead
Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation
Canada Man (?)
Radioactive Man figure
Grumple figure
Baseball bobbleheads again
Bongo Comics box
Little Lulu poster

Return to the Android's dungeon
Scratchy in a vest
The Thing in a box
Box that says, "Misc. Poochie Box"

Board games:
Scribble
Needless Operation
Duopoly
Ambassadors to Byzantium
Don't Lift the Pieces

Xena standee (from Treehouse of Horror X)
Starship Enterprise model
Planet Express model
Old WWII plane model

Sign: "Stan Lee Was Held Captive in This Closet"

Purple Hulk vs. Purple The Thing

World's Best Comics: NOT a Dream! (with what appears to be CBG in a superhero suit fighting Radioactive Man)

Itchy and Scratchy model
The Origin of Everyman Poster
Fallout Boy Poster
Tiny Hercules poster

There were some things I couldn't quite make out. Will look over again soon.
 
I guess this wasn't so bad, but it didn't really grip me in any significant way. I think even the writers knew this conflict was a little thin, with how many padded jokes there were. For starters, we didn't need to see all of Mr. Burns' video, and Bart whispering wasn't funny at all. It was pretty hard to root for either Homer or Comic Book Guy, since although Comic Book Guy was technically right, he isn't a character you want to see succeed. I also never felt that, at any point in the episode, Homer was in danger of going to prison. Despite the plot being pretty pedestrian, I did laugh a few times, and there wasn't anything unwatchable. But there isn't any reason to rewatch it, either; I was mostly interested to see if Kumiko would play a role, but she didn't. (Although, knowing HD Simpsons, it would probably be tired Japanese jokes again. So, maybe it's for the best.)

3/5
 

Read that one the other day and it's really odd (or rather insane in a sense) that the reviewer complain about Homer being a jerkass in this one.

I mean, doing things like tranquilizing Marge when he doesn't want to listen to her ('It's A Mad Marge') and offering a bull to gore Lisa ('Pokey Mom') is him being a jerkass but being handed CBG's car keys and taking advantage of the situation to take the kids for a ride before returning it with minor damage to the car itself is not jerkass Homer to me; it's more like irresponsible dumbass Homer and more akin to what the Mirkin era Homer would do and the writing manages to make him sympathetic even though he did commit a crime.

How the reviewer manage to equate his behavior and actions here to full on Jerkass Homer is beyond my comprehension (as is saying CBG did nothing wrong at all; he certainly was in the right but passed the line somewhere and became a jerkass as the episode went on, though they did humanize him a bit by playing up his hurt feelings).

Oh, and he surprisingly liked Bart's whispering joke a lot (which was maybe the biggest dud for me here). Either way C+ is a good grade.
 
Completely agree. Also, as far as CBG not doing anything wrong, I'd argue that when he sought an eye for an eye and smashed Homer's key ring - a collector's item implied to have both sentimental and monetary value - he did cross the line and do something wrong, morally if not legally as well. That he was seeking revenge rather than justice is a big part of why he's unsympathetic, not to mention ironic given the medium and characters he both admires and has made his livelihood. At the very least, it's an example of how you can be in the right - technically and legally - but still conduct yourself poorly and end up looking like the bad guy.
 
Yeah, he did really crossing a rather big line there with his eye for an eye vengeance of destroying someone elses valuable and sentimental possession to satisfy his ego and petty lust for revenge; I think the reviewer look at the character too favorably. Had CBG handled the situation by looking for true justice instead of puerile revenge and not acted like such a smug jerk he would have ended up actually looking kinda sympathetic in a sense (I think the point where he turned really unsympathetic was when he did his smarmy rebuttal speech in court with the boombox immediately after the family had presented their mitigation video and rubbing it in Homer's face).

Also, while how he acted does feel like in character with how despicable, petty and small he can be and all, not choosing the replacement first edition Radioactive Man comic book Homer offered over quick revenge (and likely a fleeting sense of justice) still comes across as odd; I'm pretty sure classic era CBG would have taken the comic over petty revenge in an heartbeat (I can imagine him kicking himself for not picking the comic book after the events of this episode).
 
In times when most of the premises are recycled, it was nice to have a totally original one. In this case, there is nothing of marital problems, no new friendships for Bart or Lisa, no other generic story in which Moe feels alone or Krusty loses his work on television. Here, Comic Book Guy sue Homer for a car theft. It's a good idea from LaZebnik that, fortunately, fell into the right hands. Because, although it does not seem an easy task to develop 20 minutes with the idea of ​​stealing the car, Kelley and Vebber knew how to shape the episode, through good characterizations, an engaging plot and several fun jokes.

The start was effective. It was fun to see Homer and the children share beautiful moments in The Gilder Truffle and in the Comic Book Guy car without anyone trying to see the consequences of the stupidities they did. Parallel scenes of Marge enjoying a massage session were also good. The conflict begins when one of those inevitable consequences come true, and Comic Book Guy tells Homer that he will sue him for stealing his car. Since then, he and his family will look for a way to not go to jail. Homer tries with an emotional speech that judge Snyder dismisses immediately, and Marge looks for trying to reason with Jeff Albertson, but both fail. Lisa suggests that a good way to avoid sentencing is through mitigation, as Mr. Burns did with the help of Guillermo del Toro. I would like to dwell a bit on this. I have read that the scene of del Toro's short is too long, or that it is out of place. I can not disagree more with this. I think it was one of the high points of the episode. It makes a masterful use of the guest star, there are beautiful cultural references, it reveals the judicial tool to those who did not know it, and it is visually impeccable. It is an excellent remake to the opening of Treehouse of Horror XXIV.

After this, the Simpsons try to do the same with the case that corresponds to them, giving rise to some scenes that I loved. We see that nobody says something good about Homer, although Marge tries to use her wit with editing to make it look like she does. I thought they would use that video before the court, which would have been rushed for the development of the episode. Luckily, they tried another video, this time starring babies and dogs, which Lisa calls the only things that people still believe. That phrase is very realistic. The scene in which they reverse the theft of Homer to Flanders was epic. My problem with development is in the end. I would have liked Snyder to make a decision, and not that Comic Book Guy simply lift the charges. In addition, his 'revenge' has no relevance to us, since we had never seen that keychain that Homer appreciated so much. And I'm not a fan of seeing Homer in the comic-coon either. I enjoyed the epilogue with Bart playing a joke on Skinner, at least.

My other 'complaint' is based on not having used Kumiko. It was an excellent opportunity to see her again as a secondary character. Maybe he could have been the one to make Comic Book Guy reflect. Or, on the contrary, who convinces him to carry out a trial. But the two scenes in which she appears as a servant of her husband and without words. And, well, you know that I'm always eager for the female characters to evolve. The opportunity was wasted. Still, I enjoyed the dynamic between Comic Book Guy and Homer, and the latter with his family. All have chord characterizations. I also liked the appearances of some secondary characters, such as Sideshow Mel, Skinner, Gil, Milhouse and, especially, Patty and Selma. And, as always when Albertson appears, the references to pop culture were very good. To finish, a fun facts: we heard Burp Lisa for the first time in the whole series. He had only done it in the Tracy Ullman's shorts. Dedicated to those who say there are no new things to do (?).

4/5. Second best episode of the season so far. Now, to prepare for the Westbrook episode.
 
It was pretty good. Now, I was afraid of the idea of "Homer stealing a car", at least the way it sounded, fortunately, it's more like irresponsible Homer who wanted to take an opportunity than jerkass or malicious Homer. Homer sure had "borrowed" a lot of Flanders' stuff, he actually tried to rob him in Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo, but I didn't see him going that far, fortunately they well handled the idea. Just a personal thought that I had at the beginning of the episode, aha.

Anyway, the episode is solid, though I'm agree with some of you about CBG's behavior here. He sure had a reason to be mad at Homer but somehow, I also think he crossed the line sometimes, that gave me the feeling he just wanted revenge on Homer, more than real justice (the keychain). And that's too bad since they could have developed him in a good way (and I don't think he's really unsympathetic here either, at least he had a reason, and there are some interesting things about him). Otherwise, the writing is fine and not so dragged out, there are a lot of good stuff here, with the mitigation videos that lead to some clever and funny jokes (Homer "giving back" the leef blower). And I enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro's appearance though his references at the beginning are too long (but I guess, since it's a CBG episode, we had to expect some references, aha), but at least his appearance is useful to the plot.

I don't have a lot to add about this episode since you guys said basically all that it can be said about (and I'm late with my own review, I'll try to do it sooner with the next episode), so let's just say this is overall a nice episode, by no means breathtaking but still enjoyable. And yeah, such a shame Kumiko seems to have been demoted to the background once again.

3.5/5
 
Mmm. I wish I could say I enjoyed that more than I did, because the idea felt relatively fresh and I always appreciate the writers focusing on secondary characters, and I even laughed out loud once or twice, but the plotting felt off - the resolution needed more foreshadowing - and that entire Guillermo Del Toro thing was bloody awful. C+
 
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