Rate & Review: "Daddicus Finch" (YABF01)

How would you rate this episode?

  • Total voters
    51
"I'll have to read Marge's book. And I swore never to read again after To Kill a Mockingbird gave me no useful advice on killing mockingbirds. It did teach me not to judge a man based on the color of his skin, but what good does that do me ?"

I always enjoy when the Simpsons go with a nice little and simple plot for an episode, and that's what makes partly the success of this one. Sure, we already had a number of episodes about Homer and Lisa's bond, but I don't mind it, and by modern standards, it's still like a breath of fresh air to have something so lovely and pretty touching. It's not as effective as Halloween of Horror, but it works well.

And as some of you said, a lot of scenes felt like it could be from a classic era episode. Homer is silly without being a retarded (and I like seeing him responsible, at the store with him criticizing the sexy stuff for children for example). The humor was simple yet funny, and little jokes like Homer confusing lottery and weather or him crying because he don't like seeing a pork chop sad made me laugh by their simplicity. Even something like a simple pun, with "To Mock a Killingbird". No over-the-top humor, and that fits well with the story. I was afraid they will make an out of nowhere scene parodying a part of To Kill a Mockingbird like they did with the Virginia Woolf scene from Heartbreak Hotel, fortunately it didn't happened. However, we have some extracts directly taken from the movie (by the way, I haven't seen it since a while, but it's an excellent movie) that seems a little out of place.

Bart's subplot worked as well, and seems like classic Bart, something that I like way more than sociopath Bart who almost wishes the death of his father. His jealousy, his own way to get attention with a prank, and him feeling left behind, it's pretty touching. Maybe I wanted to see more scenes between him and Marge, though (by the way, I laughed out loud at the gag with him accidentally swallowing his mother's hair). But honestly, I have nothing really bad to pull from this episode. And there was others things I liked from it besides the stories. J.K. Simmons is hilarious as always even for a new character ("Nice to meet you, see you in 3 years"), I enjoyed Llewellyn Sinclair's return, and there's some good emotional moments such as Homer's final thoughts about Lisa, and don't forget the scene between Homer and Maggie right after, sweet and with a good joke to conclude it.

All that makes this one the best episode of the season so far. It's simple yet lovely, just as I expected. Nothing to say more than I'm glad of that.

4/5
 
Daddicus Finch was a successful episode, which does not manage to be the first outstanding of a season that, for good as well as bad, is surprisingly regular. Al Jean returned to register a good contribution, and his annual fee should be maintained, it is fresh air for the show.

I'm going to start with the negative. For what prevents it from granting the perfect rating. It bothers me that, to fully enjoy the episode, it is a fundamental requirement to have read To Kill a Mockingbird (or have seen his film version.) It should not be necessary to have seen a 2-hour movie (or read a book of 200 pages, it does not matter). ) to be able to enjoy a 20 minute episode, because parodies or tributes are always welcome, but in this case, it is a fundamental part of the plot, and that prevented me from fully enjoying what they offered. Why Homer and Lisa scare the mob away in that way, for example, and I've never liked watching real movie fragments in episodes, which seems like the worst way to break the fourth wall.

But, outside of it, everything is enjoyable. What I liked the most here is the use that is given to secondary characters that appear for a single joke. I do not know why it has caught my attention. I guess the appearance of each of them is well set and they are short and fun enough to be effective. Ralph acting in school play, Brockman interviewing Trump voters, Grampa challenging Bart, Duffman preparing a party at Moe's, or interviewing Sherry and Terry. Regarding that interview, I want to highlight the role of the guest star, J.K. Simmons, as the school therapist. He was useful in history, took advantage of his talent and marked his own style.

But all that I have mentioned so far, are details. The most important thing is that we have another good story that reflects the dynamics between Homer and Lisa. There is nothing cuter than Lisa and Homer showing affection between them. Maybe, some concepts already used are repeated, but they manage to form something of quality, so that was not a problem for me. It is definitely a sweet plot that deals perfectly with all the characters. Especially, with Bart. Their jealousy towards the relationship that Homer and Lisa have are well achieved, and the search for support in their mother is very funny when it fails. The sample of how it relies on jokes to feel loneliness is very rude. It's great when all the protagonists have a defined and profitable role in the story. Even Maggie has good scenes.

I give this one a 4/5. And I regret not knowing Atticus Finch and not being able to give the missing point.
 
Szyslak100 said:
For what prevents it from granting the perfect rating. It bothers me that, to fully enjoy the episode, it is a fundamental requirement to have read To Kill a Mockingbird (or have seen his film version.) It should not be necessary to have seen a 2-hour movie (or read a book of 200 pages, it does not matter). ) to be able to enjoy a 20 minute episode, because parodies or tributes are always welcome, but in this case, it is a fundamental part of the plot, and that prevented me from fully enjoying what they offered. Why Homer and Lisa scare the mob away in that way, for example, and I've never liked watching real movie fragments in episodes, which seems like the worst way to break the fourth wall.
Click to expand...

I started thinking of this a little bit and I do agree that it comes off as alienating to those unfamiliar with the source material, especially since it's so crucial to the plot and really gets in your face. To fix this I think all they should have done was inclyding a brief scene of Homer asking Lisa what this "To Kill A Mockingbird' stuff is and have her explain the general plot and characters in an extended line of exposition (I was actually somewhat expecting them to do that).

Also, did I see a different episode than Phil Payton? The way he's negative about it in his video review above, claiming it to be the season's first misfire, makes it feel like he's talking about a different episode when it is this one. I think he gives it too little credit but everyone's got different opinions and he can have his.
 
Last edited:
Szyslak100 said:
I'm going to start with the negative. For what prevents it from granting the perfect rating. It bothers me that, to fully enjoy the episode, it is a fundamental requirement to have read To Kill a Mockingbird (or have seen his film version.) It should not be necessary to have seen a 2-hour movie (or read a book of 200 pages, it does not matter). ) to be able to enjoy a 20 minute episode, because parodies or tributes are always welcome, but in this case, it is a fundamental part of the plot, and that prevented me from fully enjoying what they offered. Why Homer and Lisa scare the mob away in that way, for example, and I've never liked watching real movie fragments in episodes, which seems like the worst way to break the fourth wall.
Click to expand...

I don’t think this was a huge problem in this episode. I read the book in high school, but I remembered very little of it; however, the plot still worked without me not being fully aware of all the references. That’s the thing with most episodes for me, actually; I don’t watch movies, so I don’t get references about them. But I’m usually able to enjoy the episodes regardless. An example where this doesn’t work is in Treehouse of Horror XXV segment “A Clockwork Yellow.” That was full-on parody and required you to have seen A Clockwork Orange to understand what was going on.
 
Also an actual movie being repurposed so that the characters literally, reverently watch it is not "breaking the fourth wall", tho it is propaganda
 
I’ll start off by saying that I really wanted to give this one a 4/5. I really did – the humor was on point and I laughed quite a few times. The couch gag and beginning with Ralph and the school play was great. I always enjoy Lisa acting her age, and Homer trying to comfort his daughter was actually a great emotional connection that is sometimes lacking from modern episodes. The “To Kill a Mockingbird” aspect and bits were well placed if not sometimes too lengthy. Homer becoming Lisa’s hero and the two subsequently spending a large amount of time together was sweet and welcome. I normally don’t care for the “Homer getting hurt” scenes but the one in the museum was pretty amusing. The fast talking therapist was good, and the mob being defused by Homer and Lisa was a good scene to implement from the movie. The ending with Lisa moving onto her next thing and Bart trying to decide what to do for himself was a great way to tie things up.

Everything I mentioned above makes for a solid episode, which is why I was really conflicted on what to think here. Those of you who have paid attention to my rants in the past know that I am a huge Bart fan, and this episode did not treat his character well at all. While there was no sociopath Bart or stupid Bart present here, as others have mentioned this episode is largely a testament as to why Bart acts out as much as he does, and why I think he is truly a good boy and a far better character then most give him credit for. To be frank, his life sucks. I did enjoy Homer bonding with Lisa, but he ends up becoming so far removed from reality that he completely neglects Bart. At least when he strangles/abuses Bart, he gives the boy attention. Even more of a problem here is that Bart is physically hurt by others in this episode, and by family members no less. I admit that I haven’t seen as many episodes as most viewers on this board, but I always held it true that Bart and Abe had a great and loving relationship. For that reason, I cannot for the life of me understand why Abe would punch his ten-year-old grandson in the face, knocking him down. Further, I don’t really understand what it was that people found funny about this. Throwing in the gender reversal, would it have been funny if Lisa had made a snark comment to Abe and gotten punched in the face? Bart and Lisa are both very young, so if the answer to the aforementioned is “no” I question why an adult punching a ten-year-old boy is acceptable. My point here is that it would be equally terrible in both cases...especially since Bart really didn’t say anything that bad – just disrespectful. I know that Abe has strangled Bart before, but that (in the context of the show) is different then just flat out punching a kid. Worst yet is Lisa beating the crap out of Bart with seemingly no reprisal whatsoever. There was nothing cartoony about that – Bart was covered in bruises and what appeared to be blood. I imagine there would have been more negative comments about a scene like that if the roles were reversed. To top all of that off, Bart is chased by a mob that is likely out to kill him, or at the very least hurt him, and once again nobody bats an eye. Homer remains engrossed in his daughter and the only one who even attempts to comfort Bart is Marge (which was pleasant but could have been developed a bit more.) This episode solidified to me that Bart’s life sucks, and though we know this to be true, it was still unpleasant and I wish it was either omitted or rectified more satisfactorily.

A solid episode, but one that had too much Bart abuse for me to rate it higher then a 3/5. I apologize for my rant once again.
 
if u like this ep ur a
avatar76096_2.gif
 
it is my conclusion that in cherry-picking only the most superficial elements of to kill a mockingbird (divorced of context and stripped of references to racism, the film/novel's primary subject), al jean seeks to create an alternate american reality, one no doubt colored by his own naive longings and, incidentally, adjacent to the ill-informed mob rule depicted in harper lee's original text. judging from daddicus finch alone, one could scarcely gather that this story of a young girl's loss of innocence is more than a feel-good tale meant to appeal to one's inner child. the informed viewer may perceive homer's extreme reaction to the crudely caricatured women's clothing trends on display as the puritanical anger of an old man out of his element, but the outburst is portrayed as righteous. homer is only a concerned father - not an oppressor, jean would have you believe. the line of dialogue previously cited by me, in which homer tells lisa, "now remember, it's set in the south long ago. the terrible racism you're reading about is now everywhere", is willful liberal ignorance of the highest order, and racist in its implications. one can't even surmise that the episode is about lisa's loss of innocence, as she abruptly finishes the book (a phase), and moves on to the next thing in her adolescent life (hanging up a poster of ed begley jr. jr.. great joke!)

[MENTION=24053]Brad Lascelle[/MENTION], did YOU watch the episode in question?
 
[MENTION=23343]PreciousBodilyFluids[/MENTION] Last I checked, the Simpsons already live in an alternate and idealized American reality. Just as they have for the past 31 1/2 years. Al Jean doesn't need to seek to create anything. That thing already exists. It's called Springfield USA.

As for the "willful Liberal ignorance" on display as you so put it, I believe you have misconstrued Al Jean for a politician. He's not. He's a storyteller, a brand ambassador and a businessman. And if you have specific grievances to relay to him, I think it would be far more productive to voice them to him directly than vent about them here.
 
"@ aljean what's with ur callous misreading of to kill a mockingbird, also y u so racist??? plz respond"
 
Why do you need to be a politician to have a social conscience? Are the creators of art and media not responsible for their creations?

Werking Mom falks back on outdated and offensive humor like "Is she or isn't she?" despite referencing an iconic genderfluid contestant (possibly two NBs, the queen in green looks like Jinkx Monsoon). RuPaul has been criticized many times for trans and cis queen (and king) erasure.
 
Last edited:
luv how the glamazon song screeched to a halt for the "women can have it all/even penises!" exchange. what a trash ep!

the milhouse divided-type resolution with homer becoming a queen as a romantic gesture was the most ill-considered, lazy fallback possible, and of course a catalyst for more man-in-a-dress jokes

that said, drag marge look good
 
You should get another famous person to make a documentary.
Call this one "The Problem with Al Jean".
The first one got Apu silenced. Sounds like a recipe for success.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top