Rate & Review: "Pixelated and Afraid" (UABF04)

How would you rate this episode?


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Brad Lascelle

The Fallen
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Season 33, Episode 12
Original Airdate
: February 27, 2022

Writer: John Frink
Director: Chris Clements
Showrunner: Matt Selman
Co-runner: Carolyn Omine


Synopsis: When Homer and Marge are lost in an icy wilderness, they must push themselves to their limits to survive.

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R&R Poll Average Score: 4.21 / 5 (as of September 23, 2023 / 57 votes)
IMDb User Rating: 7.7 / 10
 
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Eh, what can I say about this episode? It's... kinda okay, plus I kinda liked the pixel effect which covered both Marge and Homer's private parts when Homer and Marge were naked. But other than that though, the pixel effect looks totally rather cool. I'll have to go with 4/5 this time
 
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I haven't been here in a hot minute wow. This episode was pretty good. Didn't rely on any dumb subplots or guest stars, sorta like a bottle episode but the bottle is wilderness, and the wilderness makes it a lot better as a bottle episode. This episode had some pretty great animation too. I respect the writers going out of their lane here. I'd say it's actually better than the first wilderness episode, The Call of the Simpsons from Season 1.

My one issue is: does this episode take place after covid? Cuz I really don't think eating wolverine jerky is a good idea. And shouldn't there have been other wolverines?

Whatever, I give this a 4/5
 
This felt like anything but a Simpsons episode; it was far more like a drama. It sorely lacked anything resembling humor, but it did possess some great moments between Homer and Marge and showed how deep and loving their relationship actually is after Bart and Lisa were concerned about it. I thought Lisa being worried about her parents’ relationship was odd, but I don’t think it’s the first time it’s happened either. I’m also surprised that we never went back to the kids once Homer and Marge got lost; this episode focused on Homer and Marge only. It was very sweet, and the big fight I was afraid would interrupt it and serve as an additional conflict never occurred, which was a pleasant surprise.

This might rival The Color Yellow for the least humorous episode of the show for me, but at least it made up for it in characterization and focus on their interaction. It’s tough to give this a grade. I guess I’ll settle for a low 4.
 
This episode was amazingly good. Sure, I agree with you @Financial Panther that this episode seemed to be lacking humor and representing the Simpsons as a show, but god the characterization was so good. Really loved every interaction between Homer and Marge in this episode. The acting between Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta was great, and I loved how far the writers were really going with the intensity of the situation Homer and Marge were in. I love the writer's willingness to experiment with the show this season. A musical episode, a drama two-parter, and now this please writers keep delivering. A definite 4.5/5 for me rounded up to a 5 for the poll.
 
Coming out of the woodwork to say this is my favorite episode the show has done this season. The first act was a very relateable satire of how my parents can spend their weekends which made it a compelling launching pad for act 2 in contrast. The pacing was good not to gloss over any beats making it a fun survival story (almost like a bottle episode) which takes advantage of exploring Homer and Marge's love for one another. Both the story and jokes were character-driven which helped result in a lot of funny and sweet moments. Out of all the marriage crisis episodes, this feels more like a marriage celebration episode and I totally dug it.
 
Changing my vote to a 5. And also this episode actually did have quite a few moments that made me chuckle, and as a defender of The Color Yellow, that's not a compliment that episode can receive.

Speaking of comparing this episode to Season 21 episodes, this did what the episode Million Dollar Maybe did in how there was a very clear opportunity to make it a marriage crisis episode yet the writers made the right choice by not doing that.
 
I thought the 1st act was a little weak. I'm glad this wasn't a marriage crisis episode.

The 2nd and 3rd act were nice. It's true that it didn't feel like a Simpsons episode but I enjoyed part of it.
Unlike others I thought there was plenty of humor, I don't know if people expect some sort of slapstick comedy moment but there were nice little jokes here and there. I chuckled at the fishnets, the love oil and memories lube.

I'm giving it a preliminary a 3.5 rounded up to 4 for the poll, simply because of the last act.

Oh and maybe I'm wrong but the art in this episode both looked bad and great at the same time. Maybe it's something with the coloring, there were some shots where both homer and marge looked pretty bad. Did they change anything?
 
Not really in the mood to say much but just... felt nothing from this. Which is kind of a feat when I'm an over-emotional wreck that can't even listen to most of Mother 3's ost without tearing up. And I don't even mean the really sad ones. It's almost impressive but not enough to give it any real credit.
 
@Venomrabbit, While I cannot fully understand how anybody could feel absolutely zero from this episode, I do think that if any episode feels almost impressive, it at least deserves slightly more than a 1/5. Just my honest opinion.
 
Oh I wasn't calling it "almost impressive" itself, just almost impressive how little it touched me. So, impressive in a bad way.

Maybe it would've gotten more than a weird feeling in my throat if I hadn't seen anything of the show's recent seasons. There's always this gross insincerity any time they try and act "sweet", just like Mothers and Other Strangers. Between the shitty things the show's pulled for years and still proudly doing...
 
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The only part of the episode that I thought was even remotely decent was the last two minutes or so where it was largely dialogue free and just letting you take in the visuals. Otherwise, nothing else worked even though I could see what they were trying to do plus they really expected a lot out of me to put up with so much Marge with no post-production sweetening.

1/5
 
Yeah, the Sunlight visuals were sublime. Chris Clements did a very good job capturing that very moment.
 
Well this episode was different but in a really great way. It just tickled the romance bone very nicely from beginning to end. (Seriously did Lisa not see how in sync Homer and Marge were?) I also didn't expect actually nudity but I guess we got it?

5/5 from me
 
The show is back after the winter hiatus, expectations in check, and I was surprised: What was this? This was solid. So this time, it's all about a wilderness survival story with Homer & Marge who after a car accident on their way to a romantic resort to strengthen their mellowed-out romantic relationship and overall, it's really something different: A surprisingly minimalistic story (with four visible recurring characters: Homer, Marge, Bart & Lisa, not counting a brief vocal by Milhouse & two locations, the house & the wild) and ending up being a survival adventure with drama, romance & emotion & where the humor is mostly character & dialogue based. This is modern 'Simpsons' really doing something new and fresh without being gimmicky or tacky and really succeeding, firing on all cylinders with a solid script, great direction & sublime showrunning. This was a surprisingly fresh and quite entertaining outing in my opinion.

Nice opening with Homer & Marge loafing around at home on the weekend, being couch potatoes & cleaning the house, acting as a pair of close friends, not really going outside and having little to no romantic spark. While it is great to see the couple actually being on the same page, happy and content, and there's some funny moments (such as their house cleaning), it als set up the "conflict" well, with Lisa being worried of how much time they spend inside feeling "off" with how much of an agreeable friend duo they are & even getting Bart to worry (and Bart's vision with the "I wash myself with a rag on a stick"-style Homer & Marge was amusing). I can understand the kids and their worries, in that while Homer & Marge did have a good dynamic here, they are two peas in a pod and did lack the certain romantic spark that especially Lisa (as a child) would be used to, worrying they might get stuck in a bland, safe rut.

I like how the 'Togetherness Center' resort came into the plot, with Lisa finding the invitation voucher having been stuck to the fridge for a year (would be amusing if the producers went back and added it into previous episodes), and Lisa suggesting they go there to re-connect their love started off the main story well. It was nice how it wasn't intentionally some survival adventure event but it due to Homer trying to turn the car around on a icy road, which causes a crash into the wintery forest. Here, the tone changes to something dramatic with the car in the river rapids, with the story now becoming all about Homer & Marge in the woods: The humor is very nicely character and dialogue-centered (with some jokes being about things that happen to them or what they do), such as them losing their wet clothes (prompting some pixelated censoring, which also end up censoring Homer's chest area, an amusing little subtle gag).

The remainder of the plot then has us following them as they try surviving in the woods & try to keep it somewhat grounded and plausible, with the comedy, as said, coming from the two characters and their sayings (a lot being pretty funny) but the drama is also strong, being both amusing and interesting with some enjoyable happenings, such as them coming across the withered remains of a run-down romance retreat and creating makeshift warm clothing and a cabin from the wreckage (and cleverly constructing a fireplace). They have a lot of good interactions and interplay (Dan & Julie do great) and their romantic bond builds naturally. The fishing scene was surprisingly funny (the fishnet stocking joke was great) & the vicious wolverine attacking was a neat bit of acting, ending a bit surprisingly violently and realistically, with Homer forced to beat the ferocious animal to death. That grounded realism was interesting).

I do like how the last 1/4th unfolds, with Homer in one morning spotting a park ranger and briefly considering not immediately run forward and yell for help, but actually looks back at a happy Marge, their little improvised "love shack" & remembering of how they re-ignited their love, ending up shouting for help too late: I was really worried this would kick off some stupid conflict, but the episode surprised me with Homer actually confessing his brief hesitation and kicking himself for it & Marge doesn't tear into him for it but understand & they follow the tracks left by the ranger ATV to the ranger cabin as a couple. Wow, the story really surprised me there and made me like it all the more. It ends really well with them embracing and crying a little before they go to the cabin, with the credits scene not being some silly joke but just depicting the two watching the next sunrise together, romantically so. That was a very sweet finale.

I think this is a 5/5 for me (*gasp!*). I really enjoyed it and didn't really find anything that bothered me. It was a very nicely written and fairly grounded minimalist/bottle show story focusing on Homer & Marge in a survival crisis that sees both humor, drama, romance & adventure with no intrusive cutaways, big cartoonish jokes butting in & a dose of realism, but also entertaining and great character work with Homer & Marge (that share some really good interactions and a gradual build to getting close again as a spousal couple. I loved their co-operation as shown here). It was also very well paced (even with the build-up in the first act) with great direction and gorgeous animation and lighting effects (Iove how the forest looked for one thing). I think this is my favorite episode of the season thus far.

I'm surprised this was a John Frink script but I have my suspicions he had uncredited help, plus Carolyn Omine's oversight and Selman's showrunning probably tied it together. I get why some arent as sold on this really is different, a minimalistic full-on dramedy story (and I have full understanding for those who found it dull and boring), but I thought it was really intriguing and kept my attention. The show need more human, laser-focused episodes that put the characters front and center and use them to drive the humor without unnecessary filler and cartoonish wackiness (and I suspect it needs more hardcore moments like Homer killing a wolverine. Where was this Homer when they had a badger in the doghouse?). Anyhow, a good show overall that exceeded my expectations.
 
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Selman churns out another solid episode, and is one of the best Homer/Marge bonding episodes in a while. I do find the comedy lacking a bit, but when trading it for a strong story, I'll gladly take what I can get. Julie Kavner's voice is still terrible, but she did all she could with Marge, and Dan Castellaneta gives one of his best performances in a while. And I'm happy they were willing to do something for their kids.

An 8/10 sounds correct here (might uprate in the future, though). But the question is - Harry Shearer is credited for what, exactly? I don't think he voiced anyone.
 
I have mixed feelings about it... I like the premise with characters getting stucked into the woods (despite this idea was explored in first season) but overall it's just very boring for most of the time, the only interesting moment for me was fight with the animal. And it's just weird episode.
2/5
 
Yeah, by the time we actually got to Homer & Marge getting stuck in the woods it honestly felt like 15 minutes had passed because that's how limp it all felt.
 
You have to take into account that Selman's episodes are meant more to be strong with plots and not with comedy.
 
As much as I found the story intriguing (especially for what is, for the most part, a two-person show), I have at least some understanding for those who found it dull. I'm sure it will be one of those divisive episodes that you either like and get a fair bit out of or you'll find it bland, uninteresting and sort of a bore. Making an unusual episode like this that is, for a major part, tonally off from what is expected from the show will inevitably cause a rift among the fans.
 
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