Season Recap: Season 25

What’s up dear readers and Addicts!

Apologies for being away the past few weeks but had to knuckle down on school for the final few weeks.  I’m still in the middle of finals but thought I’d take a quick break and write some thoughts on the latest season of the Best. Show. Ever.  It’s amazing that this animated sitcom has ran for 552 episodes over 25 Seasons.  Haters can say what they want but that’s some serious longevity.  All season, we’ve had the chance to recap each episode for you.  The following are just some thoughts I had about each episode.  The long (mostly Bunny-written) episode recaps are linked in the titles.

The Simpsons Season 25, September 29^th 2013 to May 18^th 2014.  22 episodes and I enjoyed them a ton.  In fairness, I seriously love this family and their fellow citizens of Springfield, so I’m probably not as hard on every episode as other critics.  With that in mind, here’s some ramblings episode by episode.  You can think of this as the Fuzzy Guide to Season 25.  I tried to keep it as concise as possible.

Episode 1: “Homerland” (Weird… Alissa AND Bunny covered this one)

Homer’s personality changes after a work-related convention and Kristen Wiig guest voices a cuckoo FBI agent all parodying Homeland.  I’ve never seen that show but enjoyed this premiere.  In TSTO, we got some new stuff pseudo-related.

Episode 2: “Treehouse of Horror XXIV”

We’ll probably always think of this one as the amazing Guillermo del Toro couch gag Halloween but it had some funny stuff with the Dr. Seuss spoof, Bart and Lisa sharing a body and the tribute to the 1930s horror fim Freaks.  One of us… google goo… one of us… google goo…  We also were in the middle of what most people consider the best event of this season.  Strong Homer will always make me think of this one.

Episode 3: “Four Regrettings and a Funeral”

This one cracked me up.  Homer sells Apple stock for an awesome bowling ball, Marge wonders if KISS ruined Bart in utero, Mr. Burns’ laments a lost love and Kent Brockman wishes he’d become a cable news man.  All regrets after a random Springfieldianite dies hence the episode title.  Notable for more FOX News bashing by the Gracie Films crew and the death of Apple references in the show.  Most importantly, this episode came on the heels of the announcement of Marcia Wallace’s death.  We really will miss you Mrs. K.

Episode 4: “YOLO”

This one was one of my favorites of the season.  Just seeing Homer re-live his 10 year old dreams with his childhood pen pal Eduardo.  Favorite of course was the Star Trek fantasy but Homer in a flying suit was great too.  Lisa had a B-plot with creating an honor system for the Elementary as well.  Special thanks to the Simpsons writers for turning a cringe-worthy word like YOLO into yet another thing that makes me think of the Best. Show. Ever.

Episode 5: “Labor Pains”

Homer assists in the delivery of a baby, becomes attached to it and Lisa helps cheerleaders unionize.  A silly episode.

Episode 6: “The Kid is Alright”

A Lisa-centric episode where a new friend turns out to be a rival with connections to conservative Republicans and the Springfield Republican party.  Poor Lisa doesn’t have much luck with friends.  Pretty cool that Anderson Cooper guest starred in this one as himself.

Episode 7: “Yellow Subterfuge”

Oh, the submarine episode.  Did anyone actually think Bart would succeed at being a model student?  I dug this one a lot but TSTO probably had a lot to do with it.  I really enjoyed the B-plot with Krusty selling the foreign rights to his show.  Rastafarian Itchy & Scratchy was a definite highlight for this fuzzball but I laughed the hardest at Irish Krusty.  Also really loved the spaghetti western scenes with Skinner.  Good stuff.

Episode 8: “White Christmas Blues”

As Simpsons Christmas episodes go, this one rates kind of low but there was some funny stuff as usual.  Nuclear snow may not be the safest thing ever, but all us tappers now the writers hate Global Warming.  The Simpsons family take on boarders (not the first time).

Episode 9: “Steal This Episode”

Swedish “Death Metal”, more Star Wars spoofs and some great Homer moments.  The jury is still out on whether this was pro or anti internet ripping but my guess is Gracie is really anti but realizes it’s a reality in today’s world.  I liked this one a lot because of all the folks who cameoed in it.  Seriously… Judd Apatow, Will Arnett, Rob Halford, Leslie Mann, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and a fat Channing Tatum playing Homer.  Priceless.  Did I mention they spoofed Star Wars again?  A lot of critics ranks this one high… can’t say I disagree.  Who doesn’t empathize with crying Swedish meatballs?

Episode 10: “Married to the Blob” (also some Wookiee thoughts)

If it wasn’t for another great episode this season, this would be my favorite of the season.  Comic Book Guy finally gets a girl, manga and Japanimation references, Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison, the return of Milo, nerd-snark and a lot more amazingness.  If you watch this for nothing more than the tribute to Hayao Miyazaki, you won’t be disappointed.

Episode 11: “Specs and the City”

Leave it to The Simpsons to parody the new Google Glasses.  Funny gags abound and Marge is seeing a marriage counselor?

Episode 12: “Diggs”

The boy who lived aka Harry Potter aka Daniel Radcliffe guest stars as a cuckoo kid with a falcon.  Need I say anything more?

P.S. Don’t ever let Homer lend you 20 bucks.

Episode 13: “The Man Who Grew Too Much”

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Sideshow Bob episode and this time he’s the chief scientist of a company making GMO crops.  The conversations between Lisa and Bob are very smart.  If you want to dumb it down, there’s some funny stuff with Marge teaching Sex Ed.  The ending of this one with the goodbye scene to Mrs. K made me a little teary-eyed.

Episode 14: “The Winter of His Content”

Grampa, Jasper and Old Jewish Man move into the Simpsons basement and Homer tries out being old.  This is funny enough but this episode also includes an amazing tribute to The Warriors.  This one is probably my #3.

Episode 15: “The War of Art”

The guinea pig episode where a simple painting-chewing turns in to a discussion of art.  I actually discussed this episode in detail in one of my college courses in relation to the humanities.  Either means it’s a good one or I’m a complete nerd.  Max von Sydow (google him, hes cool) makes a cameo and the Strupo bottles in your neighbor’s towns make more sense.

Episode 16: “You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee”

Lisa wings a report on Homer’s integrity and the result is him becoming a World Cup referee.  Our favorite family is off to Brazil and there’s soccer (aka football across the rest of the world) all over the episode including some illegal gambling and Homer deciding how much integrity he really has.

Episode 17: “Luca$”

I might argue that this is one of the strangest Zach Galifianakis characters I’ve ever seen him do.  He plays a competitive eater that Lisa kind of has a thing for because of potential daddy issues.  I think it’s important to note that Lucas’ last name is Bortner.  I always love when Bort makes an appearance in this show. Also a B plot with Bart assisting Snake in avoiding the cops and getting cool stuff in return.

Episode 18: “Days of Future Future”

This episode is the third part of a future series in the show.  It continues ideas presented in “Future Drama” (S16:E15) and “Holidays of Future Passed” (S23:E9).  Bart still has issues with his ex-wife Jenda, Milhouse becomes a sexy-ish zombie and Homer dies one too many times and becomes a computer program.  Strange but funny.  Even though this is non-canon, I’d recommend watching all three episodes in sequence.  It was more fun for me that way.

Episode 19: “What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting”

Bart gets his art teacher pregnant.

I wish I could just say that lol.  Ok, he uses voodoo and has a short turn helping less fortunate couples conceive using the dark arts.  It all leads to Homer and him having to get Fat Tony’s prize mare to mate and there’s a Les Miserables inspired song involved.

Episode 20: “Brick Like Me”

My absolute favorite episode of the season.  LEGOs abound and there’s a cute story involving Homer and Lisa.  Amazing and amazing and amazing and you should watch it.  Anyone who’s read my stuff a lot knows my thoughts on all things LEGO so I’ll save you from more words.  Add The Simpsons to it and I’m loving it.

Episode 21: “Pay Pal”

For honesty’s sake, I have to admit this one ranks low for me for the season.  Homer is a bad husband if you want friends that are couples but I didn’t like that British couple anyways.  Marge swears off friends and Lisa does too and Marge tries to fix it the wrong way.  The very end saved this one for me with Lisa ghosting a horse eater lol.

Episode 22: “The Yellow Badge of Cowardge”

An episode all about cowardice.  Bart abandons Milhouse but ultimately makes up for it in the end.  Favorite part of this episode was the B-plot with Homer bringing his own 4^th of July fireworks display to Springfield.

So there’s some thoughts and a “recap” for Season 25 of The Simpsons.  One of my favorite parts of this season were all the rad couch gags.  Lots of guest artists. I feel like there’s so much more that could be said about the entire season but brevity and the need to do more schoolwork won out.  I rambled enough anyway and if you couldn’t tell, I thoroughly enjoyed the season and am super excited for Season 26 next fall.  What were your thoughts about the Season?  Were your favorites different than mine? Is there something I missed you feel has to be said?  Chime in below.  School’s almost over so hopefully I’ll be around more in the future.  Back to studying.  Y’all stay classy as usual.

TTFN… Wookiee out!