This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.
The Simpsons: Season 30 Episode 15
If anyone calls The Simpsons , season 30, Episode 15, “101 Mitigations,” the worst or best episode ever, Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson would register is disgust throughout the world within minutes, but it may very well be the funniest episode of the season. One of the reasons may be because the episode focuses on Comic Book Guy. This isn’t a guarantee. He’s not the most reliable of co-leads, that’s why he doesn’t get many chances to do so. It is also why he works in surprising ways.
When have we ever seen Comic Book Guy be a nice guy? He bought and sold Bart’s soul, revoked Millhouse’s bathroom privileges mid-stream, and passed on Krusty the Clown to play the lead in his the movie adaptation of his comic book series “Everyman.” He closed his store to take umbrage, and opens it while still seething. Of course he’s going to sue. Comic Book Guy slams Harlan Ellison’s story of Superman befriending Lex Luthor as non-canonical, but his own story is actually skewered. Marge Simpson bought The Android’s Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop when he went bankrupt in the episode “Husbands and Knives.” We never got closure on that anecdote, and it would certainly add to his endless list of gripes against the family Simpson.
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As the opening couch gag suggests, The Simpsons have been on such a sweet sweep they could be spritzed out of soda dispensers and are almost as funny. But the last two episodes have been bucking both trends by rewarding bad behavior. What did we learn from this episode? Certainly not the intended lesson that moments of pure joy always have consequences, it is German is earth’s closest language to Klingon. The episode is funny and revelatory, though not always tummy rumbling funny. “101 Mitigations” contains a good mix of the clever and the silly, with a moral compass set on cruise control.
“101 Mitigations” was directed by Mark Kirkland, and written by Brian Kelley, Rob LaZebnik and Dan Vebber.
Bart’s Chalkboard: Chili fries do not go in like a lamb and out like a lion.
The Simpsons‘ “101 Mitigations” aired Sunday, March 3, at 8:00 p.m. on Fox.
Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City’s Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.
