This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.
The Simpsons: Season 30 Episode 1
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“Little lies lead to big lies and big lies get found out,” Lisa warns Bart. He’s not scared of course. He went to heaven and has nothing to fear. So the Simpson family conscience goes for the sight gag, pulling her face until it is contorted in a way that harkens back to the frighteningly coarse early days of the series. All the way back to one of the shorts that were shown on The Tracey Ullman Show, where Marge warns the kids that if an angel passes over while they are making faces at each other, their faces will stay that way, which, you have to admit, is pretty cool. But Lisa gets into her brother’s head. Ultimately she is the reason he recants. That and because even Jesus Himself is uncharacteristically having trouble forgiving the kid. This reviewer admits it is a little out of character for the man renowned for his cheek-turning to give in to the vibe of the show.
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Perhaps an unintentional bit of subversion comes from the Christian movie producers’ faith in the kid from Springfield in the first place. Bart famously cried wolf far too many times. He’s already exposed himself as a fake faith healer. He once found infamy by falling down a well while pranking the town about a beloved kid who fell down a well. The Christian movie makers are not the brightest bulbs in the pack. Most of them went to school at the Academy of Arts and Antisciences. But the producers did learn enough to turn out to be just as corrupt as anyone, mumbling incoherently when Bart asks if they kick back the profits, which are huge, back to the church.
The episode is filled with sight gags. The earliest and best is when Groundskeeper Willie tries to vacuum the sound of Martin Prince’s cello solo from his ears. Bart’s hospital room is decorated by get-well cards, one of which reads “We dare you to get better, the bullies.” The ever mirthful school bully Nelson is getting more self-revelatory and heartbreaking with each taunt. His father went out for cigarettes when he was very young, and his mom fits in parenting in between stripper jobs. First Nelson haw haws that Bart has a dad, something the boy will deny to his death. Then he taunts Marge for being the kind of mom who wears a seat belt.
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Further reading: The Simpsons: How “Bart the Genius” Changed the TV Landscape
The episode bodes fairly well for season 30 because, even though The Simpsons has covered this subject a few times, they show they are not going to ease up on casual blasphemy. After thirty years, the series has become the authority. Newer shows are taking on new ground, but The Simpsons are still shooting for something less than redemption. Bart begins the episode as the boy who refused to take a dare and ends it by taking it one step too far, but sadly takes a step backward.
“Bart’s Not Dead” was written by Stephanie Gillis, and directed by Bob Anderson.
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.
