This The Simpsons review contains spoilers.
The Simpsons Season 31 Episode 15
The Simpsons season 31, episode 15, “Screenless,” gives up is Wi-Fi to gain the series’ soul. The Simpson family bravely takes on the cellular menace, which is far worse than any Phantom Menace because we see it all around us. It robs us of our imaginations and sense of civil community. It takes children to smaller places where they can only get in virtual trouble and Robocalls keep you near a device with a reminder every 18 minutes. Although I can see Marge being courteous to the disembodied voices of our future robot masters.
The episode opens with a parody of the true crime drama. Their “Making a Murderer” grew up in Killville, Wisconsin. the “convict me” state, where the only right you have is to remain silent, apparently, and maybe get a shot at tampering evidence. Netflix promises close-ups of the residents who were deemed most likely to murder. And then it all falls apart. If only the jury knew there were no victims they might not have thrown an innocent man in prison. But they still may have. The Simpsons adds that to discovery to leave our verdicts hung. They’re telling us the long arm of the long-form news documentary genre has overreached.
Marge takes all the fun of baby sign language by angsting over a fun week of repetitive drills. Maggie can express to Marge that she doesn’t want to see Star Wars because she used to be baby Yoda. Maggie signs “fire, “monster garbage smell” at Patty and Selma’s place but she always sleeps so well there. Maggie’s lessons are so successful Marge is looking at educational forums which only ask for students’ brains when they die. But just as she makes the connection, social commentary throws red tape on it. The educational forum lost its government funding and the family stopped paying attention.
Marge demands the family give up their phones. Lisa’s suggestion the family have a conversation gets a big laugh, from the family who has no intention of missing a single Tik Tok post. Marge points out Steve Jobs never gave his kids an iPad. The family shoots back a reminder of Marge’s own social media presence. “Cake fails are important,” she pleads. “If people fail at cake they need to be told.” This is so perfectly Marge. It is completely relatable to how she’s taken on the reality of homemaker and yet it adds the twinge of her addictive personality. She’s the one with the gambling problem.
I was very impressed by Marge’s covert tech. We all know how much she can hide in her hair, but the Apple Watch she keeps on her shin spans two investigative gadgetry classics. It is basically a Dick Tracy watch you wear on your shin, which is much more convenient than Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone on Get Smart. The CONTROL spies had to have all their conversations in one place, ostensibly while standing on one foot.
The Simpsons also shows how tech doesn’t really change anything. Early in the episode, Marge is horrified to see Bart showing Maggie a video on the importance on making sure all the warriors your kill in a game are actually dead, and reads the baby a fairy tale which opens with a witch who face is covered in blood as she screams she’s burning alive.
Unlike getting semen samples for DNA testing, the escape from the evil rehab center is as easy as the sounds of the Little River Band. “Screenless” is a sweet episode because it promises that families can be in the same room as each other and still be together. The Simpsons continue to tackle more contemporary problems, even if they’re a season or two behind. They continue to put ludicrous spins on social ills. Imagine a billion dollar tech mogul feeling guilty about pushing sleep disruptive technology.
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“Screenless” was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Michael Polcino.
The Simpsons episode “Screenless” aired Sunday, March 8, on Fox.
Keep up with The Simpsons Season 31 news and reviews here.
