Overview:

Mr. Burns has found a new love in the form of greasy delicious hamburgers. Unfortunately, his obsession is having adverse effects on his health. Instead of giving up the goods, Mr. Burns beats the meat and creates a new plant-based alternative, the x-cell-ent burger.  

The vegan burger becomes wildly popular and Mr. Burns a hero for creating it. However, his old nemesis Lisa Simpson is not so sure that Burns has turned over a new leaf.

Our Take:

It is hard not to look at the title of this episode and not think back to the multiple advertisement deals that The Simpsons had with the fast-food franchise Burger King over the years. There are plenty of collections of these old commercials on YouTube if you care to check them out. But thank Groening that they didn’t go with this title any earlier in the series, the speculation of whether the restaurant paid for it or not would have killed us.

Additionally,  this is the second episode of season 32 to have a name loosely resemble that of a nationwide franchise. “Diary Queen” came out earlier this year and it was hard not to notice these two oddly named episodes when looking ahead at The Simpsons schedule. But as long as they don’t start naming all of their episodes after fast-food chains, we should be fine.

The episode kicks off with a very special couch gag brought from Swiss creators with a specific Swiss connection. The trend of granting other artists to fill the opening segment of the show has been gaining momentum for years. However, this piece was brought by the same minds that recreated Homer’s adventures in New Orleans that took the internet by storm in 2019.

For those that think The Simpsons have lost their touch, this may be the episode for them to check out. Taking on the trend of plant-based meat alternatives, the show manages to make all the right jokes that have been in our collective minds. Meanwhile, the pun game is strong, and maybe these companies should start paying Simpsons writers to come up with brand names. It is hard to believe that phony bologna is not a real thing.

Honestly, this was a strong example of what the show has become in its third decade. Without falling into cookie-cutter complacency, the series manages to withhold its unique brand of storytelling and humour. The show always works best when it takes on relevant low-hanging fruit, and the plant-based meat alternative trend is the perfect victim for Simpson’s commentary.

No special guests. No wild out-of-world adventures. No flashbacks. This was as clean of an episode as they come, and it didn’t rely on drilling home heartfelt family themes or leaning on nostalgic reminders. It was an episode that reminds us just how great The Simpsons is, and just how capable the show is at creating top-level content. It is just too bad we only get an episode or two like this per season.