Review: The Simpsons “AE Bonny Romance”

Overview

When Groundskeeper Willie is kidnapped to Scotland, Bart and the Simpsons follow, only to be faced with Homer’s worst nightmare.

Our Take

For my money, Michael Price is usually one of the more consistent writers for The Simpsons which probably explains why the longtime producer for the series has had such great success with not just this series but also with his hit series F Is For Family on Netflix. Moreover, the writer has been nominated for numerous Emmys and will most likely be nominated for a bunch more.

“AE Bonny Romance” gets the 35th season of The Simpsons back on track with a solid foundation, thanks to a budding romantic-comedy featuring Karen Gillan as Maisie MacWeldon, a long lost love interest for Willie, and a pragmatic star-studded family with the likes of Paul Higgins as Hamish MacWeldon and David Tennant as Pa MacWeldon. As someone who can never get enough of Scottish humor this one was a real treat for me even with a slightly cliche Bart through-line. And hey, a Belle & Sebastian music video! Can’t go wrong there!

Marge and Homer’s B-plot was standard variety Marge and Homer dealing with yet another instance of their marriage seemingly always dealing with challenges but with the not-unexpected ending of the two rekindling their romance. Really, if you’ve seen any Marge and Homer marital premise, you’ve seen this one a dozen times.

All in all, The Simpsons kicks off December 2023 with a solid episode that helps the show regain some footing for what has not been a very strong Fall season. The hammy dialogue only slightly took over what was an overall fine episode. Nothing groundbreaking, but satisfactory nonetheless.