Review: The Simpsons “Bart’s in Jail”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When Grampa falls victim to a phone scammer, the Simpsons set out on a mission of vengeance to get his money back.

Our Take:

If there’s one thing I hate more than rude people, it’s getting scammed over the phone. There’s nothing more irritating than being tricked by someone who only cares about stealing money from unsuspecting victims and nothing else. Fortunately, it turns out that I’m not the only one who wants these idiotic scammers out of the picture.

The episode started with a flashback involving the young Grampa Abe getting a lousy paycheck. Fast forward to the present, and we see Grampa and the other older people receiving lots of money from the post office. One day, Grampa gets a phone call from a police officer saying Bart is in jail for vandalism and shoplifting. He told Grampa to give him the money so he could bail his grandson out. However, it turns out that Bart was at soccer practice the whole time, and Grampa has been scammed out of his family’s inheritance, upsetting Homer. After Lisa recorded the scammer’s dialogue and uncovered their location, the Simpsons set out on a quest to bring the ungrateful person to justice.

The Simpsons provides clever parodies of real-life situations throughout the seasons, not just pop culture and movies. These episodes deliver some humorous moments while taking those realistic problems into account without offending the viewers. “Bart’s in Jail” happens to be one of them as the family deals with the dangers of phone scams. Not only did this episode portray this situation effectively, but it’s also an improvement from last week’s episode regarding its humor.

The comedy in this episode offered some solid visual gags, competent dialogue (including Homer’s “Whip Cash” pun), and a trippy scenario involving Loki (Alan Cumming) and a brief appearance by Bill Cipher (Alex Hirsch) from Gravity Falls. This marks the second time Alan Cumming portrays Loki, following the critically-panned sequel, Son of the Mask. I found it surprising that the show had the guts to bring that Loki back for this episode instead of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. The Marvel fans will have the writers’ heads for that. Also, seeing Bill Cipher again made me want to rewatch Gravity Falls in the future.

The episode also had a relatable moment involving Marge putting society’s trust into question after seeing that the scammers are just employees looking for a paycheck. It reflects on the potential concern people will have if they get scammed themselves and that it could happen to us. That moment was portrayed in a comedic and thoughtful manner without winding up being tasteless.

Overall, “Bart’s in Jail” is not a scam. It’s an enjoyable and reflective perspective on the perils of phone scams and their effects on people. Episodes like this continue to be one of the main reasons this show still has legs, and I hope they make more of them in the future.