Review: The Simpsons “Sorry Not Sorry”

 

 

Overview:

Lisa goes all-out for her latest school project delivering a rap about mathematician Gladys West. But when Ms. Hoover gives her a B-, Lisa reacts by attacking her lack-of-effort and uninspiring teaching methods. Calling her teacher a “hack” is enough to land Lisa in detention and put her academic future at risk.

When Lisa struggles to apologize, she decides to learn more about Ms. Hoover’s life. What she finds surprises her. Now Lisa needs to find a better way to repay her teacher.

 

Our Take:

As we approach the mid-season break, season 32 of The Simpsons has been a roller coaster. The long-running series has taken us back to Ancient Rome, studied art history, and delivered an entire episode featuring the odd-couple of Skinner and Chalmers.

Behind the scenes, the show has mixed things up with a varied collection of writers. There have been episodes from first-time scriptwriters to long-time Simpsons staffers. Most surprisingly was a new story from an old-school scribe, David X. Cohen, who returned after assisting on other Groening projects Futurama and Disenchantment.  

Tonight’s scriptwriter sets a record for the franchise and likely scripted television.

Nell Scovell has delivered her second script for The Simpsons with 30-years separating them. 

https://twitter.com/NellSco/status/1335715264722325504?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Scovell’s first Simpsons episode was released way back in season 2, an unforgettable adventure titled “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish”. Being one of the first women to ever write for the show, Scovell has continued her illustrious career in writing and has helped pave the way for gender equality in comedy television.  

Whether or not the series is intentionally bringing in old blood in an attempt to rekindle former heights, it is an exciting move. A thirty-year gap between writing episodes is unprecedented and is enough to spark interest from fans old and new.

The fresh episode explores an often-forgotten character that is an integral part of Lisa’s life, Ms. Elizabeth Hoover. Though the 2nd-grade teacher has been a part of the series since season two little is known about her. Unlike other Springfield Elementary faculty members, Ms. Hoover rarely steps out from being a background character.

It is almost shocking that in nearly 700 episodes of Lisa being an intellectual prodigy that her relationship with her teacher has yet to be explored. Despite it being a long-time coming, Lisa’s challenge of Ms. Hoover’s lazy methods goes over-the-top. Lisa delivers a monologue at her teacher that is the perfect argument for a school system that fails to inspire. Making this a thoughtful premise for a Simpsons episode.

The plot may not open the doors for a lot of comedy; however, the show managed to squeeze in a healthy amount of jokes. The most comedic moment came mid-credits when Homer acted out a fun Snoopy parody. And the Christmas-themed opening had lots of little Easter eggs. But there were lots of great moments dispersed through the episode, and there was even a short cameo from Bleeding Gums Murphy.

This was not one of the flashier episodes of the season and was more grounded in family and relationships. But it still felt fresh and challenged a lot of the status quo that the series had fallen into in recent years. This wasn’t another episode about Homer and Marge’s relationship on the brink, nor was it a full-out exploration of another random Springfieldian. This was a thoughtful story that did the little things differently to make it fun and unique.