[7.5/10] This one works best for the gags. The show finds tons of ways to poke fun at the financial world, from all the “trained professionals” in ape masks, to the guy in the Cayman Islands “oh crap”-ing his way through a customer’s secret illegal account, to Bart’s check-based hijinks.
Likewise, the show finds great humor with the government leaning on Krusty. I’m a big fan of all the IRS-based changes to Krusty’s show/restuarant/life. The auction sequence gets plenty of laughs. And even Krusty going “garnish my celery” is worth a chuckle. Hell, the show manages to wring humor out of Krusty’s apparent death. The “see ya real soon kids” gravestone leaves me in stitches. Troy McClure is the best host of anything ever. Plus, Homer crying at Bob Newhart’s rambling speech is the cherry on top. There’s so many laughs to be had here.
And yet, it’s a weirdly emotional episode for being such a goofy one. What really stood out to me on rewatch is what a good job Dan Castellaneta does as Krusty here. The show lets Krusty be genuinely bitter and angry when his life is taken away from him, allows him to be believably despondent and desperate while flying his plane, and both resentful and resigned to his new life when he’s Rory B. Bellows. Castellaneta goes hard in all phases of Krusty, making those emotions feel real in an episode that could have gotten away with them feeling cartoony. His performance adds a depth to a pretty strange and out there storyline for Krusty, giving it weight.
I also like Bart’s story here, where he feels guilty for accidentally upending Krusty’s life and becomes convinced that he’s the one to set things right. The mystery of this mysterious Krusty-like guy Bart keeps seeing happens way too quick, but is still solid in its construction, and again, manages to pack in a good amount of very funny nautical humor while they’re at it.
The ending is a little odd, but appropriately cynical for the show. Krusty resents his lower station and lack of “moolah”, but is eventually pulled back into his old life not because of a love of the game or the children he entertains, but for not letting those “eggheads” hog all the respect. There’s some salient commentary in the answer to Bart’s self-blame being that he needs to convince a TV Clown to seize back the undue esteem he enjoys over the hardworking but under-celebrated (and under-compensated) people in our society.
Overall, the plot here is out there and the episode moves through some of the beats at a herky-jerky pace, but the emotions feel legitimate which goes a long way toward making up for that, and the humor is top notch, which never hurts on a laugh out loud funny show like The Simpsons. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I sure could go for one-hundred tacos right about now...
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-02-01T05:25:57Z
[7.5/10] This one works best for the gags. The show finds tons of ways to poke fun at the financial world, from all the “trained professionals” in ape masks, to the guy in the Cayman Islands “oh crap”-ing his way through a customer’s secret illegal account, to Bart’s check-based hijinks.
Likewise, the show finds great humor with the government leaning on Krusty. I’m a big fan of all the IRS-based changes to Krusty’s show/restuarant/life. The auction sequence gets plenty of laughs. And even Krusty going “garnish my celery” is worth a chuckle. Hell, the show manages to wring humor out of Krusty’s apparent death. The “see ya real soon kids” gravestone leaves me in stitches. Troy McClure is the best host of anything ever. Plus, Homer crying at Bob Newhart’s rambling speech is the cherry on top. There’s so many laughs to be had here.
And yet, it’s a weirdly emotional episode for being such a goofy one. What really stood out to me on rewatch is what a good job Dan Castellaneta does as Krusty here. The show lets Krusty be genuinely bitter and angry when his life is taken away from him, allows him to be believably despondent and desperate while flying his plane, and both resentful and resigned to his new life when he’s Rory B. Bellows. Castellaneta goes hard in all phases of Krusty, making those emotions feel real in an episode that could have gotten away with them feeling cartoony. His performance adds a depth to a pretty strange and out there storyline for Krusty, giving it weight.
I also like Bart’s story here, where he feels guilty for accidentally upending Krusty’s life and becomes convinced that he’s the one to set things right. The mystery of this mysterious Krusty-like guy Bart keeps seeing happens way too quick, but is still solid in its construction, and again, manages to pack in a good amount of very funny nautical humor while they’re at it.
The ending is a little odd, but appropriately cynical for the show. Krusty resents his lower station and lack of “moolah”, but is eventually pulled back into his old life not because of a love of the game or the children he entertains, but for not letting those “eggheads” hog all the respect. There’s some salient commentary in the answer to Bart’s self-blame being that he needs to convince a TV Clown to seize back the undue esteem he enjoys over the hardworking but under-celebrated (and under-compensated) people in our society.
Overall, the plot here is out there and the episode moves through some of the beats at a herky-jerky pace, but the emotions feel legitimate which goes a long way toward making up for that, and the humor is top notch, which never hurts on a laugh out loud funny show like The Simpsons. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I sure could go for one-hundred tacos right about now...