Luís Oliveira

I used to listen to Don McLean's song, and cry...leave it to Der Who to make some happy tears....
https://youtu.be/ciLNMesqPh0?si=miaAbuy4jlMn8Byl

Don McLean Lyrics
"Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)"

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night

You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could've told you Vincent
This world was never meant for
One as beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frame-less heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget

Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

[7.4/10] I appreciate the meta-gag of Dee admitting she doesn’t really know what a satire is, because it works on multiple levels. It works to highlight how folks with backwards material hide behind the fig leaf that something is a “satire”. It pokes fun at the squishiness of the term. And it’s especially amusing since “Risk E. Rat’s Pizza and Amusement Center” is itself a satire of out of touch people pining for “the good old days” without acknowledging that a lot of the changes they lament happened for good reason.

I’ll admit that the episode is more of a “smile at the cleverness” outing for The Gang than one full of laugh out loud gags, but I still appreciate it. Mac whinging about the lack of dangerous weapons and faux-drugs available to kids at the ticket counter is gentle but still pointed. While a little blunt, I also like his time out psychology session as a satire on guilt and shame based discipline, which comes with extra potency since Mac was a self-hating gay man for a long time.

Dee and Frank’s search for the clues that get you a meeting with Risk E. Rat himself was a nice opportunity to spoof the dated humor of Franks time and Dee’s childhood. I especially like the Dee material, because she's the only member of the group who’s kind of in the middle. She criticizes the domestic abuse humor Frank enjoyed as horrible, but still tries to defend the ethnic stereotype humor of her childhood as somehow alright. It’s a well-observed bit on how it’s easy to look back with derision on the blindspots of old while we try to excuse our own. And the most I laughed at was at their misunderstanding and attempts to dirty up the “jalapeno business” joke.

Dennis and Charlie’s story leans into a lot of the same material, but it’s good. Their steady realization that pretty much every member of the Fun Time Pizza Band knockoff was some kind of unfortunate stereotype or trope, while trying to justify their appreciation for it, is a solid bit. And across all the stories, their disregard for safety is a laugh.

My favorite part is the great jumpcut from The Gang’s quest to return things to how they were before to an utter shitshow of pain and misery. Frankly, I worry this episode will be a little too subtle for some, with folks taking Mac's speech in particular as a valid criticism rather than a sign of his own messed up upbringing. But the fact that their plan ends in total disaster is about as strong a rebuke as the writers can offer to their viewpoint without having some character be a mouthpiece, so I’m good with it.

Overall, the theme of misguided good-ol’-days-ery through the conceit of a Chuck E. Cheese equivalent is a good foundation for the episode,and a collection of good observations and strong capper makes this one a winner.