I'm giving this cult classic television series another spin, starting off from the beginning (and also redoing my ratings up to now). So here we go:
The Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire is, as the title card reads, a Christmas Special, and it may seem rather strange, that a television series starts with a Christmas special. To understand this, you need to know two things:
Firstly, this wasn't actually supposed to be the first episode. The first episode produced, was S01E13, Some Enchanted Evening. However, a workprint test screening was received overall poorly, enforcing a long rework of the entire first season that took around half a year. Now, having to air in mid December, the decision was made to grab Episode 8 of that season for premiering.
Secondly, the Simpsons where already well known. It was in 1985 that comic artist Matt Groening was asked to do an animated short series for the Tracey Ullman Show, a ~30-minute long sketch comedy show, to be used as a ~1 minute long "bumper" before and after the commercial break. Groening initially wanted to use his comic series "Life in Hell" but when he learned, that he would actually loose all intellectual property rights, he came up with a plan B: The Simpsons, which - as rumor has it - was developed in 15 minutes in front of the office of producer James L. Brooks, just before pitching the idea. It wasn't the first (and in the beginning not the only) animated short that aired as advertisement bumper in the show that started in April 1987, but it was the one that got most attention and by the second season, all other cartoons were canceled and The Simpsons became the exclusive short series in that show. After the third season, that ended in May 1989, the Simpsons where spun off into a standalone half-hour series.
Taking these two facts into consideration makes it clear, how they could start off with a Christmas Special, but it also puts a lot of undeserved praise into better context. Many point out how this first episode already established so many places & figures and their characteristics right from the get-go (e.g. Skinner, Ned Flanders, Patty & Selma, Moe, Barney, Mr. Burns, Smithers, Milhouse and Grandpa, Moe's tavern, the power plant, Bart prank-calling Moe, etc.). If, however you watch them in production order, you will see, that the Simpsons started out as any other series; only Moe, Moe's Tavern and the Pranks where introduced in the original first episode. And other characters get introduced gradually over the next episodes, not all at once and some with large differences in the beginning (e.g. Milhouse being black-haired, or Smithers initially being black), so that this episode had already a rather rich background to fetch ideas from and build upon.
So ignoring this aspect, this episode has rather little to offer. The drawings are still a bit clumsy, the story not that original, there is little humor, no real sassy social remars and the dialogues rather dull. On the plus side, however, it is a heart warming story that has a nice happy end, and it manages to bring you into a Christmas spirit, even if you watch it in the summer.
Starting at 5/10 and looking at all the pros and cons, in the end, this episode is rather balanced out, leaving it at 5/10 points over all.
Just before the Acolyte aired, I was playing the computer game "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor", and it plays in parts in the High Republic era; and I was pretty intrigued by it (I know that there are a lot of novels and comics, etc. which - however - I never read, so this was my first contact with the High Republic era), especially the idea of a somewhat differently working Jedi order and the technology that was a bit more steam-punk-esk and more magically.
So I was more than pleased to hear about "The Acolyte" being the first High Republic set series, even tough this one is at the end of the high republic if I understand it correctly. And yeah, because it is, the High Republic in here feels more like the things we'll see in the films; which was a bit of a bummer to me, but hey. That's just a small thing, I guess.
To my second surprise, this series focuses around a coven of Nightsisters. Another species that was prominent in the "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" and especially it's predecessor "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" games. And as Merrin became my absolute favorite NPC character of the game series, I was happy to see that the series would include the Nightsisters as well. However, I would have liked a bit more focus and background on their coven, e.g. why are they living in hiding and exiled (?) in Brendok, instead of seeing them on their natural habitat in Dathomir?
However, before we even get to those, we start with an mysterious assassination of a Jedi - played by non-other than Carrie Ann Moss. Which for me was a totally sad thing - this happens in the very first minutes of the first episode, so if we'd see her at all it would be in flash-backs - and spoiler - there hardly are any. I would have so loved to see her a bit more in those Jedi ropes. However, truth be told, I also wasn't too impressed with the fighting scene. Don't get me wrong - it's superb and I can only applaud both, Carrie Ann Moss as well as Amandla Stenberg for an incredible and thrilling fighting choreography that set's your teeth on edge. However, I felt a bit like being in a weird mix of a Matrix/Kung Fu movie, and that somehow pulled me out of the immersion of being in a Star Wars world. But, as I said, this is just a first small part. After that it gets a bit irritating, because we see Amandla Stenberg in a weirdly different situation - so she's leading an incredible double life. Turns out, she isn't - it's her sister we're after; she also gets picked up by Jedis directly, who are now investigating the scene and have her as a prime suspect. However, her former Jedi Master Master Sol is convinced that his dropout apprentice Osha is telling the truth; so they take her with to investigate, and find out a secret from Osha's past.
I think the first episode starts off incredible. I loved some of the actors chosen, Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae are great actors with a wide range of talents and a great chemistry with each other. Another great choice is Dafne Keen, as Sol's new apprentice Jecki; you might not have recognized her, but she has already proven her incredible talents in the movie Logan as Laura/X32. In "The Acolyte" she is of course much more tuned down, but has a great chemistry with the other characters as well and totally fits into the role she's portraying. Last gut not least - of the main cast, as far as I can tell up to now - is Charlie Barnett, in his role as the Jedi Yord. And he's a weird one, as on the one hand he has great charisma, but on the other hand does not quite fit the role he's portraying although I rather feel that the problem is rather that role he's portraying is weirdly irresolute in its characterization. On the one hand he seems to be a "Percy Weasly"-like character - the know-it-all top of the class guy that keeps to the rules and tells on you for the smallest of things. On the other side he's extremely muscular built and weirdly often running around shirtless, leading to awkward situations when he clashes with Osha or Jecki. What's that all about? Gives me that weirdly inappropriate vibes of those ultrasonic showering scenes of the Star Trek Enterprise scenes. :/
But for 90% of the time, this is a great crew that harmonizes perfectly with each other. I love that they chose to center the series around a person that is no Jedi in a world dominated by Jedi (in which other time period did we get an away team of up to six Jedi investigating something?), as I feel that the World of Star Wars has so much more to offer than just Jedis (which are already the center of so many things in the entire franchise). I also love that the series broadens the universe - we already saw (and will see) so many more new planets and species, as well as factions, making the world more lively and mysterious again - and I think they manage this while still making everything feel really Star Wars like. And I loved that this first episode was and feels like a mystery series, first and foremost. In the end, however the first episode does not give us too much of story yet - which is totally fine; it's a typical "set up" episode, and it somehow reminded me a bit of "Star Trek Discovery" where the first episode is also just there to set up the character and tell us how she got into the situation that the rest of the series will put her in.
All in all a pretty good start that promises a great story. Hopefully it can also deliver, but I am optimistic and definitely hooked. For me it's a 4/5, which translates to a 7/10 on the 10-point scale.
This is again a hard one to rate. On the one side I thought it was super thrilling and captivating, a great finale. I am super happy with the guy who won, I think he absolutely deserved it (but int he end most of those guys deserved it, and all gave their best and it was fun to see the different strategies); though there was for sure also a lot of luck involved. So I had all in all a great time with this episode, as I did with the series as a whole.
However, I somehow found the end rushed, and I am a bit disappointed about that. I don't know why they decided to both, rush the beginning so much and rush the end so much. Maybe to fit everything in a pre-made deal of "We'll just have exactly 10 episodes?". I would have loved to see a bit more of all these people; how the winner felt, how he'd get home, what his takeaways are, etc. But also how the rest felt - maybe a reunion with friends and family. But definitely a reunion of the entire group would have been nice - some kind of debriefing, the reactions everyone had to the stories, strategies the luck and the misfortunes of all the other participants. For 7 vs Wild (sorry to compare those all the time - I do feel "The Race" is a totally new, totally genuine and independent format that has not much common with 7 vs Wild), this alone has become one entire episode ("The Pickup"); and I feel that this has become a beloved and integral part of the show. I am therefore irritated that this could - in no way - inspire "The Race" to do something similar in these regards.
So for me, though I enjoyed the entire show and also this last episode - it was a really abrupt stop. Therefore I'll deduce a point, and end up with 3/5.
I hope you don't mistake this for malicious glee as I do not hate Dave or have anything against him, but I was really pleased and happy with the outcome we got - even though it irritated me quite a bit, and I first felt like this was maybe on purpose? I at least couldn't really believe it when it happened; but then, and with the explanation that followed, it all made sense to me.
And the reason I am happy is that I really really really detest the fact that Dave used up half his credit card. I already suspected this happening the second they introduced these cards. And I though of reasons why this happened at all. The best explanation I could come up with was that they didn't want anyone to be left behind in Morocco at night; maybe for security reasons, etc. I don't know. But I could understand this. And for me this makes the most sense, because it is so late in the day that people could have gotten off Moroco already, but if they hadn't they'd still have enough time to get to the harbour from wherever they are and make the last fairy.
HOWEVER then they could have said "Hey this is the only purpose - use it today for buying a ticket (and maybe a taxi) in Morocco and everyhting is fine - use it any other day or for anything other than a ticked, and you get disqualified for the race". Perfect.
Everything else just didn't make any sense. And as I suspected, Dave doesn't care about the money because he doesn't need it. The others probably did, but at least for two of them I also suspect that it was a thing of pride to not use it; and the last person was just desperate and didn't think he would win anyways, so he eased his pain with the money. And that just breaks the format.
Dave would have made the race, but for me it wouldn't have felt right. And it would have felt so much more wrong as surprisingly, both Daniel and Brian where shoulder to shoulder for the second place. In their situation I would have felt cheated to find out he'd only made it because he used half his card for a ticket when I tried to play the game in the spirit that it was invented "5 friends have to get to cologne without money...".
So, yeah!
I am a bit disappointed by the organization team. It is totally fine that they called Laurens, and I think it's much more fair to call the participant and tell him "hey, you had to send a code green and you didn't" instead of disqualifying him the second he forgets to send the code green. And I get that they wanted to check if he's okey by seeing if he had at least used the card. I get that it's more alarming for the team if the guy is not sending a code AND his card isn't in use. But nearly none of the others had used their cards either, so I think this should be no indicator anyways. Even worse, what if he got knocked out and his card stolen and therefore used - would the orga team had said: "Well he should be all right, he's using his card"? So just from the internal processes I don't get why this was of any relevance anyways. To then even communicate this fact to the player makes it even worse. Of course he's going to think "Okey, why are they telling me this" -- and there are several conclusions you could come to from this. The one that Laurens came to, of course. Or that all others had used their card, so he probably should, too? Again this adds to the point that handing out these cards in the first place was already a bad idea - but this miscommunication was so avoidable and changed the entire game for Laurens - to the bad. I don't say that he would have won if it hadn't come to this situation. But I do believe that the demoralization will have cost him time and kilometers and in the end might have blocked him from doing better decision or spending his time more worthy.
I think, the orginzation team should have sticked to the bare minimum of communication: "Hey you forgot to send a code. This is a friendly warning, because it's the first time - make sure to remember it, otherwhise you might get disqualified" -- and that's it. It also makes me wonder what other information they spread, as we don't even get to know the whole conversation. Just feels bad, somehow
If it was a small production, and if there wasn't any previous experiences with these kind of shows, I would have been a bit more merciful. But given that we've seen 3 seasons of 7 vs Wild, and Arctic Warrior, which do similar things and which had extensive BTS material, I would expect that a team organizing something like this, should have anticipated this. Especially if this team must have been involved in some ways with 7 vs. Wild, as Dave was not only a participant in the first season, but also a major part in the production of the second season and the one responsible for the BTS material. That's why I have to consider it for my rating, and need to deduce one point of it: 3/5 (instead of otherwise 4/5).
Finally all the rules got explained, and after the first episode you also finally get to know the characters a bit more. Thus I enjoyed this episode much more, and I also felt like it was getting more exciting by the minute, ending on a great cliffhanger that actually made me feel like I could not wait to see the next episode. So all in all incredible work.
The one big bummer for me, however, came near the end; otherwise I could have seen myself giving this series a 5/5; but as it got to 6:30 pm it was revealed that every participant got a card with 50€ on it. And while I liked the idea of making it hard for the participants to sell this money as every Euro spent would take away 1/50th of a yet unknown price money, for me it destroyed the idea of the show on quite some levels: 1.) While this money might have been valuable for the other participants, I was pretty sure that for Dave [the guy doing the show] it wouldn't be a relevant number, as he is already a large and famous YouTuber that has a estimated turnover (based just on YouTube's CPM) of 85.000€ (and that's without any sponsoring and placements). So he'd probably have an easier time spending it, than the others have. 2.) It will make the race easier for those willing to spend the money; so someone could say: To get a head-start I just use X€ to make sure I'm ahead of the rest, and then I'll do what the rest does. This removes so much of the skills needed. Sure, it's in the end also a game of chance and tactics as well; but in the end, the people not using it, would - in my eyes - so much more deserve the win than anyone using it for just the tiniest portion of the way. 3.) Only the winner get's the price - so if you know or feel like you're falling behind, there's again no reason not using the card. So there's no real struggle anymore. But in all honesty, we want to see the struggle; that's what the show is all about, isn't it? Seeing people succeed but also seeing them fail - and hopefully pick them selves up again; without going into spoilers here - there are these scenes in the show in later episodes and some of the greatest scenes will be seeing people getting back on to their feet on their own. That's what motivates you - not seeing someone using the money on that card.
In the end it's a creative decision; some will like it others won't, and that's okey. However, it somehow often impacted my "liking" of the series/episodes, which is why I can only give it a 4/5 points; which in the 1-10 scale is a 7/10.
All in all this was a great start in a new series that promises to be a quite captivating show. And given that it's a YouTube production, it is of really high quality. However, I feel that the start was a bit rushed. I felt thrown in with a bunch of new people that I did not know anything about and that I therefore did not care much about. I would have loved an introductory episode (similar to e.g. 7 vs Wild) where you get to know all the participants. Also, I did not know anything about the setup; how did those people get to the place they start? Did they know beforehand, where they start? What did/didn't they know beforehand? When did they know? Did they have time to prepare anything? What skills did they bring with them? And last but not least, what are the rules? What's okey to do, and what isn't?
All this made me feel a little lost in the first episode; and though I did like to know how this will play out in the end, for me this was an average episode, i.e. 3/5 points, which (accoding to my conversion rules) is a 5/10 on the 1-10 scale.
I really love this show - in my opinion it is one of the best quiz and entertainment shows we had in at least a century in Germany, with a lot of incredible moments and guests that you get to know from a totally different side. I was surprised from some guests who I had prejudice against, that I found really sympathetic after watching them in this show.
So in a way it breaks my heart to see this season not being one of the weakest, due to the inclusion of Klaas, who always competes against Joko in the finales, and where all finales felt rather boring because those two know each other so well; but also boring within the shows as the wildcards, plus Lena and Sarah perish between Joko and Klaas interaction during the show.
But that was not the low-point. The low point was the show of Klaas once he finally won it; this had everything: tasteless questions (with the guests knowing the answer but actually saying: "I dare not to give that answer"), unfunny repetitions (like the senseless "sensation" buzzers and the "sensation cam"), and the sad climax in an embarrassing "joke" where Klaas had a naked man dangling from a crane in front of the guess - he actually seemed to get laughter with this, but neither the audience nor the guests where amused at all - Lena saying "I don't believe this", Kathrin saying "I'll leave after this round, this is too much, seriously", and Joko pleading to Klaas: "Please don't drag my show through the mire".
I've actually never seen Joko and Klaas together and I also never saw any other solo shows of those two, so I don't know if this is what you usually can expect from them. This show was the first time I saw Joko and he really grew on me. Klaas on the other hand I'll happily skip in the future...
Worst season so far - and worst overall episode. Hopefully the next one will be better again.
Every Back to the Future fan will turn heads at this episode that features Lorraine (Baines) McFly, mother of Back to the Future's main star Marty McFly. The story is original and fun to watch as it is really interesting, although near the end a bit irrational (why is she destroying everything around when she could simply take it and be gone without any buzz?). In the end, we get another irony of life ending, with an agony of choice.
I rather enjoyed this one, and for a good story, a good (and tragic) ending and a good performance I end up with 7/10 Points.
Until the end, it was not really strong, acting is average, but some of the characters (the Barker and the girlfriend) are actually rather annoying. Also I am no fan of the supposedly funny style and camera angles chosen. However, this episode actually ends with an interesting and funny twist, once more an "irony of life" ending, that I did not see coming, and that was somewhat satisfying and made me smile.
So in the end, we get an all around okey episode, that is fun to watch: 5/10 points.
As much as I did not like the first episode I love the second: Starting of with a scene of rather dark humor, we get into a really great mix between thrilling and horrifying scenes accompanied by funny ones as well as ironic ones. The acting of our main character, played by Mary Ellen Trainor (known from the Leathal Weapon films) is really great (although it's really odd that she does not freeze at all, even when kneeling on the ground with her bear legs), the episode is really atmospheric and manages to hit the sweet spot between funny on the one side and horrifying on the other.
We also have some nice camera work, that I did not expect (e.g. the scene in the storeroom that is only shown from the top shelf perspective showing the gun that she cannot see - I really loved that scene). This is great fun to watch.
First episodes are always hard, and while I do love the series, the first episode is nothing special, even though they started off with a star, that you might know from back in the days series and movies like Star Trek - Deep Space 9 or Die Hard 2, but who is still active even today, e.g. in The Highwaymen or When They See Us. But William Sadler cannot turn this rather dull and totally foreseeable story into anything better. Most of the time he is just narrating, so hardly any performance is required by any of the actors. And as said, even though the story is ironic and black-humored, it's foreseeable and does not provide any surprises. Additionally, I don't think it's that funny. So starting with a 5/10 for every movie, I'd go down two points (rather boring and foreseeable and nothing else that is interesting).
While I really like the settle press and media critique that this episode bears (hehe), the overall story is rather dull and additionally this episode looses more and more of its initial fun the more you re-watch it. This would make it totally balanced at neither good nor bad, but I do have a lot of fun watching Maggie in this one, and to the extend that it's possible for a cartoon baby, I feel like this is the first one that gives some well deserved focus on one of the last members of the famiily. Therefore: 6/10
I cannot remember having seen this as a child; but watching this the first time I was really moved. The episode focuses on depression and how society "To sad to play dodge-ball? That's ridiculous, now let's see some enthusiasm!" and especially parents handle it (both are helpless and while Homer treats her as a child, Marge tries to force her to happiness and sees Lisa's unhappiness as her failure as a mother). It is the first episode after five rather Bart- and Homer-centric episodes that focuses on Lisa, and the first episode that gives her character some real depth and also gives it directions for the rest of the series (after she has been shown as slightly as brattish as Bart in the previous two episodes).
I especially loved Homer in this episode, who even though helpless, behaves warm and fatherly towards Lisa. And then of course there is the music. While I am not a fan of Jazz and the Blues as such, I really love how the saxophone music is integrated into the episode. The tunes and lyrics are catchy. It's also the first time (besides in the Intro) that we see Lisa play the saxophone in an episode.
I feel like this episode addresses some real problems, combined with humor, critical commentary on society, good music and a great conclusion of the conflict that Marge and Lisa have, there is once more also some critic on the school system ("I hope we don't see any unbridled creativity again"), and I can even relate to it on a personal level. And on the negative side? Well, I cannot find anything, this time. For me, this is one of the must sees if you watch the Simpsons.
9/10 Points.
This episode marks the first appearance of Nelson 'Haha' Muntz, and is yet another early episode that follows the typical two-story setup of the Simpsons: We have the entire entry story with Lisa and her cupcakes, those are the binding element that leads to the second story of Bart being bullied by Nelson and how he stands up for himself.
Unfortunately, there is nothing else I like about this episode. I like the rhyming and the ending sequence where Bart puts some "perspective" to the episode (there are not good wars - with these exceptions... :D ). But besides that, I think this episode is rather seldom funny (if at all), the story is - at least to me - uninteresting and it doesn't offer me any deeper level. So given the negative aspects over-weighing the positives a little, I end up with:
4/10 Points.
One of the few episodes that I can still remember from my childhood (I used to watch this series when I was around 10~14 years, more as a pass-time than actually loving it, because - well - I was to young to get everything, I guess). While the first three episodes felt more like a continuous story from start to end, this is the first episode that already follows the typical setup of later simpsons episodes: We get an introductory story that actually has nothing to do with the main story (Mr. Burns party), except for one single binding element (the family love Homer witnesses from one of his co-worker, that fuels the entire second part (Homer wanting to change his family for better).
On the other side, however, the episode is rather atypical. Marge is the drunk, Homer is the one worried about their image and Lisa misbehaves (which was rather typical for the Simpsons Shorts). Homer selling the TV and wanting to pray before eating is probably the biggest break with his character. In the entire Simpsons context this feels rather strange. But reminding ourselves that this is just episode four, it is understandable that did not have that developed characteristic trades. Would this episode be shown in a later season, we would most definitely have Marge and Homer switch roles in this story.
But even given the short background we do already have, it's rather hypocritical of Homer being the one to judge both, their perceived family image (when he did not care about his personal image at all just in the previous episode) as well as the lack of love in the family (when he only spent time with his son for the first time after thinking his son is a genius, and stopping the second he finds out the truth just two episodes ago). Then again, this episode makes clear, that we are in the early 90s, where it was typical to reset the entire previous history at the beginning of the next episode, by having Homer know his boss so well, which he only met in the previous episode for the first time. Still, with Homer being content with the status quo the entire time, and just wanting a change once Marge gets accidentally drunk and Homer seeing a functional family for the first time, one might wonder why he doesn't try to work on himself and becomes role model instead of just judging and forcing his family, so even when disregarding everything else and taking the episode as a stand-alone story, the hipocracy is still there (even though much less visible).
There is, of course, a lot of settle sarcasm and irony in this episode, starting with Mr. Burns being a parody of Reagan, and ending with aversion therapy, where Dr. Marvin Monroe basically tells Homer that it's okey to hit his family until they comply. For me, the electroshock scene is probably one of the most iconic for a Simpsons episode, and it gets even more iconic as this scene is shown to Holly in the plane in Die Hard 2.
Other than that this episode hasn't too much to offer, for many it's considered one of the worst episodes, but in the end, I still really like it, so this totals up to a 6/10 points.
Ignoring the first aired episode (the Christmas special) and bearing in mind that the series ought to be started off with what ended to be episode 13, Homer's Odyssey is the first episode that enlarges the Simpsons universe. We not only get new characters introduced (such as the twins Sherri and Terri, Chief Wiggum or Otto Man, the school bus driver), but with the class field trip we also visit the power plant the first time, Blinky can be seen and we learn that Bart really want's a tattoo (which he actually got in the eight first episode). Also interesting: In this episode Smithers is black for the first and only time.*
Besides this, after the last one being Bart-centric, this one's Homer-centric, and not only shows the heights but also the depths that Homer can go through (e.g. by stealing Barts piggy-bank or trying to kill himself).
Even though I like the general idea of the episode, overall I didn't have too much fun with that episode. The jokes are rather dull and uninspired, who hasn't seen jokes like someone on the way to kill himself complaining about something else that could have killed him on the way? And in the end I really disliked the spinelessness with which Homer is shown at the end of the episode, knowing the disappointment he will cause. While the message is still clear and valid (i.e. most peoples integrity has a price tag), I just felt that in this episode it was a bit to dully conveyed.
So in the end, waying in positives and negatives, again I have to say that this episode holds the balance, ending up with 5/10 points.
*) PS: Again some trivia fact: If you ever wondered why: The coloring wasn't decided by the creators and story tellers, but the coloring department could decide themselves and did so randomly when it came to skin color. They felt like Smithers being black; however, character-wise it was clear that Smithers would have an psychopathic personality with an homoerotic component towards Mr. Burns; and they not only felt that the color choice in this case would not only ruin the personality they've planed for Smithers but also be a bit to much that was unloaded on Smithers. Thus the change.
Rewatching and rerating all Simpsons episodes (and this time, hopefully sticking to it), the second entry (that really was produced as the second episode) is already more to my liking.
As this series is just starting of, this episode is more of a "closed world" episode, i.e. it focuses on the Simpsons family and their relations (as did ) and does not give room to too many outside characters: only Martin Prince, Mrs. Krabapple and Principal Skinner are introduced as characters, Milhouse as a minor and insignificant appearance. The focus is mainly on Bart, with a second focus on the father-and-son-relationship, that really has multiply cynical aspects to think about:
Homer - even though (at least in the first seasons) a caring father - doesn't show much affection or love towards his son, who is on a path that will probably lead him into a similar life (and there are some foreshadowing in coming episodes that also hint that way). Only when there is outside certification of some specialty this aspect shifts; which is especially dramatic as the quite gifted Lisa, who - with 8 years of age - knows "hard" words like "nurturing" as well as as the works of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is not even noted most of the time. This episode can also be seen as a critique on the education- and societies class system. Clearly we know how to teach our children best by giving them the possibility and room to explore their abilities and allowing them to set their own goals and train their abilities individually. However, to get there, you first need to pass an aptitude test, which the kids are clearly not prepared to, giving only a few elite the chance to unfold their full potential, while the rest is rather thought to learn facts by heart and comply - training them to be a good work force. It's not that obvious and maybe even a bit far fetched, but for me this is one of the main takeaways from this episode. Having Bart embark on a journey that on the end helps him figure out what's important in life, is just another aspect that makes this episode really good and one of the few episodes that will stand out.
Starting from 5 points for the average rating, this episode has a number of positive aspects and hardly any negative ones, it has some funny moments, it has a lot to consider and think about, its witty. I like it, and I think it's one of the episode you should consider if you only watch a handful to decide if this show's for you. 8/10
PS: Again some trivia - even though not the first episode, this is the first to feature the famous Simpsons intro, and with Bart having to write "I shall not waste chalk" it conveys the sassy sarcasm this show can offer.