The Simpsons & Futurama Fanworks Central

[Stretch Dude]

I've seen the title with and without "Agenda," so whatever.

Spoiler

I kinda liked this. Nicely paced, some okay jokes (and some not-okay jokes; come on, guys, you made fun of the four-act structure back in Season 20, and it wasn't all that funny then, either), and it actually made a decent point in the end by having Ned and Edna both admit they were both kind of right and kind of wrong.

Having Ned and Edna secretly get married was an interesting choice. Guess the writers decided they didn't want to do another big wedding episode. Loved seeing Ned's parents again, though. And I hope the writers really take advantage of Edna living next door to Bart in future episodes; there's possibilities there. (And if done right, Skinner fuming over the marriage could be pretty funny, too.)

I'd say Edna had the best showing here; I like that the writers just leapt into how a relatively normal person would react to having to raise Rod and Todd.

Homer and Marge's argument over the childrearing knowledge of some guy online was probably the funniest part of the episode to me.

[Lisabella]

I think it's supposed to be "Ned and Edna's Blended Agenda", because: Tongue Twisters! (IDEK). I know my DVR description cuts part of it off.

Spoiler

Cute and fairly inoffensive. I liked the idea of Ned and Edna having a small, private wedding; little details like Helen Lovejoy being miffed because Marge beat her to setting up the wedding party were, again, cute - and so was Ned's misunderstanding of what an open marriage is.

Rod and Tod as parochial school kids makes sense, but I think we've seen them at SE before, if only in a background crowd scene? I thought it was interesting that the boys were just being themselves and it was Edna's worrying versus anyone else's bullying that provided the conflict. And the ultimate realization that if Homer and Marge can raise three kids that, in spite of their troubles, are generally good human beings and that therefore Edna and Ned have a decent shot with Rod and Todd was nice. They have an adult relationship and generally treat each other with respect, and I like that.

In fact, I continue to I like Nedna in general, though I'm still sad that Edna/Skinner wasn't endgame (Though Skinner still chasing the married Edna could become a clever running plot if they keep up with it). The fact that their wedding was simple and informal and skimmed over makes me want to write a fill-in-ficlet, which is a first in a long time for this fandom. And can I hope against hope that we'll get some juice out of fact that Edna lives RIGHT nextdoor to the Simpsons? Maybe a Bart-and-Homer-team-up-to-take-on-their-foes plot?

In closing, I actually liked the Ned Flanders song mini-remix. *IS SACRILEGIOUS TODAY*. Not incredibly essential but very cute.

[Just Chris]

So does this mean that

Spoiler

they're actually married now?

[Stretch Dude]

Spoiler

Yes.

[Just Chris]

OK, thanks.

[Kaspired]

You know, this episode really surprised me. Sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way.

Spoiler

The writers skipped the trivial wedding ceremony and focused on the aftermath. More often than not, a show will consider the marriage ceremony as the final act. It isn't. They thought more of such trivial things as how Ned and Edna function together, and the relationship between the step-parent and kids. As a real world step-parent I can tell you that isn't as easy as it sounds. I was stunned that Ned and Edna hadn't figured out the details such as how to school the kids.

This built in conflict promises to be very interesting.

[Lisabella]

Spoiler

I'm actually not surprised they didn't. Ned's the kind of guy who'd happily gloss over differences for the sake of peace and presume that Edna would be as biddable as Maude was. And Edna wouldn't want to rock the boat, and presumed Ned was practical and caring enough to put his kids in a PLT school that would serve them educationally.