Post
by arpulver » Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:13 pm
This episode had a very strange combination of old-season high comedy, new-season low comedy, and some flat out bizarre moments. I felt the first act was fairly weak, but Bob naturally helped the episode along... and I'll give it bonus points for originality.
To be honest, after the first act I was set on giving this episode no better than a C. The educational video made me miss Fluffy Bunny, and with the exception of the lack of reaction to Martin's jab the whole exchange with Mr. Burns fell flat. The logic sending the family to Italy was weak and little entertained me once they got there (except for Lisa pretending to be Canadian, countered by Homer's "Don't mess with Texas" cry). Then they met Bob and both sides screamed. Then things turned around.
The story of how he became beloved in the villa was brilliant- from the frustrating globe, to Bob correcting the local's Italian, to his propencity for grape stomping- it just worked. And yeah, little Gino was adorable, especially with the little rake (more than a decade since Cape Feare and it's still funny!). While we all like to see Lisa inebriated once in awhile, it was pretty predictable that she would out Bob, and a little forced. The ensuing chaos was refreshingly surreal- from Bob wearing his prison uniform underneath (no credit for the episode number doubling as the prison number though- it's been done countless times before) to the Big Book of American Criminals (I rolled my eyes at the Peter Griffin pic, as that's been done before, but expanding it to Stan Smith made it absolutely worth it). And Marge looking up vendetta was a nice touch.
The third act fell somewhere in the middle, with the chase on the aquaduct a little too madcap for my taste and Krusty in an opera was just plain lazy. Krusty's entire appearance was offputting for that matter, including his rescue. But thankfully, Bob was there with his family to steal the show, sooth the savage beast with his pipes (I really liked Homer's reaction to Bob's singing for some reason), and attempt murder. The rushed resolution didn't help, but it's hard not to appreciate the original story involving Bob. Flawed or not, that's worth a B.
Season 17 Grades
Marge's Son Poisoning: A
Last of the Red Hat Mamas: A-
The Girl Who Slept Too Little: B+
The Italian Bob: B
See Homer Run: B-
Treehouse of Horror XVI: C+
Milhouse of Sand and Fog: C+
Bonfire of the Manatees: D
Back in my day, we didn't have none of this php or frames or auto-whatsit. I ran this place single-handed doing the HTML on Notepad! And it was better! Everything was subject to my star ratings and if it was crap, I durn said so! And speakin' of crap, these newbies are getting on my nerves! You can have yer Nordlanders and Dawsons- give me a Stephen Boswell script any day of the week!
Just a great episode.
