When Homer buys a smoker rather than the washing machine that his family desperately needs, his selfish predictable purchase makes the Simpsons the most popular family in Springfield thanks to the delicious barbecue meat he cooks. When Homer is challenged to a cook off by a celebrity cook, his prized smoker goes missing and he falls into a depression laden stupor and it’s up to Lisa and Bart to find Homer’s smoker and snap him out of it.
So, last week I reviewed the season premiere which I postulated could be the worst episode of The Simpsons ever and, I’ll tell you the truth, it made me wonder if this show really has lost it. I’ve never been a big believer that The Simpsons has become a terrible show, but last week’s episode made me wonder.
This week’s episode was great. It seemed to be hitting all of the right marks. It was funny, it was a good coherent story, and it even made fun of The Simpson’s own predictability which actually work for the episode quite well. “Cue Detective” didn’t even feel the need to wrap everything up in the last minute as so many of these episodes do.
After 27 seasons, it just goes to show that this show can still do it when it tries to.
Jason Gaston 