From Vandal To Artist

The Simpsons, S23E15

This was mainly a Bart-centered episode with a small story about Apu and a rival store.  Bart decides to graffiti Homer's image around town to get back at him for throwing him into a rabbit cage.  This wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other things he's done to Bart, so I don't really know why Bart was so outraged.  And in fact, Bart grew to like the cage.  I found the premise to be pretty weak, but this is the 23rd season, so what can you expect?

I thought this episode would be free of guest stars, but Shepard Fairey voiced himself (who later revealed to be  an undercover cop).  I suppose that's not too bad because I don't feel like he's such a celebrity that it will bring in a lot of viewers simply to hear him.  This episode was a sort of spoof of the documentary I had seen about a month ago, Exit Through the Gift Shop.  It not only featured Fairey, but other well-known street artists such as Banksy.  The Simpsons' take on graffiti wasn't particularly interesting, but it's interesting that someone like Fairey did a voice on this cartoon show.  If this episode does anything, I hope that it encourages people to watch that documentary because it's endlessly more interesting than what I saw on Sunday night.

Usually there is a side-story in each episode, but this one just seemed so unnecessary.  Sure the Kwik-E Mart is the go-to store in Springfield, but it's not the only place to buy food, so I wasn't buying Apu's pressure to take "Swapper Jack's" store down.  It was resolved so easily with the store selling monkey meat.  Really?  I would have been slightly more impressed if Apu started working there.  I know this show is known for its simple solutions to problems, but they might as well said a wizard came in and spirited the store away.

Speaking of simple solutions, Homer offers Wiggum the option of caging Bart again.  I didn't mind that too much, as it sort of brought things full circle.  Bart is caged, he rebels because of this cage, rebellion gets him put into cage again.  Not terribly exciting, but it works for this show at its present state.

I'm only surprised that the side-story didn't turn out to be about Marge being shunned by Paula Paul's fans or something of the like.  Her disappointment was only there to fuel Homer's rage so that he could throw Bart into a cage.  That's a bit disappointing.  I'm sure it could have led to a far better story than Apu robbing a store that Snake was working at.  The irony was lukewarm.

I'll give this show credit for possibly inspiring some people to google about Fairey and other street artists, but it wasn't very funny or original.  I'd really like to see them  produce an episode that makes me wonder if I'll care if there is a 24th season or not.  Right now, I'm almost hoping they won't before they come up with even worse stories.