MyPad Is All You Need

The Simpsons, S24E06

After Homer was feeling down about his recent bad luck, he won a Mapple myPad and found happiness using it excessively in his daily life.  When he destroyed it from a myPad-distracted accident, Homer was depressed again until he found a message written on a tree in sap.

I think that in general stories about Homer using some kind of technology or sophisticated device is pretty good because everyone knows that Homer is an idiot and will use it in a funny way.  I can't help but be reminded of the episode where he bought a new computer and quickly tossed it in the trashcan after failing to master it within a few seconds.  Homer today can operate an iPad knock-off like a pro, using it to entertain as well as a working tool.  My favorite part was when Homer used the translating app to have a conversation with Mr. Burns:

[Mr. Burns] Simpson!  Unhand your Edison slate and bring your gold-brickery to a caesura![Translator] Put down your myPad and get back to work.[Homer] Sorry, boss.[Translator] Your remonstrances are a welcome boon and surely will redouble my diligence.[Mr. Burns] Excellent![Translator] Awesome![Homer] Woo hoo!
[Translator] Pip-pip! 

Another quote that I liked was a little later was when Marge was getting concerned about him using his myPad for anything that he could:

[Marge] Homie… it looks like you’re putting all your eggs in one basket.
[Homer] What would you have me do?  One basket for each egg?
[Marge] Hmm, I guess you’re right.  I guess I’ll have to scratch that off the list of things I say.

That part made me rethink that phrase.  Haha.

Some other scenes that that worked for me was when Homer threw Bart back into the lion's den after Bart had tricked him, Homer playing a distracted driver game, and Steve Mobbs scaring Homer into submission by bring up Hewlett-Packard products.  The last one was a little clever.  I mean, I hate HP stuff (although I stay clear of Apple stuff because it's a little cult-ish nowadays), so if someone were to bring up that point to me, I might jump to push the submit button as well.

The last thing that I liked was a quote from Dr. Hibbert:

This is the part of the job I hate most.  Talking to crazy people.

I feel like any job that has some level of customer service, you'll feel that way.  There's always some crazy people that come along.

I don't know how I feel about that little segment at the end where all the ads and products from the Simpsons World were alive.  It wasn't bad, but it was just weird.  Obviously they had to fill in a few more minutes, so they threw that in.  I would have preferred something that was related to the previous story.  But it was a little interesting to try and catch all those ads like Buzz Cola and Mister Sparkle that were shown over the years in this show.

This wasn't a bad episode.  I was surprised that the message on the tree was done by a sleepwalking Homer and not Flanders, though.  I mostly enjoyed Homer overusing his myPad to the point of destroying it.  Plus, he was able to overcome the funk he was in without having to rely on an electronic distraction.  That was a good message I could appreciate.  It's not the strongest commentary on the issue of people"s reliance on technology nowadays, but I still liked that they gave an effort.

Killing Two Birds With One Apple

Once Upon A Time, S01E21

A dream of her downfall and a dying an apple tree made the Mayor frightened enough to stop the games with Emma and actively get rid of her before she broke the curse.  She found no help with Mr. Gold, so she got Jefferson to aid her with his magic hat.  Using the last bit of magic she owned, the Mayor was able to procure the same apple that she used to take down Snow in the magic world.  She offered this apple to Emma in a turnover, which Henry ate to prove to Emma that magic still existed.  We also got to see when Snow tried to rescue Charming from King George and then later from the Queen.  To save him from the Queen, Snow had to willing eat the poison apple, so she took a bite and fell down to the ground lifeless.

In Storybrooke, Henry thankfully stopped Emma from taking them out of town together.  Later, MM also scolded her for doing something so rash and abandoning the very people she had said were her family not too long ago.  I was really hoping that the talk MM had with Emma (it was nice because she was quite tough on her like she was her real mother) would have convinced Emma that she needed to stay.  However, after Emma spoke with Archie, she decided to wave the white flag and leave by herself.  No matter how much she tries to make it seem like she's doing it to stop interrupting Henry's life, it just looks like she's giving up.  I'm really starting to get frustrated with her.  Probably as much as Henry is.

I was surprised to see Jefferson again because I thought he had fallen into a hat that Emma had made, but I guess not.  I'm still really puzzled as to how he fell from that window and was okay.  Because he seemed perfectly fine when he arrived at the Mayor's house.  I hated that he agreed to work with her again, when he knows that his miserable life right now is all her fault.  But she offered him a chance at a new life together with his daughter, so how could he refuse?  Boo.  Not only that, but he helped her get that apple that killed Snow in the past.  Great.  I was hoping that she would have just wasted her last bit of magic in the ring that Daniel had left her.  But no, she managed to get the apple.

But I don't know why the Queen chose to use that to get rid of Emma because it didn't get rid of her mother.  It's nice that she's recycling, but Snow woke up from that apple bite (otherwise Emma would have never been born).  Unless Emma couldn't be woken from that spell because she lacks a true love (God, I hope that her true love was the former sheriff--he was amazing)?  I hope that was her thinking because if it didn't kill one person, why use the same apple to try again?  The Mayor had few options left, but there had to be something else up her evil sleeve that she could have grabbed.

I expected that Emma would be end up like Snow until the Mayor went to gloat to Gold about how she had strengthened her curse and Gold warned her that all magic comes with a price.  She told him that he could pay that price and left after some more gloating, but since Henry was the one who ate her tainted apple turnover, it looks like the Mayor's paid the price after all.  How the hell will Henry wake up?   Maybe if Emma starts to believe he'll wake up?  Seeing him take the fall instead of Emma was such an exciting ending to a good episode, though.

The last thing I thought was very interesting in this episode was when the Queen offered to let Charming live if Snow ate the apple.  The concept of Snow sacrificing herself to save her prince was much different than the Snow White story that I've usually seen.  I liked that the Queen's apple couldn't just be forced down anyone's throat, but had to be eaten willingly for it to work.  I guess that in the tale I know, Snow does take the apple from a strange, old lady willingly, but I always think of it as some kind of big trick.  I mean, Queen Regina told her straight up what would happen to her if she ate the apple, which is refreshing for a villain.  Maybe the honesty is the part that makes it worse, though?  But it also makes her "death" a little more noble and sad.  I can't wait to see what Charming will do once he finds Snow again.

Sunday can't come soon enough again!  I'm so anxious to see if Henry's sacrifice will do the trick of getting Emma to believe.  If nothing else, Emma will have some evidence that the Mayor is an unsuitable mother because she poisoned her own kid.  There's no way Mayor Bitch can scheme her way out of that.  The proof is in the turnover! 

Abed's Free-Spirted Quirkiness Borders On Selfishness

Community, S03E12

Last night we saw that Abed, although very cute and amusing with his love of make-believe, was so busy satisfying his own needs that he didn't realize that he was causing trouble for people who are supposedly his friends (most of all Troy).  Jeff, too, showed a new level of his personality by taking therapy that allowed his ego to run dangerously too free.  With the gang being forced to act like famous impersonators at a teenager's party, you would think that would be enough "excitement" for one episode.  Nope.  As a cherry on the top, we had Chang's return to Community and the rise of his "Chang Warriors."

I want to start with Jeff.  I'm not sure why, but I sort of liked him on anti-anxiety pills.  I think that most people like him who are so full of themselves are actually covering for their complete lack of confidence, so I viewed Jeff as a more likeable, confident man.  I thought that Greta was simply just trying to bring Jeff down (as she likes to be a downer about most things) until she warned him about his ego exploding like an over-pumped apple (glad Jeff questioned why she would use an apple to illustrate his ego over-inflating).  I was surprised that Jeff actually listened to Greta and asked for her help when he saw that her warnings were more valid than her psychology credentials would suggest.  She couldn't really do anything for him while the women at the party were fawning over him and the guest of honor was being showered with vanity awards, and he unexpectedly turned into an super-ego fueled Hulk.  That was a pretty good moment.  Jeff was acting like a crazy person, but somehow he managed to save Abed's legs by not ruining the party.

Abed's legs indeed needed saving.  This might have been one of the few episodes, if ever, that I wanted someone to shake Abed or even hit him.  Troy was being a great friend by not only convincing the gang that they owed to Abed to participate in the party so that Abed's debts would be cleared, but he also worked his ass off to make sure that everyone performed well enough to the manager's standards.  All the while, Abed was enjoying himself at the party, with not a care in the world.  I loved how threatening French Stewart's presence was in this episode; he and Troy had some funny exchanges.

The best thing about the gang having to work at the party was that the manager said that with Troy and Greta they would have both versions of Michael Jackson.  LOL.  Shirley as Oprah was a no-brainer, but I would have never guessed those roles for those two.  I felt a little bad for Pierce who couldn't be the celebrity he wanted, but at least one of the guests at the party recognized him as the fat version of Burt Reynolds and made an old man happy.  You gotta toss Pierce a bone every now and then.

When Troy saw that Abed was continuing to purchase the lookalikes for his own entertainment, I wasn't shocked, but I began to worry about their friendship.  I was more worried when Abed didn't recognize Troy's anger (although, you wouldn't expect him to), and Troy had to spell it out for them.  It seemed like Abed was able to trust Troy a little more and their relationship was going to go deeper, but then Abed brushed off Troy's company to play and also didn't do their special handshake with him!  What??  They always do that in the end!  If Abed ruins their friendship, it will break my heart.  They are great characters by themselves, but nothing beats a combo like Abed and Troy.  It just wouldn't be the same!  I wonder if they will address this next time, or wipe the slate clean of their problems.

I wish there was more Chang, and yet I wish he hadn't been there at all.  I'm a little worried about what Chang is planning by recruiting people to work with him, especially since he doesn't really do anything of  value at the school currently.  I never thought he would be able to trick some kids into his security intern program.  If the kids haven't caught on by the next episode that Chang is not operating with a full deck of cards, I would like to see his plans for his new army.

Not sure what's going on with Abed and that other version of him (Evil Abed?).  Does that signal the start of Abed going off in a sinister direction apart from Troy?  Don't do this to me, writers.  I was so looking forward to Troy and Abed getting into strange situations together, not moving apart from each other.  Chang needs to have more screen time so I can hear more of the crazy things from his mouth I had come to love once upon a time.  As for the other characters, I have no complaints at the moment.  Let's see if that will continue for the rest of the "season."