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The Simpsons Season 9 Review

The ninth season of The Simpsons is a sharp drop in quality in comparison to the previous seasons. It signaled the end of the golden age of this show.

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“I don’t think anything I’ve ever done is wrong“

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The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson is a solid episode that is quite strong in the Homer subplot that is quite cartoony and fun. The Principal and the Pauper is the dreaded Principal Skinner episode that most fans hate, but I find it mediocre, though not terrible as it has its moments. But certainly how they destroyed canon is the case of to be seen to be believed.

Lisa’s Sax is utterly forgettable, but Treehouse of Horror VIII is a pretty solid horror episode that is fun throughout, but rarely reaching the heights of the previous shows. The Cartridge Family deals with gun control in a weak, not that sophisticated manner. Bart Star is your regular sports episode, so it was dull to me personally. The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons is an amusing arranged marriage episode with Apu being excellent here.

Lisa the Skeptic is a very underrated, excellent episode about religion versus science that offers a great role for Lisa, a very interesting storyline with a great twist and a particularly emotional finale between mother and daughter. Realty Bites is a very complicated, dramatic and not fun episode featuring Marge. Miracle on Evergreen Terrace is a typically strong Bart’s conscience storyline that offers a great Christmas atmosphere and message.

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All Singing, All Dancing is an all-singing episode that is utter trash as it’s another compilation episode that features tiresome musical numbers as well. Bart Carny isn’t memorable, The Joy of Sect is dramatic and always relevant, but rarely funny at all. Das Bus is a pretty solid ‘Lord of the Flies’ parody with a particularly funny Milhouse.

The Last Temptation of Krust is another very dated, weak Krusty episode. Dumbbell Indemnity is actually a terrific episode featuring Moe at one of his finest in a greatly romantic, elegant offering. Lisa the Simpson is a fantastic Lisa episode that deals with her frustration over her family’s dumbness and her fear of becoming dumb herself. Certainly the ending is silly, but the whole episode is otherwise superb and quite underrated.

This Little Wiggy is such a good, adventurous episode that offers a terrific role for Ralph and I loved his friendship with Bart here. The episode gets bad marks for making fun of him unfortunately in a couple of instances. Simpson Tide is naturally the most 90s episode of the show ever. It’s a fine, though not great action flick in a way. The Trouble with Trillions is a story about taxes that is okay, but far from memorable or great.

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Trash of the Titans is a silly episode about trash. So many of these episodes center around Homer doing something stupid or embarking on some new profession. It gets tiresome by now. King of the Hill is such a moving Homer/Bart story that is cartoony in the best way possible. Lost Our Lisa is weaker, but still adventurous and solid enough. And Natural Born Killers is the only truly fantastic episode of this season. I love Marge and Homer episodes, and this one is the most proudly sexual such episode that gets pretty crazy toward the end. It truly gets the importance of fetishes and imagination in the sexual lives of long-term couples.

The ninth season of The Simpsons is a mess. It’s the first weaker season of the show that has its excellent episodes, especially toward the end of its run, but most are overly repetitive and featuring just Homer way too much. They lost their edge and sophistication above all else.

Worst Episodes: The Principal and the Pauper, Realty Bites, The Last Temptation of Krust and All Singing, All Dancing.

Best Episodes: Lisa the Skeptic, Lisa the Simpson, King of the Kill and Natural Born Killers.

My Rating – 3.8