The Simpsons 500th Episode Review

rating: 2.5

The Simpsons as we know it are not the same any more. There has been a mammoth decline in quality over the years but you would have expected that the 500th episode would be slightly better. Unfortunately, after watching the episode, I found myself thinking 'What the hell?', putting it in a nice way. And FYI, the episode premiered in the UK a bit later than in the US, hence the late review for US readers, if you're wondering. The episode is called 'At Long Last Leave' and it sees the Simpsons finally being thrown out of Springfield, for essentially being the Simpsons. The episode starts off in good light, the couch gag reminds us all of all the past gags and can give somewhat of a nostalgic feeling. To summarise the episode really quickly, the Simpsons are evicted by those who we thought were their close friends, at least from observing the last 20 or so seasons and soon find themselves in the rough 'Outlands' surrounded by hillbillies. Taking a liking to their new surroundings, the Simpsons settle in but soon Marge and Homer sneak back in, they are obviously caught and kicked out again, just after a lecture by Marge makes the whole town feel bad. Soon, Springfieldians try and sneak into the Outlands and almost all try and rebuild their lives there. The point of this episode? Nothing really. How realistic is this episode? As realistic as Batman. Does it indirectly cover important affairs that affect normal peoples lives? Not at all. By judging the answers of these questions, you'd think that the episode does not even deserve a 2.5/5. The episode is nothing new and continues the trend of the new Simpsons but there are a few sparks of life and some moments of hilarity. What could have saved the day would have been the clever usage of some guest stars. Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange was the guest star but his role felt out of place. It had no purpose in the episode, besides adding a few extra laughs, which it failed to achieve. Not blaming Mr Assange here, he has more important things to do than write scripts for the Simpsons but it seems that the writers have once again let the Simpsons down. The episode may not have been good as for most of the time, I knew where the jokes were, but I just did not laugh. The jokes were not creative, or more importantly, they were not funny. It was almost like they were being forced upon us. To finish this off, just at the start of the end credits, a text appeared stating "All we ask is that you go out and get some fresh air before logging on the internet and saying how much this sucked." Well, I went out, got my fresh air and here I am saying that it sucked, but not too badly.