Little play on words in the title of this episode, so I am going with one as well for the title of my review. Like it or not. I think the first episode from The Simpsons' season two was pretty okay and this one here from now already over 30 years ago is basically the same level. Perhaps minimally better even. No greatness or anything, but worth a watch. First episode, the focus was all on Bart and this time it is all about Homer. Marge is just there to support and encourage her husband and even enjoy the fact that he found his passion and drive again. Bart is really not existent, except maybe the one scene in which he gets chased around and it's even a crucial scene because Bart basically put an end to Homer's glory. Lisa has a funny pony quote inclusion, even if that is also more about Homer than about her. These slightly over 20 minutes are a really good example of the overall situation at the end of an episode being exactly what it was at the very beginning. No matter how much happens in-between. And a lot happens here actually. I cannot sum it all up. I was a bit surprised in fact how Smithers was quite an antagonist in here. Also memorable from the 2021 perspective is for sure how Homer talks to a female applicant on one occasion. They would never get away with that nowadays. Which is actually a bit of a shame. Good old days! The Joe Cocker song you hear on two occasions in this episode was nice too, especially at the end when the two spouses sing it together basically and the imperfection makes it only better. Well, no it doesn't, but it shows that it does not matter to the two. Homer being full of himself again feels fitting too. Just like he was when talking to his colleagues during the early stages of this episode.
Homer also has an aide in this episode, a man even ready to take the blame for him. Interesting character, even if I am not sure where he came from and why he did what he did. But focus on friendship is present this time because on the one hand we see the man leave into the rain and maybe he is heading for his next mission, but still a bit of a surprise that he is out of the picture all of a sudden completely and really only was nothing more than a colleague eventually. And then there is a brief comment from a speaker about temporary friendship among colleagues early on. Oh and I thought that Barney's comment about the President referred to Clinton, but nope this episode is even a few years older than that and Clinton wasn't PotUS yet at that point. That shows you how old it really is. Finally, perhaps in a slightly depressing sense, another memorable inclusion is how Homer really manages to suck in the words from Karl and give a great presentation, but with his youthful hair gone, nobody was able to see it that way. Yep, it's all about the hair here. Interesting statement from Marge early on about how some women see bald men as masculine. This is probably much more the case today with the likes of Vin Diesel, The Rock and Bruce Willis and a few others out there rocking the business for years now. Okay, that is all then. Fairly enjoyable episode, but still certainly not as good as the rating here on imdb suggests. I still say watch it. It's one for the Homer fans and maybe that's why I liked it quite a bit. I mean he even impresses his wife's grumpy sisters and that's basically something he never ever achieves. Well done!
Homer also has an aide in this episode, a man even ready to take the blame for him. Interesting character, even if I am not sure where he came from and why he did what he did. But focus on friendship is present this time because on the one hand we see the man leave into the rain and maybe he is heading for his next mission, but still a bit of a surprise that he is out of the picture all of a sudden completely and really only was nothing more than a colleague eventually. And then there is a brief comment from a speaker about temporary friendship among colleagues early on. Oh and I thought that Barney's comment about the President referred to Clinton, but nope this episode is even a few years older than that and Clinton wasn't PotUS yet at that point. That shows you how old it really is. Finally, perhaps in a slightly depressing sense, another memorable inclusion is how Homer really manages to suck in the words from Karl and give a great presentation, but with his youthful hair gone, nobody was able to see it that way. Yep, it's all about the hair here. Interesting statement from Marge early on about how some women see bald men as masculine. This is probably much more the case today with the likes of Vin Diesel, The Rock and Bruce Willis and a few others out there rocking the business for years now. Okay, that is all then. Fairly enjoyable episode, but still certainly not as good as the rating here on imdb suggests. I still say watch it. It's one for the Homer fans and maybe that's why I liked it quite a bit. I mean he even impresses his wife's grumpy sisters and that's basically something he never ever achieves. Well done!