Gone Boy

Gone Boy is a terrific Simpsons episode with a well written plot and plenty of very memorable moments. It was an absolute joy of an episode that had a very timely feeling to it, this easily could have been done in the fifth or sixth season, it did not try to appeal to the pop culture euphoria of today and merely did its own thing, which is what the Simpsons should always do, they are enough of icons themselves, they do not need to continuously reference others.

One thing I will say is that I would have loved once we got to the "Bart section" of the episode, finding out what actually happened to him, I was hoping for a "Gone Girl" type reveal, because of the title, and was a little underwhelmed they did not give Bart a similar presence to that of Rosamind Pike's character in the movie.

Kelsey Granmar is brilliant as ever as Sideshow Bob, continuing to always delight, as well as bringing something new to this very enriching character who continues to be one of my favourites on the show.

Simple and enjoyable. Gone Boy is a very solid Simpsons.

A search party goes out for Bart when he goes missing, and Sideshow Bob is a key suspect.

Gone Boy is an amazing episode. I have watched 16 other Christmas Specials, and there were 2 bad, 3 okay, 3 good, and 9 really good episodes. This episode falls in the really good category. Gone Boy is one of those really good modern Sideshow Bob episodes, like Funeral For a Fiend. Even though this is supposed to be a Christmas episode, this isn't really much of a Christmas episode. It's more of a winter episode. I like how The Simpsons are trying out new things, putting Sideshow Bob in a "Christmas" episode. This episode is really such a winner. If you haven't watched this episode, I strongly recommend you to watch it. In all, I give this great Christmas special a 8.1 out of 10.

Another very solid episode after a little drought of mediocrity. Its a good mixture of a seasoned version of "Radio Bart" with Sideshow Bob playing a role as well. There are only a few slight complaints I have but overall it did a lot of things well: the jokes, characters, pacing and the plot. The couch gag had a nice Christmas theme to it.

I like how they introduced Sideshow Bob where Homer is the one responsible for accidentally knocking over the garbage back on the ground. And while not much of a fan of the episode where the religious inmate came from, he was pretty fun when talking with Bob. Also liked how Homer wanted to take full advantage of the rental car before returning. They brought back Bart's lucky hat, that deserves a mention. Surprised to see Marge's rage towards Quimby which is actually unusual for her, but at least its more of a realistic reaction. They actually made her sad enough to make a whole shrine out of Bart's bedroom which isn't something they often portray with their emotions. It was fun to see Bart using the old phone to first make a prank call before actually calling for help. The poll on Bart's fate was also pretty funny.

Good to see Millhouse being used who eventually pairs up with Bob, something that should've been done quite some time ago. I found it a rather poor attempt from him to keep Bart's whereabouts a secret from Lisa, I think he could've also impressed Lisa if he had just told her. Funny joke with Homer being pulled over the snow by Abe. Also liked how Bob tricked Millhouse into the hole, and that Santa's Little Helper brought Homer and Abe all the way back to Bart's sock drawers and eventually encountering O'Neill. Third act was also fun but I didn't fully believe that Bob would let Bart go that easily, but it had some good moments with Bob imagining a better life without killing for him. Fun way to end the episode with the missed posing as an artwork that eventually blows up, and Bob living as a hermit in a lighthouse.

Its nice to have 2 solid episodes in a row. My only complaints are that I felt there wasn't enough convincing for Bob to call off Bart's death, also a little complaint with the overuse of the Wilhelm Scream. But for the rest its been very solid and one of the better episodes of the season. I think the one thing they did best were the jokes, which were a lot of them that were actually pretty funny. Also the plot was mostly coherent without using extra sub plots, with a single and fun story going. They did the portrayal of Bart really well, also with the rest of the characters like Homers antics and Marge being so concerned for her son. And as always a great performance by Kelsey Grammar.