The Simpsons: Lisa's Valentine

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I don't know about you, but I'm really just waiting for Number 500 right now. This episode was just filler, really. It was nice to have a holiday-themed episode instead of just random stuff, but I didn't find it particularly appealing. Lisa falls for a boy who seems to be her type, but it ends up ending horribly. Marge gets possessive over Lisa. Nothing much for Maggie or Homer. I preferred Bart's storyline the most, and even it wasn't all that great. He and Milhouse have a good idea to act out a television show... we all did that when we were kids, right? It wasn't the best choice of show, and they were really stretching for material (and an audience) by the end, but it made for a decent half-episode. Did you prefer the Lisa segment? Why?

The Simpsons "The Daughter Also Rises" (S23E13): The opening montage depicts Ralph as Cupid, shooting an arrow at the Simpsons logo in the clouds to make the "o" into a heart. The couch gag is a bunch of people over at the Simpsons house to celebrate 500 episodes, but Lisa realizes that this is only #499. [could've been a cute gag, but the 500th episode has been so over-announced at this point that it was kinda dumb.]

Homer is getting ready to take Marge out for Valentine's Day, which includes eating a rose to better his breath. [bleh!] Marge wants to give Homer the night off, though, so he and Bart go to the batting cages and arcade, while Marge and Lisa go out to eat. Marge dives to save the vinaigrette dressing from being contaminated

CR: FOX

by thousand island, which gives Lisa the opportunity to meet a sophisticated young boy, Nick. [Milhouse's parents together on Valentine's Day? and Miss Wyoming? is there??] Moe is also there, and offers Marge a bite of his ziti... at a price! It costs her "a nickel but we'll settle up later." [what the...?] Lisa and Nick go out on a date, making Lisa late to meet up with Marge to do some quilting. [what was with making the twins look like three people?] Lisa and Nick watch the "Running of the Bullies," have picnics, and write together. Once night, Marge reads Lisa Peter Pan, and Lisa admits that she has a crush on Nick, so Marge invites him over for dinner. [hehe, ] Nick invites Lisa to the Doritos Nutrition Fair, but Marge says that afterwards, she can't spend as much time with him, since she'll become a separate person from her. [hold the horses. Doritos sponsors a nutrition fair? hahahaha! and Marge's comment was pushing the limit... what an uncomfortable room! we also don't come back to this...] Lisa complains to Abe, who tells her an ancient story about lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. [haha at tetherball with Flanders' head.] He then agrees to drive the two out to a mulberry tree so they can have their first kiss. [is the kiss-under-the-mulberry-tree a real thing? also, LoL at the cops being after Abe because he has a tv remote in his pocket!] The kids take a rowboat, and Nick is just becoming more and more unappealing. The rest of the family is en route when Lisa decides to not even kiss the boy. [what kind of ridiculous water shoes was Marge wearing?? and what exactly happened to that airboat at the end??]

Milhouse and Bart are told to go play, so they decide to become MythCrackers, specifically about school myths, though they do try one where Milhouse is injured using a cell phone at a gas station. [oh, and what was with that messed up "Itchy and Scratchy" gag? though I'm glad we re-visited those characters. I did laugh at the gag about multi-platform television even being available at gas stations!] Bart and Milhouse then try to dispel the myth that hitting E8 on the school vending machine will electrocute you since it has no item. Bart uses Milhouse's finger to enter that sequence, and candy cigarettes pop out instead! Next up is to figure out whether going all the way around on the swings makes your body turning inside-out... nope! Bart makes Milhouse do it, of course. [haha at tetherball with Flanders' head.] Then, they head into a girls room to figure out if saying Eleanor Mackey three times in the dark will kill you. After Milhouse doesn't die, the kids all think that school is boring. Nelson has an interesting moment, however, when he cuts a Twix like a cigar, as he's moved on from candy cigarettes. Bart decides that they need to spice things up, so he has Groundskeeper Willie pretend to be a werewolf and eat Milhouse. [really? ridiculous!]