“I guess I expected something different from your photo.” – Mrs. Krabappel
“Don’t let my age fool you. Just ’cause there’s a little snow on the roof . . . I forget how the rest of that goes.” – Jasper
Intentionally or not, there is an interesting undercurrent to “The Blue and the Gray”, Zombie Simpsons’ latest affront to quality television. Confronted with the unpleasant fact that she’s not quite what she used to be, Marge flips out and returns to the comforting fiction that cosmetic similarities mean she’s just the same as she always was. Remind you of anything’s writing staff?
That’s not the world’s closest comparison. A person’s hair color is largely irrelevant to who they are, whereas the writing of a television show is vitally important to how good it is. But I do enjoy the idea that Zombie Simpsons can’t handle the truth about itself, and chooses to wallow in toxic, self deceiving hair dye instead.
Anyway, in between rickety side plots with Moe and Bart, the episode is ostensibly about Marge trying to come to terms with the harsh reality that letting her natural hair color show will change the way other people react to her. Somewhere there’s probably a decent story to be told about that, one that provides plenty of opportunities for satire and comedy about double standards, about the impossible quest to remain young, about beauty lies we’ve all agreed upon. This was not that story, nor did it contain any of that comedy. That might have required some thought.
The numbers are in, and they are terrible. Last night’s noxious goo was rinsed from the scalps of a mere 5.62 million people. That’s a new low for Season 22, as well as the fourth lowest rating of all time. To put it another way, “The Blue and the Gray” is the 477th episode of the show, and 473 of those episodes were viewed by more people.
Dead Homer Society 
6 responses to “Going Gray”
Didn’t we already know Marge died her hair? In Secrets of a Successful Marriage? God Zombie Simpsons is pathetic.
Maybe we can look forward to an entire episode on her webbed toes.
..or an episode where her voice becomes even MORE gravelly.
I just watched this episode, and you point out some of its many flaws, but I wanted to comment on one more that points out (I think) a greater trend in Zombie Seasons: at the end, Lisa says, “As a feminist, virtually anything a woman does is empowering.”
This is obviously a (bad) joke at the expense of feminism, which I find curious because The Simpsons was once known as the vanguard of subversive, progressive humor. Bashing feminism isn’t in any way subversive; it’s easy. (And think of all the nuanced invocations of feminism in episodes like Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy by way of comparison.) This just reminds me of how the show went from Homer’s Phobia to Flaming Moe. So apparently as it’s gotten worse, it’s also lost its political edge.
Anyway, that part of the ending REALLY pissed me off, so I just wanted it to be noted. Another ongoing Zombie Simpsons problem that was especially prevalent here is having jokes take too long. Countless potentially good jokes were absolutely destroyed by unnecessary length in this episode (think of the kids’ hair freak-out), and what was going on with Bart being sent to a therapist? That part went NOWHERE. Ugh!
“she’s not quite what she used to be”
Just like the grey old mare in the song!
“It was an unusually warm February 14th, so the children walked home without jackets.”
This quote echoed in my mind on seeing the kids wrapped up in their winter clothes.