Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Simpsons Season 38, Episode 1!
Nothing is certain in life but death, taxes, and new seasons of The Simpsons. It’s pretty incredible to think that this iconic animated sitcom has crossed the 800-episode mark and is now entering its 38th season. The series doesn’t do anything particularly noteworthy to ring in the new season. “The Children’s Book Job” settles for delivering a fairly standard late-era Simpsons adventure, one that’s mostly carried on the back of its guest star.
The conflict this week comes as Marge (Julie Kavner) is no sooner sworn in as PTA president than the town learns Springfield Elementary is about to be shut down. That in itself seems like a decent premise for a new episode. How do you save this beloved Springfield institution? Should the town even want to, given how legendarily terrible Springfield Elementary is?
But that’s not the direction writer Dan Vebber opts to go with this particular storyline. Instead, Marge and her fellow parents put all their eggs in the basket of beloved children’s book author Constance Clavinger (Emma Thompson). Apparently, having Constance read her latest creation in public is the key to keeping Springfield Elementary’s doors open? I wish I knew that when my local district was deciding to shut down my daughter’s school…
It’s a slightly weird and random pivot, but whatever. As mentioned before, it’s really all about this week’s celebrity guest voice. Thompson is a real hoot as Constance, an eccentric personality who’s both charmingly British and enough of a drunken mess to give Homer (Dan Castellaneta) a run for his money. We also get a brief cameo from Colin Jost, but this is really Thompson’s show to steal at the end of the day. She brings her A-game, making the most of her character’s many wild mood swings and even belting out a tune with Castellaneta for good measure.
Plot-wise, “The Children’s Book Job” is nothing special. This episode is yet another opportunity for Homer to prove he can be reliable and dependable and isn’t fully checked out of the fatherhood game. I do appreciate that it doesn’t take the cynical route, but instead focuses on Homer earnestly trying to manage Constance’s nonstop brand of mischief. The ending is also sweet, as Homer manages to pierce through Constance’s jaded heart and convince her not to sabotage her life’s work. But still, this is nothing we haven’t seen 1000 times before on the Homer/Marge front.
There are a few other noteworthy moments worth calling in the premiere. It makes solid use of the wider Springfield supporting cast, whether it’s Moe (Hank Azaria) calling for a Squid Game-style bloodbath or Snake (Azaria) briefly allying himself with Homer’s cause. It would be pretty funny if the series actually followed up on that plot thread and the destruction of Homer’s beloved car, but somehow, I doubt that’ll happen. I also got a kick out of Marge’s passive-agressive responses to Lisa’s (Yeardley Smith) various helpful suggestions.
But if there’s anything in this episode that stands out as much as Thompson’s character, it’s the brief chase sequence where Homer hallucinates a journey through various children’s books. It’s a well-animated bit with fun nods to everything from classics like Madeleine and Richard Scarry to modern fare like Captain Underpants. That’s one way to spice up an otherwise textbook Homer storyline.