I just bought Season 12 yesterday, and I thought I'd provide my opinions on what I've seen so far. I haven't done this in a while, but since I haven't seen Season 12 in so long, I'd like to see if my views of each episode have changed since then.
- "Treehouse of Horror XI": One of Mike Scully's bigger weaknesses that I've seen was pacing. He tried to cram too much into his episodes, and so everything seems to be running at double speed. The first time I noticed it this season was right at the beginning of the first episode, as "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad" seems to rocket along without ever slowing down, and it kills some otherwise potentially funny bits. (Though I'll admit, "Do you really have to talk like that?" "No, not really" got a laugh out of me.) "Scary Tales Can Come True" isn't particularly Halloween-y, but its timing seems to be a little sharper for the most part. "Night of the Dolphin" is generally considered the centerpiece of this episode, and for good reason, as it's undoubtedly the strongest of the three stories. The biggest laugh of the episode came from this segment ("Snorky...talk...man...(ahem) I'm sorry, let me start over..."). Kang and Kodos' ending scene was a clever bit of self-parody, too.
- "A Tale of Two Springfields": How come both milestone episodes from the Scully era have Homer acting like an unlikeable jerk in a position of authority? "Trash of the Titans" from Season 9 made for a very disappointing 200th episode, and this doesn't fare much better as the 250th. The funniest stuff comes at the beginning with the badger in Santa's Little Helper's doghouse, but even that gives us the uncomfortable visual of Homer's chest ripped open. Save that stuff for the Halloween episodes, guys. Once things progress to the town meeting between the 636 area code residents and the 939ers, things start to go downhill fast. Phoney McRingRing only serves to remind me how much I miss Phil Hartman as Troy McClure (though that's no fault of the writers), and Homer planning to suicide-bomb the town hall if he doesn't get his old area code back is pretty extreme, even for this show, and a prime example of Homer's weaker characterization in later seasons. Once we get to the Who, Homer has become a real jerkass, and the closing scene of him chloroforming Marge has always rubbed me the wrong way.
- "Insane Clown Poppy": I'm sorry, shouldn't this episode have some emotional resonance? I barely even noticed that Krusty had reunited with his long-lost daughter. There's so much potential for an idea like that, but instead, it's condensed into a handful of scenes in Act II, sandwiched between an Act I completely wasted on fireworks and a book festival, and an Act III that has Homer and Krusty infiltrating Fat Tony's mansion during a mafia summit. Even without looking at the production code (BABF17), I could tell you this was a holdover from the ADD-riddled Season 11. Also, this episode has one of the weakest "celebrity" guest voices ever, as they got John Updike just to say his name and laugh. Really, guys, you don't need to prove that you can get anyone on this show; we believe you.
- "Lisa the Tree Hugger": This certainly isn't a bad episode, but it's no classic either. It just...exists. Again, the idea of Lisa joining a radical pro-environment group and being overwhelmed by their extremism has the potential to be great, but the jokes don't hold up too well. They're not bad jokes, they just don't connect the way they should. It might be the timing, or it might be the delivery, but something about this episode is off.
- "Homer Vs. Dignity": Ouch. This one hurt. While I'll admit it was nice to see Homer as someone a little more human with his conflict between maintaining his dignity and taking Mr. Burns' money, the source of that conflict was what sunk this episode. Mr. Burns has never struck me before as the kind of guy who likes pulling embarrassing pranks on people, and I have no idea why he's doing it in this episode. Yes, I know it's a parody of The Magic Christian, but it just doesn't click with the execution they gave it. This is a man who once blocked out the sun - why is the extent of his devilishness now limited to throwing fish guts on people? Also, it's worth mentioning that upon this viewing, I finally realized that the infamous panda scene makes absolutely no sense, even in the context of the contrived plot it's in. Homer dressing up as a panda is hardly a prank - how do the townspeople get humiliated by this? The whole thing feels like the writers' excuse to get Homer in a panda suit and then mistaken for the real deal by a horny male panda - in other words, it's painfully contrived and leads to a disgusting punchline. I'd expect this from a crappy frat-comedy movie, not "The Simpsons".
- "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes": Now this one I actually liked. Which is surprising, 'cause the last time I watched it, I thought it was pretty lame. Admittedly, it takes a sharp left turn in the third act, but now that I know what "The Prisoner" is, it does help to take some of the confusion away. The humor is still pretty strong, the pacing isn't too bad, and the technological jokes actually still hold up pretty well nine years later.
- "The Great Money Caper": Another one that surprised me. I used to hate this episode with a passion, but now that I understand the source material (movies like The Sting and Paper Moon), it makes a bit more sense. A lot of jokes made me laugh harder than they used to ("I'd like to, son, but we already left the gift shop!...D'OH!"), though the non-ending still feels a little awkward. It's pretty similar to the previous season's "Missionary: Impossible", and it's okay to pull that once, but twice does get a little tedious.
- "Skinner's Sense of Snow": Much like Speedy, I'm surprised this plot hadn't been done before. It's a great idea to have the kids trapped in the school with Principal Skinner, and as such, this is one of the funnier and more organic-feeling episodes of the season. None of the humor feels forced, as it all comes from the kids' interactions with Skinner. The subplot of Homer and Flanders trying to save the kids is also quite well done, with a funny callback to "Mr. Plow" to boot. There's some surprisingly risque jokes here and there ("That's the last time you'll slap your Willie around!", "You made it, Nibbles! Now, chew through my ball sack!", etc.), but they don't distract from the overall strength of the episode.
- "HOMR": Scully's pacing issues come back in full-force with this one, as the main plot point doesn't kick in until halfway through the episode. Thankfully, it's made up for by the animation convention set piece at the beginning, which offers some pretty funny jabs that animation fans like myself will get (the nonsensical qualities of anime, voice actors who just rip off other voices, etc.). Once we get to Homer's increased intelligence, though, something feels off. Homer does smarter things, sure, but you don't really feel that he is smarter. He still talks and feels like the same old bumbling oaf he was before, and it doesn't offer enough contrast between him and the rest of the town. The bond he develops with Lisa is also rushed and slipshod, and the payoff at the end with the note he wrote lacks the punch it needs to connect. A potentially good idea, but executed poorly. (Also, it feels weird for Moe to be the surgeon who puts the crayon back in Homer's brain. I still say it should have been Dr. Nick Riviera.)
- "Pokey Mom": This is another one of those episodes that just seems to exist without being particularly memorable. Marge episodes in the Scully era seem to have that problem a lot, as nobody on his staff really knew how to write for her. There's not much for me to say about her and Jack Crowley, nor can I think of much I liked in the subplot of Homer becoming an amateur chiropractor. This B-plot feels like they were trying to recapture the same spontaneity of Homer's sugar pile from "Lisa's Rival", but it lacks the clever humor required to pull off such a non-sequitur subplot like that.
Both of those examples were from Season 15, by the way. 