Season Five - Episode 8-13

Episode 8: Boy-Scoutz N the Hood
Well if that wasn't Jerkass-Homer then nothing is. Homer really annoys the shit out of me in this one. Also I don't really care for Borgnine's quest appearance, but it's not bad really. Overall the episode is still pretty enjoyable. Bart & Milhouse on sugar-high is fun to watch, especially Apu laughing is funny in some absurd way. Then there's Homer's visions while listening to music. Bart's subplot in the boy-scouts is interesting before it all peters when they float to sea. It's slows the episodes pace down - I mean how much can there be going on with the characters just floating off-shore? Jerkass-Homer and slow points in the plot drop this all the way to 4/10.

Episode 9: Last Temptation of Homer
Homer sure has his way with women. An episode filled with good jokes, great lines and rock-solid characterization. Plot was good and direction excellent - not to mention the animation. It isn't amazing on any respect, but it's just a basic episode done really, really well. Subplot wasn't that interesting, but they got some jokes out of it so I'm fine with it. Like I said, not amazing, but still very good, 6/10.

Episode 10: $pringfield (Or, How I Learnt To Stop Worrying And Love Legalized Gambling)
Another decent, but not great episode. There was a bit of Jerkass-Homer on the show in the end, but that can be overlooked. Other than that there's not much flaws, but it's just slow at times. There's some good jokes, but nothing too special. One of those hard-to-review episodes as it has little flaws but not much anything great to point out either. I'm fine with 4/10 rating though.

Episode 11: Homer the Vigilante
I don't know, I was kind of bored at times. I'm not saying this was bad episode, but it's not up to the high standard set up in the earlier seasons. Some good jokes, but not a bombing like it used to be, decent plot and good characterizations, that sums up the episode. The "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" -ending was nice, though it was pretty much copied from the movie. Glad they managed to add some own twist into it in the end. Another decent but not that great one, 4/10.

Episode 12: Bart Gets Famous
I've seen this at least five times now. This used to be on constantly for some reason when I watched Simpsons on tv. It's a great self-referential episode, but doesn't take repeated viewings too well. You remember pretty much whole episode on two viewings, so it will be a long time before I watch this again. It's not up to the standard of the greats, but it's not average either, it's somewhere in between, perfect candidate for the 5/10 rating. Best bit was probably the catchphrase-gag in the end. The "I didn't do it" -song is also memorable.

Episode 13: Homer and Apu
Decent episode, I don't really care for musical numbers but it was tolerable and memorable. Also there's the classic joke when Homer asks "Are you really the head of Kwik-E-Mart? Really? You?" James Woods' quest appearance was quite well executed as weel. There were a few slower moments and you could tell that the episode ran short due to couple of gags that really only used time. It's another 5/10 - not quite there with classics, but not average either.