Lost Our Lisa

"Lost Our Lisa" is a very lovely and natural episode. It presents the center of Springfield as a labyrinthine city where you can easily get lost, which many people find relatable because as children, we all have those fears, including the fear of missing our bus stop.

However, what truly stands out and makes this episode beautiful is the interaction between Lisa and Homer. Homer provides Lisa with his perspective on life, and she uses it as a motivation to take a risk and pursue what she most desires at that moment. It's a very sweet moment that humanizes the characters in the series and endears them to us.

The episode also features humorous moments, such as the telephone conversation between Lisa and Homer, as well as other moments that feel very natural, with character dialogue that doesn't feel forced and seems genuinely spontaneous, just like in real life. It's a part of the golden era of the series.

It's true that, on the other hand, people got so used to watching better episodes than this one because they were quite good, but that doesn't make this one bad. Then there are complaints about the bridge and Homer's head. However, in other episodes, they've shown us that Homer's skull is quite resilient. A cartoon doesn't have to be 100% realistic, and in episodes like "Bart the Daredevil" and "Bart's Inner Child," which are much older than this one, similar things happen, and people don't nitpick. People want to pinpoint the start of the decline where it hasn't happened yet. I can tell you that the beginning of the downhill occurs in the episode "Maximum Homerdrive" in Season 10. That one is an early modern episode, not this one.

Lisa tricks Homer into letting her catch the bus to the museum.

This is a solid episode with some good humour.

For me the best moments of this one involve Homer and Lisa. The scenes where Homer realises a certain mistake and goes looking for Lisa are very funny, particularly when he is spotted out of work by certain individuals. However, I think it peaks when they are together.

The b-plot involving Bart is also quite good, especially the the final solution to the superglue problem. Characters like Dr Hibbert, Chief Wiggam, and the bus driver are used well by the writers.

For me it is a 7.5/10, but I round upwards.

I know it's The Simpsons but there is something about a little girl, lost in the city, facing undesirable elements that is sad. Homer, of course, is clueless because all he does at work is sleep. It just didn't move me very much.

Just the concept that an 8 year old couldnt take the bus on their own to a busy place like a public museum is just so absurd to me? This ironically showcases how little autonomy children in the US have, Lisa having to ask Homer _really nicely_ just so she can take the bus. Its just so silly that they were able to make an entire episode about this. I mean sure I think all of us transit riders can reminisce about that one time we took the wrong bus to the wrong part of town but this episode I dont know just dunks on Public Transit a bit too often to be relatable? I dont know, I just didnt find it relatable which is sad, since thats one of the strengths of the show, it being such a human show and all....

After 6 great Simpsons seasons (seasons 3-8), season 9 is the first season where the quality really starts to go downhill. Lost our Lisa is one of my least favorites of all because the writing is so poor. The premise in which Lisa gets lost in taking a bus to see an Egyptian exhibit is fine, but the execution is poor.

My first problem is with Lisa taking the bus by herself. It starts off amusing with Lisa making small talk with the bus driver and he keeps tapping the "do no talk to bus driver sign", but where the episode starts to go bad is when the bus driver drops Lisa off in the desert at the end of the line. No bus driver would ever do that to a small child! i don't care about this being a cartoon, the Simpsons for years has been about heart, and sure they've had scenarios that are "out there" but the Simpsons and their characters have acted human. In my opinion this is an example of sloppy writing where they just wanted to get Lisa stranded. I can think of other ways they could have done it - like maybe have Lisa get dropped off at the North Springfield Museum (they did it once with the West Springfield Elementary), or Lisa getting dropped off on North Main Street rather than South Main Street... anything than a bus driver dropping an 8 year old off in the middle of nowhere... It reminds me a bit of Season 1's Call of The Simpsons where Maggie is missing and nobody notices which always upsets me, but I could forgive it because it was season 1 and they were still figuring things out - with this happening in Season 9 there is no real excuse.

The other major problem I have with this episode is the scene where the bridge closes on Homer's head - Once again the argument can be made they are cartoons, but they've spent the past 8 season making the Simpsons Human - Mt Burns get shot, Homer eats a poisoned Fish - Homer and Moe are almost burnt, Bart get hit by a car -I can go on, and in all cases they almost die - the Simpsons are mortal - but a bridge closing on Homer's head would kill him - end of story. Once again - poor writing - they could of have the bridge close on the cherry picker or he could have bumped his head on the metal (with a great doh!!!). Those are acceptable, the bridge closing on his head which would have squashed him like a grape is unacceptable.

In conclusion the Simpsons for me is about heart, humor and great writing, Lost our Lisa has no heart, poor writing and very little humor.... and sadly in continues like this for many more seasons...