TV REVIEW: THE SIMPSONS - THE PAST AND THE FURIOUS

3/5

Springfield Drift

24 Mins. Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria & Harry Shearer, with special guest star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Screenplay: Rob LaZebnik. Director: Mike Frank Polcino. Created By: Matt Groening. On: Disney +.

Clouds in the sky, 'The Siiimpsoooons' have so many Star Wars, Marvel and Mickey Mouse specials on Disney Plus, not to mention their Christmas, Halloween and NFL game day ones, that they may as well have their own multiverse of madness like their fellow comic mouse house inhabitants. Now, if you click on their "WUHU" version of Hulu, you can see exactly that, with some cracking Easter Eggs for fans of the show since it started...781 episodes ago.

'The Past and the Furious' is all about 'The Simpsons' family, even if it isn't canon to their sacred timeline. Earth 456, or whatever Stan Lee's boys call it. Matt Groening's won't leave you like his second name, as you won't want to prune this New Year follow-up to their Christmas special 'O C'mon All Ye Faithful', co-starring mad mind manipulator Derren Brown. Taking us back to the roaring 1920s like a Gatsby, as this one roars differently, this is a Lisa episode which find the precocious daughter of the family trying to save the world again. But this time with a little help from a certain C. Montgomery Burns (what?) played by fellow 90s '3rd Rock From The Sun' favourite Joseph Gordon-Levitt (WHAT?!).

The 'Inception' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' star makes a fine young Monty Burns in this alternate reality episode that now has its own exclusive tab next to the yellow show's thirty-six (WHAAAAT?!) seasons. Written by Rob LaZebnik and directed by Mike Frank Polcino, Springfield is feeling more like "winterfield" in this alternate reality where plants no longer grow (are you sure this is alternate? I live in Tokyo!). A daisy chain of flower stamping depression and medically prescribed stimulators and tappers (don't make me say what again) has Lisa tapping back into the past, where she meets a young Charles Montgomery at a jazz club aptly named the 'Little Moose Club'...and just wait until you find out why. Those won't make new clothes like those loafers ("former gophers") as you see Burns' vest again.

Don't sneeze at this brand new, old time, jazz junket of a story that shows heart to the natural and traditional world, but is also a beautiful love letter to mother's as you frolic amongst the flowers and twist the night away. Joe is a hit at this record of another Burns in another life and Lisa is the lovable, well-intentioned and meaning soul we all need (to be) in this day and age. The past catches up with you furiously in this hunt for the good ole days. Professor Frink also puts his two glavins in, like he did in the latest Christmas classic. All for a moose-see that really grabs life and its paths by the horns. There might not be a fast car and silver cross in sight, but 'The Past and the Furious' still has you. No "almost" about it. Winning is winning. And dancing is as such. So get to steppin'. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'The Simpsons: O' C'mon All Ye Faithful', 'The Simpsons: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year', 'The Simpsons: Funday Football'.