Intercambio Cultural

Why does American TV hate the French so much?. Why does everyone in Springfield hate Bart?. This is yet another example of extremely dated nonsense involving Bart being sent to France as a Student exchange program. Why is he being sent to a pair of French criminals as part of that program? , Also why is Albania suddenly a enemy nation, was this left over from the cold war. This episode has no answers but a lot of truly mean spirted and witless humor. If they had a home alone feel or something involving Bart getting back at the French crooks, then it might have worked. Also, why was Albania suddenly a vilified nation. It was completely unnecessary. And of note, the jokes in this episode kind of suck. Too stupid even for the Simpson, which shouldn't suck because this show gave us some of the greatest moments in all of comedy.

This episode is one of the bright spots for Season 1 for many reasons. It's funny and quite interesting. This is also the first episode where we get to see a Simpson leave Springfield. There are some funny scenes especially when Homer doesn't see his new Albanian son as a threat as he gives him blueprints of a nuclear reactor. I also like how the French are stereotyped because this is exactly how they usually are stereotyped by Americans.

This episode, "The Crepes of Wrath" has Bart almost seriously injuring Principal Skinner's mother at school. Skinner, therefore proposes a plan by sending him to France. While in France, Bart becomes a slave of some very bad winemakers.

Overall, this is a fun episode that is really interesting. There are a few funny moments but this is one of the strongest episodes yet in the early going. I rate this episode 9/10.

The Bart side of the episode still works. It is funny and engaging. It gentle pokes fun at how Americans see the French. There are plenty of cultural injokes to chuckle at, i.e. Driving through various French paintings. And Bart ends up learning a little about life.

But the Springfield side of the story is dated; it was sort of dated when it was released back in the 1990's. The tension in the episode is born from the Cold War and the sort of sleeper agents that Adil is parodying were a lot more common prior to computers being so integrated into society. (Hacking, ransomware is cheaper and more effective today as the 2010 Russian spy ring bust shows). This plot feels forced today.

Bart blows up most of the toilets in the school (plus Skinner's mother) and is put in an exchange program. He is sent to France to live with an Albanian family (sort of). Meanwhile, a little Albanian boy comes to live with Bart's family. This leads to problems with Homer's interpretation of the security system at the power plant. There is some fun, but mostly it's sort of dull.

Bart participates in a student exchange program and heads to France.

This is a strong episode with some memorable moments.

I love the premise of Bart being so difficult to manage that Homer and Principle Skinner want him out of the country. It also creates an enjoyable A/B story about the experiences of Bart and Adil.

The opening scenes with Skinner, his mother and Bart, plus the visit Skinner makes to the Simpson home contains some great dialogue and site gags.

Although Bart's adventures in France are very entertaining, I prefer the Adil scenes the most as they are funnier, particularly with the running gag of how unaware Homer is of the real situation.