The Simpsons season 36 episode 7 "Women In Shorts" review: Lady's night to play

The November 10th The Simpsons episode, "Women In Shorts," has to be my favorite one so far this season, next to "Treehouse of Horror XXXV." "Women In Shorts" offered a glimpse inside the lives of the Springfield ladies, with the men taking a backseat. To them, the shift isn't noticeable, but it makes a hilarious stand out for Homer, which granted a burst of intense laughter on my behalf.

"Women In Shorts" is a sequel to the seventh-season masterpiece "22 Short Stories About Springfield." If you know the 1996 episode, vignettes surrounding many of the town's major and minor residents share POV pieces surrounding their lives. "Women In Shorts" takes on the same respect, but as mentioned, the vignettes are catered to the ladies.

I didn't think the writers would be able to compact everyone's focal point; if there's one thing I learned about The Simpsons from long ago, other than being the most realistic show, it is never to doubt the writers. Sure, it's natural to have opinions on the series' narratives, and that's fine, as we're a melting pot of fans of various perspectives.

Let's get on with the review, shall we?

The Simpsons "Women In Shorts" review

The episode begins with a character flip of Lisa writing on the chalkboard, which is Bart's thing, but Lisa has a sweet, if slightly devious edge to it, whereas Bart has been doing the after-school punishment for 35 years. The opener also swoops back to season 8's "Lisa's Date With Density," where the 8-year-old music prodigy writes on the chalkboard after causing a distraction in class.

As we skate to the Couch Gag, the layout hints at the stories that will be told throughout. The gag itself is also changed. Instead of being hosted in the Simpsons' household, which has been the center point, it segues to the Van Houtens' place, where our first femme fable will take place.

It's an all-ladies intervention where the women target Luann for her overindulgence in wine merch. In her defense, Luann reveals that without her "addiction," she feels she has a meaningless life. Milhouse overhears his mother say this from the stairs, he gets emotionally down.

That poor kid is always getting shafted for one thing or another. Anyway, Luann shifts to a more demoralizing merch choice, but in the essence of The Simpsons, and seeing how this episode was authored by Christine Nangle, who previously worked on Saturday Night Live, the bit was humor-based. Usually, I wouldn't agree with it, and we women are multitudes more than being labeled as promiscuous, but for the show's sake, I'll let this one slide.

Speaking of multitudes, The Simpsons' parodied the 2023 hit Barbie, crafting the segment to fit into the Springfield Universe. In their universe, Barbie is caricatured into Malibu Stacy, and the doll steps out of her perfect world and enters Springfield. Her design reflects Paris Hilton from the 2000s, and her core purpose is to bring joy to a little girl. Unfortunately, that girl just had to be Shawna Chalmers, who beats and bullies Malibu Stacy until her head is kicked off, leading to a traumatized Smithers who encounters it.

Next up, Nelson's mom tells a bedtime story to her son, which is just a very watered-down version of her job at the gentleman's club. She paints herself as a heroine as she fights the antiquated agism system of the working sphere. It's pretty funny, seeing how Mrs. Muntz created it to be a fairytale from the Dark Ages.

As the page turns, Lisa becomes a ruler of a fantasy forest, where she reigns over mythical creatures. Yet, the forest's citizens don't favor her policies, seeing them as "feudalism" and "dividing." It's pretty spot on when you consider the future in our reality, and while I don't want to get political, it's going to be difficult for many.

Here's when Homer gets the attention geared toward him, and it's somewhat embarrassing but hilarious. While shopping with Marge, she tells him to get a box of tampons, which is routine for us women but awkward for some reason for men. The entire store does a song and dance skit on Homer's incompetence over the hygenic product, leading to even more confusion on Homer's mind. Seriously, guys, I don't know the explanation for why the opposite sex gets so embarrassed by a natural occurrence. But I guess that's how men are sometimes.

Other segments included Dr. Hibbert and his wife trying to revamp their marriage; Helen Lovejoy going berserk and destroying her husband's model trains; Agnes Skinner looking for a new enemy; Luigi's mother becoming a lawyer in the style of The Nanny; and Maggie getting her own tale in the light of Batman.

Overall, "Women In Shorts" was on of this season's best installments, and it's with hope that the season's forecast will continue to be as strong.

The Simpsons will be back on November 24th with their second "Treehouse of Horror."

The Simpsons airs Sundays on Fox with streaming the next day on Hulu.