Since airing, this episode has built a reputation online as the moment the show officially went into decline. This is in large part thanks to the third act spin, which reveals that the horse-riding jockeys are actually brain-eating elves. This sounds silly, but it’s actually worse in the department.
This is half an hour The Simpsons it also contains a lot of weird, out of place meta jokes commenting on how “Saddlesore Galactica” repeats old stories and jokes, which is not very funny and also highlights how bad the episode actually was. I think the show has had great episodes and even seasons from that point on – even if many people online think otherwise – I can’t deny that “Saddlesore Galactica” is probably the end of the series’ golden age.
