So after a really down to earth Marge and Homer episode with "Life On The Fast Lane", we get our second Marge and Homer marriage crisis episode. This one is more of a blooper. Especially coming right after "Life On The Fast Lane", it is really memorable in that it really reminds you of modern Marge and Homer episodes. Apart from the setup of "Homer fucking up and redeeming himself to Marge", it is littered with problems of unrealistic resolutions and weird motivation changes that will be magnified hundreds of times in post classical episodes. Compared to modern episodes it is obviously much more solid and interesting. However, compared to classical episodes, it really is the worst so far; definitely the worst of season one.
We begin the episode with a look at Homer attending a bachelor party and Marge and the kids eating at the same restaurant. At the bachelor party, Homer's assistant (or supervisor) gets his final bachelor freedom when a stripper enters. The stripper takes a shine to Homer, and we do see Homer being uncomfortable about this. Homer obviously understands that he probably shouldn't dance with the stripper and understands how this will hurt Marge. But in the heat of the moment, he goes along anyways. When Bart, with his brand new spy camera, sneaks in and catches a glimpse of all this excitement, he takes a picture and now Homer's crime is recorded forever.
When Bart takes his picture to school to print it out, he is persuaded into giving Millhouse a copy. As a result, the picture is massively circulated and within a few days, it is reprinted so many times that literally everyone has a copy. I don't really buy this in that I really doubt that a picture of a random stranger dancing with a stripper can be this popular such that it becomes more circulated than newspaper, especially since its sources began with an elementary school. But anyways, when Marge manages to get a copy of the picture, she is understandably upset. She explodes on Homer when he comes home, and throws Homer out and Homer is forced to stay with Barney for the night.
Now at this point I'd like to point out that all the characters are still in their proper place. Homer made a mistake. He didn't really mean to do it and as we can see he obviously is sorry and cares enough to not go party with Barney and reminiscent about Marge at Barney's apartment. Marge is also sad that Homer did this and the lack of Homer in the house really did affect the kids as well. However, for some reason after Homer comes back on the second day, it seems that Marge seems to be upset about Homer for treating woman like objects. But wait a minute, I thought Marge is upset because Homer is disloyal to her. I don't understand why Marge would throw Homer out if she is merely unhappy about how Homer is treating woman. Couldn't she just talk to him about it? It maybe understandable for Marge to throw Homer out if she feels Homer no longer cares about her anymore to dance with a stripper, but I feel that treating woman like an object is a problem that should be talked over at home. Although it can be said that Marge realises that Homer didn't dance with the stripper on purpose, but is merely pressured into it, but I do feel that if that's so, we should be shown how Marge realises this and focuses on some other problems. It is like one minute Marge is upset at Homer for being disloyal to her, and the next minute it is completely fine. It just seems like the wild mood swing that modern Simpsons would have, and that it shouldn't happen in Season one.
It is sad to say that from there on the episode takes a turn for the worse. Marge demands Homer to find the stripper and apologise to her for treating her like an object. Homer obliges in order to make up to Marge. He goes to a ton of strip clubs and finally finds her. Then while talking to her, Homer apparently gets lifted up into the air and drops a flight of stairs. He apparently somehow is known by name by everyone at the strip club even though the photos never showed his name and dances with the strippers again. Upon seeing Bart, he realises that he needs to give a heartfelt speech about how woman aren't objects and as a result, the crowd is completely overtaken and muses about their wives and daughters and such.
First of all, I want to say given the stakes raised in this episode about Marge and Homer's marriage crisis, it shouldn't all of a sudden switch to Homer trying to find a stripper and apologise. It completely undermines any emotions the episode may have contained. Second of all, this episode really feels like it has lost its direction. It doesn't really know what it wants to be: a down to earth episode like "Life on the Fast Lane", or a comedic episode like "The Call Of The Simpsons". While the first part of the episode seems to setup a major crisis with Marge throwing Homer out, the second half completely switches gears into Homer being raised by a bird's cage and then falls down a bunch of stairs. I am not saying physical comedy shouldn't be in the Simpsons. "Call Of The Simpsons" had Homer getting stung by bees and something like 20 seconds of Homer and Bart screaming down the waterfall, but at least there it fits in the tone of the episode; it knows where it's going. Here, it just doesn't fit given Marge just threw Homer out of the house.
Finally, the resolution is just really bad. Imagine that if you are going to a strip club, and you hear some guy talking about how woman are not objects, are you going to show a picture of your mom to a stranger and then just leave? Does it sound plausible in real life? The Simpsons is a portrayal of real life, and Homer's speech shouldn't really move anybody, especially since he just danced with a bunch of strippers and the audience know Homer stuffed a dollar bill in Princess Kashmir's panties in the photo. While it is true that Springfieldians seem to be easily swayed by a heartfelt speech as shown in "The Telltale Head", there the mob are like a bunch of chickens with their head cut off. They have no purpose in forming a mob and did so just because they feel like it. The mob mentality is to go with the crowd. They don't have individual purposes or any reasons to be there other than just to be part of the mob. So when one person "aww"s at Bart's speech, the whole mob also "aww"s and leaves because they don't know why they are there in the first place. Here it doesn't work because the people paid money to see the strippers. They all have an individual purpose and a reason to be at the strip club; they all want to see strippers strip. That's why a speech from Homer shouldn't really sway them. Instead the audiences should have just thrown shoes at Homer and yell at him to get off the stage. Furthermore, for some reason Marge just appears at the strip club. We are never shown how Marge got there and I thought Marge told Homer to go teach Bart a lesson himself. I guess it is just the beginning of people randomly popping out of nowhere in random scenes.
"Homer's Night Out" is going to be the first episode that is way below 8.5. It doesn't deserve to be deemed a classical episode. While it is true that there are some genuine classical Homer scenes, the whole episode really screws up on characterisation and plot. Marge shouldn't just suddenly have a change of heart or just suddenly appear at the strip club. Homer's speech just feels like some miniature half-assed resolution that is magnified many times later on and plagues literally every single modern episode. Although unlike modern episodes where the problems are glaringly obvious, reality in this episode is completely lost and Marge doesn't really behave like Marge and Springfieldians don't behave like Springfieldians. It is really a let down after a brilliant "Life On The Fast Lane", but aside from the plot holes, the episode really is the first to have such major characterisation problems and plot holes and therefore is deemed the worst episode so far.
Characterisation: 4/5
Plot: 2/3
Subjective: 1/2
Overall: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment