156. The Homer They Fall

(originally aired November 10, 1996)
In unusually close proximity to “Homerpalooza,” we have another episode hinged around Homer’s incredible tolerance for pain. After witnessing him stand his ground in a bar fight (literally just stand there dumbly), Moe cooks up a scheme to make the dumb oaf champion of the underground boxing circuit. The strategy? Have Homer take as much abuse as his opponent can dish, then lightly tip them over when he exhausts himself. It’s an absurd, but amusing concept, with Dr. Hibbert revealing that Homer is literally too thick in the head to register any pain he suffers. As Homer’s popularity builds, Moe has a run-in with Lucius Sweet, his former boxing rep and blatant rip-off character (“He’s exactly as rich and as famous as Don King, and he looks just like him, too!”) Sweet now represents heavyweight Drederick Tatum, and he needs someone he can fight that can sustain three rounds (“The fans are weary of fights that are over before they have an opportunity to even get drunk.”) Moe now must choose between being a somebody in the world of boxing again, and seriously endangering the life of one of his best customers, and possibly his friend.

One of the biggest issues regarding the show’s tumbling lapse in quality is characterization, most particularly Homer. I was surprised to find in this particular episode how much he had been warped. Dragging Marge into the gadget store with her saying he’s hurting her arm, and him replying, “No I’m not!” is such a small gag at the beginning of the show, but is incredibly telling about a dark direction the writers would take with his character. Later, upon seeing Bart return home brutally beaten, what is his advice? To squeal on the bullies to everyone he can find. What? Whatever happened to the Code of the Schoolyard? The show is peppered with odd moments like this of Homer being far too stupid or careless, but for some reason it doesn’t feel too egregious because of the plot. Lucius tempts Moe with a future glory in exchange for writing a death sentence for his talent, leading to the next scene where Moe tells a blissfully ignorant Homer he’s fighting Tatum. Now, a blue collar slob like Homer has got to know who Tatum is, but he’s none the wiser. However, it sort of works in the context of this episode that this big dumb loyal idiot is playing at Moe’s lack of a conscience.

This episode is really focused on Moe, a thorny area of his past and his potential chance to relive it. I love all of that stuff, including Lucius Sweet, a great performance by Paul Winfield (understandable, given he played Don King in a TV movie a year prior.) I would have loved to have seen this episode focus almost exclusively on Moe, though. As I mentioned previous regarding “Twenty-Two Short Films,” this could have been the perfect opportunity to expand on that concept. If Moe was our star, Homer’s exaggerated stupidity could have totally worked, as he would exist to make Moe feel guilty about himself and his actions. But instead, it’s sort of split between the two of them, and we get much less interesting moments of Marge concerned about her husband and beckoning Moe stop the fight. Then Moe rescues Homer from the ring as the Fan Man. Sure, why not? Not quite sure how he was able to lift up and carry a grossly overweight Homer, but whatever. Despite my grumblings, I thought this one was alright. The plot was mostly sound, it had its fair share of good gags, and I love any chance we get to see more Moe. I want mo’ Moe.

Tidbits and Quotes
– I don’t really care for the opening scene with the limited Bonanza reunion, but I do love the one Indian’s horrible attempt to curry the audience’s favor (“You know, on the series, we were always trying to kill the Cartwrights. But it looks like Father Time took care of that for us, right? Am I right, folks?”)
– Fantastic scene where Comic Book Guy meets his match with the Charles Bronson-voiced clerk (“A fat, sarcastic Star Trek fan. You must be a devil with the ladies.”) CBG is instantly deflated, and ends up selling his intended return to Bart for four bucks (“I must hurry back to my comic book store, where I dispense the insults rather than absorb them.”)
– The Ultimate Belt stuff has nothing really to do with the main story, but I do love its usage in Bart’s escapade with the bullies, fooling them with a dishonest turn signal, the incredibly loud alert button, and the Emergency Use Only button, which launches a parachuted message for a concerned patron to call the police.
– Hibbert gets a good scene, explaining Homer’s unique medical condition in his ability to take a beating (“Why, I could wallop you all day with this surgical two-by-four without ever knocking you down. But I have other appointments.”)
– There’s a lot of good Moe lines here and there, like calling Boxcar Bob as a hungry young fighter, literally fighting for a sandwich, and his signature boxing gloves with barbed wire wrapped around them, which he calls “the stinger.”
– I like Lenny’s line during the match, “Man, that tramp’s got the energy of a hobo,” as we see the fighter periodically looking back to check that his bindle is okay.
– I like the black and white montage, where Homer’s racking up the big bucks, which translates to him being able to afford slightly nicer car washes.
– Lucius Sweet is probably the best thing about this episode, an unabashed and unashamed parody, using words like “verticality” and “strategizing,” which I use too from time to time. He brings the laughs, but also works just as well in his foreboding warning to Moe about how he can either take this shot or stay a nobody forever.
– Drederick Tatum returns, with Hank Azaria doing a great Mike Tyson riff, with a fair share of great lines too (“Believe me, my God, if I could turn back the clock on my mother’s stair-pushing, I would certainly… reconsider it.”)
– Great ad for the fight, playing up the “rivalry” between Drederick and Homer. Even the title of the show is “Tatum vs. Simpson: Payback,” despite them never having met before. Also great are the T-shirts for sale, with Tatum’s fist coming right out at Homer’s dumb clueless face.
– Michael Buffer appears as ring announcer, giving his (literally) trademarked line, “Let’s get ready to rumble!” He also introduces the crowd of Springfield’s elite, including Kent Brockman, who is greatly chastised and booed (“This just in, go to hell!”)
– There really is a general flatness about a lot of the final act. It’s not too much fun watching Homer getting the shit beat out of him, and we know something’s going to happen to stop the fight. All we can do is wait. I do like Dr. Nick as the fight doctor though (“Kill him! Kill him!”)
– Sweet bit at the end where a beaten up Homer sadly comments that he forgot where they parked, and Marge consoles him (“That’s all right. We’ll just wait till everyone else leaves.”)
– I don’t know what to make of the end with Moe as an aerial worldwide humanitarian. If someone wants to make heads or tails of that, be my guest.