(originally aired March 9, 2008)
I thought an episode revolving around a now completely forgotten character would be kind of interesting… but nope. It’s a thin, ultimately boring premise that gets its air time cut in half to service a bizarre and disturbing B-story. Bart pulls a prank on Martin in the woods that gets him accidentally thrown over the railing of a steep cliff, plummeting to his supposed death. Fearing her flawless reputation, Lisa demands that Bart hush up about it, but his conscious slowly begins to eat away at him. I kind of like this role reversal, though it’s played a bit extreme with both parties, but I’m willing to buy it. What I don’t buy is Nelson inexplicably playing Columbo and trying to piece together what really happened. He just literally is Columbo, complete with “oh, there’s just one other thing…” I don’t quite understand how that fits with his character. By the end, we find out that of course Martin’s alive, having survived the fall in the most preposterous way possible. Also for a whole episode about the fallout of his death, we never see his parents once. And why did it take him so long to get home? Oh, whatever.
The other story involves Marge contacting the TV show Cheaters... I mean, “Sneakers” to follow Homer around to see if he’s cheating… on his new diet. The gag is Homer’s sneakiness in covertly devouring fatty foods behind Marge’s back is analogous to him having an affair, and it’s basically that joke through the whole episode. That and the “Sneakers” creator reveling of breaking up families (“There, there… no, I mean, cry to the camera over there… there.”) This all leads up to one of the most disgusting things to ever appear on the show: Homer taking a rack of lamb to a motel room to furiously devour as if he were fucking it. He rolls around the bed with it, slams it against the wall, then disrobes and chows down on it nude in the shower. I mean, he might as well be fucking it. It’s absolutely nauseating, and pushes this already strained joke way too far. Also this stupid plot really undermines any seriousness the grade-schooler’s-potential-death A-story had. In the end, Marge confronts Homer, and gets mad at the “Sneakers” guy for trying to push them apart. Okay, but that doesn’t excuse Homer from continuing to be a fat fuck, since the beginning of the episode involved Marge being concerned about his health when he couldn’t even muster the energy to have sex. “I’d rather have a chubby hubby than a sexy ex-ie!” Ugh.
Tidbits and Quotes
– The montage of Homer eating all those bell peppers means nothing in the end, since the episode is about him not sticking to his diet. So he’s basically gorging himself twice as much, I guess. Then he taunts Marge to her face when she can’t find proof of his transgressions. Again, what a likable guy.
– We barely see Martin anymore, but it seems that all the gags with him as of late involve him saying offensive or giggle-worthy words in an academic context (“a mighty faggot,” “it could be one of the major homos!”) and being naive in regards of its other meaning. We had Wang Computers in the past, but Martin used to be a much richer character. Then again, so did every other character. Sigh.
– Wiggum reports and seemingly confirms Martin’s death, then suggests he give the tattered remains of the boy’s shirt to his son (“Chief, that’s evidence.” “I know. But after it’s evidence, it’s a shirt again.”) Everyone is just so damn callous about this ten-year-old boy’s death. His funeral at school involves kids in bleachers holding up cards showing a gravestone, then of Martin’s head with Xs for eyes, and Skinner reads out many of Martin’s humiliating nicknames and the bullies yuck it up. This is even more tasteless than Maude Flanders’s funeral. And again, where are Martin’s parents? This episode could care less. The best part of the episode is the clip montage where we see short Martin bits from “Treehouse of Horror III” and “Three Men and a Comic Book,” since then I was able to remember great moments from those episodes.
– As if the whole lamb thing wasn’t disgusting enough, act two ends with Homer calling it on the phone as if it’s his lover. We see the lamb rack sprawled on a bed in a bedroom, as the answering machine goes off next to a photo of Homer. Where is this? What’s going on?
– A truly lame fake-out where Bart appears to almost hang himself (“You said you wanted to end it all!” “By which I meant bring Martin’s butterfly project to completion!”) Totally makes sense.
– I like Martin quoting Mark Twain’s “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” It felt very Martin of him to say.
Me Blog Write Good 
The A-plot wasn’t half bad, but you’re right that the tone was all wrong in some scenes, such as Martin’s funeral. It’s almost like the writers are afraid that if there isn’t a joke every five seconds, the audience will lose interest.
Aside from the line “I’ve tried everything except talking to him!” and the cameraman instructing Marge to cry into the camera, I didn’t care for the B-story at all. In particular, that “chunky hunky” line is -almost- as bad as “lega-we”. Almost.
This episode flat out sucks. It isn’t the worst of the season, but it isn’ remotely good either. As for Nelson, honestly, I don’t feel it was out of character. We have seen him care for Martin before despite being a bully (The Lemon Tree episode), however this episode does show that they do not know what to do with Nelson anymore.
Crap, I forgot about the B plot, it was lame. I hate that cheaters show to begin with, so making fun of it really did nothing for me. Sure, there have been parodies before of things I do not like, but I just felt this episode was completely empty.
What do you mean, they do not know what to do with Nelson anymore? It’s good to find new things to do with him instead of flanderization so he isn’t the same bully character that Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney all are. Plus, Nelson could always just punish Bart and Lisa by beating them to death if they really did kill Martin. Principal Skinner and Martin’s parents would be proud of Nelson-Columbo for finding the students who killed Martin and bringing them to justice.
I remember the build-up to this being that Martin would die. When watching it, I thought they were going to actually kill him off for good.
Homer taking a rack of lamb to a motel room to furiously devour, as if he were fucking it. He rolls around the bed with it, slams it against the wall, then disrobes and chows down on it nude in the shower. I mean, he might as well be fucking it. It’s absolutely nauseating, and pushes this already strained joke way too far.
To be honest I found that scene to be so unintentionally fucking hilarious due to the music used with that grotesque act! :L
– Wiggum reports and seemingly confirms Martin’s death, then suggests he give the tattered remains of the boy’s shirt to his son (“Chief, that’s evidence.” “I know. But after it’s evidence, it’s a shirt again.”) Everyone is just so goddamn callous about this ten-year-old boy’s death. His funeral at school involves kids in bleachers holding up cards showing a gravestone, then of Martin’s head with X’s for eyes, and Skinner reads out many of Martin’s humiliating nicknames and the bullies yuck it up. This is even more tasteless than Maude Flanders’ funeral. And again, where are Martin’s parents? This episode could care less. The best part of the episode is the clip montage where we see short Martin bits from “Treehouse of Horror III” and “Three Men and a Comic Book,” then I can remember great moments from those episodes.
Just 1 question why was his funeral being held in the school rather than privately with his grieving fami… oh yh that’s right ZS couldn’t care less about their characters and scenes…
I’m surprised it wasn’t at the Simpson house, honestly.
I might have the answer as to why Martin’s funeral was held in the school! My mom believes that if we actually did show Martin’s parents, it would take focus away from the main plot of Lisa and Bart trying to not be found out, and any real parents watching Dial N for Nerder would grieve too much because it would be much too relatable for them to fear the sudden accidental loss of their son caused by their son’s peers.
I have to admit, when I saw this episode, I laughed my ass off at Homer “fucking” the lamb, and thought this was a great episode. Of course, I was 16 at the time, God knows how I’d react if I watched it now, when sober.
I thought you loooooooooved me. Loooooooooved meeeeeeeeeee.
This episode was utter crap, obviously, for every reasons already said. But i remember me and my father watching it and ALMOST praising(for ZS standards) the fact that they made Nelson as Columbo(even if totally out of character) without making the references to that show pathetically obvious for the audience; like, maybe dressing him as Columbo, or having a glass eye. But as always, they never disappoint! So they put the credits of the episode: “Nelson as Columbo”. GENIUSES AT WORK!
But if we don’t beat our viewers over the head with it, they might not realize we are making a reference!
But what do I care? I never saw or heard of Columbo.
The ending of the episode calling him Columbo was still less beating us over the head than having Nelson dress up as Columbo. He was dressed as himself through the whole thing. Let’s just agree that Nelson acting like a detective was neither in nor out of character. If he actually cares about Martin, which he did in Lemon of Troy, then it would be in character. I do not see it out of character for Bart to be sad about losing Martin and feel remorse for killing him because it’s not like Bart never had a sensitive side before.
I am one of the people who thinks the silly B-plot of Cheaters did not undermine the M for Murder A-plot. I do not think that the main plot of Lisa and Bart’s role reversal was boring at all like you described. If Nelson cared about Martin before in Lemon of Troy, I don’t mind if it is just a little out of character for him to play Columbo. If it was more than a little, or a lot out of character, then I would care. I also thought it was sweet of Marge to look past Homer being too fat because she didn’t like that Sneakers was breaking them up. I never even heard of this Cheaters show they were parodying to begin.
I know my opinion on the matter is going to be unpopular, but…I actually thought this was the only Season 19 episode better than Eternal Moonshine of The Simpson Mind. Why? Because even though the Bart-Lisa A-plot was a lot more serious than the Homer-Marge B-plot, I thought the episode balanced both very well, and in both cases, they really challenged the dynamics of both pairings. The only thing missing is any scene of Martin’s parents grieving over their lost child.
Why did it take Martin so long to get home, you ask? Well, maybe Martin needed time to swim off his island and walk all the way back home if he didn’t bike to the national park first.