(originally aired January 5, 1997)
Apparently this episode was originally pitched as far back as season 3. At the time, the premise was viewed as way too bizarre, but now that we’ve had runaway monorails, killer theme park robots, and Homer fighting ex-Presidents, a hallucinogenic psychedelic trip doesn’t feel too strange by now. Even after twenty years, this remains one of the show’s strangest episodes, and that’s made it one of the more famous ones too. Homer is all revved up for the annual chili cook-off, but Marge isn’t so thrilled, making her husband promise he won’t drink and make a fool out of himself. Of course that proves to be impossible: the pope of Chili Town is bested by Chief Wiggum’s Guatemalan insanity peppers, but Homer finds that he’s able to keep the peppers down by coating his mouth with wax. Unfortunately, he quickly learns that they’re called insanity peppers for a reason, as he quickly loses grip on reality and finds himself in a strange mythical desert all alone. It’s there that his spirit guide, a coyote voiced by Johnny Cash, who tells him he will only achieve inner peace if he finds his soul mate.

There’s a lot to love about this episode. The chili cook-off set-piece is fantastic, it’s just the right event that Homer would go ape shit over much to Marge’s chagrin. Any time we see Homer truly in his element, it’s really enjoyable. He’s really cocky with his harsh critiques of all the different dishes, but there’s nothing else he knows better than food. Chief Wiggum also works so well as his adversary, a man of official title but garnering little respect, hoping to be at the top of the heap at the festival. These two characters are usually so comical and non-threatening, but to each other they absolutely mean business. When Homer goes into his wacked-out trip, the episode becomes an animation tour de force. The deformed, bizarrely styled citizens from Homer’s POV is a great start, then at the start of the second act we devolve into madness, with Homer deforming against live-action clouds with snakes and giant CG butterflies peppering the barren landscape. The angular look and stylized backgrounds give Homer’s trip a unique look apart from the normal series. Johnny Cash is also fantastic as the Space Coyote, giving such a solemn, serious air to the character, an animal of true wisdom.

As bombastic as this episode is, when you break it down, it’s really a gussied up Homer-Marge episode: Marge is upset with Homer, they make up at the end. Marge witnesses Homer about to down some beers at the festival, not realizing he only wishes to soothe his severely inflamed tongue after it barely touched one of the insanity peppers. There’s also the great, kind of haunting scene in the hallucination where Homer encounters a vision of Marge who dissolves before his eyes. When Marge chews Homer out for disappearing over the previous night, Homer begins to doubt if his wife really is his soul mate and goes off into the world to find some answers. There’s a bit of malaise that sits in with the third act since we know what the ending is going to be, but it’s distracted with enough great jokes that I didn’t mind much. You could also say it’s silly for an episode to examine the deeper meaning of the life of a big dumb oaf like Homer, but really, why not? Everyone has a purpose, and Homer’s is to ultimately be with the woman he loves. It’s an iconic episode worthy of its title, with a solid plot, good jokes and lots of visual wonderment to go around.

Tidbits and Quotes
– Nice bit at the beginning: Homer flips through his newspaper, dismissing the “World,” “The Arts” and “Religion” sections before he finds his reading of choice, “Kicking Back.”
– Great flashback to the last chili cook-off: a drunken Homer wallowing naked in a cotton candy machine. He jumps out and ends up rolling on the floor surrounded by dogs licking him. In the present, Homer chides Marge’s memory (“Well of course, everything looks bad if you remember it.”)
– I love Marge’s incredulous nature toward a rack with eight spices (“Some must be doubles. Ore-gah-no? What the hell?”) and Homer’s childish impatience (“Marge, we’re missing the chili? Less artsy, more fartsy!”)
– Classic scene of Flanders breaking down before Homer, admitting his chili is falsely advertised as “five-alarm” so he could impress his boys (“Daddy? Are you going to jail?” “We’ll see, son. We’ll see.”)
– Alone at the line dance, Marge encounters Smithers in an incredibly gaudy cowboy outfit trying to make a pass at her. If someone would like to make heads or tails of this scene, be my guess. I guess since his get-up is so over-the-top, it’s still another Smithers-is-gay reference, but it’s pretty bizarre.
– I love Homer taunting Wiggum (“Uh, Wiggy? My chili’s getting cold.”) and then later Wiggum’s inflated ego when Homer returns for seconds (“Want some more, do you? Well, sure! Heck, it’s not my job to talk people out of killing themselves.”)
– An odd moment where Ralph appears and acts somewhat normal, innocently informing Homer he’s about to drink a candle. Remember when he was a real character and not a dim non sequitur machine?
– I like how they had Dan Castellaneta talk like his mouth really was full of wax, and the gulping noises Homer makes swallowing the peppers whole. The crowd is absolutely aghast (“By all medical logic, steam should be shooting out of his ears.” “His ears if we’re lucky!”)
– Nice performance with Homer’s absolute impatience of dealing with the tortoise. And of course nice revenge as he is now forced to climb a gigantic flight of stairs due to his inflicted abuse on the poor animal.
– I like the stupid back-and-forth with Bart and Lisa regarding Bart’s “Time for Chili” hat (“You’re just mad ’cause there’s no clock in your hat.” “What hat?” This baby’s wasted on an idiot like you.”)
– Johnny Cash really did do a great job. And they got him to make gnawing noises. Fantastic. (“Knock it off!” “Sorry. I am a coyote.”)
– Homer wakes up on the country club golf course, thinking his whole trip was just a dream. The desert was the sand trap he was lying in, the pyramid was a pro shop (sitting atop a giant pyramid for some reason), and the talking coyote was just a regular talking dog (“Hi, Homer. Find your soulmate.” “Hey, wait a minute! There’s no such thing as a talking dog!” [dog barks] “Damn straight!”)
– Great scene where the denizens of Moe’s all tell Homer how they classify their relationships to him, with none of them soul mates, ending with Moe (“I’m a well-wisher, in that I don’t wish you any specific harm.”) Also Kearney is there drinking a beer for some reason. And he considers himself Homer’s “associate.”
– The funniest scene hands-down is Homer’s call to “GBM,” unfamiliar with the concept of “Looking For” classifieds (“Uh, no, I don’t like that… Or that… No, it’s not that I’m afraid. I’m going to hang up now, bye-bye.”)
– Homer steps in front of the light in the lighthouse, casting his silhouette across the town. Bart and Lisa take notice (“Hey look! Is that Dad?” “Either that, or Batman’s really let himself go.”)
– The short shorts ending is kinda dumb… but I still laughed.

(originally aired December 1, 1996)
In case you haven’t figured it out from the other 158 reviews, this series is pretty amazing, and it always seems to come up with new ways to emphasize that fact. This episode’s first act culminates with an aggravated back-and-forth conversation between two characters we really don’t know anything about, but thanks to great solid writing, we completely understand these people, their personalities and their motives. The set-up is Marge’s desire for social interaction through having a dinner party, inviting the Lovejoys, the Flanderses, the Hibberts and the Van Houtens. Groundwork is laid throughout the evening with the latter couple getting increasingly at each others throats before getting cut off by Marge, moving onto another activity to sweep the unpleasantness under the rug. But a game of Pictionary becomes the Van Houtens undoing, as Kirk and Luann have it out. Hank Azaria and Maggie Roswell give dynamite performances, both hilarious and absolutely dramatically believable. That’s why this scene is so insane, it really feels like a heated argument, and you can feel the incredible awkwardness of the other couples witnessing a marriage fall apart at the seams, especially from Marge, who is running out of ways to divert attention away from this elephant in the room. It’s one of the best scenes of the entire series, since the show has managed to create something from nothing in the most engaging way possible.

Kirk and Luann break up and begin to form their own separate lives. While Luann is more than pleased with being single, quickly hooking up with an American Gladiator, Kirk’s life isn’t going so hot. He gets fired from the cracker factory thanks to his divorce (“Crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don’t know. Frankly, we don’t want to know. It’s a market we can do without,”) he lives in a seedy apartment complex, and his car gets stolen by a cheap floozy. We do feel bad for Kirk, but he is really a pathetic character by nature. He muses about how he should have seen the signs that this would all happen, which new pal Homer believes will never transpire with him and Marge. Meanwhile, groundwork has also been set through the episode of Marge constantly being disappointed and fed up with Homer, so when the telltale signs finally permeate Homer’s skull, he freaks out, believing divorce may be coming his way any time soon. So he does the most rational thing he can think of: get divorced himself and throw a lavish second wedding.

I think there’s plenty of unmined gold to be had from the Kirk and Luann story, examining their new lives more and potential awkward run-ins with each other. Also barely even touched upon is its effect on Milhouse, who we only really examine for one scene. That could have been a whole story in itself. On paper, it might seem like a rich story sadly diverted to be yet another Homer-Marge marital woes episode, but it really doesn’t feel that way. First off, as mentioned, the stage is set through the episode of Marge’s quiet displeasure over her husband, and second, Homer’s troubles set in from his (over)reaction to the main story. It also ties in with the Van Houtens plot anyway, as Kirk figures that if a big romantic gesture works for Homer and Marge, it could work for him too. With as much gumption as he can muster, he belts his love ballad “Can I Borrow A Feelin’?” to his former wife, asking him to marry him again. She says no. This ain’t TV, Kirk, not every story has a happy ending. Pouring salt on the wound, Luann’s new boyfriend escorts him outside and shuts the door. Kirk vows he’ll be back… prob-probably. I was really surprised just how much I loved this episode. It’s surprisingly tense and dramatic at the start, but keeps the laughs and energy up even with the third act plot shift, still maintaining the themes and brings the main story back for a satisfying ending. And we fleshed out two tertiary characters to boot. What more could you want?

Tidbits and Quotes
– Marge wishes for more conversational engagement at home, but the family continues to eat dinner glued to the TV. Homer moans that the plates aren’t see-through as he attempts to lick it clear whilst still staring at the screen, Bart’s down to his skivvies at 5pm, and even Lisa can barely put together sentences, too absorbed with the idiot box.
– Another great store name, “Stoner’s Pot Palace,” of which Otto walks out quite disappointed with the false advertising. Easy joke, but effective.
– I like whenever Marge gets into something, she puts her all into it, like when she puts another glaze on the already blindingly bright ham. And of course seconds before the party starts, Homer is still in his underwear in the living room playing with slot car racers (“Just gotta put my shoes on!” “The only thing I asked you to do for this party was put on clothes, and you didn’t do it!”)
– It really is disconcerting that Kirk and Luann look exactly the same. I wouldn’t want them to address it on the show, since it’d be way too creepy, but there must be some kind of weird intentional or unintentional inbreeding going on there. Like imagine being sexually attracted to basically yourself as the opposite sex. Or the same sex. No judgement.
– I fucking love the uneasiness of the first act, it’s done so well (“Marge, I know I haven’t eaten that well since the army.” “Or that noisily…”) I love Hank Azaria’s low “Alright, that’s it…” getting ready to start some shit before Marge cuts him off.
– The Pictionary scene is absolutely stellar. I love the frequent cuts back to Marge, nervously wringing her napkin, then later when Luann mentions how Kirk’s incompetence cratered his cracker company to tie with Table Time and Allied Biscuit, to which Marge discreetly tosses a plate of Allied Biscuit crackers back in the box and tucks it under the couch. Luann goes on (“I love having to borrow money from my sister. I love having to steal clothes from the church donation box.”) Such devastation in her voice too. Cut to Lovejoy (“Oh sweet Jesus…”) It’s even better since he had alluded to the ransacked clothes earlier. So many minor bits that are amazing: Gudger College, Luann’s unseen perfect representation of ‘dignity,’ Lisa coming in singing “You’re A Grand Old Flag,” and Kirk’s horrible drawing skills.
– First appearance of Kearney’s kid (“I sleep in a drawer!”) In “Much Apu About Nothing,” we see Kearney used a pitiful fake ID to try and buy beer, so he must be no older than 20, and his son looks pretty young… and now I’ve just pictured Kearney having sex. Brilliant.
– Great reference to the audience when Luann tells Marge to forget everything she used to know about her, to which Marge honestly responds that she doesn’t really know anything about her.
– Kirk shows off his new digs to Homer (“You get your own bed. I sleep in a racing car, do you?” “I sleep in a big bed with my wife.”) I love the sound effects of the establishing shots too, lots of sirens and gunshots.
– The bit we do see of Milhouse does work perfectly, with Luann fawning over her perfect son who is currently destroying the house.
– After breaking a chair on Luann’s gladiator boyfriend, Bart tries to do the same with his father… to much different results. This is a Homer-gets-hurt scene that really works, as it has a motivation and works in the scene. Plus it’s so unexpected, for us and Homer, who is contently taking a bath when he gets slammed so hard by the chair that it breaks to pieces. Dan Castellaneta’s scream is hysterical (“What the hell is wrong with you?!” “Jeez, sorry. It’s a pretty standard stunt, Homer.”)
– As Homer laments how crummy his marriage began, we get a clip from “I Married Marge,” which is also paired with new footage of Marge, who appears less than thrilled at her marriage at Shotgun Pete’s. Most of what we’ve seen of their past, the two are fairly happy, but as has been implied, there’s an underlying sadness to Marge. Homer tries to smooth things with a cake, “To A Whale of a Wife,” I assume a reference to Carvel’s Fudgy the Whale.
– Homer tries to smooth things over with Marge, but fails in every way. He also stops in to give her an impromptu hair cut at the Perm Bank (another amazing store name.)
– I love how happy Homer is to tell his wife that they have to get married again since he already got them a divorce (“I didn’t want a hokey second wedding like those ones on TV. This one is for real!”)
– Homer’s vows are amazing, of course, hilariously read by Lovejoy (“Do you, Marge, take Homer, in richness and in poorness… poorness is underlined… in impotence and in potence, in quiet solitude or blasting across the alkali flats in a jet-powered, monkey- navigated… and it goes on like this.”)
– The smooth jazz end credits theme may be my favorite variant, tied with the “Mad Mad Mad Mad World” version. It’s just so mellow and cool.

(originally aired November 24, 1996)
This is an episode with a pretty out there plot, but it succeeds based on the pitch perfect characterizations. It shows this series can tackle just about any story as long as we stay mindful of our beloved characters. Things start off naturally enough as Lisa gets adamant about a new cause: cleaning up a sizable oil spill devastating a distant beach. We see celebrities like Rainier Wolfcastle and his buxom companion mugging for the camera in their staged publicity stunt, but we also see that a righteous Lisa isn’t much different. True, she probably cares a lot more for the cause than those Hollywood phonies, but we also see how flighty she is with her environmental activism (justified in that she’s just a child), and devastated when she arrives and sees she won’t get to clean the cute little animals. After much cajoling, Marge agrees to take Lisa to the beach, leaving Homer and Bart to their own devices. Suffice to say, the house quickly becomes a wreck. Marge had kept the boys just on the edge of civilized, and it’s great to see how low they can go, be it Bart gargling with soda or Homer answering the door wearing a grocery bag (with groceries in it.)

The main story kicks in when Bart’s horseplay leads to the destruction of a rooftop gargoyle on a house belonging to a witch (at least according to child folklore.) Homeowner Belle arrives at the Simpson house expecting Bart to be punished, and Homer, not wanting Marge to find out about this down the line, demands Bart do chores for the woman to pay off his debt. But neither of them know Belle’s actual business: the house is actually a gentleman’s club called the Maison Derriere, where Bart performs a litany of tasks from being doorman to subbing in for the unusually short opening act. It’s a pretty risqué episode, but this kind of subject matter has never stopped the series before. A particularly great scene involves Homer’s discovery of where he sent his son to work, consisting of Belle apologizing for any miscommunication whilst he is dumbstruck by a nude Princess Kashmir on stage. I like Bart’s childish naughtiness in volunteering to sort through a trunk of bras, and later seeing the slightly perverted side of Springfield’s citizens, including Principal Skinner, who brings Bart’s work to the attention of the Lovejoys and the Flanderses. The second act break is one of my favorite of the series, where Homer gets incredibly adamant in defense of his decision, then immediately deflates when he sees Marge standing there (“Now, Marge, you’re gonna hear a lot of crazy talk about Bart working in a burlesque house…”)

Reminiscent of “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,” Marge leads a moral crusade against this previously underground establishment, effectively guilt tripping the town into siding with her upon showing damning photographs of various citizens attending the burlesque house, including Mayor Quimby (“That could be any mayor!”) The town is in true angry mob form as they storm the Maison, smashing and setting fire to the area. How best to resolve this situation? Through song, of course. “We Put the Spring in Springfield” is one of the show’s hallmark numbers, incredibly catchy, entertaining, and full of overt euphemisms (those ladies sure put the “boing” in Springfield, alright…) It also culminates into a great self aware moment about these kinds of ridiculous songs, where Marge comes in late with a bulldozer and is shocked to find that a song has completely changed everybody’s minds, and that they can’t re-sing it since it was so spur of the moment. Marge attempts to come up with her own song on the spot, but accidentally rams her bulldozer into the house. One of my favorite lines from the whole series is from Lovejoy, “Thanks a lot, Marge. That was our only burlesque house.” This man of God who three minutes ago was totally against the place is now devastated to see it gone. But that’s the power of the spontaneous song. A hilarious and showstopping episode if I ever saw one.

Tidbits and Quotes
– After a quick V-Chip joke, we get a really crazy, kind of dark Itchy & Scratchy, with the set up of a talk show with Scratchy as the abused victim on stage. Itchy breaks a bottle, comes out from backstage to full applause, Scratchy gets down and begs for his life and Itchy lunges the bottle at him before the show is cut off by a news announcement. How horrifying…..ly funny.
– Of all the beaches the tanker could have crashed in, of course it was Baby Seal Beach. Also great seeing a drunken Captain McAlister offering Dave Shutton a hundred bucks to take the blame for the accident on camera.
– Great animation and performance by Yeardley Smith of Lisa play-acting for her mother on how much she loves that peach tree.
– The time fade of Bart and Homer doing garbage angels to seeing them passed out on a floor is so funny and disturbing at the same time. One day has passed since Marge left and they’re literally stewing in their own filth.
– I don’t know if I buy Martin wanting to hang out with Ralph, but we do get the great Burns line when he sees the two running away from the toy plane (“I don’t like being outdoors, Smithers. For one thing, there are too many fat children.”)
– Wonderful performance by Tress MacNeille as Belle in this episode. I feel later seasons would overuse her as every single woman and child voice, but she’s had plenty of memorable performances throughout the series. Belle has a particular affectation and rhythm I haven’t heard from any of her other many, many characters.
– Classic bit where Homer drops Bart off at Belle’s saying he needs to take responsibility for his actions, then accidentally pulls up on the curb, knocking over the mailbox. He immediately screams and quickly drives off.
– My favorite scene is definitely when Grampa walks in the door, turns to put his hat on the rack, turns back to see Bart, turns back to get his hat, and then out the door. All while whistling. He then peeks his head in and asks, “Is your name ‘Bart’?” Bart only has to nod. Grampa demands if his father knows he’s working there. Bart says it was Homer’s idea. Grampa is convinced, walking back in asking for a whiskey sour.
– I love Bart on stage telling the absentee comic’s lame jokes, but the crowd laughs uproariously at them because I assume they’re all drunk.
– Homer takes a moment to observe the many pictures on the Maison Derriere’s wall (“President Eisenhower celebrates 40th wedding anniversary. Not pictured: Mrs. Eisenhower.”)
– I love how Skinner tries to cover his tracks when he realizes that Bart is the doorman at the burlesque house, and then later when the Lovejoys and Flanderses show up at Homer’s door. Helen Lovejoy tells them Skinner found out about Bart, who then pops up from below, almost like he was hiding in shame, to defend himself (“That’s true, but I was only in there to get directions on how to get away from there.”)
– The scene where Marge demands Belle get out of town is fantastic, where Belle is really just toying with Marge, who is incredibly adamant toward her cause (“Sleazy entertainment and raunchy jokes will never be as popular as sobriety and self-denial.”)
– The town hall meeting is full of great stuff, like the townspeople angrily defending the structural stability of the house in question, and the various calls of shock at the slideshow of people leaving the Maison Derriere. When no one comments on Barney’s picture, Moe steps up out of obligation, and Burns is surprised to see Smithers up there (“My parents insisted I give it a try, sir.”)
– The song is obviously fantastic, I’m sure you know that if you’re reading this. Probably goes in third after the Planet of the Apes musical and “You Can Always Depend on the Kindness of Strangers.” I also like the ending with Marge’s lame ventriloquism act, and Homer’s boisterous “Take it off!” leading to Bart kicking him out.