"Homerland" (styled as "HOMƎRLAND") is the first episode of the
twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' and the 531st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
in the United States on September 29, 2013. It was written by
Stephanie Gillis and directed by
Bob Anderson.
It guest-stars
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she jo ...
as Annie Crawford and
Kevin Michael Richardson as an unnamed
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agent. The episode's title and plot is a reference to the
Primetime Emmy Award-winning TV series ''
Homeland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...
''.
Plot
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
leaves the house to attend a nuclear power convention in
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...
with
Lenny and Carl
Lenny or Lennie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Lennie (surname), a list of people
* Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter
Arts and entertainment Music
* '' ...
. The three use the occasion as an excuse to drink heavily, starting during the drive to the airport, and collect as much free merchandise as they can. Even though they are thrown out of the convention for their bad behavior, they attend the post-closing party. The rest of the Simpson family waits to greet Homer at the airport, but his failure to appear shocks them. Lenny and Carl ineptly try to console the Simpsons, and
Patty and Selma
Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson-D'Amico () are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. They are identical twins and are voiced by Julie Kavner who ...
do so with malicious glee.
Homer returns several days later, but with noticeable changes in his behavior: he no longer strangles
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
for making sarcastic remarks, he refuses to eat pork chops or drink beer, and he prostrates himself on what appears to be a prayer mat while facing toward the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. He has occasional short flashbacks of entering an unmarked van and sitting in a chair with headphones on and his wrists clamped down, as if being tortured. Overhearing a conversation between
Chief Wiggum
Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sara ...
and
Apu about rumors of a terrorist operative in
Springfield,
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
begins to suspect that Homer had been kidnapped and indoctrinated as a
Muslim in order to carry out an attack. When she sees him looking at blueprints of the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
, her fears drive her to notify the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
.
Agent Annie Crawford, who suffers from
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, fields Lisa's call and leads a team to investigate. She infiltrates a sleepover that Bart and
Milhouse
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class ...
are having, then slips into bed with Homer and
Marge to tell him that she knows what he is planning. The next day, Homer brings a large, tarp-covered device through the security gate and into the plant, and sets it up in the basement. Lisa races to the plant in an effort to prevent Homer from destroying it, but he tells her that he is only going to ensure that the plant will not do any more damage to the environment. His device is actually a tank filled with sour milk and spoiled chicken, which he plans to pump into the air conditioning system so that the stench will drive everyone off the property.
Homer had overslept and missed his flight home from Boise. The van he climbed into was used by a group of ecological activist hippies, who gave him a ride back to Springfield. Along the way, they persuaded him to become a vegetarian, convinced him of the plant's destructive effects on the environment, and put him through an alcohol
detoxification
Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...
treatment that involved listening to
Grateful Dead music and sitting in a
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
for days on end (hence the headphones and chair with wrist clamps). The mat Lisa saw Homer using was a rug marked with affirmations in very small print, forcing him to kneel in order to read them.
Annie and her team burst in and restrain Homer, but Lisa activates the device in order to complete his work, realizing that they have at least one thing in common now - a desire to see the plant shut down for good. The mission fails because the air conditioning system never worked properly in the first place, but since this is a safety violation, the plant must be shut down temporarily to correct it and
Mr. Burns is arrested. Lisa hopes that Homer might retain his new behavior, but he quickly reverts to his old ways upon drinking a Duff beer that floats down from the sky on a parachute, under the control of a cackling
Moe. Annie takes a large dose of medication for her bipolar disorder, turning the dreary city block into a vivid rainbow daze, and pushes
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring character on the animated series, ''The Simpsons.'' He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Ralph, The son of Police Chief Wiggum, is a classmate of Lisa Simpson and is noted for his frequent non-sequiturs and humorous beh ...
to the ground as she walks away from the plant.
Reception
The episode received generally positive reviews.
Dennis Perkins of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode B−, saying "In the end, there are some funny lines, the gimmick doesn’t completely overwhelm the narrative, and things are back in place for the next episode. It’s not the worst omen for a new season of The Simpsons. I'm looking forward to it with guarded optimism and an open mind."
Teresa Lopez of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode four out of five stars — signifying a positive review — saying "The Simpsons has always done an excellent job with parody, and tonight was no exception. First, the show opened with clever Springfield version of the Homeland opening, before creating the perfect amount of creepiness of Homer's change. His sudden abstinence from both pork and alcohol were one thing, but then he went and used a napkin. He exactly mirrored
Brody
Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...
's calm focus and it was quite amusing."
In its original broadcast, the episode was watched by 6.37 million viewers, averaged a 2.9 rating among A18–49, and was the highest-rated show on
Animation Domination that night.
References
External links
*
{{The Simpsons episodes, 25
2013 American television episodes
Homeland (TV series)
The Simpsons (season 25) episodes
Television episodes about bipolar disorder