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| Could you imagine Smithers looking like this for the entire series? |
Homer causes yet another in a long line of accidents at the nuclear plant. Its the last straw for his supervisor, who fires him on the spot. Finding that not many people care to hire a Technical Supervisor or a Supervising Technician or what have you, Homer hits a low when he tries to steal from Bart's piggy bank so he can buy a beer. The depression is too much for Homer, and decides to commit suicide by throwing a rock attached to him off a bridge. Along the trek, however, he has to save his family from being run over at a dangerous intersection, and finds a new purpose for his life: putting a stop sign at that intersection. After that simple task, he goes on a sign-placing spree, placing signs for speed bumps and dips and all sorts of things, gaining a strong following. Homer decides to finally go after the quite unsafe nuclear plant, but Mr. Burns persuades him to come back as the plant's Safety Inspector to get the heat off him. Homer dutifully accepts the offer - and the raise that accompanies it - and all is well.
Quick Review
Season 1 of The Simpsons is kinda odd overall, when compared to the "golden years", as it were. Besides the crude animation and inconsistent designs (see picture), the first season featured characterizations that changed quite a lot even just a couple of seasons later. One example of this is Homer Simpson himself. In later seasons he's portrayed as a lazy, childish oaf. However, in Season 1 he's... well, still lazy, but not nearly the childish oaf he soon turns into. Homer's Odyssey is a good example of the well-meaning, somewhat intelligent Homer that doesn't last much longer.
This episode is notable for a few things. First, the odd coloring of one Waylon Smithers, who is a black guy in this episode, but quickly becomes white in the very next episode. Apparently, having a subservient black character who works for an old, white energy tycoon sends the wrong message, so the change happened quickly. The episode also features the first "Moe prank call", where here Bart has Moe inquire to his customers for "I. P. Freely". It also establishes Homer's job as the plant's Safety Inspector, something referenced more or less for the rest of the series.
So with all of that, was the episode actually funny? It does have its moments, such as the nuclear safety video near the beginning of the episode, the mysteriously gruff yet cool "El Barto", and Homer's biggest safety accomplishment: that "DIP" sign near that dip. Still, like most other Season 1 episodes, while the jokes are good, there just isn't really the quantity of them that really define later episodes. Its harsh to say given this episode shouldn't be compared to later episodes like I just did, but even so Homer's Odyssey is by no means a bad or even an average episode.
Final Score: 6.8
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