Monday, August 27, 2012

The Call of the Simpsons (S01, E07-007)

"Avenge me, son.  Avenge my death."
Plot Summary
Homer is jealous that neighbor Ned Flanders bought a new, state-of-the-art-for-1990 RV.  Not wanting to be upstaged, Homer attempts to buy an impressive RV of his own, only to have his apparently awful credit get in the way.  Upon finally getting something that was once considered an RV, Homer immediately takes his family camping (after rubbing in his new purchase to Flanders).  Some bad driving later, Homer ends up losing the RV - and a whole lot of camping equipment - leaving the family stranded in the middle of the woods.

While Marge and Lisa just hang out with little problem, and Maggie has a whimsical adventure with some bears, Homer's experience as an "expert woodsman" leads him and Bart into a lot of trouble.  One such encounter leaves Homer covered in mud with a mouth full of honey, having a guy with a camera nearby mistake him for Bigfoot.  Controversy ensues, and as the family separately finds their way out of the woods, Bigfoot hunters capture Homer and, upon further study, can not tell whether the guy is actually Bigfoot or even a human.

Quick Review
In Homer's Odyssey I noted that Homer hadn't really become his trademark self yet, and that episode was perhaps one of the last few chances viewers had to see Homer as the lazy but well-meaning oaf he once was.  The Call of the Simpsons, however, takes Homer's character into territories that have since become entire planets.  ...that didn't make much sense, did it?  What I meant was that this is the first real episode to show the kind of Homer Simpson that we'd be seeing for years to come.

The Call of the Simpsons is one of the best episodes of Season 1, with plenty of jokes and humorous circumstance to be had.  Homer's adventures in the wild, including his being mistaken for Bigfoot, are among the episode's highlights.  Indeed, Homer's character has taken a change with this episode, ultimately for the better.

Final Score: 8.1

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