Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em (S18, E03-381)

Those outfits remind me that, despite all else, Luigi is probably a better plumber than Mario.

Plot Summary
The Simpsons visit the mall, which has deteriorated from various factors.  Still, Homer finds a series of books on carpentry and with Marge's urging buys it.  Of course, Homer doesn't give it a second look.  Marge uses one of the books to fix a floorboard and her nightstand, and comes to enjoy carpentry, so she decides to study the entire set of books.  She becomes a capable (though unlicensed) carpenter, and with Lisa's urging decides to take her skills to a professional level.  Unfortunately, she's unable to get any work as people dismiss her abilities because she's a woman.  A frustrated Marge realizes that the only way a carpenter can get work is if that person were a fat man with his ass showing out.  Then she realizes she's married to such a man, and comes up with a plan: have Homer show up as the carpenter, but when nobody's looking, she'll pop out of the tool cabinet and do the actual work.  Seems foolproof, doesn't it?

In a sidestory, Bart is a bit miffed when the school starts banning peanut products on account of somebody having a severe peanut allergy.  Bart investigates into who it is, and with Willie's blundering quickly learns that its Principal Skinner with the allergy.  Quickly, Bart puts a peanut on a stick and quickly taunts Skinner with it, forcing the Principal to do his bidding or else deal with deadly peanut oil.  While embarrassing himself at the comic book store, Skinner learns from the comic book guy that Bart, too, must have a weakness.  Skinner sneaks off that night to the hospital to learn what it is, and the next day confronts Bart with it: shrimp.  The two battle with their allergen sticks, a Star Wars-themed battle which takes them across town and into a Thai food factory.  The battle ends when the two of them fall into a vat full of peanut shrimp, activating both of their allergies to the fullest.

As Marge continues to build her commissioned projects, she becomes more and more frustrated as Homer continues to not just take credit, but boast and gloat over his supposed abilities.  That, combined with overhearing all of her customer's continued mocking of female carpentry, is too much for Marge to deal with.  When Homer tells Marge that he's going to have her fix a gigantic rollercoaster - and still receive zero credit because now Homer doesn't want to get humiliated - Marge officially quits and makes Homer fix the rollercoaster himself.

Obviously, Homer can't, and despite Lisa's insistence to have Homer forgo his male pride, Homer is still determined to show he is capable.  Soon, the rollercoaster is opened again, with a big public gathering, but its clear that the track is nearly unable to stay together.  Rather than admit the truth, Homer tries to flee on the rollercoaster.  Marge, who came to the gathering to videotape Homer embarrassing himself, springs into action and fixes patches of the rollercoaster to prevent Homer from falling off the rails.  Homer finally reveals the truth during the ride, but as it ends the coaster finally collapses upon itself and Homer.  Later, at the hospital, Marge forgives Homer, and congratulates Bart for 'saving' Skinner from the peanut shrimp, though Skinner - in a bed right next to Bart - doesn't like Bart's lies and the two continue to toss allergens at one another, much to Marge's disinterest.

Quick Review
The main plot of Homer taking credit for Marge's carpentry had its humorous moments, but stumbled a bit when it tried to turn things from "Homer refuses to admit it was Marge" to "Homer's male pride refuses to let him admit it was Marge".  Seemed unnecessary.  The peanut allergy side story started off fine as well, but I didn't like the heavy homage to Star Wars Episode III for the story's climax - especially now when that movie is hardly worth spoofing from.  Altogether, it makes for a disappointing episode, one that almost hits the mark but falls apart at the end.

Final Score: 6.4