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| Become a couple after they both failed to break up another couple, how about that. |
The family is on a 4th of July weekend road trip, and they pick up a pair of hitchhikers, who are in love. The scene then flashes back to 20 years ago, when a young Homer and Marge are riding their bikes down the same road, however an accident leaves them unable to continue riding. Just then, they meet for the first time for real the younger Ned Flanders and his newlywed wife Maude. The pair let Homer and Marge ride in their car where they reveal they're still on their honeymoon. After a brief scene in the present time, the episode flashes back to just five years ago when Homer, Marge, Patty and Selma are returning from a picnic that didn't go so well. Homer tires of his sisters in law constantly mocking him, and he tosses them out. A short time later, his car runs out of gas. Marge is pretty mad at this point but as the two walk to get gas they stumble upon a mansion that's hosting a party, and the two partake for a moment. Homer comes across a young woman, Sylvia, whose fun-loving style Homer can relate to. Marge sees the two having fun in horror, and confronting Homer doesn't do any good, and Marge ends up accidentally falling into a pool as she angrily walks away.
In the present, the Simpsons drop off the young couple and reach their destination, the Kozy Kabins, where the scene flashes back to 20 years ago again when the Flanders couple drives up to the same lodge. Ned ensures that Homer and Marge can't have any pre-marital "snuggling", separating their rooms on each end of the one where he and Maude will enjoy their honeymoon. Marge calls her sisters in law, who once again try to convince Marge that Homer is no good. The scene shifts back to five years ago when Homer and Sylvia are still having fun. Marge is crying her eyes out in a changing room when the host of the party, Alberto, walks up to where Marge is and helps her change into something dry. He admits he has had his eyes on her since she came to the party, and with Homer's continued partying with Sylvia, Marge agrees to go with Alberto on a glider. The two land at the very same Kozy Kabins and rent a room. Just then, Homer and Sylvia arrive nearby, and as Sylvia checks in, Homer notices Marge nearby. He goes to investigate, panicking Marge and Alberto, the latter hiding in a chest. Marge and Homer, both trying to hide their intentions, use a make up "snuggle" in a continued attempt to prevent their original intents from being known. Marge convinces Homer to drag the chest outside, where Homer is quickly able to toss Sylvia into without even noticing Alberto, and he and Marge make up inside the cabin. In the present day, Homer and Marge "convince" the kids to go away in a paddle car, while at the same time a married Alberto and Sylvia arrive at the cabin with their daughter. They both recognize Marge and Homer, and thank them for what they did five years ago. Homer and Marge both realize that their reconciliation five years ago was built on layers of lies, and the two get mad at each other again.
As Bart gets lost with the paddle car, the scene shifts back again to 20 years ago. While Ned and Maude continue to ensure Homer can't do anything too lewd with Marge, he does take her on a nice walk in the woods, and carves a heart into a nearby tree stating he'll be in love with her forever, though because the tree has so many carvings already Homer has to climb it to find space to carve his heart. In the present, Homer comes across that same tree, and decides to show Marge the carving in hopes of saving their marriage. Marge arrives in time ready to talk things out with Homer, but she accidentally knocks the tree over, landing above a cliff to a river. Homer is hanging on barely by the piece of bark he had partially carved out, and Marge goes to rescue him. The attempt goes bad, and now Homer rescues her as his bark continues to give way. As the two once again reconcile their differences, Bart and Lisa arrive in their paddle car to give the two a safe place to land. The end shows the various couples in love departing the lodge in their various yet kinda merged time frames.
Quick Review
What was this episode? Its a combination of a marriage episode - that's never good - and a flashback episode which, after That '90s Show, you can't really trust to be good anymore. The plot continuously jumps from the three timelines, albeit in a smoother fashion than how I tried to explain it above, but the episode makes a critical mistake, one that it seems to be making more often nowadays. In the effort to have an 'unique' storyline, which is really just a convoluted flashback-marriage episode hybrid, little effort was spend on comedy of any kind. I spent more time trying to figure out what the hell the episode was trying to do than I was laughing, and I didn't even spend that much time on the former. It was just a weird episode all around.
Final Score: 5.6
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