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| Letting Gil Gunderson beat her. Man, Lisa really did choke. |
Bart and Lisa attempt to sell lemonade. Homer tries to start a tab, but when Bart wisely refuses, Homer goes to Moe's instead. There, Edna Krabappel is trying to break up with Principal Skinner (even though, you know, she already did). For some reason, she can't do it this time, and offers a beer to whoever else will do it for her. Homer decides to tell Skinner, but the way he does it leaves Skinner happier than before he was given the news. Its decided that Homer is pretty good at breaking people up and consoling them, and he takes it up as a profession. Eventually, Marge chides Homer for what he's doing, prompting him as to what would've happened if someone like him was around during one of his various spats with Marge. That, with an ensuing nightmare, convinces Homer to quit.
Meanwhile, a lawyer comes and stops Bart and Lisa from selling lemonade until they get a license to do so. They actually bother going to a license bureau to get one, but the line is stalled as the vendor is focused on a crossword puzzle he's stuck. Lisa has enough, and walks up and solves the puzzle for the guy in record time, and is hailed as a hero. Soon, Lisa becomes overly obsessed with crossword puzzles, seeing everyday words convert into crosswords and only bothering to do the puzzles from the New York Times. Superintendent Chalmers picks up on this, and invites Lisa to a crossword tournament. Homer takes her there, and hangs out at a nearby bar where he learns that various other parents are betting on the crossword matches. Homer uses the money he earned breaking people up to bet on Lisa, and it pays off for him as Lisa goes all the way to the championship match. However, Lisa confides in Homer that in these situations, she always finds a way to choke. Homer takes these words seriously, and decides to bet his winnings against Lisa, much to the disgust of everyone in the bar. In the championship match, Lisa is up against ol' Gil Gunderson, who uses an elaborate ruse to completely dominate and defeat Lisa for the title. Lisa can't believe what just happened, but Homer is a richer man for it.
Lisa quickly realizes something is off when she notices Homer has upgraded a lot of his stuff. Homer decides to tell Lisa what he did. Lisa simply walks away, refusing to talk to Homer aside from saying she isn't mad (though it's clear she is). Eventually, Lisa opens up on Homer, telling him she no longer considers him her father, and that she's now taken up Marge's maiden name as Lisa Bouvier. Devastated, Homer decides to take the advice of the childless drunks at the bar and do something to offset his error. A short time later, Marge convinces Lisa to do another puzzle to cool off. Afterword, Lisa realizes the puzzle reveals an odd message: "dumb dad sorry for his bet". Lisa wants to believe its just a coincidence, but she asks Homer about it anyway. He reveals that he got in contact with both the editor and puzzle constructor of the New York Times to create a puzzle just for her. She also missed a second message within the clues themselves which reveal Homer's apparently earnest apology. Lisa forgives Homer, and the two share a bonding moment in front of the weird newspaper guys.
Quick Review
Well, I will say that there really wasn't anything bad about the episode. I will also say that there really wasn't anything all that funny about it, either. Homer's breakup business seemed like it had the most potential, but all the references to past couples really left it without much room for humor, and the subsequent focus on Lisa didn't help it much after that. Its a pretty forgettable episode.
Final Score: 6.4
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