 |
| They're so perfect, Bart and Lisa are even holding hands. |
An ordinary storm takes a turn for the worst when a twister appears near the Simpson home, taking the dog within it despite Homer's genuine best attempts at saving him. Lenny and Carl, chasing the storm, offer to help so Homer and Marge tag along to find their dog. The four catch up to the twister but it ruins the storm van and even sweeps Carl away. Luckily, the twister breaks up just moments later, leaving both Carl and Santa's Little Helper alive, intact, and nearby. However, the storm also drops a bank it had swallowed up right over Homer and Marge, who are standing just in the right place to avoid being crushed, though they're stuck within a bulletproof glass revolving door.
Afterward, the two realize just how close they came to death, and that if they hadn't made it the kids would've been turned over to the state with their crummy laws on the matter. The two decide to settle on a guardian to take after the kids just in case both of them die. Homer doesn't trust Grampa to do, so he's out. Homer tries to call his half-brother Herb Powell, but he's "broke again". The two try Patty and Selma, the latter having been raising her adopted daughter Ling, but Ling - who has aged several years despite previously appearing at a baby about Maggie's age - seems pretty despondent from Patty and Selma's harsh parenting methods, so that's out of the question. The two also try asking friends, but after a few failed attempts the rest of the town catches on and actively avoids the two from asking them about guardianship.
Homer and Marge then decide to start looking out of town, where they come across a surfer named Mav and his wife Portia, an environmental lawyer. The two are quite rich and successful, and they even have an old man who is far less annoying than Grampa is. Believing them to be perfect, Homer and Marge officially ask the two to be the kids' guardians, and the two decide to agree. After the paperwork, Homer and Marge let Mav and Portia spend some time with the kids while the two of them start spending more time alone.
A few weeks pass, when Marge sees to her horror a Christmas photo with Mav, Portia and the kids. Believing that the two are 'stealing' the kids, Homer and Marge rush up to Mav's winter home to confront the two. On the way, Marge wonders if Mav and Portia are actually better for the kids. Homer confirms it so, but also states that those are their kids, theirs to raise unless they die. After reaching the home, both couples try to talk things out, but the kids return to reveal they'd rather live with Homer and Marge, their biological parents. Mav and Portia relent and quickly go off to do another rich person activity. Back home, Homer and Marge give up on finding a guardian for now, deciding that instead of focusing on them dying they'll focus more on just living.
Quick Review
A couple of oddities before I begin. First, Herb Powell. The character had been in two episodes: a Season 2 episode where he, a successful car entrepreneur, gets ruined by his long lost half-brother Homer, kind of a downer, and a Season 3 episode where he uses the money won by his half-brother Homer to create an invention that makes him rich again, a nice redemption story. So after 21 years, Herb finally makes another appearance on the show. Well, I say appearance, but it was only a few seconds worth of a phone call, where Danny DeVito actually came over to record the single line, Herb is never seen and he quickly admits he's "poor again", ruining the good vibes from the Season 3 episode. The five seconds worth of "gag" was pointless, stupid and perhaps even insulting.
Another oddity is that of Ling, Selma's adopted Chinese baby. For several years, Ling was just that, a baby. However, in a move which clearly shows the writers and staff couldn't give a care about any established continuity, Ling is now several years older, old enough to silently plead Homer and Marge to help her. People aren't as affectionate towards Ling as they probably were towards Herb just because Herb was in two early-season episodes while Ling made her debut in Season 16, but even so aging Ling so much for, yet again, a single gag, seems kinda irresponsible. I suppose there are some people out there who've come to like Ling - I wouldn't know how or why - but I bet they weren't all too please to find Ling as a helicoptered four or five year old in this episode.
Still, because these were only moment-long bits they didn't detract much from this otherwise decent episode. The scenes during the tornado were pretty good, and the interactions between the family and Mav and Portia had its moments as well (not so much anything involving Lisa and Portia, mind you).
Final Score: 7.0
No comments:
Post a Comment