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| Its way past 2010. Where are the humanoid robots who malfunction and melt when trying to grasp love, already? I mean, come on! |
We've reached the first of what is just a few "flash-forward" episodes where storylines are based in a possible future. This episode begins at a renaissance festival in the present time, where Lisa separates from Homer as he talks about having eaten eight kinds of meat at said festival. She goes into Chief Wiggum's mythical creatures tent, a rather lazy attempt as such where the "creatures" are just common animals. The "Esquilax", a horse "with the head of a rabbit... and a body of a rabbit" catches Lisa's eye, but escapes its cage and "gallops" away. While chasing it, Lisa stumbles upon an odd tent at the edge of the woods, with a fortune teller within. Gathering Lisa's attention, the teller begins to describe to Lisa her first love...
The story advances 15 years, all the way to the futuristic year of 2010. Lisa, now a college student, finds herself constantly annoyed with one Hugh Parkfield, but after the two are forced to speed read a research book together, something sparks and the two fall in love. After engaging in some activities together, Lisa goes to England to meet Hugh's parents. While there, Hugh proposes to Lisa, who happily accepts.
Agreeing to have the wedding in Springfield, Lisa and Hugh take a flight back to stay at Lisa's parents' house, however Lisa is deathly afraid that Hugh will be unable to deal with the antics of her family, Homer in particular. Sure enough, upon reaching the house, an attempt to salute Hugh with the British flag goes haywire when a nearby bug zapper burns the flag. While Marge doesn't seem to annoy Hugh at all, Homer, destruction worker Bart and the rebellious Maggie who keeps getting interrupted before getting a chance to talk all get on Hugh's nerves one way or another which to Lisa's relief he is able to deal with. One night, Homer requests that Hugh wear one of Homer's few family traditions to the wedding: a pair of cuff links shaped like two cartoon pigs. a sight that slightly disgusts Hugh.
On the wedding day, August 1st 2010, Homer visits Lisa beforehand, telling Lisa how much he cares for her, how she was able to make him a better person and how she's his crowning achievement. While Lisa is happy to hear all that, she notices the pig cuff links are still with Homer and not Hugh. While Homer tries to dismiss the issue, Lisa grabs the links and confronts Hugh about them. Hugh reluctantly agrees to do so, but in a mild rant reveals that after the wedding he and Lisa are going back to England, away from her family (though Marge could visit every once in awhile). The prospect of being shut away from her family offends Lisa, and though while she finds them just as annoying, she still loves them and Hugh's inability to understand that forces Lisa to cancel the wedding. She runs off, and Hugh goes back to England the next day never to be seen again.
In the present day, Lisa remarks that the story wasn't really about her "true love", and the fortune teller reveals she just likes predicting future relationships where people get "jerked around". Creeped out, Lisa takes her leave, retrieves the "Esquilax", and catches back up to Homer, happy and eager to hear his stories of eating fudge and going on the teacup ride.
Quick Review
With these futuristic episodes, there are two things (besides humor) that really need to happen in order to make it work: interesting outcomes for characters and a strong main plot. This episode happens to feature both of these things. While it didn't work out for Lisa's love life, the episode does serve as another example and the bond between her and Homer and does it in a subtle way at the very end that if you can pick it up, you can really appreciate it. And yes, the fates of many characters 15 years down the road were interesting and mostly funny to learn as well. It makes for a strong first attempt at future-based storytelling.
Note: In this episode, future Lisa reveals she's a vegetarian, on a "I'm right about this and you aren't" level, too. Lisa the Vegetarian, the episode in which 8 year old Lisa becomes a vegetarian isn't until episode 133, in Season 7.
Final Score: 9.2
