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| Why wasn't there that much rage towards this episode from England? Was it because it was Season 15 and nobody cared about the show then? Or was it because the British are cool people with a sense of humor? (its probably the former) |
Mr. Burns withdraws a $1000 bill somehow, but he quickly loses it and it flies away. It falls into Bart's hands, but he is forced by Marge to put out a flier to have someone claim it within a set amount of time. Nobody is able to prove that bill is theirs, so Bart gets to keep it. Instead of spending it, though, Bart shows off the bill to others, eventually setting up a scheme where he charges people $5 to see the bill. Burns finally arrives to claim his bill, and Bart's days of exploitation are over. He did 'earn' $3000 in his scheme though, and he is convinced by Lisa to do something for Marge, deciding to spend the money on a vacation. On pondering where to go to, Grampa reveals he wishes to go to England in hopes of finding a woman whom he had a fling with during World War II. The family agrees and the Simpsons are going to England.
As Grampa begins his search for his lost love, the Simpsons take in all that England has to offer. Eventually, it seems like that, for once, the Simpsons are going to have a regular vacation. However, Homer accidentally drives into a roundabout and is stuck in it for hours. Homer eventually snaps and forces his way out, but rear-ends a carriage in the process. Perhaps coincidentally, the carriage was carrying the Queen of England. Homer is arrested and, with the Queen's blessing, jailed for his crime.
The family attempts to help Homer break out, but he accidentally stumbles into the Queen's bedroom somehow. He's able to plead for mercy, and the Queen allows Homer to leave England under the condition that he drags Madonna along with him. At the airport, Grampa is met by his long lost love, who birthed a daughter from their relationship: Abby, a now 58year old woman who looks and acts like Homer. Grampa realizes this and makes a quick sprint to the gate, while Homer and Abby get along seemingly unaware of their relation.
Quick Review
I didn't like this episode all that much. Country-bashing is nothing new for the show, neither is screwing around with leaders of said country whether those leaders are political leaders or, uh, whatever the Queen is nowadays. Still, the attempts at humor this episode provides dies off once the family reaches England, as some focus is made in introducing guest stars and making jokes revolve around them, which is hard to do right. The parts with the Queen are just odd and there wasn't much to laugh about there. Grampa learning he has another illegitimate child was mildly intriguing, but still not all that funny.
Final Score: 6.0
This episode was very offensive to American tourists who are often traveling to try to understand another culture.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make fun of British people one bit. Instead, it promotes a dementedly optimistic romanticized view of their culture. How is being a homosexual aristocrat such an insult? The writers apparently think that nothing has changed in England since the 19th century. They barely even mentioned that they have soccer rioters there who are sometimes worse than American football rioters and they never once mentioned England's colonial war crimes. The worst part is I don't have any actual statistics over which world country's tourists get in the most trouble. We love the British way more than they love us.