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| I don't even want to make a caption for this, even though I just did. |
Plot Summary
After Bart and Milhouse read a comic detailing the 'death' of Radioactive Man, the two quickly learn the new #1 issue of the reborn Radioactive Man is gonna be sold in a midnight function. Homer takes the two to the comic book shop to buy the book, last in line. Just before he can buy the book, the comic book guy (loving all the money he's getting from the book's sales) is visited by that super hipster who may or may not own a comic book shop of his own anymore. The guy, whose name I never bothered or cared to learn, is now married to his super hipster girlfriend, news that just stuns ol' Jeff Albertson. Bothering him still, he recalls Homer is also married despite his physical deficiencies. As Jeff is visited by a vision of Stan Lee (as the two witness the real one stealing his comic books) to turn his love life around, he is visited by a young Japanese woman who quickly reveals she understands and tolerates him and his attitudes.
Smitten, Jeff asks the girl, Kumiko, on a date. Recalling Homer also has a hot wife, Jeff asks Homer for help and both Homer and Marge decide to help the comic book guy out. During their first date, Kumiko reveals she's very okay with Jeff's insulting nature, and love begins to blossom for them both with Kumiko deciding to move in to the comic book guy's shop's basement. Trouble brews, though, when Homer meets Kumiko's father, who isn't happy that Kumiko is seeing such a fat nerd. Homer unwittingly reveals where Kumiko is staying and the old man quickly takes Kumiko away, breaking Jeff's heart.
Marge gets upset with Homer for basically being at fault here, and demands Homer do something about it. Homer finds Kumiko's father and the two go drinking at a Japanese bar where the two end up drinking snake rice wine, getting hammered from it. The two share a hallucination of classic Japanese animations where Kumiko's father realizes he's been ignoring his daughter's feelings and decides to let Kumiko stay with Jeff. A short time thereafter, Jeff and Kumiko get married with Stan Lee heading the wedding and, all of a sudden, Jeff doesn't quite feel the need to be attached to comic books anymore.
(Not-so) Quick Review
Wow. Just... just wow. I didn't think it would happen, but it finally did.
This is a bad episode in every way. First of all, there isn't much comedy, I mean, actually good comedy. Stan Lee's appearance was actually pretty good, and its a shame he had to cameo in such a bad episode, but he's the episode's lone highlight.
Otherwise, the entire episode is just nothing but references. Comic book references, 'modern Japan' references, Japanese anime references, the episode is filled to the brim with them, and that's what they were: just references. Nothing about them was made to be funny, it was just 'hey look, its comic book references, and hey here's stuff from Miyazaki, isn't that funny? aren't we clever?' nonsense.
Just one episode ago, I was giving praise to Steal This Episode for taking everything this season has done well and making what was the best episode in years. I had a feeling just last week that my hope towards the rest of this season was misguided, and boy, was it. This episode, Married to the Blob, takes everything wrong with the show from the past several seasons and condenses it into 20+ minutes of cringe-worthy references and dialogue, creating what I believe is the worst episode in the series.
Yes, even worse than Alone Again, Natura-Diddly. That episode I never believed could be 'bottomed' in awfulness not just because of how unfunny it was, but because of what that episode did, in killing off a character. Married to the Blob didn't kill anyone off, and the new canon of Jeff Albertson being married to a Japanese girl isn't bad at all. That's how unfunny this episode was, and that was with a decent Stan Lee cameo.
When I heard this episode's premise, I wasn't expecting much, but I wasn't expecting this. I could barely get through the entire episode. I can't even use the supposedly famous words of the comic book guy to sum up this episode, so instead I'll just say: its even worse than killing off Maude Flanders.
Final Score: 2.8
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