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◄ The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
Co-Dependent's Day
The Wandering Juvie â–ș
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WARNING!
This article contains a controversy. We absolutely take no responsibility for any controversial topics (including this page). Read at your own risk, should you continue. That is all.
The reason given is: Fans dislike this episode due to its plot about Homer framing Marge for drunk driving.

“ Okay, okay... Remember the rules for drinking and driving... Drive slow, but not too slow. „
~ Homer Simpson

"Co-Dependent's Day" is the fifteenth episode of Season 15.

Synopsis[]

After a trip to a vineyard, Homer and Marge plan to go on a drinking binge together. But, when Homer crashes the car while drunk driving, he frames a passed out Marge as the driver to avoid being arrested (this would have been his third strike). Marge takes the supposed crime seriously and makes a considerable effort to rehabilitate herself.

Full Story[]

Homer, Bart, and Lisa see the newest Cosmic Wars film, The Gathering Shadow, and the movie turns out to be less than what they expected, filled with boring senate meetings and racial stereotyping. At home, Marge suggests that Bart and Lisa should write a letter to Cosmic Wars creator Randall Curtis. Two weeks later, they get a reply from Curtis, which completely ignores their criticism, having sent them Jim-Jam Bonks merchandise.

This forces the Simpsons to go on a trip to California, where Homer and Marge go to wineries, while Bart and Lisa go to the Cosmic Wars Ranch, which was previously known as Fresno. Bart and Lisa meet Randall Curtis and tell him that his Cosmic Wars movies have lost their way. He, however, does not like what they are saying, especially when Lisa points out that better technology is no way to make the story better. So, the two encourage him to return to what inspired him for the first Cosmic Wars movie. Curtis agrees, and he decides to go back to his storytelling roots. (For inspiration, he plans to go to the video store, and rides there on a tauntaun)

Bart and Lisa rejoin Homer and Marge, who are both drunk from free samples of the wine (while tossing Randall Curtis around like a football). Back in Springfield, Homer and Marge go to Moe's Tavern and drink more wine. Moe opens a priceless bottle of Chateau Latour wine from 1886, clearly unaware of its value. But, when he checks a wine guide like he should have done beforehand, he breaks down crying and dries his eyes with a lost Shakespeare play.

Eventually, Homer and Marge then continue to drink heavily for several days, until Marge suffers a particularly painful hangover. She tells Homer that they should not be drinking, and he agrees. Unfortunately, when they go to an Oktoberfest featuring Grammy-winning nuclear polka band Brave Combo, Marge, who tries to go through the night without drinking, gives in and ends up drunk (again), along with Homer. He tries to drive them home, but, in a drunken stupor, overturns the car.

In order to avoid an arrest, Homer makes things look like that Marge (who is much more drunk than him) was the driver. The police arrive and she is arrested, but Homer bails her out. Later, Barney suggests that Marge should go to a rehab clinic for a month, and while Marge is gone, Homer lets Flanders take care of the kids. When he sees her at the clinic, he confesses, but Marge is relatively furious with Homer for getting her arrested and drinking again. Eventually, the other rehab patients at the clinic help her discover that she likes being with Homer more than drinking, so she forgives him and returns home with him.

Behind the Laughter[]

Production[]

The scene where Homer sings at Moe's Tavern while Marge plays the piano was a deleted scene of this episode. However, it was later used in "Mommie Beerest" as a postscript scene during the end credits.

Reception[]

The episode has been largely criticized for the plot point where Homer sets Marge up to be arrested for drunk driving.

Guy Davis and Brendan Dando from Four Finger Discount thought the episode was the "sh--tiest episode" they had ever reviewed, and stated that Homer putting Marge in the driver's seat to avoid a DUI was "un-f---ing-forgivable."

James Greene of Nerve put the episode in at sixth place on his list: "Ten Times The Simpsons Jumped the Shark," singling out the storyline of Homer deliberately framing Marge for a crime he committed just to save his own skin, remarking, "This Homer wasn't a sometimes-insensitive-but-largely-sympathetic lug. He was just a douche." Greene did, however, like the "excellent" B-story, but found that it was "completely overshadowed by a very uncomfortable moment in the Simpson-Bouvier union.” Despite Greene's opinion of the B-story, some fans found the B-story weak, pointless, and confusing, as the show has mentioned Star Wars before and now the show was hiding behind a spoof to make fun of George Lucas' creative missteps that plagued The Phantom Menace.

Josh Kurp of Uproxx called it "...the worst thing Homer's ever done to Marge," while Anna Leszkiewicz of the New Statesman said, "I'm genuinely scared for her. What is happening to these once happy adults?" Fans online often cite this as one of many reasons why the writers should have Homer and Marge divorced/separated (which only really has come true on the non-canon episode "Future-Drama" and partially in The Simpsons Movie).

Citations[]

◄ Season 14 Season 15 Episodes Season 16 â–ș
Treehouse of Horror XIV ‱ My Mother the Carjacker ‱ The President Wore Pearls ‱ The Regina Monologues ‱ The Fat and the Furriest ‱ Today, I Am a Clown ‱ 'Tis the Fifteenth Season ‱ Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays ‱ I, D'oh-Bot ‱ Diatribe of a Mad Housewife ‱ Margical History Tour ‱ Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore ‱ Smart and Smarter ‱ The Ziff Who Came to Dinner ‱ Co-Dependent's Day ‱ The Wandering Juvie ‱ My Big Fat Geek Wedding ‱ Catch 'Em if You Can ‱ Simple Simpson ‱ The Way We Weren't ‱ Bart-Mangled Banner ‱ Fraudcast News
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