Review: The Simpsons ‘Walking Big & Tall’

 

Spoilers Below:

One of the most-used plotlines on The Simpsons has definitely been stories that involve a conflict where Homer needs to decide between Marge and something else. He almost always picks the non-Marge option at first, before later realizing he made the wrong choice, and correcting his mistake.

This is one of those times.

The episode began 30 years in the past, at the inception of Springfield’s town anthem. Fast-forwarding to the present, Moe rushed into a town meeting exclaiming that Tuscaloosa, Alabama has the exact same anthem. Lisa was tasked with writing the new one, and at the debuting ceremony Homer embarrassed himself in a weight-related incident. Because of it, Homer intended to join an Overeaters Anonymous group, but instead chose Big is Beautiful, much to Marge’s dismay. She made him choose them or her, and of course he picked the fatties. After their leader died attempting to walk a few steps, Homer began eulogizing him and praised his teaching of overweight acceptance, until realizing the guy was only 23, whereupon he yelled at the mourners: “People, for God’s sake, join a gym!” and walked home with Marge. A glimpse into the future showed that Marge stayed with Homer as he lost and gained weight over and over throughout the rest of their lives.

In Case You Missed It:

1) No blackboard gag.

2) Couch gag: The Simpsons were pieces of sushi at a restaurant. Everyone got eaten by restaurant patrons, except Homer, who was eaten by a fish.

3) Towns with an anthem similar to Springfield: Tuscaloosa, Austin, Oakland, Calgary, somewhere in Mongolia, Area 51, and Des Moines.

4) Pharrell: “Shelbyville rules, Springfield drools!”

5) Grandpa and Maggie were feeding each other “Baby’s first peaches,” and “Senior’s last peaches.”

6) The sign outside the song unveiling: “Two-hour lines, five-minute show.”

7) The hashtags shown included: #SpringfieldPride, #C-Batteries, #OriginsofThePaperclip, #TrustFoxNews, #DateNightAtMoes, #BringBackLeno, #KrustyNudePix, #YogaIsJustStretching, and #TappedOutWorkingPerfectly.

8) The “Big is Beautiful” food spread included: Ice cream hoagies, Deep-fried sugar bags, Dorsnickos, Snickaritos, Milkysnicks, Porksicles, and diet soda.

Usually when it comes to the type of episode described above, which “Walking Big & Tall” was, the success or failure depends on how entertaining the non-Marge option is. There’s no real surprises or twists that can be pulled, since the plot path is already obvious. It was hilarious to see Homer try not to think about Mindy Simmons way back in Season 5’s “The Last Temptation of Homer,” because we all knew he’d be back with Marge by the end.

On paper, an episode about Homer being too fat seems redundant. We’ve seen it before (Season 7’s “King-Size Homer,” Season 9’s “King of the Hill,” etc.) so there’s not much interest there. Still, every episode gets a fair shake, as did this one.

Luckily, The Simpsons turned out a pretty funny episode. There were some great fat jokes, and ample opportunities to get the entire town in on the fun. With several town meetings taking place throughout the installment, we got some great lines from a wide variety of people.

Some of the calls were a bit questionable, considering they referenced past episodes. This can be a dicey maneuver with many classic Simpsons shows being considered sacred and untouchable. However, on the flip side, long-running shows can definitely use running gags to their advantage if done correctly. This week, they referenced “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” in a potential song verse, the fact that they had a hurricane once during the official anthem, Homer momentarily donned the mumu in the future segment, and Bart mentioned Lisa’s birthday song from “Stark Raving Dad.” The only one I was a little miffed about was the last, considering they dissected the storyline and made a jab at Homer & Marge letting a mental patient stay with them. Of course episodes don’t make sense. That’s the case with almost every one. However, Homer’s nonchalant “simpler times” remark saved it in the end. Kind of like the time when Frank Grimes acted incredulous after learning Homer was once an astronaut.

To the show’s credit, they took an overused element from the show’s past and put a new spin on it – and the pun there is definitely intended. I’m referring to the spinning newspaper scene, a gag used countless times as a spoof of old movies.

I also must give some props for the incredibly long and hilarious list of names Homer’s friends can’t call him anymore. It was astounding. As evidence, I’d like to point to the fact that I didn’t even attempt to record it in the ICYMI section.

But as that section also shows, most of the jokes stopped around the halfway point, and only rebounded in the last minute. In the in-between the plot took over, and wasn’t awful, but as I previously mentioned, it was predictable. If the jokes kept coming (especially the large amount of quick sight gags) this episode would have worked much better. Instead, it will have to settle for amusing mediocrity.