Review: The Simpsons “Whistler’s Father”

On this week of The Simpsons, Maggie’s got a secret talent! And it only took 29 seasons to find out.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

On this latest episode, we’ve got a curious parallel Marge and Homer story about mobsters and monsters respectively. Marge has her snooty friends come over for a get-together, leaving Homer to spend the night with Maggie only to realize that the two have nothing in common and that his “Peek a boo” routine can only take him so far. Meanwhile, Marge’s dinner goes sour when her friends criticize Marge’s (Admittedly ridiculous) house, saying that Marge doesn’t have good taste. To regain her pride, Marge throws herself into redesigning the “Late Pickup” room at Springfield Elementary and discovers a passion for interior design. A passion she employs to work for notorious mobster Fat Tony as his personal interior decorator. As Homer spends more time with Maggie, he discovers that she has an incredible ability to whistle, which he uses to make his pals down at Moe’s believe that he can whistle. But an intervention by Grandpa Simpson reveals that Maggie has the Simpson whistling gene that “Skips a generation” and that she’s destined for show business.

Under the tutelage of Grandpa Simpson (Who we learn was also a talented whistler in his youth), Maggie’s whistling skill grows, and she auditions to a “Got Talent” show for a chance at the big time. Yet Homer is having second thoughts as he sees the damaging effect that fame and show business has on the other competitors. While all this is happening, Marge begins working on Fat Tony’s mysterious project in redesigning the old Springfield post office. Working for Fat Tony, Marge’s confidence soars as she gets to live the life of a “Made Man”, giving us plenty of opportunities for funny gags with Fat Tony and his cronies.

The plot turns, however, when Maggie’s fame starts to go her head, and Homer realizes he’s “created a monster”, and resigns himself to losing Maggie to the world. As Marge finishes up the redesign of Fat Tony’s Post Office, she realizes that she has actually helped Fat Tony open a bordello, and that her designing has gotten the better of her. Marge retaliates at Fat Tony by revealing that Fat Tony’s grandmother had actually sent a postcard signed by the pope to this post office, showing that Fat Tony had defiled holy ground by putting his bordello here. Fat Tony, repulsed by his actions, admits defeat as his henchman promptly begin burning the place down. While Marge’s story resolves with a flourish, Maggie takes center stage to audition to the world, but a baby tooth unexpectedly comes in during her performance and ruins her ability to whistle. But Homer heroically steps in to take Maggie’s side, saying she is talented no matter what and that he loves her for who she is. The episode ends nice and tidy, with Marge and Homer deciding not to keep secrets from each other anymore, leaving us as the audience all warm and fuzzy inside. That is until Marge reveals she’s been secretly tailoring Homer’s pants, much to Homer’s dismay; well played, Simpsons.

Our Take

This was a classic Simpsons styled episode, with a simple, yet a strange couple of plots giving us lots of opportunities for good gags. And, in that way, it’s a pretty good episode, with lots of fun little moments we’ve come to expect from The Simpsons. Yet, having Marge and Homer go on completely different stories, leaving Bart and Lisa out, makes the story a little sparse and needing some more character interaction. The Simpsons are best when they’re all together, so this left me a little disappointed. That being said, this was a cute episode, and it gave me some nice laughs along the way.