We finally reach the first marriage crisis episode. It's one of the dynamics that would define The Simpsons and in this episode it is done really well. This is an episode I used to battle with if it was only decent or is it a masterpiece? I used to think the episode was just average because of its actual lack of humour than defines the show. But I've come to the conclusion that it is a masterpiece because of its brilliant use of story telling, pathos and emotional poignancy and it's up there for the top episode of the season.
This is the first Marge episode and like all of her classic era episodes the conflict is amazingly well done. It's the first showcase of her being more than just a housewife. That's what makes her character so amazing the fact that she can be a housewife but she wants/needs to be more than that. She wants to be free from the restraints of everything including her marriage and finds that in bowling alley with Jacques. Her dialogue with Jacques is amazingly well done and feels very cinematic and real. But of course Marge never betrays Homer fully but it's only when he actually appreciates her(the sandwich scene) and respects her needs. All the marriage episodes are great spotlights for Marge in terms of she doesn't have to submit to Homer and his selfish ways ie buying gifts just for him but is able to grow. She really is a complex character who needs much more recognition.
Jacques is the romantic "interest" of Marge in this episode. He is portrayed brilliantly by Albert Brooks. While it may seem cliche to use a french lover. It doesn't seem so in this episode because of the way Brooks uses the character. Overplaying every stereotype he can. The dialogue between him and Marge is brilliant. Jacques use of bowling wordplay intertwining with love making really makes the episode. His comparison of Homer the ball to Homer the person really gets to Marge he's seductive in every speech it's brilliant. The scene in the car is the best use of this wordplay. The whole brunch dialogue along with one of my favourite lines ever" Marge darling there are ten pins in my heart.You've knocked over 8. Won't you please pick up that spare?" I love it! It's crushing yet still very Jacques. The early season animation is the only way this episode would be able to be portrayed properly because of Jacques mannerisms. You can't get the realistic motions of the hands or just the way he lusts for Marge with HD animation. Even the backgrounds needed to be from the earlier season with the nice grittier shadings. The scene that sticks out most is of course Marge's fantasy scene with her a Jacques dancing on a bowling alley. A really nice reddish glow to it looks great. But even the scene in the car that I mentioned earlier should get some credit with the bowling ball moon in the sky and the darkish blue shading with the Simpson's house in the background really makes the scene all the more poignant.
The greatness of this episode comes in the form the subtle way Marge and Homer's marriage dissolves. There is no sitcom esque all out yelling match between the two of them. The kids aren't shown crying and begging them to stay together etc. Instead the marital conflict is shown through Marge staying out later and in tiny bits of dialogue between Homer and Marge particularly the scene of them together in the bedroom where Homer discovers the glove Jacques bought Marge. It's also shown in the way Homer and Marge act towards the kids. Marge lavishing extra lunches on them and Homer's lack of anything while playing catch with Bart. I really do love the way the kids are used in the story telling what stage they are in in terms of their parents marriage crisis. Lisa is of course always ahead of Bart and while Bart doesn't understand/believe it at first he comes around and is able to see it from more than just himself benefiting from the crisis(extra snacks etc). Of course the scene with Homer telling Marge about the way she makes jelly sandwiches is the emotional climax. It's an amazing Homer moment. The fact that he is unable to say anything remotely smart and says what comes to his mind first. But it's so simple and sweet and it really shows his true feelings for his wife Marge. He of course thinks she is going to leave him and just the last line he utters is emotionally devastating "goodbye my wife" The ending does get somewhat cheesy but I do think it works in this episode with Marge seeing the multiple couples and coming to the literal fork in the road choosing Homer over Jacques and the great An Officer and a Gentleman parody.
Grade: A- I really hate to give it such a low grade but I do think the lack of humour hurts this one. It's not in a Lisa's Sub way where it's tough to see the humour this one just wasn't meant to be hilarious it was very cinematic/dramatic and a brilliant character story.
Observations:
ReplyDeleteIs this opening unique, or have I just not watched the first season in that long? "Semi-Painless Dentistry"
The pacing of Homer getting dressed, running out of the house, and driving into the mall is perfect.
Patty and Selma are actually funny in these earlier episodes, instead of just loathsome.
The mourners in the Singing Sirloin ("Home of Ballads & Salads") are representative of the humour in this episode. Eating onion rings off the bowling alley floor, everyone pitching in to throw out the pizza, and pretty much everything Jacques says are amusingly absurd, but not transcendent comedy.
"This occasion is already so special if we made it any more special we might end up making it less special"
Homer and Marge's characterizations in this episode are really strong, but not entirely consistent with later episodes, but only because the character development in this episode really stuck.
Are Marge's 13AA feet ever mentioned again? Possible inspiration for Mike Judge and co. on King of the Hill almost a decade later?
Have any other Simpsons characters ever had Jacques' sultry crescent eyes?
"I can tell you what the little arrows mean"
I like the contrast between Homer in this episode and Marge in Colonel Homer. Homer is devastated, while Marge is angry and exaggerates what's going on between Homer and Lurleen. She has the right to be upset, but she acts as though Homer is about to abandon the family, when his intentions are pretty honest.
Jacques goes down in history with Frank Grimes (and who else?) as single-appearance characters who are remarkably well characterized, and not coincidentally are not voiced by celebrity guests (Albert Brooks is only a guest in the same sense that Marcia Wallace is).
The fantasy sequence is fantastic; the walls turning into curtains, the deco city scape, the dynamic shot of the trophy case, the more abstract backgrounds, all look great without looking like they were difficult or expensive to animate.
The ending of this episode is perfect. It's genuinely moving, in a way that the Simpsons occasionally can be, even when it's this cheesy. It's easier to compare the ending to Futurama episodes than other Simpsons, but I don't think that this ending is actually very similar to Jurassic Bark, The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings, The Sting, or other home runs from that series. When Futurama goes (or went) out on these kinds of notes they almost come off with Shulzian depressing sweetness (especially Jurassic Bark), but Swartzwelder and Silverman deliver this one as a triumph. I agree with the minus rating. This episode is definitely a masterpiece, but it loses marks for not being funny.
Thoughts?
I wouldn't say Brooks is the same sort of guest star as Wallace as Wallace has been in 168 episodes and Brooks has been in 6. He is of course the best guest star to ever be in the show. I mean I love Hoffman in Sub and everything but Brooks really brings out the best in his characters.
ReplyDeleteI do feel that the ending was cheesy but I could never dock marks for it because the emotional poignancy is still there after every viewing. The emotion is prevalent throughout and not sequestered into the final moments like most emotional episode i.e When Maggie Makes Three/Lisa's First Word etc.
I haven't seen Colonel Homer in sometime I guess I'll eventually get around to it again but I do really like the contrast between the two. Both are great examples of Marge and Homer's characters. Even Homer in Last Temptation how he only thinks of Marge etc makes this episode seem all the more special. That is what I really love about Marge's character she' seems to be just a regular housewife of the surface but underneath her character is so complex and moving.