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The Way We Was vs. $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop...

Posted: Wed July 27, 2016 11:31 pm
by stip
The Way We Was

When the Simpsons' television breaks down, Marge tells her children how she and Homer first met. The year is 1974 and Homer and Marge are both in their senior year of high school. Unlike Homer, Marge is a responsible student, but after she burns a bra at a feminist rally, she is sent to detention. Homer is also sent to detention along with his best friend Barney for smoking in the restroom. When Homer sees Marge for the first time as she enters the detention room, he instantly falls in love. Despite his father Abraham's warning that he is wasting his time, Homer is determined to win Marge's heart.

To impress Marge, Homer joins the debate team, of which Marge is a member. At a debate, Homer finds out that Marge is more interested in the more articulate Artie Ziff. Therefore, Homer pretends to be a French student so that he can be tutored by Marge and when Homer asks Marge to the senior prom she accepts. However, when Homer confesses that he is not really a French student, Marge is furious at him for making her lose sleep for a debate tournament the next morning. She ultimately loses to Artie, who asks her to be his partner to the prom; she agrees. Homer does not realize that Marge has changed her plans, and so he shows up at her house for prom night to pick her up. Moments later Artie shows up, causing confusion to Marge's family, and a despondent Homer leaves. Undaunted, he decides to go to the prom alone.

At the prom, Artie and Marge are voted prom king and queen, and the two share the first dance. Meanwhile, Homer, heartbroken, leaves and cries in the hallway. After the prom, Artie tries to get romantic with Marge in the backseat of his car: after he pushes his luck too far, she slaps him and demands to be taken home. Meanwhile, Homer's limousine time has run out, and without any money, he decides to walk home. Along the way Marge and Artie pass by Homer. After Artie drops Marge off at her house, she returns in her car to pick up Homer, realizing that he was the man for her all along. Homer manages to fix up the strap of Marge's dress with the corsage that he got her after Artie ruined it from his earlier attempt.


$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)


The economy of Springfield is in decline, so Mayor Quimby listens to suggestions from citizens on how to improve it. Principal Skinner states that legalized gambling has helped rejuvenate run-down economies, and that it can work for Springfield as well. Everybody, even Marge, likes the idea. Mr. Burns and Mayor Quimby work together to build a casino, where Homer gets a job as a blackjack dealer. The casino is designed by Mr. Burns himself, as the proposals he received were not to his liking. While Marge waits for Homer's shift to end at the casino, she finds a quarter on the floor and uses it to play a slot machine. She wins and almost immediately becomes addicted to gambling. Meanwhile, since Bart is too young to gamble at Burns' Casino, he starts his own casino for his friends to play in his treehouse, and intercepts Robert Goulet to perform there. Burns also grows even richer, but in the process becomes a Howard Hughes-type hermit, developing a profound fear of microscopic germs, urinates in jars, and wears tissue boxes instead of shoes.

Due to her addiction, Marge spends every waking moment at the casino and neglects her family. For instance, she forgets to help Lisa make a costume for her geography pageant. Enraged, Homer bursts into the casino and barges around searching for Marge. The security cameras capture Homer's rampage, and when Burns sees him he demotes him back to his old job at the power plant. After realizing how much he misses the plant, Burns decides to return. Homer confronts Marge with her behavior, and she finally realizes that she has a problem. Lisa does win a special prize in the geography pageant, as Homer's poor costume design gives Lisa the appearance that she did the work all by herself. Ralph Wiggum receives the same prize, as his costume is simply a note taped to his shirt that reads "Idaho".

Re: The Way We Was vs. $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Sto

Posted: Wed July 27, 2016 11:36 pm
by stip
I've probably said this before, but $pringfield is one of those episodes that may be among the best in the series that we sometimes forget about

Re: The Way We Was vs. $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Sto

Posted: Thu July 28, 2016 3:54 am
by tragabigzanda
This is a tough one for me. The Way We Was is a top-tier sentimental episode; the gambling ep is, as Stip mentioned, often overlooked when best eps are discussed.

I'm going with $pringfield, with some slight misgivings.

Re: The Way We Was vs. $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Sto

Posted: Thu July 28, 2016 4:00 am
by LoathedVermin72
Not a fan of the flashback eps. $pringfield is the easy winner.