Out of Oz
Marge attempts to persuade the parole board to let Jack go. Jack thinks it
unlikely that he will be paroled, saying, “I’m sure your macaroons are
scrumptious, Marge, but I’ve seen this warden turn down brownies. Honest to
goodness brownies.” Marge delivers an impassioned plea, stating, “Someone of
his talent belongs on a boardwalk doing caricatures.” The warden decides to
release Jack into Marge’s custody. She shows him his spot on the basement,
apologizing, “It’s not very prisony.”
Outside, Homer is complaining about the ineffectiveness of the chiropractor
to Bart. Bart asks if Homer did the proscribed exercises. Homer responds, “Yeah
right. I did them while you were studying.” Homer ends up falling over his
turned-over trashcan, realigning his spine. He decides to challenge the
chiropractors in town. He throws his patients on top of the trashcan with the
chant, “One, two, better not sue.”
At the elementary school, Marge is cajoling Principal Skinner into employing
Jack to paint a mural to boost school spirit. Skinner agrees to hire Jack,
saying, “Well the only other one to apply was Moe Szelick, and his stuff
scares the hell out of me. Yeech, how could anyone consider that making
love?”
Jack paints a scantily clad woman on a puma. Principal Skinner demands that
he compromise his principles and paint a more saccharine picture. Marge is able
to convince Jack to accept the revisions.
Back in the Simpson family garage, Homer is treating Moe for his back pain.
After the therapy, Moe says, “Hey, it don’t hurt no more. Now I can focus on
my crippling emotional pain.” Then, two chiropractors grab Homer’s “Spine-O-Cylinder”
and proceed to trash it. Homer wants to retaliate, but Moe dissuades him with
the words, “Forget it Homer. It’s Chiro-town.”
At the unveiling of the new mural, Principal Skinner unsuccessfully quips,
“You know, when Superintendent Chalmers suggested a school mural. I almost
thought he said a school Muriel. Muriel’s his sister, and, uh . . . well,
thank you Bruce Vilanch.” In the audience, Bruce Vilanch, voiced by himself,
mutters, “Whoopi would have made it work.”
The townspeople hate both Skinner’s joke and the mural. Ned Flanders
remarks, “That’s sugary, even for my taste.” Principal Skinner immediately
blames Jack for the design. The mural is burned off the wall, revealing Jack’s
original painting to the applause of all. Then, this mural burns too.
Marge finds Jack hiding. He convinces her that he is innocent. Marge tries to
distract Chief Wiggum and Principal Skinner to allow Jack to escape. Instead, he
uses the time to burn Skinner’s car. Marge is furious at the betrayal of
trust. Chief Wiggum drives Jack back to prison.
As the episode ends, Chief Wiggum strikes up a dialogue with Jack. Wiggum
says, “My wife and I like watching that Oz show on HBO. Is prison
really like that?” Jack replies, “Wouldn’t know. We only get basic cable.”
Moments later, Chief Wiggum asks, “Hey, you ever meet any mob guys? They
really like the Sopranos?” Jack answers, “I told you we just get basic
cable.”
This week’s episode featured two good guest stars and some damn funny
lines. It wasn’t the best episode of The Simpsons, but it helped ease
my pain at watching all my chosen teams fall in the conference finals. I only
hope that there will be a new episode come Super Bowl Sunday.
