10. Homer's Night Out

Episode Title: "Homer's Night Out"
Episode Number: 10
Original Air Date: March 25, 1990

Plot Synopsis: Homer has a night out with the boys from work and takes in a bachelor party at The Rusty Barnacle. Little does he know, Marge and the kids are having dinner in the next room. While dancing with a busty and surprisingly scantily-clad belly dancer named Princess Kashmir, Bart snaps a picture of Homer on the spy camera he just got in the mail. Bart makes a copy of the photo for dumb Milhouse, and soon the photo is plastered all over town. Homer gets the reputation of Springfield's ultimate party boy from everyone except Marge, who is both furious and hurt. Marge kicks Homer out of the house, which prompts him to go spend the night in Barney's awful apartment. When Homer finally returns home, Marge tells him that the thing she's maddest about is the fact that he taught Bart a terrible lesson by treating that belly dancer like an object instead of like a woman (which, to be fair, Princess Kashmir seems totally cool with). Marge insists that Homer take Bart to meet Princess Kashmir to show that she's an actual human being. Homer attempts to do that, and eventually finds the good Princess backstage at a gentleman's club right before a show. Homer, oblivious to his own surroundings, ends up becoming a part of the show. Marge thinks that Homer has gotten worse, but soon finds out that he actually has learned a lesson when he gives a speech to the men in attendance about the important role that women play in their lives. The men are inspired to call the special ladies in their lives, and Homer and Marge passionately kiss. On the stage at a gentleman's club.

Overall Thoughts: Two "marital problems/Homer screws up the marriage" episodes in a row is pretty daring for an animated show. I was initially worried that they would both be carbon copies of each other, but thankfully this episode is far more successful than "Life on the Fast Lane" was. I feel like Marge is justifiably mad to just the right degree, and Homer actually does something to make it better. You know, like how a story works. And it's a funny episode, to boot, which is always a plus.

What Works: Bart is responsible for a lot of the best jokes in this episode. Bart versus the Mail Lady ("Where's my spy camera? Where's my spy camera? Where's my SPY CAMERA?!") is great, as is the mischief he causes during dinner at The Rusty Barnacle. Bart taking such pure joy in filling out a negative comment card for a waiter that hasn't yet done anything wrong makes me laugh really hard.

But everyone else has a lot of good lines, too. We get to spend some time with Barney, which is always fun even in this kind of early, proto-Barney state. Homer's quest to make things up to Marge and show her that he's actually learned that women aren't objects has a lot of funny jokes. His speech at the end of the episode, that women are our "grandmas, our aunts, our nieces and nephews... well, not our nephews" is both touching (ish) and funny. All in all, I'd say it's probably the funniest episode of the season thus far.

And like I said, Homer actually grows, which is always a plus. I feel like this is the first time this season that one of these stories goes how it's supposed to. Homer screws up, Marge is upset, Homer shows that he really does love Marge and fixes it. Happy, and most importantly earned, ending.

What Doesn't Work: There's nothing in this episode that is out and out bad, I don't think. It's still pretty raw and rough around the edges as far as both the voice work and animation are concerned, but again: it's still early. While Homer getting treated as "Springfield's most popular swinger" is fun, the fact that Mr. Burns is so impressed by this that he essentially forces Homer to give him advice on how to get ladies is super weird. As is Marge's ultimate "he's how you can fix this mandate" to have Homer take Bart around to strip clubs to find Princess Kashmir. It's sort of questionable advice, and it's a weird reason for Marge to be mad at Homer. I'm not saying it's weird in principle - I'm just saying it's weird that Marge Simpson is so concerned with the perception of women. It's another early character trait that doesn't quite jive with the rest of the series. I feel like if this episode was done two years later, Marge being mad at Homer for partying with a belly dancer would have began and ended with "you acted like a jackass."

Closing Thoughts:  Dare I say it, but I think this just might be my favorite episode of the season so far. Spoiler alert: it'll likely end up being my second favorite episode of season one, as I've always really enjoyed "Krusty Gets Busted," which is thankfully up soon.

I want to make my opinion very clear when talking about this episode in relation to "Life on the Fast Lane," which I didn't like that much. I'm not saying that I like it better when Homer "wavers" from the marriage as opposed to when Marge does it. For starters, Homer doesn't really "waver" here as much as he just acts like a drunken fool with a lady with hardly any clothes on. I know there's that episode coming up in a year or two where he does kind of waver, but lets forget that for the moment. I'm saying that, going only by the characters that are being established, I don't think Marge would ever for a second even think about taking up with stupid Jacques, which is why that episode is so weird and this one isn't. Also, I know she does have another "Marge wavers" episode coming up eventually with Artie Ziff, but I think that's different, too. I'll deal with that when I get there.

Also, a random observation: Homer makes reference at the beginning to having a (former) assistant named Eugene Fisk, which really surprised me as I've never heard of that character and don't think he actually ever appears for the next 20+ years. It also implies he should, in theory, still have an assistant of some kind. Unless Burns eventually decides that the position of "Homer's Assistant"  is redundant, I guess.

Final Grade (out of 10): 8