Notes for JABF03 (The Wife Aquatic)

A rather enjoyable episode in terms of the Marge story and segue into island/fishing thing, and oddly it didn't seem like there was a point to get around to, but it was odder still that it didn't seem to matter. The resolution of the storm/end of the episode was weird, though; if they were trying to make a point about overfishing, storms, or deforestation, or going for a specific reference of some sort, I didn't catch it. Anyhow, having raced through the season 9 DVDs and thus having show quality even more on the brain, I felt overall it was good. Till the next one...

DYN: ...the Van Houtens are back together again? ...Ling also reappears (but being held by Patty)?

Previous episode references DABF10: Brazil is no good (probably referring to the scandal about that episode, cf. EABF22) 1F09: "I didn't say stop" 4F02: snide reference to "Slick Willy" (sort of) 9F09: talk of Marge remarrying 5F11: rescue by Asian fishermen (Chinese in that episode though) AABF09, CABF01: logging/deforestation

Other notes As I said above, I went at my usual pace through the recent season 9 DVD release (actually finishing up this afternoon, so I fit it in completely between JABF01 on the 17th and this episode today)... I couldn't help but notice a couple of stylistic touches that were pointed out in the 4F24 commentary by Susie Dietter et al., those being the oft-used grainy film and the test-tube distortion (see also 8F02). In addition, when Bart was revealed inside the life raft locker, I was reminded of the commentary for (I believe) 5F16, where Bart was originally supposed to accompany Homer on a dangerous mission. (Someone correct me if I am thinking of the wrong episode.) I don't suppose this means anything, but eh, sort of neat.

By the way, Don Del Grande, if you were wondering, the east coast airing of the episode began at about 8:10.

I took it in the context of Lisa saving things in the past.

SHe did't want them fishing, so they didn't. But the fishermen's alternative was just as bad to her, clearcutting the island.

Remember the episode where Lisa sits in a tree to save it? Or the episode where she helps Mr. Burns go into recycling, which turns out to be far worse than she could imagine?

There may not be a point to any of it, but she means well and sometimes that doesn't actually help.

Michael

I found the scene where Marge takes a look at the seahorse on the caurosel and finds swastickas carved into it's eyes to be rather disturbing, and unsettling. Even for the Simpsons, it seemed eerlie out of place.

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Notes for JABF03 (The Wife Aquatic)" thread, Matt Garvey wrote:

Well, they were still together at the end of "Milhouse of Sand and Fog (GABF19)," so I assumed they'd stay that way for future episodes.