In recent years the series has had a tendency to make Homer and Marge's relationship healthier, this is notable, since the last seasons (before the arrival of 33 and 34) had also begun to abuse the trope and the plot of marital problems. So much so that the same people began to get fed up and defensive about any plot involving Homer and Marge in the future.
Needless to say, that's the same reason why so many of us were skeptical of this episode, I mean... A Homer and Marge episode involving the return of a season 1 character who was a love interest of Marge? Not to mention, it was also a showrunning for Jean, who has been the main exponent of abusing this plot. So, there is no doubt that many of us were waiting for the return of this plot and that Homer and Marge's marriage (and their love) would once again be put to the test, but in reality (and to my surprise) they go in another direction...
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So what made this episode different? Well this episode (at least in my case) managed to subvert expectations. Like you, the first time I saw that they were bringing Jacques back I thought, why? And well, with good reason, a "popular" character from season 1 returning in season 34, in an episode of Marge and with a premise similar to the original episode.
It all pointed to three things: A plot recycling and disrespect to that classic episode, a nostalgia trick by Jean and company that was only back to remind us how good this show used to be, and of course, a marital crisis and an underlying theme that brought to light several of the tropes and clichés that Homer-Marge-centric stories had been subjected to for so long. In short, a setback.
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But then, which direction do they take? Well, with Jacques not a very different one, at least not in principle, which felt a bit unnecessary and a bit like the writers really can't get over what to do with him. Which, was definitely (on my first viewing) the weakest element of the episode.
... Until the arrival of the third act where it was felt the moment where the writers had something to say regarding his character. And after staying to think for a while and seeing it again, all the pieces began to fit with me and which all led me to a conclusion and this is related to the treatment of Homer and Marge's relationship that they have had in recent seasons. So I think what many of you are wondering at this point is: Was Jacques' appearance just another nostalgia stunt by Jean and company? Well, let me surprise you and tell you that the answer is... Nope! Jacques was not a nostalgia stunt, but rather a subversion. A subversion of the stories of Homer and Marge and what we are used to from them and also proof of how much their relationship has changed.
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In a way, this episode is aware of how dated this plotline is and also aware of how tiresome the conflicts between Homer and Marge can be. The episode uses Jacques as a way of telling the audience how much the characters have changed since Season 1. He is aware of the conflicts they have gone through and the degradation that Homer and Marge's dynamic has suffered and is aware of how different their relationship is from the first seasons and how strong their relationship has become and how their bonds continue. getting stronger. Jacques is treated as a craft and an iconic element of the series, do you know how he is not treated? As a source of conflict between Homer-Marge and as a threat to their marriage and their relationship. Instead, it is used as a mirror to the past and the present, it shows how nothing and no one can defeat them, because they have already overcome endless obstacles.
Things like Homer describing the troubled past between his wife and Jacques are proof of that. In previous seasons, this discovery may have caused friction, discord, and fighting between the couple. At other times, this plot point and such revelations could only be used to create conflict and tension... However, 'Pin Gal' takes a different direction and takes another perspective and way of looking at things. This episode is a reminder to the audience of how much Homer loves his wife, how even after so many years of failure and countless times Homer has screwed up, she still loves him and will continue to be by his side. . Things like the flashback are proof of this, they are an affirmation of their relationship and how much has changed. Because this is a culmination of all those years.
That's the lesson of 'Pin Gal', it's about how Homer will always choose to support his wife and how his wife loves him very much and has supported him all these years. Here, Homer realizes his mistake on that occasion, and says to go confront Jacques at his house and fight him, all over his wife. He discovers how much he has left her aside and how many times he has not supported her, the episode goes back on that and then reminds us that these characters have changed, how they are no longer the same and how we no longer have to be stuck in last. Now is the moment in which Homer decides to return the favor to her wife by supporting her (hers by supporting her in the tournament) and how he, too, will always be by her side. In a way, it's a fitting closure to 'Life in the Fast Lane' and in a way to their relationship as well, and a response to the trend of more recent characterizations of him. Because this episode shows the strengths of their relationship.
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The thing that definitely sold me and I loved about this was the scene of Homer confronting Jacques at his apartment. Compare this with the scene of him going to confront Jesse at his house in 'One Angry Lisa' where Homer does it for purely selfish reasons and out of mere envy and jealousy. Here he felt like a response to what he ignored and did not know for so long, what his wife hid from him and originated from his lack of sensitivity and his lack of appreciation / tact towards his wife. It is an indirect response to those moments in which he could not be there and could not make her wife feel accompanied by her, he made her feel unappreciated and how she did not pay enough attention to him. It is basically the moment where Homer decides that it is time to change and also support her wife, so that no jerk like Jacques will take advantage of her again and make her feel alone and unappreciated. That's the moment that sold me the whole episode.
Also, I won't change my opinion that this was not the culmination of Homer and Marge's marriage, especially since this episode recalls their first marital conflict on the show and the first proof of their love. The fact that this one also came out a day after its original broadcast is proof of that. In a way, this feels like closure and a response to the new relationship that Homer and Marge have had in recent seasons: it reminds us how much they have changed and how nothing and no one will be an obstacle, it is a metaphor for how not even the person that led them to their first conflict between them will be able to separate them again and as it no longer represents any obstacle.
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So, I still have a lot to say about this episode, but of course I couldn't miss a long and pretentious analysis from me. And well, in something more superficial I am glad that they have used the bowling aspect and it has not been in the background, plus the sight gags and a good number of jokes that hit the mark (surprised that this has not resorted to the strange and bizarre humor that Westbrook episodes often have). I can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked this episode and this will be the first Jean episode in a long time that I'm giving a rating higher than a 3. Surprising that this was a Westbrook script but yeah, fuck it. 4/5, not a 3, not a 3.5, or anything, but a full 4 because I really enjoy it and I don't want my praise to sound empty. I really, really enjoyed it, and very surprised that it came from the Jean-Westbrook tandem.
... 4/5 (Yep! I enjoyed this one and you will rarely see an episode of Jean receive this score).