The Wife Aquatic

"The Wife Aquatic"
The Simpsons episode
File:Wife Aquatic.png
Episode no.	Season 18
Directed by	Lance Kramer
Written by	Kevin Curran
Original air dates	January 7, 2007
Episode features
Couch gag	The family on the couch is pinned up, one by one, onto a bulletin board.

"The Wife Aquatic" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season, which originally aired January 7, 2007. 13.9 Million viewers watched this episode, the Highest rated of Seasons 17 and 18 together.

Plot

File:Barnacle Bay.png

The Island of Barnacle Bay

After watching Patty and Selma's old home videos of their trip to Barnacle Bay in New England, Marge becomes depressed as she remembers how much fun she had. Seeing her so depressed, Homer surprises her with a trip to the island. However, it turns out that Barnacle Bay has become a rundown wreck due to the lack of Yum Yum Fish from overfishing. Homer tries to help out by fixing the boardwalk and celebrating with a large fireworks show, but he accidentally starts a fire and the boardwalk burns down. In order to pay off his debt, Homer joins a fishing crew and sets out to find some Yum Yum Fish. Homer, believing it to be 'Opposite Day', beer-batters the fishing hooks, and they catch a lot of Yum Yum Fish. Suddenly, a "perfect storm" starts and Homer and the crew are trapped in the violent ocean. They decide to abandon ship, but can not because Bart has stowed away in the compartment where the life raft is stored in order to escape from Marge and Lisa. The ship sinks, and Marge and the rest of Barnacle Bay believe that all hands are lost, including Homer and Bart. Marge feels very sad about Homer being lost at sea. She feels even more sad when she finds out that Bart is lost, too. However, Homer and Bart manage to survive and are rescued by a Japanese fishing boat, much to the people's relief.

The town decides to go back and fish, but Lisa warns them about the dangers of overfishing. Agreeing with her, the townsfolk decide to go into logging instead, and clear cut the island's trees, much to Lisa's dismay.

Cultural references

• The title is a reference to the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
• The main plot is a parody of The Perfect Storm.
• The song played when Homer starts clubbing Yum Yum fish is "At Last" by Etta James.
• The serene instrumental music that plays throughout the episode is "The Aquarium" by Camille Saint-Saëns.
• While going to the Barnacle Bay museum, Marge and Lisa pass an exhibit called "The Science of SpongeBob" and a diorama showing the effects of global warming in three years.
• Homer believes that the Roman god of the sea is Aquaman, though he correctly calls the Greek god Poseidon.

Music

• At Last - Glenn Miller (1942) - it is played the version of Etta James (1961)
• Aquarium - Camille Saint-Saëns (1886) - excerpt from The Carnival of the Animals

Reception

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The crew of the Rotting Pelican.

This was the highest rated episode since season 16's "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", which aired right after Super Bowl XXXIX. Barring that, the ratings were last this high in 2003, with "I, D'oh-Bot" which pulled 16 million viewers.