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The Squirt and the Whale

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"The Squirt and the Whale"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 21
Directed byMark Kirkland
Written byMatt Warburton
Original air dateApril 25, 2010
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"South Park—we'd stand beside you if we weren't so scared"
Couch gagThe family chases the couch throughout a newspaper, with them reuniting with the couch at the classified section.
Episode chronology
The Simpsons season 21
List of episodes

"The Squirt and the Whale" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season, which aired on the Fox network on April 25, 2010. In the episode, the Simpson family goes environmental by building a wind-powered turbine in their yard and saving a beached whale that washed up onshore.[2]

The episode was written by Matt Warburton and directed by Mark Kirkland. The episode features references to the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale and fellow animated show, South Park. "The Squirt and the Whale" received positive reviews from critics and got a 2.8/8 in the 18-49 demographic.

Plot

When Homer is outraged by the family's high electricity bill, they attend an alternate energy expo and purchase a wind turbine. At first the turbine produces an excess of electricity, so Homer decides the family will live off the grid. They soon discover that they have no electricity when there is no wind. Homer tries to power the turbine with fans plugged into Ned Flanders' house, but Ned angrily disconnects them. One evening Bart is manually turning the turbine so Lisa can watch House, and when he prays for wind, a severe storm blows through town. The next morning Lisa and Bart bike through town to survey the damage and discover a beached blue whale.

Lisa immediately bonds with the whale and names her Bluella. She appeals to her parents for help returning Bluella to the sea, but Marge fears Lisa will be let down because the outcome for beached whales is usually poor. Still, Homer rallies the townspeople and they unsuccessfully attempt to move Bluella. As night falls, Lisa decides to stay with Bluella and reads her excerpts from "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. She dozes off and awakes to the marines rescuing Bluella with helicopters. Bluella happily swims away but when she leaps into the northern lights, Lisa awakes, realizes she was dreaming and discovers Bluella has died.

Homer tries to comfort a heartbroken Lisa, while Bart and Milhouse, who plan to poke Bluella with a stick, return to the beach and discover the police are going to blow up the whale carcass. The results are disastrous and blubber is everywhere, prompting the townspeople to use Bluella's remains for products such as corsets and perfume. Lisa sadly walks through town, where every squeaky noise reminds her of Bluella. She winds up at the beach, where she spots two whale calves — presumed to be Bluella's offspring — surrounded by sharks. Homer suddenly appears with a boat (which he had apparently offered to test drive) and a harpoon and they rush to the rescue, only to be stopped by two eco-activists, who caution Lisa that being an eco-activist means supporting all forms of life. Lisa agrees and stops Homer from shooting the sharks, but he inadvertently falls overboard. The eco-activists advise Homer to hit the sharks on the nose with a steel pail, which will either cause them to retreat or make the sharks devour Homer faster. When the eco-activists throw the pail to Homer, it strikes him in the head causing him to bleed and even more sharks arrive and circle Homer. Fortunately, the whale calves' father appears and rescues the young whales and Homer. In the end (and to the strains of "La Mer"), the Simpson family watches the three whales swim out to sea, confident that they will thrive.

Production

Matt Warburton wrote "The Squirt and the Whale"

The episode was written by Matt Warburton his ninth writing credit for the series and directed by Mark Kirkland his third directing credit for the season after "Bart Gets a 'Z'", and "Postcards from the Wedge". The opening movie parody lead to the creation of a real website.[3]

Cultural references

William Shatner's appearance in television and film over the years was referenced.

As aired on many stations, Bart's chalkboard gag is "South Park - We'd stand beside you if we weren't so scared", a reference to the controversy surrounding the South Park episodes "200" and "201".[4] The episodes satirized the controversies surrounding depictions of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. This led to threats against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone[5] and the original broadcast of "201" on April 21, 2010, was heavily censored by Comedy Central.[6][7]The episode also features references to actor William Shatner with Comic Book Guy wearing a corset and says he is Captain Kirk from Star Trek I then as the corset loosens he says he becomes Star Trek I, Star Trek II, Star Trek V, Star Trek Generations, and finally Boston Legal.[8]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The Squirt and the Whale" was viewed by an estimated 5.94 million households and received a 18-49 Nielsen rating demographic of 2.8 and a share of 8% coming second in its timeslot and the second most viewed and rated show on "Animation Domination" after a Family Guy rerun and slightly beating last weeks "Chief of Hearts".[9] The episode ranked 25th in the weekly 18-49 demographic dropping one position from last week's, "Chief of Hearts".[10]

"The Squirt and the Whale" received positive reviews from critics. Robert Canning of IGN.com gave the episode 9.3/10 and remarked that the episode "was an absolute gem." He also stated "It was hilarious and heartwarming. In a time when many are saying the series has lost its magic, Sunday night's episode proved that even the old-timers can show you how it's done once in a while." He concluded that it was "the best episode of the season so far."[11] TVFanatic.com gave the episode 3.5/5 and stated "Overall, there were touching moments, and it was cute to see how hard Homer would work to keep his daughter happy. However, the ending and parts of the episode just felt too random and almost cheesy. There were plenty of laughs to make us give the episode an above-average rating, but we still expected more."[12]

Todd VanDer Werff of The A.V Club gave the episode a B, and stated "I thought it was a really well done version of a story we've seen a number of times, where Lisa becomes involved with some sort of improbable cause, finds herself disappointed, and is only brought out of her bad mood when her family rallies around her." but also remarked that the episode "tried too hard to push for a happy ending."[13] Ariel Ponywether of FireFox News gave the episode a C+, and stated "It was a confused episode, with its good and bad points – if only the first fourth of the plot had been edited to make room for more of the Lisa plot – or the Lisa plot excised for a full look at wind power, or both plots had been mashed together properly in a way that’s emotionally cohesive."[14] Jason Hughes of TV Squad who is usually critical of the show gave the episode a positive review as well saying "Finally, a good -- maybe even great -- episode. 'The Squirt and the Whale' packed more laughs in the first few minutes' Alternative Energy Expo than the entire running time of most recent eps."[8]

Eric Goldman of IGN described the opening chalkboard gag as "a humorous one, which used self-deprecation to say The Simpsons couldn't fully stand with South Park - yet clearly stating that the producers do indeed support them, by bringing up the issue at all."[5]

References

  1. ^ http://www.copyright.gov/records/
  2. ^ http://www.foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&mo=4&d=18
  3. ^ http://www.tic-tac-toe-x-v-o-the-terrible-movie.com/
  4. ^ Barrett, Annie (2010-04-26). "'The Simpsons' gingerly supports 'South Park'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  5. ^ a b Goldman, Eric (2010-04-26). "The Simpsons Supports South Park". IGN. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  6. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (2010-04-22). "'South Park' Episode Is Altered After Muslim Group's Warning". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  7. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (2010-04-23). "Lisa de Moraes: Joe Biden keeps his cool in 'The View' hot seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  8. ^ a b http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/04/26/the-simpsons-the-squirt-and-the-whale-recap/
  9. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/26/tv-ratings-despite-depressed-ratings-for-desperate-housewives-and-brothers-sisters-abc-wins-sunday-night/49610
  10. ^ http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/27/tv-ratings-top-25-american-idol-glee-sing-to-adults-18-49-dancing-with-the-stars-dances-to-the-top-with-total-viewers/49734#more-49734
  11. ^ The Simpsons: "The Squirt and the Whale" Review http://tv.ign.com/articles/108/1086046p1.html retrieved 26 04 2010
  12. ^ The Simpsons Review "The Squirt and the Whale" http://www.tvfanatic.com/2010/04/the-simpsons-review-the-squirt-and-the-whale/ retrieved 26 04 2010
  13. ^ "The Squirt and the Whale"/"Bully for Steve" http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-squirt-and-the-whalebully-for-steve,40465/ retrieved 26 04 2010
  14. ^ Review--The Simpsons "The Squirt and the Whale http://firefox.org/news/articles/3241/1/Review----The-Simpsons-quotThe-Squirt-and-the-Whalequot/Page1.html retrieved 27 04 2010
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