Against the Groen(ing) 12.07.07: Crepes of Wrath - Episode 11
Posted by Cory Lynn Schibler on 12.07.2007
Albanian... you mean all white with pink eyes?
Welcome to my favorite time of the week, Against the Groen(ing)! Tonight is one of my favorite episodes and arguably the best of season 1, Crepes of Wrath. To the show!
Original Air date: April 15, 1990 Production Code: 7G13
This episode was written by George Meyer, Sam Simon, John Swartzwelder, and Jon Vitti
and directed by Wesley Archer and Milton Gray.
Principal Cast Homer: Dan Castellaneta Marge: Julie Kavner Bart: Nancy Cartwright Lisa: Yeardley Smith
Chalkboard: “Garlic gum is not funny.”
Couch: the family tries to squeeze into the couch again. This time, Homer says D’oh and flops out on the floor.
Bart dumps all his stuff in the hallway, including his skateboard. This leads to Homer falling down the stairs and throwing his back out. Homer is left there on his back for hours until Marge and Lisa get home.
Marge then forces Bart to clean his room. During this cleaning Bart discovers… AN UN-BLOWN-UP CHERRY BOMB! The holy grail of a misbehaving child. At school, Bart decides to flush the cherry bomb down the boys’ toilet. Unfortunately, Principal Skinner’s mother is in the girls’ bathroom at the same time. Hilarity ensues.
Skinner comes to the house and tells the family that he wants to send Bart to France on an exchange program for 3 months. Homer is worried that they will get a rotten kid just like Bart in exchange. Skinner tells them they will be receiving an Albanian child…Homer thinks that this is a white child with pink eyes. After Bart agrees to go, Homer is suddenly healed and dances around the room with Skinner.
Lisa’s research on Albania finds that their main export is “furious political thought.” When Bart arrives in France, his exchange “parents” immediately put him to work on their vineyard. Meanwhile back in Springfield, Lisa and new brother Adil are busy arguing American politics at the dinner table.
Back in France, Bart is given only turnips to eat and forced to sleep on the floor. The donkey gets a bed of hay, plus it is wearing Bart’s hat.
On the home front, Adil has asked Homer to visit the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where he asks to view their plutonium isolation module, and is busily snapping pictures the entire time he is there.
Back in France, Bart picks the grapes for the entire vineyard, and is called ungrateful when he tries to eat one. We then find out that Adil is actually an Albanian spy code-named the Sparrow. Bart then discovers that his “parents” are putting antifreeze in their wine to quicken the fermentation process.
In town, Bart meets a policeman who gives him candy that allows him to speak French. Bart then blows the whistle on the entire wine operation. This leads to Bart becoming a national hero, because we all know the French take their wine seriously.
Back in Springfield, Adil is captured and exchanged for an American spy that was discovered in Albania. He is also a kid. Adil tells him that he thinks he is getting too old for the spy game.
The episode ends with Homer promising to send Adil the Civil Defense plans he wanted, proving that Homer is still completely clueless.
The 411: This is arguably the best episode of season 1. The only episode that could even come close is Krusty Gets Busted. This episode is definitely on my top 10 and possibly my top five. Swartzwelder wrote it, the next best writer George Meyer and a slew of others helped him, and it’s just a fun episode to watch.
I could not agree with you more about this being one of the best episodes in season one. There's so much going on. As implausible as this show might be, it's such a blast to watch
Posted By: jeromecusson (Guest) on December 07, 2007 at 01:53 AM
