Simpsons Did It!: “Catch ‘Em If You Can”

I gotta say, there’s a part of me that just doesn’t get this episode.

OK, here’s the deal:  after Bart and Lisa bail on going to Dayton, Ohio to see the birthday party of elderly Uncle Tyrone (not sure how he’s related but he looks like Homer), Homer and Marge instead decide to bail during a connecting flight to Dayton in Nome, Alaska and go to Miami instead for a second honeymoon.

Considering their first honeymoon consisted of admiring a vacation billboard, this is really their first, people.

And while we’re on the subject, ever notice Marge has a weird pronunciation of the word “vacation”?  She says, “va-CAY-shun,” not “VAY-cay-shun,” like I and everyone else on this show does.

I can go along with that.  The honeymoon thing, not the way Marge pronounces words thing.  Marge and Homer have, in the past, missed the time before they were parents, and running off to just enjoy themselves for the weekend in Miami makes sense.  Even the two of them laughing uproariously at a young couple who think having kids is a snap they can’t wait to try makes sense.  If you had Bart and Lisa as kids, you’d think so too.  OK, maybe not Lisa on her own, but certainly combined with Bart.

What gets me isn’t the parents want some time to themselves.  What gets me is the lengths Bart and Lisa go to deny them that.  After seeing a particularly vengeful tornado destroy the hotel they’re supposed to be in and then getting a call from a worry-free Marge, the kids are outraged to find their parents having fun without them, and they make it their mission to catch up with Homer and Marge and ruin  that good time from the looks of it.

Now, Homer’s willing to go somewhere else.  He even has the means to pay for it in the form of Ned Flanders’ credit card.   Bart has the means to follow in the form of Rod Flanders’ credit card.  There’s too much wrong with that sentence.  And that leads to this clever bit parodying a movie from the time the episode came out:

That’s some classy animation right there, up until the moment Homer is occupied.

But I can’t help but wonder why the kids go to so much trouble to follow their parents.  It just strains my credibility for a freakin’ cartoon for some reason.

Less strained is what happens to Grampa.  He drives Bart and Lisa to Miami in order to pick up some elderly women, but he’s not catching anything.  An older Cuban man wants to help, but that guy turns out to be gay and will gladly watch Grampa talk.  Not listen.  He turns his hearing aid off first.  Just watch.

Well, the Homer and Marge thing gets fixed when they go over Niagara Falls in a bouncy castle, and Bart and Lisa seem to learn a lesson.  The only one it turns out badly for is Ned and Rod when the credit card bills come in.

Wait, where the hell was Maggie during all this?  And why was Moe disguised as a nun in that clip?