Simpsons Did It!: “Sky Police”

You know, short subplots at the beginning rarely end up giving an episode its title.

Yes, that’s what happens here as Chief Wiggum accidentally gets a rocket pack.  Most of the episode has nothing to do with that, aside from a “next week on” bit at the end.  Here’s the whole scene:

Yes, Wiggum’s escapades cause massive damage to the Church, and since Lovejoy says the congregation believe everything is an “act of God,” the one thing the insurance doesn’t cover.  How, then, will the Church Council (the Lovejoys, Ned Flanders, Agnes Skinner, Marge, and Sideshow Mel) get the money?

Apu has an answer.  Though he’s a Hindu, he needs the Church to remind people not to rob or shoot him.  His solution:  card counting at the local casino.

That actually works, but the Council needs to keep it a secret.  That means not telling Homer.  Homer would make things worse, probably have the Church end up as an atheist strip club.  That must be a thing as all the Council members except Marge imagined it at once and Marge saw the visions.  So, with Apu’s training, the group gets into a Casino and does some successful card counting.  Sure, Homer thinks it’s going to be a review, but he does find out when Bart and Lisa tell him.  Yes, they knew.

Wait, doesn’t Marge have a gambling problem?

Point is, the Church has the money it needs and manages to pay some contractors when Homer calls to say he’s being held by the casino, and the casino wants its money back.  Sure, Homer points out card counting isn’t illegal or even really cheating, but that just means he gets his head in a vise.

What can Marge do?  She can go down to the casino floor and start praying.  Finally, some bigwig in charge voiced by guest star Nathan Fielder will let Homer go since all the piety is hurting casino profits.  Sure, Homer continues to point out there was no actual cheating involved, but he gets out anyway, and that just means now we have to look for one thing…

The return of the Sky Police!