Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Moe Baby Blues
Between 2017 and 2021, I watched over my niece and later nephew as a nanny. Last month I had my last time with them in that capacity. It wasn't the last day I cried, it was the second to last, after work and after a staff meeting for my new job. I wasn't "sad" but I had spent much of the evening crying until I was done, then watched Hot Fuzz (somehow the gory action movie became my one of my comfort food movies). I wasn't "sad" but I was grieving the end of an era that meant a lot to me. I had grown very close to the kids and working with them and helping to educate them and get them exercise made me feel like I was more than an uncle. And I was always a little worried about if I was being a little too possessive, as I was incredibly invested in their well-being. I still see them and they still love me but it does feel different now.
In this episode, Moe is feeling particularly lonely and attempts suicide. Just as he is about to, he inadvertently saves Maggie from falling off a bridge. Soon, the two develop a strong and loving bond and Moe becomes Maggie's babysitter in the daytime. However, the Simpsons start to worry that he's becoming too territorial and intrusive, which comes to a head when they catch Moe coming in late at night to take care of her. The Simpsons banish Moe from their home and later that night Maggie goes missing. The Simpsons assume Moe is to blame but when he is found to be innocent (of that, anyway), he helps the Simpsons track her down. It turns out that Maggie followed some gangsters into a restaurant in time for a stand off. Moe de-escalates the situation and rescues Maggie and Moe is invited back into her life.
I think Moe Baby Blues is my favourite episode of season 14. I feel like I spend most of this season saying "this COULD have been good but..." with a few low-key gems but this episode feels like the strongest all around. Structurally, it feels like this era but I feel the quality shows that with the right writing, the kind of story-telling outside of the Golden Age can work. Moe trying commit suicide as a is always a bit rough but otherwise it is a story I relate to a lot, as a lonely guy who finds friendship with a child. Often, when the Simpsons doesn't end an act on a gag, it can feel awkward. But not here. Moe looking at Maggie and saying though a crooked smile "Heh, life don't seem so hard no more," is a powerful moment, and it almost earns the suicide aspect. It's a moment of genuine emotion that is shockingly effective. We've spent lots of time with Moe and on occasion he can be sympathetic but here it's a special kind of vulnerable and I think that one moment actually improves everything that comes after.
And the stuff that comes after is still good. It's a story rooted in character and does justice to the character of Moe. He's a guy who is filled with rage and ugliness desperate for love but having trouble knowing how to give it. Finally, he has someone in his life who loves him and doesn't judge him and makes him feel good about himself. And he gives Maggie loves and understands her and in a very flawed way is a good caretaker... until he starts crossing lines. He starts denigrating the other people in Maggie's life and clearly wants to rush in to situations he doesn't have a right to get involved. And this I always understand. I definitely haven't snuck into my sister's home to coddle her kids but there are times, I worry my attachment is too strong or I am still figuring certain parenting bounds. Moe is in the wrong but he remains sympathetic as a sad guy who is his own worst enemy.
Hank Azaria is clearly someone with a lot of love for his characters. He's clearly happy to do the dumb jokes for the non-emotional episodes but when episodes about Apu or Moe take on an emotional dimension, he goes all in. It's sad that it's so infrequent because his work with Moe throughout is stellar, selling his sadness and joy perfectly. This is a well-paced episode, which is an issue with post-Golden Age episodes, so that means a lot and there's not distractions via b-plot (maybe they should just drop them, I feel like they get in the way going forward). It'd breathing room even gives it time for Moe to have a recap of the Godfather and while it doesn't need to be in the episode, it helps give it some personality. It's an episode that takes it's premise and properly explores its emotional and comedic contours and while I wouldn't put it as a favourite, it results in a very satisfying episode.
Other great jokes:
"You can either walk out with dignity or I can push you down this muddy hill."
"Seeing as I'm desperate for any human contact, I'd prefer that you push me,"
"I peed my pants."
"I recorded that for private use!"
"You guys mind if I kiss your tummies."
*barflies extremely amenable to this idea.*
"We have a special bond, even greater than her bond with the duck-shaped washcloth."
"Marge, do mobsters ever congregate outside your house?"
"All the time. Sometimes I make them lemonade."
Sometimes I tire of putting a hat on contrived plot elements, but I still like this.
Other notes:
I'd be happy to see more of the Homer/Burns/Smithers carpool.
This is the first episode of J. Stewart Burns, who wrote the later era classic Holidays of Future Passed. He also wrote that one really transphobic with Patty.
Between 2017 and 2021, I watched over my niece and later nephew as a nanny. Last month I had my last time with them in that capacity. It wasn't the last day I cried, it was the second to last, after work and after a staff meeting for my new job. I wasn't "sad" but I had spent much of the evening crying until I was done, then watched Hot Fuzz (somehow the gory action movie became my one of my comfort food movies). I wasn't "sad" but I was grieving the end of an era that meant a lot to me. I had grown very close to the kids and working with them and helping to educate them and get them exercise made me feel like I was more than an uncle. And I was always a little worried about if I was being a little too possessive, as I was incredibly invested in their well-being. I still see them and they still love me but it does feel different now.
In this episode, Moe is feeling particularly lonely and attempts suicide. Just as he is about to, he inadvertently saves Maggie from falling off a bridge. Soon, the two develop a strong and loving bond and Moe becomes Maggie's babysitter in the daytime. However, the Simpsons start to worry that he's becoming too territorial and intrusive, which comes to a head when they catch Moe coming in late at night to take care of her. The Simpsons banish Moe from their home and later that night Maggie goes missing. The Simpsons assume Moe is to blame but when he is found to be innocent (of that, anyway), he helps the Simpsons track her down. It turns out that Maggie followed some gangsters into a restaurant in time for a stand off. Moe de-escalates the situation and rescues Maggie and Moe is invited back into her life.
I think Moe Baby Blues is my favourite episode of season 14. I feel like I spend most of this season saying "this COULD have been good but..." with a few low-key gems but this episode feels like the strongest all around. Structurally, it feels like this era but I feel the quality shows that with the right writing, the kind of story-telling outside of the Golden Age can work. Moe trying commit suicide as a is always a bit rough but otherwise it is a story I relate to a lot, as a lonely guy who finds friendship with a child. Often, when the Simpsons doesn't end an act on a gag, it can feel awkward. But not here. Moe looking at Maggie and saying though a crooked smile "Heh, life don't seem so hard no more," is a powerful moment, and it almost earns the suicide aspect. It's a moment of genuine emotion that is shockingly effective. We've spent lots of time with Moe and on occasion he can be sympathetic but here it's a special kind of vulnerable and I think that one moment actually improves everything that comes after.
And the stuff that comes after is still good. It's a story rooted in character and does justice to the character of Moe. He's a guy who is filled with rage and ugliness desperate for love but having trouble knowing how to give it. Finally, he has someone in his life who loves him and doesn't judge him and makes him feel good about himself. And he gives Maggie loves and understands her and in a very flawed way is a good caretaker... until he starts crossing lines. He starts denigrating the other people in Maggie's life and clearly wants to rush in to situations he doesn't have a right to get involved. And this I always understand. I definitely haven't snuck into my sister's home to coddle her kids but there are times, I worry my attachment is too strong or I am still figuring certain parenting bounds. Moe is in the wrong but he remains sympathetic as a sad guy who is his own worst enemy.
Hank Azaria is clearly someone with a lot of love for his characters. He's clearly happy to do the dumb jokes for the non-emotional episodes but when episodes about Apu or Moe take on an emotional dimension, he goes all in. It's sad that it's so infrequent because his work with Moe throughout is stellar, selling his sadness and joy perfectly. This is a well-paced episode, which is an issue with post-Golden Age episodes, so that means a lot and there's not distractions via b-plot (maybe they should just drop them, I feel like they get in the way going forward). It'd breathing room even gives it time for Moe to have a recap of the Godfather and while it doesn't need to be in the episode, it helps give it some personality. It's an episode that takes it's premise and properly explores its emotional and comedic contours and while I wouldn't put it as a favourite, it results in a very satisfying episode.
Other great jokes:
"You can either walk out with dignity or I can push you down this muddy hill."
"Seeing as I'm desperate for any human contact, I'd prefer that you push me,"

"I peed my pants."
"I recorded that for private use!"
"You guys mind if I kiss your tummies."
*barflies extremely amenable to this idea.*
"We have a special bond, even greater than her bond with the duck-shaped washcloth."
"Marge, do mobsters ever congregate outside your house?"
"All the time. Sometimes I make them lemonade."
Sometimes I tire of putting a hat on contrived plot elements, but I still like this.
Other notes:
I'd be happy to see more of the Homer/Burns/Smithers carpool.
This is the first episode of J. Stewart Burns, who wrote the later era classic Holidays of Future Passed. He also wrote that one really transphobic with Patty.