Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Moe Letter Blues
There are people in my life I worry I don't appreciate enough. I spend a lot of time with my family but at the same time, I feel like I keep to simply the usual meeting time rather than making extra time for them unless specifically asked. Most of the time, I prefer to relax at home after work but really, perhaps, I should take initiative to spend more time with them.
In this episode, Homer, Reverend Lovejoy and Apu take a trip to Weasel Island for Mother's Day to give their wives a full day break. As the ferry is taking off, they get a surprise message from Moe, who claims that he's leaving town and is taking one of their wives with him. The trio consider who would leave them; Homer remembers when his anger caused problem's at Marge's mother's birthday (where Moe is the bar caterer), Apu and Manjula have a fight after being rained out of a cricket game and Manjula spends a night at Moe's bar, playing video games with Moe and Lovejoy realizes remembers how the Parson made him realize the lack of communication in their marriage is giving Helen resentments and has a small but intimate moment with Moe. The three try to hurry home to learn who will lose their wife but all find that not only are they not being left but their wives are showing their own gratefulness. Moe even specifically convinces Manjula to stay with Apu. When the three press Moe on his letter, he explained he gave them a scare to make them appreciate their wives and even went out of his way to smooth things over with each one because as a lonely single guy who wishes he could have what they have.
Moe Better Blues is a Stephanie Gillis episode and so far, I don't think I've completely liked any of her episodes but I find something interesting in each one. This might be my least favourite but I do like the set up and structure of it. Not so much "Moe leaving town with a wife" because no one is buying that but drama of romance woes in flashback and the fear that your ungratefulness, things that seemed small at the time paint a picture of a problem with their marriage. The problem is for the characters, it is the same kind of thing we always see, especially for Homer. By the metric of what Homer usually does compared to what he does in this episode, who cares.
That's not to say Homer is blameless... which is weird because the situation his Homer makes a scene with Patty and Selma and the episode ends with Marge's mom smoothing things over because they provoked him but Homer still has agency to act mature and just walk away. It doesn't make him blameless. Apu's situation is much more damning, a sort of mutual frustration and sniping at each other. There's also the fact that this is after Apu had an affair and Manjula took him back but I kind of wish we got more insight. There's a lot there; the two are overworked (Apu by choice, Manjula out of necessity to watch 8 kids) and their relationship was arranged and Manjula had to come to another country so they could be together. Still, the re-affirmation of their marriage is kind of sweet.
Lovejoy's is the most interesting to me and stands out. They also do sniping but it is clear that it's a different problem because Timothy Lovejoy simply is not engaged with his marriage and isn't communicating. Should I be in a relationship, I fear that this would be me. I encourage others to communicate but I have a habit of shrinking at the first sign of conflict or even when it's simply "time to talk business" in any capacity. I can talk to and guide kids with no problem (well problems but manageable) and a lot of what I do is asking the kids to confront emotions and deal with them but I have a hard time myself. I think it's an interesting angle and I wish it got in a bit deeper with it. Overall, it isn't a terrible episode, it's just not as funny as I'd like and doesn't explore things in a way that is interesting to me.
Other great jokes:
"Think of it as a wake-up call from a man who ain't got nothin' but a blow up doll. And even she left me. Should not have used helium."
There are people in my life I worry I don't appreciate enough. I spend a lot of time with my family but at the same time, I feel like I keep to simply the usual meeting time rather than making extra time for them unless specifically asked. Most of the time, I prefer to relax at home after work but really, perhaps, I should take initiative to spend more time with them.
In this episode, Homer, Reverend Lovejoy and Apu take a trip to Weasel Island for Mother's Day to give their wives a full day break. As the ferry is taking off, they get a surprise message from Moe, who claims that he's leaving town and is taking one of their wives with him. The trio consider who would leave them; Homer remembers when his anger caused problem's at Marge's mother's birthday (where Moe is the bar caterer), Apu and Manjula have a fight after being rained out of a cricket game and Manjula spends a night at Moe's bar, playing video games with Moe and Lovejoy realizes remembers how the Parson made him realize the lack of communication in their marriage is giving Helen resentments and has a small but intimate moment with Moe. The three try to hurry home to learn who will lose their wife but all find that not only are they not being left but their wives are showing their own gratefulness. Moe even specifically convinces Manjula to stay with Apu. When the three press Moe on his letter, he explained he gave them a scare to make them appreciate their wives and even went out of his way to smooth things over with each one because as a lonely single guy who wishes he could have what they have.
Moe Better Blues is a Stephanie Gillis episode and so far, I don't think I've completely liked any of her episodes but I find something interesting in each one. This might be my least favourite but I do like the set up and structure of it. Not so much "Moe leaving town with a wife" because no one is buying that but drama of romance woes in flashback and the fear that your ungratefulness, things that seemed small at the time paint a picture of a problem with their marriage. The problem is for the characters, it is the same kind of thing we always see, especially for Homer. By the metric of what Homer usually does compared to what he does in this episode, who cares.
That's not to say Homer is blameless... which is weird because the situation his Homer makes a scene with Patty and Selma and the episode ends with Marge's mom smoothing things over because they provoked him but Homer still has agency to act mature and just walk away. It doesn't make him blameless. Apu's situation is much more damning, a sort of mutual frustration and sniping at each other. There's also the fact that this is after Apu had an affair and Manjula took him back but I kind of wish we got more insight. There's a lot there; the two are overworked (Apu by choice, Manjula out of necessity to watch 8 kids) and their relationship was arranged and Manjula had to come to another country so they could be together. Still, the re-affirmation of their marriage is kind of sweet.
Lovejoy's is the most interesting to me and stands out. They also do sniping but it is clear that it's a different problem because Timothy Lovejoy simply is not engaged with his marriage and isn't communicating. Should I be in a relationship, I fear that this would be me. I encourage others to communicate but I have a habit of shrinking at the first sign of conflict or even when it's simply "time to talk business" in any capacity. I can talk to and guide kids with no problem (well problems but manageable) and a lot of what I do is asking the kids to confront emotions and deal with them but I have a hard time myself. I think it's an interesting angle and I wish it got in a bit deeper with it. Overall, it isn't a terrible episode, it's just not as funny as I'd like and doesn't explore things in a way that is interesting to me.
Other great jokes:
"Think of it as a wake-up call from a man who ain't got nothin' but a blow up doll. And even she left me. Should not have used helium."