Title: Homer’s Odyssey

Season: 1 Episode: 3

Production code: 7G03

Original airdate: Jan. 21, 1990

Couch gag: The family hurry and sit on the couch. The couch falls apart and the family fall on the floor.

Chalkboard: I will not skateboard in the halls.

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In this episode, we see Homer having an epiphany after losing his job at the power plant. After many unsuccessful attempts to get back into employment, he brands himself a loser and attempts suicide. Moments before he throws himself off a bridge, the family who have tracked him down are almost run over by a truck if it were not for Homer’s bravery, who saves them from the speeding wheeler. This gives him a new purpose in life, to get a stop sign at the crossroads where he saved his family. Upon his success, he continues his crusade of making Springfield safer, which results on him taking on his old employer, Mr. Burns and his power plant. Homer is offered a new position at the plant as safety inspector by Burns in an attempt to quell the noise made by Homer and his fellow protesters, which he tearfully accepts.

Now maybe it’s the subject matter of Homer wanting to end his life which I always found a little too dark and serious tone to swallow, but I was never really too fond of this episode. It’s given a bit of respite because of it being a really early episode, where you still aren’t quite comfortable with the characters and the animation suffers even more badly from mishaps (example being Marge berating Homer at the crossroads, her speech is badly synced with her actions, ew), plus there’s quite a few decent jokes and gags in it. The episode starts off though at its season-one best, Bart causing hi-jinks and mayhem on the school bus to the field trip, but after the end of the first act, it goes on a gradual downhill slope despite the odd joke here and there. Thankfully in hindsight, the show’s more preachy episodes are a lot more clever and entertaining but Homer’s Odyssey just feels somewhat unsettling at times, a little bit thin on ideas and a bit dull. In fact, if it wasn’t for Bart’s escapades in the first act, this would be a completely forgettable episode.

Did you notice? Black Smithers?! It’s true, he was black. Or African-American. I’m not actually sure what the internet PC-term for it is, but yes, Waylon Smithers was not of the Simpsons yellow-skin variety in this episode. No particular reason except for the fact the show’s colour stylist accidentally coloured him incorrectly. The show’s producers always intended for Smithers to be white due to the bad taste a “black subservient character” might bring.

Cast of thousands: Otto, Wiggum, Jasper, Sherri & Terri, Mr. Burns and Smithers are introduced in this episode. There is also a brief cameo by Blinky the Fish in this episode, who goes onto to have a more prominent role in the second series.

Gag of the episode: Homer lugging his great big rock all the way to the bridge, only to find there is another decent sized rock waiting for him there. It’s happened to the best of us, Homer J.

Rating: 2/5 – Homer’s Odyssey fails to really capture any imagination. Bart in the first act gives the episode some hope before the episode fizzles out, reaching a worrying and disturbing low during Homer’s attempted suicide.