The Crepes of Wrath

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The Simpsons episode
"The Crepes of Wrath"

Bart is promptly put to work by Ugolin
Episode no.	1774839210
Prod. code	7G13
Orig. Airdate	April 15, 1990
Show Runner(s)	James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon
Written by	George Meyer Sam Simon John Swartzwelder Jon Vitti
Directed by	Wes Archer Milton Gray
Chalkboard	“Garlic gum is not funny”
Couch gag	The family hurries onto the couch and Homer pops off.
DVD commentary by	Wes Archer George Meyer
SNPP capsule
Season 1 December 17, 1989 – May 13, 1990
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire Bart the Genius Homer's Odyssey There's No Disgrace Like Home Bart the General Moaning Lisa The Call of the Simpsons The Telltale Head Life on the Fast Lane Homer's Night Out The Crepes of Wrath Krusty Gets Busted Some Enchanted Evening
List of all Simpsons episodes...

“The Crepes of Wrath” is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons first season. Bart is sent to France on a student exchange trip, where his hosts treat him as a slave; meanwhile, an Albanian student taking his place shows great interest in Homer's work at the nuclear power plant.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Adil with his family

Bart discovers an old cherry bomb in his room and decides to flush it down the boy's restroom. As it happens, he pulls his prank at the same time as Principal Skinner's mother is in the girl's restroom. The resulting explosion blows her off of her seat and enrages Skinner. In order to be rid of him, Skinner proposes to the Simpsons that Bart participate in a foreign exchange program. Bart is sent to France, whereas the Simpsons host a student from Albania. The family agrees and Bart is sent to France.

In France, Bart is greeted by two unscrupulous winemakers, César and Ugolin, who proceed to treat him like a slave. Bart is made to collect and crush grapes, sleep on the floor and test wine contaminated with antifreeze. Meanwhile back in Springfield, Adil turns out to be a sweet and helpful boy. Homer immediately likes him, unaware that Adil is actually a spy sent by the government to obtain Springfield's nuclear secrets. Homer unwittingly takes him on a tour of the power plant and thinks nothing of the many photographs Adil takes.

Eventually, Bart learns enough French to escape his captors and inform the authorities about his captors' plot to sell contaminated wine. The wine-makers are swiftly arrested and Bart is feted as a hero to conclude his stay in France on a satisfying note. Adil is caught by the FBI and is exchanged for another boy who was an American spy caught in Albania. Bart returns to his family.

[edit] Trivia

Homer mistakes Albanians for albinos
Seymor's nickname is “Spanky”, according to Mrs. Skinner.
Adil is from Tirana, Albania.
While Bart is in France, he stays at the “Château Maison”, which means “Castle House” in English.
The donkey's name is Maurice.
Bart has to go get antifreeze from 74 Voltaire Street (74 rue Voltaire); the 7 is drawn European-style, with a horizontal line through the middle.
Early in the episode, there is some actual dialogue in Albanian between Adil and his family, but later on the dialogue is just gibberish. The dialogue in French is very loosely translated, but correct, however.
- The only notable mistake is that César's line "Qu'est-ce que je t'avais dit?" (What have I been telling you?) is translated as "He sees well enough", however, César's argument to Ugolin was that adding too much anti-freeze to wine would not cause death, or blindness, hence the said translation. Also, "anti-freeze" is not translated; it should be "antigel".
When Bart talks to the policeman, the man says "Excusez moi? Je ne parle pas anglais... Voilà un bonbon... Je suis désolé, j'aimerais vraiment pouvoir vous aider." (Excuse me? I don't speak English...Here's a piece of candy...I'm sorry, I really would like to be able to help you).
In later seasons, Agnes Skinner's personality seems vastly different to her kindly demeanor in this episode. In the DVD audio commentary, Matt Groening offers the theory that her current mean streak can be attributed to being a victim of Bart's prank.
By the end of this episode Bart can speak perfect French. Later, in the episode “The Monkey Suit”, Bart's chalkboard gag is "Je ne parle pas Français" ("I don't speak French").

César, left and Ugolin, right.

The number of Bart's flight back to the USA is 1988 (dix-neuf cent quatre vingt huit).
This is the first episode of the series to satirize a particular nation (other than America), in this case France. Episodes targeting another nation would become a recurring theme (typically once per season) in later seasons.

[edit] Cultural references

The episode's title is a play on John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" (the movie that is based off the novel, is, like The Simpsons, a Fox property).
The two winemakers, César and Ugolin, are named after the peasants from the 1986 French films Jean de Florette, and Manon des sources (Manon of the Springs), according to producer George Meyer.
On the way to the chateau, Bart and the motorcycle driver pass through several famous paintings.
Ugolin whistles the melody of “Alouette” while walking to the fields;