The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star
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| The Simpsons episode | |
| "The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star" | |
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| Episode no. | 356 |
| Prod. code | GABF09 |
| Orig. Airdate | May 15, 2005 |
| Written by | Matt Warburton |
| Directed by | Michael Polcino |
| Chalkboard | None |
| Couch gag | The family floats to the couch as balloons |
| Guest star | Liam Neeson as Father Sean |
| SNPP capsule | |
| Season 16 November 7, 2004 – May 15, 2005 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
"The Father, The Son, and the Holy Guest Star" is the last episode of The Simpsons' sixteenth season. The episode aired on May 15, 2005 in the United States. Originally supposed to air April 10, the episode was dropped from the week's schedule due to the death of Pope John Paul II, since this episode is based on Catholicism.
[edit] Synopsis
Springfield Elementary School is holding its medieval festival. All the students are given roles: Lisa is queen, Martin is king, and Bart is the cooper (a role he hates). Groundskeeper Willie, against his will, is cast as the village idiot. Bart is mad about his role, but not as mad as Willie. For revenge, Willie unleashes a pie with hundreds of rats inside. Bart is blamed for this prank and is expelled from school. After looking through other schools, Marge decides to enroll Bart in St. Jerome's Catholic School. There, Bart's hip, rebel attitude is frowned upon.
While holding out two dictionaries, Bart meets Father Sean (voiced by Liam Neeson). He gives Bart a comic book about the saints and he is drawn into it. At home, Marge becomes concerned over Bart's interest in the Roman Catholic Church. Homer goes to the school to yell at Father Sean, but does not after having pancakes and playing Bingo. After expansively confessing to all the bad things he has done, Homer learns he has to become Catholic to be clean of all his sins. With Bart and Homer both considering joining the Church, Marge seeks help from Rev. Lovejoy and Ned Flanders, who agree to stop them. While they are learning about First Communion, Marge, Lovejoy, and Ned take Bart.
On the road, Marge and Lovejoy try to bring Bart back to the "one true faith": The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism. Back at the house, Lisa agrees with Homer and Bart's desire to join a new faith. Even after getting laughed at for being Buddhist by Sean, she says that Marge is taking Bart to a Protestant Youth Festival. Homer and Sean then leave in immediate pursuit. At the Festival, Marge fails to bribe Bart with the banal Christian rock of Pious Riot (Quiet Riot after their conversion). However, he agrees after he plays some paintball. Homer and Sean arrive and engage in a Mexican standoff with Ned and Lovejoy. Bart, in a rare insight moment, says it is stupid that all the different forms of Christianity are feuding. The two groups agree to both fight monogamous gays and stem cells and to take Bart's idea to heart. The episode then jumps 1,000 years into the future. In this age, mankind is waging war over whether Bart's teachings were about love and tolerance, or understanding and peace (and whether he was betrayed by Milhouse and ripped apart by snowmobiles).
[edit] Trivia
- This is the third episode in the series (After "The Joy of Sect" and "She of Little Faith") in which a member of the Simpson family is tempted to convert to another religion and Marge, Ned, and Rev. Lovejoy try to stop them.
- This episode was rated TV-14DLV, the seventh time for The Simpsons, presumably because of Homer's mention of masturbation. Homer's line about masturbation was cut out of the episode when it aired on Sky One (in the UK) and after several airings of the episode, it still has yet to be heard on UK television. The rest of his confessions can be heard, though.
- Bart was previously expelled in Season 4's Whacking Day.
[edit] Cultural references
- The way that Quiet Riot converted to Christian Rock is similar to the way suggested in the episode "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", as well as the South Park episode "Christian Rock Hard". The song they sing is a religionicized version of "Cum on Feel the Noize"
- In Catholic heaven, everyone dances to the music made famous by Riverdance. This song is also played over the end credits.
- At the school Medieval festival, Otto is shown playing a lute, going into a "lute solo", smashing the lute (The Who), and lighting it on fire (Jimi Hendrix). He sings about the game Dungeons & Dragons.
- The title is a play on the famous Catholic invocation usually associated with the sign of the cross: "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit)". The "Holy Guest Star" refers to Liam Neeson who appears as Father Sean in this episode.
- After taking Bart away from the catholic school, Rev. Lovejoy is driving a car similair to the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.
