Marge on the Lam

"Marge on the Lam" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season, which originally aired on November 4, 1993 on Fox.^[2] When Marge invites her neighbor, Ruth Powers to attend the ballet with her, the two become friends and begin to go out, making Homer jealous as he wants Marge to spend time with him. Ruth and Marge agree to remain friends but not go out together after a large police pursuit with Chief Wiggum.^[2]

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cultural references
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

After donating money to public television, Marge receives ballet tickets. She asks Homer to accompany her, to which he says yes, confusing ballet with a circus. While at work, he inadvertently gets his arm stuck in a vending machine, which makes him unable to attend. In disbelief about Homer's story, Marge invites her neighbor, Ruth Powers to attend with her. They both enjoy themselves and arrange to meet up the next day. After Homer attempts to remove his arm from the machine, he fails and this results in him having to be released by the fire department. The firefighters discover he is holding on to the can and that his arms are not trapped. Marge and Ruth hanging out again annoys Homer as he wants Marge to spend time with him. The following day, Marge and Ruth visit bars and clubs in Springfield, where Ruth later shows Marge how to use a pistol.

Homer, attempting to prove to himself he can have a fun time on his own, leaves Bart, Maggie, and Lisa under the supervision of Lionel Hutz (who is being paid $8.00, two Popsicles, and a discarded birdcage for his babysitting duties). He goes to the Springfield sign where he and Marge used to go prior to their marriage. He arrives just as Marge and Ruth are leaving. Chief Wiggum finds him depressed and, sympathetically, offers him a ride home, which Homer accepts. As Ruth and Marge are driving home, Chief Wiggum, with Homer as a passenger in his patrol car, claims that one tail light on Ruth's car is smaller than the other. He decides to pull them over. Reluctant to stop, Ruth tells Marge that she stole the car from her ex-husband when he refused to pay child support. Homer realizes it is Marge in the car, horrified and questioning why she is doing this. Ruth successfully evades Wiggum by turning off her headlights, which leads him to believe her car is a ghost car. After seeing Marge and Ruth again when having breakfast via his car engine, Wiggum continues his chase of the two, aided by several other Springfield Police vehicles. After noticing a cliff ahead, Homer apologizes to Marge for "just about everything". Marge and Ruth slam on the brakes, and stop in time; however, Homer and Wiggum fail to stop and fly over the edge of the cliff, only to land on a high pile of garbage, dumped in the cliff. The very end of the episode ends in a Dragnet-like sequence (including the music), telling the fates of each of the characters involved in the episode.^[3]

[edit] Production

The scene when Homer is in Moe's Tavern is emulated from Thelma & Louise.^[4] Quimby dancing in a night club is in reference to the Kennedys.^[4] When Marge gets hit on in the bar, the guy who does not talk is a caricature of show runner David Mirkin.^[5] The old man that comes out when Marge is shooting his cans is a parody of Walter Brennan.^[5] Dan Castellaneta actually used a bullhorn to record his part when Homer was talking on one.^[4] George Fenneman, from Dragnet, came in to record the ending in the same fashion as he did on Dragnet.^[4] The sunset shown when Marge and Ruth are at the cafe was airbrushed in.^[4] The episode was done before computer animation was put into practice.^[4]

[edit] Cultural references

Much of the plot, along with Ruth's blue convertible and Homer and Wiggum's fall over the chasm, is a parody of Thelma & Louise.^[5] Crystal Buzz Cola is a reference to the fad drink Crystal Pepsi.^[4] The comedian who performs at the telethon whom Homer does not find funny is a parody of Garrison Keillor.^[6] Homer tries to convince Bart and Lisa they do not need a babysitter by mentioning the movie Home Alone. Ruth mistakenly inserts Lesley Gore's song "Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows" into her car stereo before beginning her and Marge's wild night out; later, Chief Wiggum plays the song on his police cruiser's stereo as "appropriate" car chase music. After extracting the wrong tape, Ruth pops in "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses.

[edit] Reception

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said "Marge getting to let her hair down is always a treat, and in Ruth Powers she seems to have a real friend. A pity we don't see more of her".^[7]

[edit] References

^ Title sequence. Snpp.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Marge on the Lam. TheSimpsons.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
^ (1993). Plot synopsis information for the episode "Marge on the Lam" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Kirkland, Mark. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Marge on the Lam" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mirkin, David. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Marge on the Lam" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Groening, Matt. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Marge on the Lam" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). Marge on the Lam. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.