Simpsons – The Last of the Red Hat Mamas (s17e07)

The Last of the Red Hat Mamas is the seventh episode of the seventeenth season of “The Simpsons.” The episode originally aired in North America on November 27, 2005, however due to its Easter theme it did not air in the UK until April 16, 2006 (Easter Sunday 2006).

Couch gag:The Simpsons sit in a bird’s nest and Homer eats a worm the motherbird gives them.
Chalkboard: none
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Synopsis

The Simpsons children participate in the annual Easter celebration at Mayor Quimby’s mansion. When Maggie is unable to gather any Easter eggs, Homer decides to take the other children’s eggs. Maggie is delighted, but Hugs Bunny, who is refereeing the egg hunt, voices his displeasure. Homer and Hugs get into a huge fight. Meanwhile, Marge goes on a tour of the mansion, led by Quimby’s estranged wife, but things quickly go downhill when the fight spills into Quimby’s office. Marge is embarrassed by Homer’s childish actions, and her friends determine she is bad news and shun her.

At home, Marge tells Homer exactly how she feels, leading Homer to try to make amends by trying to find some new friends for Marge. He goes to the supermarket to find one, but fails by behaving too much like a stalker.

Where Homer fails, Marge succeeds. At a restaurant, she meets up with members of the Cheery Red Tomatoes. She quickly impresses the group’s leader, Tammy, and – after participating in a few low-key meetings – is soon invited to become a member of the women’s group.

However, when it comes time for the initiation, Tammy asks Marge to assist in their efforts to break into Burns’ mansion to steal $1 million in Fabergé eggs. They explain they are a group that raises funds for charity, and that Burns once promised them that amount to donate to a children’s hospital; however, at a press conference, the selfish millionaire announces he plans to keep the money for himself (to undergo a procedure that will extend his life by 10 minutes). Marge tells the Cheery Red Tomatoes members she cannot go ahead with the robbery, however bad of a person Burns is, but when told her membership rides on her participation, she decides to cast her morals aside and proceed with the robbery.

At home, Homer finds Marge’s Tomatoes folder laying around the house and after rummaging through it, learns about the group’s plans to break into Burns’ safe. As he tries to get to the mansion to stop her, his reckless driving gets the attention of the police, who follow him, after leaving Officer Eddie behind to direct traffic. (Eddie’s body movements, and a comment about his not having a girlfriend, seem to suggest that he might be gay.) Meanwhile, Marge is able to sneak onto Burns’ grounds through an air duct and unlock a gate; from there, the women crack open the safe and begin helping themselves to the Fabergé eggs that sit inside.

As the women are leaving, Chief Wiggum and Burns arrive at the mansion to arrest the women. Burns is disgusted by Chief Wiggum and Lou arguing over Wiggum’s pants size. Homer arrives to stop Marge from doing something she’ll regret, but finds himself a prime suspect in the heist. However, once everything is explained, Marge realizes she doesn’t need the group to make friends; after all, she already has one very special friend – Homer. Marge does, however, give the group the Fabergé egg she took.

In the subplot, Lisa is seeking summer opportunities and settles on traveling to Italy. She tries to convince Principal Skinner that she speaks fluent Italian, but the principal is skeptical. Rather than putting her on the spot, he decides to test Lisa later. This gives Lisa time to hire a tutor, who turns out to be Milhouse. Milhouse is actually quite good at teaching Lisa, and before long, Lisa is speaking fluently and apparently forms a friendship with Milhouse. However just as it seems that Milhouse’s unrequited feelings for Lisa would be reciprocated, he is caught…with Angelica.

Trivia

• The very next episode (”The Italian Bob“), The Simpson family goes to Italy. Lisa speaks some Italian in that episode, but due to the really bad translation everything she says is barely understandable for an Italian person.
• Luigi Risotto was apparently born in Italy, since he got a visit from the US Immigration Department in Marge vs. Everyone, but according to this episode this episode his parents only spoke fractured English at home, which suggests that the family moved to America when he was a child.
• In his fight against Hugs Bunny, Homer breaks a chocolate bunny rabbit identical to the one seen in “Simpsons Bible Stories“.

Cultural references

• Aliens – Homer’s line, “Game over man … game over” (when the police arrive at Burns’ mansion) is taken from the movie.
• “Dancing Cop” – Eddie’s animated style of traffic direction is likely a reference to Tony Lepore, the “Dancing Cop” of Providence, Rhode Island.
• The Godfather Part II – When Lisa and Milhouse go to Little Italy, Milhouse acts like Don Fanucci from the movie. His clothes in that scene are similar, too.
• Looney Tunes – Hugs Bunny, the referee of the Springfield Easter Celebration, is an obvious pun on the famous cartoon lagomorph Bugs Bunny. Mrs. Quimby also mimics Elmer Fudd’s speech impediment in introducing Hugs. Later, Homer mentions the Road Runner, surprised to learn there is an actual bird by that name.
• Oval Office – Mayor Quimby’s office is styled after the White House Oval Office. Mrs. Quimby’s trip around the mayor’s office is vaguely reminiscent of a spoken word track on the record, The First Family, wherein Mrs. Kennedy led the paparazzi around the White House, leaving everything “just the way it is.”
• Red Hat Society – The Cheery Red Tomatoes organization is a spoof of the women’s group, focusing on fun and companionship.
• “Rigoletto” – Lisa sings new lyrics to the aria “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s opera.
• “Sophie Tucker – The Last of the Red Hot Mamas” – The episode title is a play on the movie title, about the life of the Vaudeville entertainer.
• Trix – During his fight with Hugs Bunny, Homer remarks, “Silly rabbit. Kicks are for ribs!” This is a play on the catchphrase for the children’s breakfast cereal.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_the_Red_Hat_Mamas

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