"Date night: The embalming fluid that keeps the mummy of a marriage fresh after the heart and brain have been pulled out through the nose." Lenny Leonard says this while Homer is preparing for his date with Marge. I agree with it completely, though I doubt I would ever come up with that metaphor on my own. At the beginning of a relationship everything is fresh and spontaneous, with both people excited and willing to show off. By the time a marriage gets as deep in as Homer's and Marge's it has lost some of its luster and those nights of spontaneity and wonder have to be planned ahead of time. Their children and jobs get in the way in ways that they didn't when the relationship began.
There's also a cute part where Marge has Bart tell her that she doesn't look fat. Home then parodies that (unknowingly) and has Carl Carlson tell him he doesn't look fat. I lol'd.
At the movie theater they go to for their date, Homer and Marge encounter something I always run into and despise: Noise in the theater. Spouses bickering, people coughing, phones ringing...why can't people ever just enjoy a movie without letting their lives get in the way? Can't people just put their lives aside for two hours so they can enjoy something? The noise finally got to them and they left, spurred by the fact that Ben Affleck was in the movie.
Curling. It really isn't as popular as people would think it is, and they mock it so much during this episode. Of course Homer and Marge make the U.S. Olympic team just in time to go to Vancouver and compete. "It's perfect for us!" Homer says. "It's got bowling for me and sweeping for you!" Oh, gender roles, how we can never escape you. Marge, of course, will be doing the sweeping because she's an at-home mom and does that often. Homer, on the other hand, has to do the bowling, because he's a man and goes out to practice. To mix it up a bit, they decide to teach each other some things while curling. She teaches him how to sweep and he teaches her how to drink beer.
Oh, and it just happens to be hilarious that they wear full body spandex suits. I mean really?! Why do you need it? It's not like luge where you need aerodynamics. They just look ridiculous and funny.
Everyone makes fun of Canada, saying that they never really do anything other than play hockey. Well, Matt Groening agrees with that opinion and shows it. An announcer says that each country to host the Olympics puts their own spin on the introductions of the countries, and wonders how Canada will do it. I'll admit that I spit out my soda when I heard: "WHO YA GONNA CALL? ALBANIA!" Yes! The creator of Ghostbusters is Canadian! Then they released a bunch of beavers in the stadium, most of which began to gnaw on the Olympic torch, causing it to fall over. I can only take that as a reference to the flame failing for the first time in the history of...well, ever.
"I'll admit it, we're vampires who suck on shattered dreams." Finally an announcer admits it! Olympic announcers, just like golf and tennis announcers, always sound so bored and speak so quietly about boring things...until someone gets hurt. Marge gets hurt and can't play, so the announcer gets excited and admits that he's a vampire. I always knew it. (Want to know who else is emotionless? Apparently the Swedish curling team.)
An issue that was parodied was girls and their money-spending ways. Lisa gets addicted to buying cute pins and loses all her money. She even trades her special pearl necklace away to get a rare one. The man that sells the pins has boxes behind him labeled girl's jewelery, birthday checks, and beloved pets. This parody shows the extent of female obsession with cute things and overall addiction. It's the sub-story for the episode, but to me it hit home more than the curling team's moral.
On a side note, once they were in Canada a few interesting things happened. They run into the Indian lady from the Simpson's Movie. Homer says she's his therapist and they share a trippy moment of therapy where everything blurs, colors sharpen, and geometrically shaped birds fly by in patterns. It was just hilarious and you realize he still hasn't paid her yet. (She definitely seems like someone I would pay quickly...)
Bart introduces Lisa to his new friend Milhoose, a Canadian version of Milhouse right down to his crush on Lisa. Groening pokes fun at the typical Canadian accent by having a clone of the bully Nelson. Usually Nelson says "HehHeh" obnoxiously, but the Canadian version says "HooHoo." I lol'd. There was also a reference to a one dollar coin. Oh, Canada.
Overall, it was an excellent episode with excellent ties to current events.
Epic Quotes:
"I'm not a dude...I'm a hottie!" - Marge
"There's a winter Olympics?" - Homer
"Pack your winter coat, we're going to Canada's warmest city!" - Homer
"Without Homer, I'm a broom without a stone." - Marge
"I love learning about Lisa!" - Tom Brokaw
"They shouldn't be playing Quidditch at all while 4 of 7 horcruxes still have to be found!" - Moe
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