Episode Recap: Lisa the Veterinarian

Hey hey friends! Don’t call it a comeback… I’ve been here for years… literally.  So school has ended and I’m back and at my usual antics with another episode recap for my favorite Addicts. This episode recap will go over Season 27, Episode 15: “Lisa the Veterinarian”. One of the features we like to have on this site is recaps of new Simpsons episodes for all our friends who can’t watch them immediately or like our silly reviews of them. I love when there are new episodes of the Best. Show. Ever. on TV. It’s my privilege to not only watch new episodes, which I would do with or without this awesome site, but then break them down for all of you. I apologize for the delay with all of these but consider it some fun for the break where there are no new episodes.  Special thanks to Robobot for covering a couple in the interim. I wish I had more time sometimes for the site but blogging doesn’t feed the kiddos so school it is.  Without further ado… here’s my thoughts.  If you’re not used to the style, it’s basically stream of consciousness style while I watch the episode live.  Paragraph breaks usually indicate new scenes.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing about it.

To start this off for accidental clickers who just prefer the synopsis, here’s what my DVR describes this one as: “Lisa becomes an intern at the local veterinarian’s office; Marge works as a crime scene cleaner to earn extra money, but has a difficult time with the gore.”  Here’s a fun little video about the episode.

Now on with my words… It all starts with a little short by Bill Plimpton. The couch and TV certainly love each other. Interesting to see a couch gag without our favorite family.

No other intro… we head straight to Chlorine Dreams Indoor Water Park (Formerly Springfield Museum of Art). It’s a pretty sweet place even if Homer hopes it “will finally put the nail in the coffin of lakes and rivers.” Marge just likes that wherever she looks she can see a lifeguard. Otto apparently vapes now and Ralph is finding Nemo aka drowning. It’s actually not too safe but there are water squirters and hair dryers. Bart ends up being put in time out for soaking his sister in Li’l Shrimp Bay but there IS a plastic ring. Enter bullies who want the ring. We find out that the water park actually has a slide Homer (he’s “leisurely proportioned”) can fit in. Raphael explains that they specialize “in extra wide, double reinforced tubing for the modern American fatso” like him, the Wiggums, and Comic Book Guy (who has a Batman-esque tattoo on his left arm). Big and Tall Falls is reinforced with walrus grade lucite. Bart meanwhile is checking out Upstream Extreme which is a river with animatronic bears, fishermen, and a frying pan to cook the kids… all fake of course. The line is so long you have to reserve a spot via an app weeks ahead of time. Bart ends up going in to the park’s unsupervised control room to thin the herd. Water park president Cal. A. Bunga informs everyone via intercom that the water is infested with Candiru (aka the dinghus fish) prompting all the males to flee outside (right through the glass walls) and settle their naked selves in the snow.

Funny to see the men of Springfield like this and Bart enjoys the empty slides. Of course, now the outside world can easily access the park too and a trash panda (raccoon) ends up inside. Squeaky Voiced Teen sees the breach and tazes it (settings included rambunctious tot, boozy Australian, and meth mom) and the animal falls into one of the pools. Lisa fishes out the raccoon and resuscitates it with onlookers doing the modern thing of filming it and not helping. Lisa is successful and earns minor celebrity status. (I love the pun while Kent Brockman is covering the story. “Gas Backwards”)

Lisa is popular at school for her heroics and earns the privilege of watching Nibbles, the class hamster, during spring break. She’s “gonna go wild with responsibility.”

Lisa is thrilled and tells Marge all about it on their way home but they’re stuck in really bad traffic. Wiggum explains nothing can be done until the mess from a nasty traffic accident is cleaned up. The only way Marge can get home to turn Grampa on the couch is to clean up the mess herself. Marge cleans everything up spic and span and Wiggum offers her a gig as a crime scene cleaner-upper. “Crime always pays.”

We next see Lisa heading to the local vet, Lionel Budgie, D.V.M. (Not the DMV – That’s Across the Street). Lisa wants to work in the office since she enjoyed the thrill of saving a life so much. She gets the job too. I think the vet was just excited someone was actually inspired to be him some day. After her first job of cleaning the smocks so she can wear one, such “a shame to ruin such a clean smock”, she helps Vet Bungie jump start the stink glands of Barney’s pet ferret. “Heaven! Ewwwwwww.”

Lisa is one good helper and there is a cat named Chairman Meow. Lisa enjoys cleaning the cages but yearns for more excitement. Hobbling crickets for the old iguana who still loves the thrill of the hunt isn’t enough. Lisa wants to make a difference. She would even love to take the temperature of a horse and you know what that means. Vet Budgie urges Lisa to slow down.

Homer meanwhile is watching the NHL draft (woohoo.. hockey!) and Marge is concerned they may need a new ceiling fan. Marge calls Wiggum to do some crime scene clean-ups to earn some extra scratch. She’s ready to see awful murder/suicides since she’s used to seeing horrendous things at home on the regular like Homer eating chili out of a collender.

Lisa is called in to help give a Saint Bernard a shot and the thrill is back.

Marge shows up at the Sleep-Eazy Motel for her job. Lou has never seen “an angel dust for guns swap go so wrong.” The room looks clean enough until entrails and body parts fall from the ceiling.

Lisa is manning the desk at the vet office and cures the Sea Captains gold fish of fin rot. Despite the disturbing idea that the fish was more wife to him than any women, it’s funny when two of his mates wheel in a giant squid that apparently ate the captain’s car keys. Next, Lisa gives Mr. Teeny the Heimlich to get seltzer out of his lungs which transfers right to Krusty’s lungs. I don’t blame Teeny for not helping Krusty.

Marge is excited at home and points out the new ceiling fan she paid for (and I bet installed herself). Homer is not too keen on her new job and the potential mental trauma from doing it but he really likes the new air circulation. Marge even gets a police discount on cleaning supplies (like Torso-B-Gone Quicklime). She can “finally clean Grampa’s dentures” which still have popcorn in them from Kramer vs. Kramer.

“Martin, you and this banner are one year older. Happy Birthday.” I dig the Prince home and really think it’d be a nice addition to TSTO. All the kids are attending Martin’s birthday and Bart and Lisa are enjoying the petting zoo. Lisa shows off her animal smarts from her new job. Bart calls her a glorified cage scrubber but Lisa explains how much Dr. Bungie depends on her. “I have felt the cold breath of kennel cough in my face. I have seen tabbies that were more tick than cat. I know why the caged dog scoots. So when your lizard loses it’s tail, you’re gonna need me to tell you it’s gonna grow back.” All this said while I laugh at Wendell looking sick riding a giant turkey or is it an ostrich? Ralph feeds shrimp to a goat (he thought he was feeding peanuts to an elephant) who just happens to be allergic. Lisa, the “self selected, unpaid veterinary intern” saves it with Milhouse’s epi-pen. I love the goat going all agro afterwards, bumping kids, and ruining Martin’s cake. My daughter and I call it a gragon and we love to make the bleeting sound to make each other laugh.

Marge is in bed drinking Wild Clown Bourbon and not interested in Homer’s amorous attention. How could she deny his snuggle socks (aka heart surgery compression socks)? She’s never turned Homer down before (but thought about it three times, each after a burrito eating contest that Homer won). Her new crime scene cleaning job is really getting to her.

Lisa is helping Burns with one of his dogs who has lost the urge to kill. Lisa takes the dog away because Burns is a bad owner. Bart is right there with indignation over Lisa’s righteousness and shows her Nibbles, who is in a sad state since Lisa hasn’t been paying attention to her spring break pet/responsibility/homework. Poor Nibbles has developed stress polyps on his heart because he was ignored. Dr. Bungie is aghast at Lisa’s inattention. Two things we learn: 1) “The heart is the seat of love.” That’s apparently learned in veterinary school. 2) “Arrogance is what made the British Empire then lost it then pretended it didn’t happen.” Dr. Bungie and Lisa attempt to operate to save Nibbles but fail.

Homer is trying to cheer up Marge with funny videos on MyTube. Something is dead inside her and it’s a crime scene that can’t be cleaned up. All for a stupid fan that Homer still finds refreshing. Bart calls Homer and he’s off to help Lisa while Marge just sits stonily on the couch. Weird role reversal. Not really though. The idea of Lisa needing help is enough to spark something in Marge. She shows up to console her baby girl and is ready to clean up her tears. “Lisa’s learning about death helped Marge feel again.”

It all ends with a memorial for Nibbles. Cal. A. Bunga announces the flag will be flown at half-ass. The other class pets (Mrs. Nibbles, Shelly the Turtle, Sally Mander, Hamilton Fish, and Willie’s chicken) are having a hard time especially the chicken that Willie seems to have ate. “It was him or me.” There’s a cute video montage of Nibbles in the show to end the episode.

All in all I’d say I liked this one. My kiddo and I laughed a bunch during it which is usually a mark of a fun episode of the Best. Show. Ever. The A and B plots complimented each other. The opening at the water park was a bit long before getting to the real plot of the episode but oh well. Definitely worth a watch. What did you think of the episode? Anything in particular that struck your fancy? Sound off in the comments. I’ll be back with more recaps soon.

TTFN… Wookiee out!