It’s funny…really. We have been complaining for a while that the event updates seem to be based on just smidgens of actual Simpsons’ episodes. We get whole segments of weird beasts, or giant recreations of a building, for something that only appears in about 5 seconds of the actual episode “on which it is based.”
Not so with this Outland-based episode. But, I am going to whine…as there something from this episode that would have been REALLY cool…and is not offered in the event. But, we’ll get to that later…
“At Long Last Leave” is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons’ twenty-third season, (S23E14) and the 500th episode overall of the series.
And it starts with a “Couch Gag” that actually shows a few frames of every couch gag from the previous 499 episodes. Pretty cool…
What isn’t cool, is how the town treats the Simpsons…
As way of a BRIEF Synopsis…
The town secretly colludes to expel the Simpsons from Springfield. The list of reasons is long…and let’s be hones about it…justified. The Simpsons are forced to leave town, to seek a home elsewhere.
We also see the origin of the “Simpsons Go to Hell Float” which isn’t offered in this update as a retread…even though it should have been…as it is from the same episode. Oh…EA…your ways confuse me…but I digress.
The Simpsons pack and head out on the open highway, and during a “pee break” by the side of barren road, “Mountain Man” confronts them for stopping.
Conversation ensues, where they reveal that they are in fact wayward travelers looking for a new start, and Mountain man deems to take them to “Outland,” the post-appocolyptic, off the grid, city in the dessert… Where we see a TON of the items from this event, over several panoramic views of “Outland.”
From here the story gets murky, in that while the kids and Homer blossom and prosper in the environment of “chaos and anarchy,” Marge misses her friends and their house. But we see loads of snippets of everyone in their “Outland gear” as well as a funny “couch bit” where the Simpsons are Watching Fox.
There is also a hilariously weird segment featuring the REAL Julian Assange…(not forgetting that this was Before he became an international cyber-criminal on the lamb).
But Marge misses home, and Homer tries to sneak her back into Springfield for a visit, where they are caught…but reveal that they like their new home better, because it isn’t judgmental.
Where the Simpsons slide one by the censors with this bit of dialogue between Quimby and Wiggums.
Homer: We’ve found a new place that we love, a place that may not have indoor plumbing, but it’s got something we treasure more. Non-jerks!
Quimby: Maybe he’s right– we are jerks.
Wiggum: You want I should spray some of my Jerk Off on you?
Qimby: Uh it’s okay.
Unfortunately, for Outland, all of the townspeople, and apparently half of Shelbyville, come to live in Outland, bringing with them, all of the “creature comforts” of civilization…like electricity, telecommunications, and the Internet.
Moe soon arrives and sets up shop…
The final scene, is Skinner, wandering a virtually empty Springfield Street, alone…when Bart swoops in on his Outland version of a Gyro-copter, and says, “Aw Come On, Man…we wouldn’t leave you behind!” Throws him a rope…and then proceeds to fly him into countless Springfield landmarks, exclaiming, “oops…sorry…my mistake.”
I would pay BIG donuts for a flying gyro-copter that actually has Skinner dangling from it, and bumping into the Cooling Towers of the Nuke Plane. EA missed the mark on this one…
Here are a handful of items that you will get from this episode…
Mountain Man
Ruffians We get them…but they are from a different episode of the Simpsons. Right Gino?
Outland Simpsons House with Outlands Maggie
Outlands Sign
Truck Shack
Outlands Factory
Grub Shack
Outlands Gate
Outlands Water Tower
and a ton of peripheral decorations, including the House Frame
There are going to be tons more in Act III…so make room for them.
I was not really into the Outlands/Bart Royale event, until I re-watched the episode. It is loaded with great humor, some amazingly fun animation and a very Utopian/Dystopian theme that almost makes one want to go back to basics. And let’s face it…if the world continues on its present course, we may all get the chance to do so!
BONUS from the Episode… the final credit music, as well as some of the soundtrack music was performed by Alison Kraus and Union Station.
These guys are amazing musicians…with Jerry Douglas, the world’s greatest dobro player added in, this band is hard to beat for raw, sheer talent, with acoustic instruments.
And finally….there is a funny screen shot at the end… which reminds me of something I’d like to post here…
GET OUT MORE…Out down your padular devices… have some fun doing something other than tapping once in a while…right?
Have YOU seen this episode? What do you think about it? Are you going to build an Outlands section in YOUR Springfield?? Let us know!