With the start of the twenty-fifth season, the Fox show returns with Homer Simpson as a changed man, or so it seems.
The morning starts off with Marge getting Bart to take his ‘vitamins’ as she opens a cabinet filled with drugs such as Prozac.
Once the day gets going, the audience sees that Homer has been invited to a convention with Lenny and Carl. As sad as Homer is about leaving his familial duties behind, his family isn’t even out of sight before he pops the champagne bottle with his feet.
The trio celebrate in the car and on the plane as shown when the aircraft takes a temporary nosedive.
While swiping swag left and right, Lenny declares that there’s nothing like work and binge drinking put together.
Next thing you know Homer, Lenny, and Carl are thrown out of the convention. That doesn’t stop the three from attending the party.
After Homer sends a text to Marge assuring his slow night, he toasts, “To texting!”
At the arrival terminal, although his family prepares to greet Homer, the patriarch doesn’t make an appearance. Not knowing Homer’s whereabouts, Lenny and Carl attempt to comfort the Simpsons in the worst way possible.
Later on, Patty and Selma try to make Marge feel better again in the worst way possible before Police Chief Wiggum comes in complaining about all the unimportant calls he’s fielding.
When Homer emerges from the threshold of the living room, he claims a number of poor excuses like he overslept, but the family, especially Marge, seems so overjoyed at his appearance that the members don’t seem to mind.
Meanwhile, Homer has a flashback of himself coming out of Boise Astora and entering a suspicious van.
As the Simpson family has dinner, Bart makes a joke at Homer, yet Homer doesn’t even strangle his son like he usually does.
Along with not eating his favorite dish, Homer shocks his family when he holds up a napkin as he’s eating.
At Moe’s, Homer continues his unusual habits by requesting water after Moe serves him beer.
To get to the bottom of this, Lisa bikes to the Kwik-E-Mart and overhears Chief Wiggum talking about how Intel says there’s someone in Springfield who’s working for terrorists.
Lisa puts two and two together. However, when she runs into her father in the garage with a blueprint of the nuclear power plant as a target, she knows for certain and calls the FBI Call Center, where Agent Annie Crawford (voiced by Kristin Wiig) answers the phone call.
Too bad Homer catches Lisa’s conversation in the kitchen. Homer intimidates his daughter and tells her he’ll see her on the other side…on the other side of the house to toast marshmallows.
Annie Crawford interrupts Bart and Milhouse having a sleepover and surprises Homer in bed to let him know she knows what he’s up to, but the new Homer remains indifferent about what Annie’s trying to do and returns to cuddling with Marge.
The next day Homer goes through security very easily even though he rolls something under a tarp and even admits to it without anyone getting suspicious. That’s the Springfield power plant for ya!
When Lisa sneaks into the power plant and confronts Homer, the father is forced to tell the truth about the eco-hippy activists that awaited him that day in the van.
The FBI team, led by Annie, tries to take down Homer and prevents him from accomplishing his mission, but guess who saves the day?
In the end, Lisa and Homer bond over their experience, and although Lisa wishes Homer has adapted to his new ways, the old Homer is back when a parachute of Duff beer floats down out of nowhere as a cackling Moe Szyslak controls the parachute from an obscure location.
Elsewhere, Annie pops some pills and walks into the rainbow daze shoving Ralph Wiggum out of the way.
Can't get enough of The Simpsons? Tune into the show on Sundays at 7-8 p.m. for repeats before new episodes air at 8 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Fox