'You Only Move Twice'
The nicest supervillain ever - but don't call him 'Boss.' (The Bus 5.38)
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ARCHIVE EDITION - FIRST PUBLISHED (1.23) 23 JUNE 2022
The Stop
Originally broadcast on Fox1 on 3 November 1996, ‘You Only Move Twice’ (Season 8, Episode 2) is one of the most critically acclaimed episodes from arguably the golden age of The Simpsons.2 Written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Mike B. Anderson, from its title - alluding to the Bond film You Only Live Twice - to the inclusion of a ‘Mr Bont’ in a laser scene straight out of Goldfinger - the episode is a brilliant parody of the British spy franchise while at the same time examining the challenge of relocating home to follow your dreams - and then surrendering these dreams because of family.3
Synopsis:
One sunny morning, Waylon Smithers is walking to work when a mysterious black car pulls up beside him. A woman offers him a job - which he immediately refuses, saying he’s ‘already spoken for.’4 Because he is the next most senior employee at the power plant, Homer is offered the position at Globex Corporation. He accepts the job without consulting his family and, though they are hesitant at first, a promotional video of the corporation’s planned community5 convinces them they should leave Springfield and move to Cypress Creek.
Arriving at their new house at 15201 Maple Systems Road, Homer’s new boss - Hank Scorpio - arrives with a basket of fruit while in the middle of a fun run.6 Scorpio appears to be the perfect boss; he genuinely likes Homer and makes him Chief Motivator in the Nuclear Division of Globex - essentially a do-nothing job, completely suited to his skills. However, while Homer is finding everything perfect, his family are having a very different experience. Marge discovers the new house and its high-end technology essentially takes care of itself and becomes hopelessly bored, spending the day drinking a glass of red wine. Lisa - at first enamoured with the clean air, forest and wildlife - suddenly discovers she’s seriously allergic to everything and Bart - who’s poor education at Springfield Elementary means he knows neither cursive nor fractions - is put into the remedial Leg Up class at school.7
Back at Globex, Homer loves his job and in a conversation with Scorpio confesses that his greatest dream is to own the Dallas Cowboys. Homer is, of course, unaware that Scorpio is actually an evil supervillain with plans to dominate the world. During his meeting with Homer, Scorpio excuses himself, turns to a massive screen and threatens the UN Security Council, giving them 72 hours to deliver an unspecified amount of gold and then to prove he’s serious, blows up the 59th Street Bridge. Homer remains completely obvious to all of this - including Scorpio’s work on a doomsday device and his attempt to kill Mr Bont.8
At dinner that evening, Homer tries to tell his family how well he’s doing at work, but discovers they hate Cypress Creek and want to return to Springfield. Homer decides to seek advice from Scorpio, arriving in the office at the same time the US Army Special Forces launches an assault against the Globex Headquarters. While the battle rages around him, Homer asks Scorpio what he should do and is advised to do what is best for his family. Scorpio then straps on a flamethrower and makes his escape while Homer sadly walks away, still unaware of everything going on around him.
The next day, the family returns to Springfield where a newspaper on the doorstep reports that Hank Scorpio has seized the East Coast of the United States. Homer then receives a thank you telegram from Scorpio saying ‘Project Arcturus couldn’t have succeeded without you.’ As a gift, he’s given Homer the Denver Broncos, who are practising (badly) on the front lawn. Anticipating Homer’s disappointment, Scorpio notes in the telegram: ‘It’s not the Dallas Cowboys, but it’s a start.’
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to a video which examines how the animation on The Simpsons has evolved from its earliest days to now.
How 'The Simpsons' Animation Evolved over 30 Years
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is - of course - Simpsons-based. The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh of Homer is part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series. A collection of essays on topics ranging from American anti-intellectualism and sexual politics to Nietzsche and hyper-irony through the lens of the show, it is probably a book more for the super-fan, but I’ve found it interesting throughout.
From the back: Does Homer Simpson really exhibit Aristotelian values? Can we learn from Maggie about the value of silence? Is Bart the kind of individual Nietzsche was trying to warn us about? How does Lisa illuminate American ambivalence toward intellectuals? Here we can find out about irony and the meaning of life, the politics of the nuclear family, Marxism in Springfield, the elusiveness of happiness, popular parody as a form of tribute, and why we need animated TV shows.
I haven’t found a review of the book, but here is a link to an article by philosopher Julian Baggini9 in The Guardian discussing the relation between the Simpsons and Philosophy - in the form of a class at Glasgow University:
Glasgow University offers a Simpsons philosophy class - and it makes perfect sense.
The Sounds
Due to the James Bond-ish nature of the Stop, today’s playlist contains five great Bond theme songs: Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds are Forever (from Diamonds are Forever, 1971), Carly Simon’s Nobody Does it Better (from The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977), Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger (from Goldfinger, 1964), Sam Smith’s The Writing on the Wall (from Spectre, 2015) and Adele’s eponymous theme for Skyfall (2012). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a quote from ‘You Only Move Twice.’ Hank Scorpio introduces himself to Homer - but doesn’t like the word ‘boss’:
Homer: ‘Wow, my boss.’
Scorpio: ‘Don't call me that word. I don't like things that elevate me above the other people. I'm just like you. Oh, sure, I come later in the day, I get paid a lot more and I take longer vacations, but I don't like the word ‘boss’.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed a brief diversion from your regular journey!
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Until the next stop …
That’s right - Fox. One of the most subversive television shows in history was (and still is) broadcast on a channel now synonymous with right-wing conservatism - an irony not lost on the show itself.
I was a HUGE Simpsons fan in the 1990s, and can’t believe it’s taken 23 issues of The Bus to get to an episode. I confess I’ve not watched them in any regular sense since probably 2001, but the early seasons contained frequent genius. This particular episode is one of my favourites, largely due to the juxtaposition of Homer’s utter cluelessness against Scorpio’s nice-guy evil genius. In the 90’s, I used episodes of The Simpsons to teach literary devices to my English students: foreshadowing, imagery, theme, setting, symbolism, characterisation, plot - name it, they’re all there.
Sources for today’s Stop are Simpsons: Top 30 Episodes, Simpsons, Simpsons and Simpsons Archive
Smithers is singing ‘I work for Monty Burns/ MMMMMMM Monty Burns’ to the tune of Hooray for Hollywood when he’s approached by Globex. At this point in the series, his sexuality and unrequited love for Mr Burns were - for some reason - still debated by fans. Which is really odd as there were countless hints dropped over and over and over and over ….
The video is titled Cypress Creek: The Tale of One City.
Hank Scorpio - one of the most popular single-episode characters in The Simpsons history - is voiced by Albert Brooks, in his fourth appearance. At this point he’d voiced the RV salesman Cowboy Bob in The Call of the Simpsons (S1.E7), Marge’s bowling instructor and would-be seducer Jacques in Life on the Fast Lane (S1.E9), and self-help guru Brad Goodman in Bart’s Inner Child (S5.E7). The writers knew he would rewrite or ad lib his lines, so they didn’t worry about perfecting them. This decision led to arguably the best exchange in the episode: when Homer asks Scorpio where he might buy ‘work hammocks’ for the office. Hank: “Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Hammocks! Homer, there’s four places. There’s the Hammock Hut, that’s on third. There’s Hammocks-R-Us, that’s on third too. You got Put-Your-Butt-There. That’s on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot… Matter of fact, they’re all in the same complex; it’s the hammock complex on third.” Homer: “Oh, the hammock district!” Hank: “That’s right.”
The remedial kids - Warren, Melvin, Gary, Dot and Gordy (who’s accent is considered the ‘broadest parody of a Canadian accent in the history of American pop culture’ - are great. For a clip of the class (unfortunately, not the accent), see: https://comb.io/WCSTzt
Who, using a quarter to deflect the laser to cut his chains, attempts a daring escape, but is tackled by Homer in response to Scorpio’s shout, ‘Stop him! He’s supposed to die!’ … and then shot.
Check out his webpage: Julian Baggini