"The Wife Aquatic" is the tenth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. It originally aired on the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in the United States on January 7, 2007. 13.9 million viewers watched this episode, making it the highest rated of seasons 17–20.

Plot

In this episode, which parodies somewhat the film "The Perfect Storm", Marge pines for the excitement she had in her youth after watching Patty and Selma's old home movies of a trip to Barnacle Bay in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

during a town-wide outdoor movie night. Moved by his wife's depression,

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

organizes a surprise trip to the island. However, on the family's arrival, Marge's hopes to relive her youth are dashed as Barnacle Bay has been devastated by overfishing of the Yum Yum Fish, the island's main attraction. Homer refuses to let Marge down and fixes the boardwalk and celebrates with a large fireworks show. The plan backfires as he accidentally starts a fire and the boardwalk burns down. In order to repay the townsfolk, Homer joins a fishing crew and sets out to rediscover the Yum Yum Fish. At sea, Homer mistakenly beer batters and deep fries the fishing hooks, attracting a large haul of Yum Yum Fish. However, their celebrations are short-lived as Homer and the crew become trapped in a storm. Searching for a means of escape, they discover

Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...

has stowed away and removed the

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

in order to hide in its cupboard. The ship sinks, and Marge and the rest of Barnacle Bay believe all hands to have been lost at sea. Homer, Bart, and the crew interrupt a memorial service in their honor, and Homer explains that they were rescued by the Japanese fishing boat ''Iruka Koroshi Maru'' (''Dolphin Killer''). The townsfolk plan to recommence fishing, but

Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

warns them about the dangers of overfishing and how it brought their town to financial ruin. Agreeing with her, the townsfolk decide to go into logging instead, and

clear-cut Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...

the island's

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s, which are scheduled to be sent to a paper mill to be made into issues of ''

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

'' and '' Barely Legal'' magazine, much to Lisa's frustration.

Reception

This was the highest rated episode since season 16's ''

Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" is the eighth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 6, 2005. It is a Super Bowl-them ...

'', which aired right after Super Bowl XXXIX. Barring that, the ratings were last this high in 2004, with "

I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot", also known as "I, D'oh-Bot", is the ninth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 11, 2004. This ...

" which had 16 million viewers.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wife Aquatic, The The Simpsons (season 18) episodes 2007 American television episodes Television episodes about the environment Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing