"Homer the Great"
It's a retro review here at Simpsonista (that, and Iron Maiden are coming to town). Our crystal ball takes us back to 1995, as Homer discovers that there's a secret world in Springfield. His initial attempts to join the society are rebuffed, until it is discovered that he is the prophesied "Chosen One". Everybody's happy, until Homer makes the cardinal mistake of using his new-found powers for good. Chaos and anarchy are unleashed by "Homer The Great", the 6th season episode first broadcast in 1995, and considered one of the better episodes of the long-running animated series.
Homer notices that Lenny and Carl seem to be enjoying the good life at work: comfy chairs, perfect parking spaces and free soft drinks. Pestering them for answers yields little information ("It's a secret!", Lenny answers; "Shut up!", Carl tells Lenny). Following the "yellow drip road", Homer crashes the party (literally) and is made to pay "the ultimate price" - being thrown out. Saving Lenny from a sandwich proves unsuccessful in gaining admittance to the ancient society of the Stonecutters, but Homer discovers that Grampa serves a purpose, for a change - he uses Abe's membership of the Stonecutter's to don the traditional robes and become a Stonecutter himself. All well and good, until an impromptu napkin leads to Homer's near excommunication from the group - and they see the birthmark that denotes him as the Stonecutter's "Chosen One". And then everything goes wrong.
The formula of this episode's success is that it mixes two very good ingredients - the lure of secret societies and Homer Simpson, the same man who was excluded from a "No Homers Club" as a child because they already had someone named "Homer". A third strength is having Number One voiced by (Sir) Patrick Stewart, a man so awesome that only he can make a line like "And now, the final ordeal: the Paddling of the Swollen Ass…With Paddles!" sound simultaneously hilarious and magnificent. Stewart simply owns the role of Number One, whether it's joyously announcing that the Stonecutters will celebrate their 1,500th anniversary by "havin' ribs!", or calling to order "the first meeting of the ancient society…of No Homers".
Homer is in fine form himself, from sneakily trailing Lenny and Carl to the ancient Stonecutter temple, to using the hallowed, sacred parchment of the Stonecutters as a bib, Q-Tip and tissue…and then punching through it five times as he angrily swears that "I've! Learned! My! Les! Son!". With no subplot, writer John Swartzwelder is free to pour all his creative energies into one story, and if we get hilarious musical numbers like "We Do!" (which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award) in lieu of a B- or C-story that might have detracted from Homer's failed attempts to take the Stonecutters into the future (like having monkeys re-enact the American Civil War), then I think we're all the better for it.
"Homer the Great" aired fifteen years ago, but it's deservedly remembered as one of the better of The Simpsons' 464 episodes. Debate on whether the show has declined in recent years notwithstanding, the humor in the episode remains fresh and vibrant, the casting of Sir Patrick Stewart compliments the plot (decades ahead of the secret society fascination spurred by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code). And honestly, any episode where Grandpa discovers he's the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance is always a plus.
