The Wife Aquatic/References

Cultural references

 * Homer's job on the fishing boat, their successful catch, and the subsequent storm (including the monster wave that wrecks the boat) are all reminiscent of the 2000 movie . During the scene in the institute, a satellite image is seen on a screen, which the metereologist (based on Christopher McDonald played in the movie) sitting next to the screen says it's "a perfect storm". The subsequent storm (including the monster wave that wrecks the boat), and the funeral service where Homer and the others are memorialized after (apparently) being lost and killed at sea reflecting what happened in the movie.
 * The title is a reference to 2004 film; .
 * During a scene in the institute, they walk past a model of SpongeBob SquarePants with a nameplate says "The Science of SpongeBob" beneath. The statue also includes 4 mollucs photos and one of them, appears, the starfish and the first two pictures show a crab and a squid, references to and.
 * While Homer is clubbing the Yum Yum fish, "At Last" by Etta James is heard.
 * The home movie with Marge and her sisters is a spoof of the same scene in , with similar music. Similar scenes already appeared in the episodes "Selma's Choice" when Marge imagined spending summer at the lake with her sisters and Great Aunt Gladys, then realizes that her memory was really a scene from The Prince of Tides, and in "Fear of Flying", when Marge accidentally refers to her psychiatrist, Dr. Zweig, as Dr. Löwenstein several times.
 * While going to the Barnacle Bay museum, Marge and Lisa pass an exhibit called "The Science of SpongeBob".
 * The musical piece that's played throughout the episode is the "Aquarium" movement from Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Carnival of the Animals".
 * Homer makes a quick reference to Opposite Day.
 * The scene in which Homer is strung up by the fishermen is a reference to the movie Jaws.
 * According to Homer, the Roman god of the sea is Aquaman.
 * In the final scene, Larry Flynt is mentioned, as the cut-down trees on the island will be used to make issues of Hustler and Barely Legal magazines.
 * Lisa mentions that Barnacle Bay is "the most disgusting" place the family has been, "after Brazil". On the Brazilian Portuguese dub of this episode, the line wasn't translated and the scene that had the line being spoken was cut. This was a running gag about the problems the producers of the show had with Brazilian authorities, after the episode "Blame it on Lisa".

Goofs

 * Moe serves Lenny beer, but in the shot where Moe, Lenny and Carl run to the door of the tavern, the beer mug has disappeared.