To Surveil with Love
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- "God created the devil? Finally He did something cool!"
- ―Homer Simpson
"To Surveil With Love" is the twentieth episode of Season 21.
Synopsis
Thanks to Homer leaving a gym bag with radioactive waste (planted there by Smithers) unattended in a train station, Springfield has surveillance cameras installed throughout the town, but when citizen video monitor scanner Ned abuses his ability to speak through the cameras' speakers, Homer uses the camera blind spot Bart discovers to the town's advantage; Lisa, having heard one too many dumb blonde jokes, dyes her hair brown.
Plot
When Mr. Burns is informed that the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant has run out of room to store waste plutonium, Smithers hides some of the radioactive matter in Homer's Duff gym bag. Later that day, Homer forgets the bag in a train station and mass chaos ensues when the police see the bag as a threat and blow it up (which according to Kent Brockman released enough radioactive power to create seventeen Incredible Hulks and a Spider Man). The incident sparks fears of terrorism, and the town votes to hire a British security consultant named Nigel Bakerbutcher to install surveillance cameras all around Springfield. Soon the entire town is being watched, but Chief Wiggum and the other officers tire of watching the surveillance screens and recruit some of the townspeople — including Marge and Ned Flanders — to keep watch. Marge is not comfortable watching the activities of her fellow townspeople, but Ned discovers he enjoys being Springfield's "conscience" and proceeds to nag everyone through loudspeakers on the cameras, including Jimbo Jones kissing Shauna, and Moe, Homer, Lenny, and Carl betting on the weather.
Meanwhile, Lisa is invited to join the school debate team but soon discovers that she faces prejudice from the brunette supremacist judges (that her competition readily capitalizes on) because she has blond hair. Even Cletus mocks her when she raises concerns about infringement upon civil liberties at the town hall meeting, so she decides to dye her hair dark brown. At the next debate meeting, she intentionally presents a weak argument and when the judges enthusiastically agree with her, she points out that they judged her on her hair color rather than the strength of her debate skills, and notes that there are exceptions to every stereotype. Not all blondes are stupid and not all fat people are jolly, including Comic Book Guy, and Just as she says that not all old people are bad drivers, though, Grampa crashes his car through the wall of the gym where the meeting is being held, ruining her argument.
Bart becomes frustrated by Ned's constant nagging and discovers that the Simpson family's backyard contains a blind spot. Soon, he and Homer are charging the townsfolk to use the yard to relax and do anything they want. Marge voices her disapproval and Ned overhears. When Ned confronts Homer, Homer points out that because Ned won't let anyone do anything all they're pent up desires have been focused into this one small point and that he is playing God. Ned is troubled by this and admits that he got carried away with his nagging, and he and Homer proceed to destroy every security camera in town.
In the end, it is revealed that the antics of Springfield's citizens were broadcast as a reality TV show in Great Britain, known as American Oafs. Queen Elizabeth II remarks that she will miss "that Ralph Wiggum boy," that he reminded her of her own son, and her son Prince Charles replies with a quintessential Wiggum-ism: "My cat's breath smells like cat food."
Production
The episode was written by Michael Nobori and directed by Lance Kramer. It guest stars Eddie Izzard as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Nigel Bakerbutcher.
Opening Sequence
In an effort for more viewers for May sweeps FOX made a week full of musical segments in all the shows called "Fox Rocks". For The Simpsons they had the entire Opening Sequence redone with the characters lip dubbing Ke$ha's song "Tik Tok" for that episode.
Reception
The episode received high positive reviews. IGN gave the episode 8/10 and remarked that "Overall, it was a fun episode, hurt only by the uninteresting filler of Lisa dealing with blonde stereotypes. But even that delivered its share of memorable quotes. If the past few episodes are any indication, this season may go out on a very high note."
Broadcasting Information
- USA: 1st airdate: May 2, 2010
- UK: 1st airdate: June 3, 2010
- UK: 2nd airdate: June 6, 2010
- Uk: 3rd airdate: July 23, 2010
