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The Very Hungry Caterpillars

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Season 34 Episode
747 "Write Off This Episode"
748
"The Very Hungry Caterpillars"
"Clown V. Board of Education" 749


"The Very Hungry Caterpillars"
The Very Hungry Caterpillars promo 3.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 748
Season number: S34 E20
Production code: OABF14
Original airdate: May 7, 2023
Guest star(s): Rob Lowe as Cousin Peter
Showrunner: Matt Selman
Co-showrunner: Brian Kelley
Written by: Brian Kelley
Directed by: Gabriel DeFrancesco

"The Very Hungry Caterpillars" is the twentieth episode of broadcast season 34 of The Simpsons and the seven hundred forty-eighth episode overall. It originally aired on May 7, 2023. The episode was written by Brian Kelley and directed by Gabriel DeFrancesco. It guest stars Rob Lowe as Cousin Peter.

Synopsis[edit]

When a plague of insects shuts down Springfield, everyone is made to stay in their homes until the plague is dealt with and Lisa becomes increasingly agitated over the situation. Meanwhile, Bart and his classmates help Principal Skinner when his Cousin Peter cons Agnes into giving him the Skinner family quilt, and Maggie demands ranch sauce for her food.

Plot[edit]

At breakfast, Marge tries to feed Maggie pancakes. However, Maggie refuses to eat because Marge hasn't put ranch dressing on them, and she only eats food with ranch on. After Marge finally gives up and gives Maggie ranch dressing, the family gets an emergency alert telling them to watch the television. Kent Brockman announces that a swarm of Dutch Leaf Slurper caterpillars have arrived in town. Mayor Quimby announces that the town is going into lockdown until the situation is resolved. The family decides that they can do activities together before they end up watching Steak, Cake or Fake? on Binge+. When Homer manages to log out of the account, the family starts to panic.

The next day, Springfield Elementary School starts remote learning via ChatHippo. After the school day ends, Principal Skinner leaves his webcam on, which allows Bart to spy on him. Skinner's Cousin Peter is staying at the house during lockdown and spends his time sweet-talking Agnes and insulting Seymour. Meanwhile, Marge tries to get Maggie to try some other dips instead of ranch after they run out. Maggie refuses and Marge asks Homer to see if Ned has any they can have. When Homer starts to take Ned's apocalypse survival food, Ned imagines Homer stealing food from him, Rod, and Todd, then takes the food back, giving Homer only a small cup of ranch dressing. Marge thinks that they can ration the ranch out for a couple of days before Lisa comes into the room and says that the lockdown could go on for months, which causes Maggie to drink the cup of ranch dressing.

Lisa becomes obsessed with reading news about the lockdown and gets increasingly worried over it. As a distraction, Homer and Marge decide to give Lisa her Christmas present early, a Malibu Stacy playset called The Shops at the Orchard. Meanwhile, Bart and the other kids keep watching Skinner's camera feed, where Agnes decides to give the Skinner family quilt to Peter despite having previously promised it to Seymour. Lisa begins playing with her Malibu Stacy playset, but she starts to imagine the dolls talking to her about the lockdown.

The next day, Homer tries to trick Maggie into eating other sauces instead of ranch dressing but is unsuccessful. Marge then decides that she and Homer will break into Flanders' house and steal his ranch dressing. As the kids watch Skinner's camera feed, they realize that the Skinner family quilt is Seymour's security blanket from when he was a baby. Everyone starts to feel sorry for Skinner and decides that they'll get the blanket back for him. When Lisa goes back to her dolls, she finds that they are building a barrier against the caterpillars. She then imagines that she gets shrunk down to their size so she can join them in the mall. That night, Homer and Marge start the break-in, but Homer knocks a tin off the shelf. Flanders goes to check out the noise, and Homer distracts him to let Marge escape. Homer and Ned then fight for a bit before Ned tries to drown Homer in the barrel of ranch dressing.

Bart and the other kids come up with a plan to get Skinner's blanket back and have Nelson call Peter looking to buy the blanket. As Nelson starts to get Peter negotiating, Mrs. Muntz walks into Nelson's room and ruins the plan. However, Peter insults Agnes and reveals that he is conning her to Nelson. Seymour then reveals that he and Agnes are listening in via ChatHippo and Agnes throws Peter out of the house and gives the quilt to Seymour. In Ned's basement, Marge comes back and saves Homer by reminding Ned that he's a good person. Ned realizes what he's doing is wrong and lets the Simpsons keep the ranch dressing. Meanwhile, Lisa helps the dolls make the barricade until one of the caterpillars gets in. Lisa throws a piece of lettuce from her sandwich to the caterpillar, which then starts to eat it. Lisa then realizes that the caterpillar is actually cute and her fears go away, causing her to finally stop imagining herself being the size of the dolls.

The next day, all the caterpillars cocoon themselves and the lockdown ends. However, the cocoons all hatch and butterflies start to swarm Springfield instead. For this next lockdown, Homer steals Ned's GodFlix password and the family watches the Christian programming together.

Behind the Laughter[edit]

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Italy Flag.png Italiano "I piccoli bruchi Maisazi" The little Neversated caterpillars

Gallery[edit]


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Very Hungry Caterpillars".
Season 34 Episodes
Habeas Tortoise One Angry Lisa Lisa the Boy Scout The King of Nice Not It Treehouse of Horror XXXIII From Beer to Paternity Step Brother from the Same Planet When Nelson Met Lisa Game Done Changed Top Goon My Life as a Vlog The Many Saints of Springfield Carl Carlson Rides Again Bartless Hostile Kirk Place Pin Gal Fan-ily Feud Write Off This Episode The Very Hungry Caterpillars Clown V. Board of Education Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass
Production season OABF Episodes
From Beer to Paternity When Nelson Met Lisa Game Done Changed Top Goon My Life as a Vlog The Many Saints of Springfield Carl Carlson Rides Again Bartless Hostile Kirk Place Pin Gal Fan-ily Feud Write Off This Episode Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass The Very Hungry Caterpillars Clown V. Board of Education A Mid-Childhood Night's Dream Treehouse of Horror XXXIV Homer's Crossing It's a Blunderful Life McMansion & Wife Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story Iron Marge