History Recap / TheSimpsonsS35E14NightOfTheLivingWage

Ol' Gil is presenting a present from management, smartwatches. And by smartwatches, he means ankle monitors that keep them motivated. Marge asks Gil about overtime, and Gil answers that since their hours go past midnight, they count as being part of a new day, so they don't get overtime. Marge is shocked by this news and by her ankle monitor's anti-rest zaps. Gil excuses this theft by claiming [=GimmeChow=] is just a start-up, but watching a finances show that night, it becomes clear they have more than enough money because Finn Bon Idée is the world's newest billionaire. Marge throws her Duff at the TV before breaking down in tears. Lisa overhears Marge's crying, and feels guilty that she started all of this, but Marge assures her that they'll take care of the "Chicken Fixin' Fund", which doesn't seem to be getting any higher despite all the work Marge does. Hearing Finn's empty pleasantries about family and unity, Lisa gets an idea: unionize. Marge is unsure, but after hearing the CEO's plans to go to space, she wants to take him down, down to Earth.

-->'''Finn:''' I can't get disrupted! ''I'm'' the disrupter! ''I'm the crusher of unions!'' I'm the- ''[Demented Dollars tank runs over him]''

* VillainousBreakdown: When Homer fries the food delivery drones to atone for betraying Marge for GimmieChow, Finn starts to really lose it as his stock drops before getting crushed by the prop tank from Demented Dollars.

** Gil isn't heard from after firing Marge from [=GimmeChow=], leaving it unclear if he was fired with the rest of the employees at the time of [=GimmeChow=]'s automation.

** Finn gets run over by a tank on-screen.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Finn, after all the misery he put his workers through, and firing them so he can replace them all with robots and drones, loses nearly all value in his stock when Homer shuts down his drones, and he is run over by a tank from the Demented Dollars prop crew.

* JerkassBall: Homer brazenly demands service from [=GimmeChow=] in spite of how much his large orders increase Marge's workload, plus it reducing the funds for their debt that she's working in[= GimmeChow=] in the first place to pay off. He even goes so far as to openly union bust for the company when she organizes a union and counter protests when she organizes a strike.

* JerkassBall: Homer brazenly demands service from GimmeChow in spite of how much his large orders increase Marge's workload, plus it reducing the funds for their debt that she's working in GimmeChow in the first place to pay off. He even goes so far as to openly union bust for the company when she organizes a union and counter protests when she organizes a strike.
JerkassRealization: Homer realizes the error of his ways when his actions get the entire GimmeChow staff fired in favor of automating the process, leaving Marge's unionizing efforts dejected.

Marge is hired, as well as Ruth Powers, Dewey Largo, Old Jewish Man, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon, Julio, Mrs. Muntz, Kirk Van Houten, Barney Gumble, and Cletus Spuckler. An introductory video is shown of the CEO of [=GimmeChow=], a disruptor named Finn Bon Idee, who aims to disrupt the restaurant business by eliminating restaurants from the equation. [=GimmeChow=] will provide the food of twenty restaurants from a single kitchen, overseen by their shift manager, "Jill Junderson". Marge asks Gill how much they'll be paid, and everyone is about to leave after he said "minimum wage", but most stuck around after he said "plus overtime". The first shift begins, and the orders are piling on immediately. Everyone is overwhelmed, and Marge gets a nasty cut to the arm from Mrs. Muntz's wayward knife, but continues to work, even after slipping on a mayonnaise spill. With a long bleep mistaken for a call for pho, it's clear this is a kitchen from hell.

Ol' Gil is presenting a present from management, smartwatches. And by smartwatches, he means ankle monitors that keep them motivated. Marge asks Gil about overtime, and Gil answers that since their hours go past midnight, they count as being part of a new day, so they don't get overtime. Marge is shocked by this news and by her ankle monitor's anti-rest zaps. Gil excuses this theft by claiming [=GimmeChow=] is just a start-up, but watching a finances show that night, it becomes clear they have more than enough money because Finn Bon Idee is the world's newest billionaire. Marge throws her Duff at the TV before breaking down in tears. Lisa overhears Marge's crying, and feels guilty that she started all of this, but Marge assures her that they'll take care of the "Chicken Fixin' Fund", which doesn't seem to be getting any higher despite all the work Marge does. Hearing Finn's empty pleasantries about family and unity, Lisa gets an idea: Unionize. Marge is unsure, but after hearing the CEO's plans to go to space, she wants to take him down, down to Earth.

Marge meets with her fellow [=GimmeChow=] chefs and the drivers, now including Brandine Spuckler, Kearney, Principal Skinner, Otto, and Luigi. Luigi is all in, because [=GimmeChow=] ran him out of business and ripped him off with "Louie G's Pizza". Unfortunately, their ankle monitors overheard the whole thing. Gil says that management wanted to show an educational video for no reason. The video is a cheap anti-union propaganda cartoon. Mr. Largo is disgusted that they spend their money on this cartoon instead of fair wages, and signs his union card. The kitchen is unionized. Management won't let this stand, but they can't fire Marge for starting a union, so they've made her a delivery driver. She's got 60 minutes to deliver 40 orders, or she's fired for a justifiable cause.

The next day, the pro-union protesters have an encounter with a crowd of slogan-chanters who seem to understand their plight, but really just want food. Homer has gathered many of Springfield's portlier citizens into a group, Selfish Entitled Lovers of Food. After a very short conversation, the union and S.E.L.F. are about to get into a brawl, but Finn Bon Idee's helicopter gets in the way of the crowds. He's ending the strike, not by meeting their demands, but by automating everything and firing everyone. The kitchens are manned by robots, the deliveries are done by drones. Marge is defeated, and Homer feels bad for betraying Marge. Not even fried food delivered by an electronic drone can cheer him up. That's when he gets an idea, recalling his bizarre use of his "mmm..." catchphrase from earlier. Homer pulls the switch, and the malfunctioning drones drop their orders and all out of the sky. It's raining food all over Springfield. [=GimmeChow's=] disruptive automation plans have been disrupted, and their stock is tanking. And Finn gets crushed by a tank prop from the non-unionized Demented Dollars prop crew.

Marge knows only Homer can make a mess like this one, and with a passionate kiss, they make amends. Closing narration from the wise guy tells that Finn Bon Idee (who survived getting run over by the tank prop) was forced to hire unionized workers that are paid fairly, including overtime. Homer uses his gift cards to fill the Chicken Fixin' Fund, and while Marge forgave Homer, she will be using this incident as ammunition in every argument from that point on.

** Darleen Spuckler holding a crate lid reading "Onion" spoofs the SignatureScene of ''Film/NormaRae''.
* SpecialGuest: Jason Mantzoukas as Finn Bon Idee.

LaserGuidedKarma: Finn, after all the misery he put his workers through, and firing them so he can replace them all with robots and drones, loses nearly all value in his stock when Homer shuts down his drones, and he is run over by a tank from the Demented Dollars prop crew.

* {{EMP}}: Homer resolves the plot by setting off one of those to fry the [=GimmeChow=] drones.

* UncattyResemblance: The emotional support animals reflect their owners. For instance, Herman's emotional support animal is a dog that's missing one of its front legs, Chief Wiggum's emotional support animal is a pig, and Jasper's emotional support animal is a bearded goat.

Lisa is taken Snowball II for a walk, and they come across "Little Vest Park", which is full of people with emotional support animals. A girl with an emotional support chicken introduces Lisa to the place, then yells at her to get out because Snowball II isn't a therapy animal. Lisa insists her kitty is kind and empathetic, while Snowball II prepares to pounce. The girl's chicken gets mauled, but after a visit to an bird hospital, the doctor is sure Gwenyth Poultrey will be fine. The girl's mother sticks the bill onto the Simpson family, a bill worth 60,000 dollars. They can't afford that with Homer's "upper-lower-middle-lower-lower class income". Marge is gonna have to get a job, and not for personal reasons like all her other jobs.

Ol' Gil is presenting a present from management, smartwatches. And by smartwatches, he means ankle monitors that keep them motivated. Marge asks Gil about overtime, and Gil answers that since their hours go past midnight, they count as being part of a new day, so they don't get overtime. Marge is shocked by this news and by her ankle monitor's anti-rest zaps. Gil excuses this theft by claiming [=GimmeChow=] is just a start-up, but watching a finances show that night, it becomes clear they have more than enough money because Finn Bon Idee is the world's newest billionaire. Marge throws her Duff at the TV before breaking down in tears. Lisa overhears Marge's crying, and feels guilty that she started all of this, but Marge assures her that they'll take care of the "Chicken Fixin' Fund", which doesn't seem to be getting any higher despite all the work Marge does. Hearing Finn's empty pleasantries about family and unity, Lisa gets an idea. Unionize. Marge is unsure, but after hearing the CEO's plans to go to space, she wants to take him down, down to Earth.

Marge knows only Homer can make a mess like this one, and with a passionate kiss, they make amends. Closing narration from the wise guy tells that Finn Bon Idee was forced to hire unionized workers that are paid fairly, including overtime. Homer uses his gift cards to fill the Chicken Fixin' Fund, and while Marge forgave Homer, she will be using this incident as ammunition in every argument from that point on.

** This episode features Apu's first non-background appearance since Season 29's [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E15NoGoodReadGoesUnpunished "No Good Read Goes Unpunished"]], six years minus a day prior. Apu appears in a non-speaking role as one of Marge's delivery customers. For a related non-sentient example, this is also the Kwik-E-Mart's first appearance since [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E16TheMargeIanChronicles "The Marge-ian Chronicles"]] two seasons before that.
** The veterinarian returns after his last non-background appearance being [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)"]], all the way back in Season 6.
* ContinuityCavalcade: After Marge announces she's gonna get a job, Bart lists off several former jobs she's had. [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E23TheSpringfieldConnection Cop]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E9RealtyBites realtor]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E7HusbandsAndKnives gym owner]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E1SexPiesAndIdiotScrapes erotic cake baker]], and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS31E17HighwayToWell weed sommelier]].
* EmergencyMultifaithPrayer: When the first shift begins, after mishearing Marge's cries of "Cheeses!", the Old Jewish Man replied "Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Hashem, we need 'em all, chef!"

* NewJobEpisode: Marge gets a job at a ghost kitchen. Like [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS35E11FrinkensteinsMonster another episode this season,]] it's [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] that this is far from the first time Marge got a job, though Marge claims all of those were for personal growth and not out of financial necessity.

* UncattyResemblance: The emotional support animals reflect their owners. For instance, Herman's emotional support animal is a dog that's missing one of it's front legs, Chief Wiggum's emotional support animal is a pig, and Jasper's emotional support animal is a bearded goat.

The investment show is having a debate between "Communist Psycho" Marge Simpson and [=GimmeChow=]'s new brand embassador, "Capitalist Ally" Homer Simpson. Homer is being paid in gift cards to be an anti-union shill, willing to defend human misery if it means convenience. Marge crashes Homer's broadcast from the bathroom to deliver a message of pro-unionization.

Marge knows only Homer can make a mess like this one, and with a passionate kiss, they make amends. Closing narration from the Wiseguy tells that Finn Bon Idee was forced to hire unionized workers that are paid fairly, including overtime. Homer uses his gift cards to fill the Chicken Fixin' Fund, and while Marge forgave Homer, she will be using this incident as ammunition in every argument from that point on.

** This episode features Apu's first non-background appearance since Season 29's [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E15NoGoodReadGoesUnpunished "No Good Read Goes Unpunished"]], in a non-speaking role as one of Marge's delivery customers. For a related non-sentient example, this is also the Kwik-E-Mart's first appearance since [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E16TheMargeIanChronicles "The Marge-ian Chronicles"]] two seasons before that.
** The veterinarian returns after his last non-background appearance being [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)"]].