Line #10 Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E17SimpsonSafari


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simpsons_12_17.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"Don't worry. [[FalseReassurance Being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep...]] [[WorseWithContext in a giant blender.]]"]]
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4	'''Original air date:''' 4/1/2001 ''(produced in 2000)''
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6	'''Production code:''' CABF-13
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8	After Homer's misbehavior at the supermarket cause a bag boy strike, the Simpsons are left without food -- until they find a 1960s-era box of animal crackers advertising a contest where the winners get an African safari.
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10	!!Tropes appearing in the episode:
11	* AfricaIsACountry: Downplayed. The specific country the Simpsons visit is only mentioned in passing (and changes its name ''twice'' on the plane ride there). Everyone else just welcomes them to "Africa", et cetera. (Compare to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E15BlameItOnLisa when they went to Brazil]].)
12	* AllNaturalGemPolish: The diamonds from Bushwell's slave mine are already cut and glittering straight out of the rockface. In real life, diamonds usually look like dull, grey rocks when they're found.
13	* AngryAngryHippos: Homer gets chased by one after he mistakes it for a drum. Its unusual fear of water saves the Simpsons from it.
14	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: PlayedForLaughs. Rhinos lay eggs and giraffes live underground. [[LampshadeHanging Lisa is neither impressed nor amused.]] This is completely forgotten about until towards the end of the second act when a hippo is afraid to swim after them.
15	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Despite landing in Tanzania, the family goes over Victoria Falls, despite Victoria Falls being over 1300 miles from Tanzania.
16	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Joan Bushwell turns out to be guilty of this when it's revealed she's been using the chimps she's supposedly been researching to run a diamond mine within her refuge to make herself rich.
17	* BaitAndSwitch:
18	** When Homer and Marge find out that the drink given to them by the Maasai tribesmen is cow's blood, they do a SpitTake that sprays the villagers in the blood. They gasp... and simply laugh.
19	** As the Simpsons fall down a waterfall, the camera cuts to a shot of jagged rocks at the bottom... before it quickly pans to the Simpsons landing in a giant flower.
20	** Just as it looks Joan's madness for collecting diamonds would convince the Simpsons to put her in jail, the family (except Lisa) accepts her diamond offer and happily leave Africa behind with a bunch of them.
21	* BlatantLies: Bushwell tries to pretend that the monkeys are running a diamond mine on their own volition, and when she tries to take notes about their "fascinating behavior", revealing that both her notebook and pen are covered in diamonds, claims that they were a graduation gift.
22	* BrokenPedestal: Lisa says that Bushwell's research has really inspired her when they first meet. At the end of the episode, Lisa is disgusted by the revelation that she's actually using the chimps to run a diamond mine, and is [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules the only one to leave Africa without any diamonds]].
23	* CallBack: This is not [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E21TheOldManAndTheLisa the first time that]] Lisa has turned down a large sum of money (or something with a lot of monetary value) being offered by a villain who obtained it through illegal means.
24	* DarkIsNotEvil: Played for laughs with the warriors who watch the Simpsons floating down the river who just sound very menacing because they are complimenting the Simpsons in a foreign language (and when Homer attacks them in attempted self defense, their response is to yell "hey, what's the big idea, man?").
25	* TheDogBitesBack: After enduring the repeated abuse of the shoppers, the bag boys go on strike, which for some reason deprives all of Springfield of food (from their interaction with Lenny when he was carrying his groceries himself, the bag boys aren't just refusing to bag food, they are preventing people from buying anything).
26	* DisproportionateRetribution: The bag boys going on strike due to their poor treatment was understandable. But them preventing customers from buying anything at all (even if they carried it by themselves, as Lenny can attest to), to the point of Springfield suffering from widespread hunger is taking things too far.
27	* EatTheCamera: Homer, at the end of the second act.
28	* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Homer points out that their old tour guide, Ktenge, became the new president of Tanzania. Marge wonders what became of President Muntu. He immediately appears as a flight attendant, clearly humiliated, and the Simpsons all laugh when they realize that he was overthrown.
29	* EveryCarIsAPinto: Marge and Lisa shoot bees at a jeep to deflate the tires with the stingers. Somehow, this also causes the jeep to burst into flames.
30	* EvilPoacher: Subverted. [[GoodAllAlong The poachers turned out to be Greenpeace members.]]
31	* ExactWords: Kitenge explains that President Muntu seized power in a bloodless coup... by having all his political enemies smothered to death.
32	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Homer triggers a StrikeEpisode through being a JerkAss UnsatisfiableCustomer, then the family finds a token for an African tour prize in a long-forgotten box of animal crackers that they found when they ransacked their home out of sheer desperate hunger, leading into an almost totally unrelated VacationEpisode... except for Homer wondering (while the family is about to fall down a waterfall) if the strike is still ongoing in Springfield.
33	* ImplausibleDeniability: Joan Bushwell tells Lisa her diamond-covered pen and clipboard were a graduation present after it's revealed she's been using the chimps to run a diamond mine.
34	* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Implied. Joan Bushwell manages to bribe the Simpsons into not reporting her, meaning she presumably continues using her chimps as slave labour. However, whilst the Simpsons are outright shown to have taken the offer of diamonds, the Greenpeace people aren't. Considering the Simpsons are the kind of people who would do things other people wouldn't, and not necessarily the right things, it's very likely they left Joan in Greenpeace's hands after taking their bribe.
35	* LanguageBarrier: When the Simpsons are lost in the jungle, sailing down a river, they encounter two ominous sounding tribesmen, so Homer tries to hit them with a spear. However, they were actually saying very nice things, at least according to the subtitles.
36	* LyricalDissonance: While driving, Kitenge sings along with an upbeat-sounding song on the radio. The translated lyrics?
37	-->''They think people are like toys.''\
38	''They put them in jail.''\
39	''Mistreat them badly.''
40	* MandatoryLine: Bart, in act three. Also doubles with OutOfCharacterMoment:
41	--> '''Bart''': I think we should look at her research before we condemn her entirely. [pause] I haven't said anything for a while.
42	* ManEatingPlant: Subverted for laughs. While lost in the jungle, the family falls into a large flower that closes its petals around them which causes Marge to exclaim that it's trying to eat them. Homer casually tears one of the petals open and walks out.
43	--> '''Bart:''' Wow, Dad, how did you do that?\
44	'''Homer:''' ''(deadpan)'' It's a ''flower''.
45	* NarratingTheObvious: Lisa, as per usual, does this when she sees... "The chimps are running a diamond mine!"
46	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: "Don't worry. Getting eaten by a crocodile is like going to sleep... in a giant blender."
47	* NobodyPoops: Averted by Homer pointing out that Bushwell's cabin smells of faeces, and not just monkey faeces, causing her to change the subject.
48	* OhCrap:
49	** Lisa gets one when she sees the boat the family is on is heading for Victoria Falls. Then everyone has one when they go over the edge.
50	** Marge then has one when the flower they landed in is closing up and she thinks it's eating them. Homer simply rips it open to let them out.
51	** Joan Bushwell when the Greenpeace member asks her about the diamond mine she's running.
52	* OutOfFocus: Bart has almost no lines during the second half of the episode, which he lampshades near the end.
53	* RedHerring: The episode starts with a bag boy's strike. It is referenced by Homer twice during the trip just to really drive home its Herring status.
54	* SanitySlippage: "No! Don't put me away. I'll give you diamonds. Everybody wants diamonds. Diamonds will make everything all better. Diamonds! Diamonds!!!" Everyone but Lisa accepts her crazy proposal.
55	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Unlike the rest of the family, Lisa wouldn't take any diamonds Joan Bushwell tried to bribe the Simpsons with.
56	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Joan Bushwell bribes the Simpson family with the diamonds she obtained from chimp slave labor in order to get away with her crimes.
57	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: As the African tribal chief N'Gungo senses the Simpsons are coming.
58	-->'''Tribesman:''' What is it, N'gungo?\
59	'''N'Gungo:''' Evil is coming...\
60	'''Tribesman:''' What shall we do, N'Gungo?\
61	'''N'Gungo:''' ''(takes mask off and puts it on the Tribesman)'' [[YouAreInCommandNow You are N'Gungo now!]] ''(runs away screaming)''
62	* StrikeEpisode: The first act involves Springfield suffering one ([[JerkAss thanks to Homer]]).
63	* TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: The Springfield populace are somehow unable to pack their own shopping bags. Then things get worse when the bag boys force them to drop everything they carry out of the supermarkets by the armful by poking them with long poles, smashing said food on the floor, leading to the whole of Springfield starving.
64	* UnexplainedRecovery: The last time the Simpsons see Kitenge in person, he's being stomped and kicked by an angry hippo. In the end, he turns out to have overthrown President Muntu and become the new president, with the poster showing him without so much as a bruise.
65	* UnsatisfiableCustomer:
66	** Homer causes all the whole mess that the people of Springfield have to deal with in this episode by being a hard-core example of this:
67	--->'''Homer:''' Wait -- I changed my mind. Stack it in the order I'll eat it driving home.\
68	'''Bag Boy 1:''' Sir, please! I already bagged it by color, and in order of each item's discovery by man.\
69	'''Homer:''' Customer's always right; that's what everybody likes about us. Now, mush!\
70	[...]\
71	'''Homer:''' ''(poking Bag Boy 1 with a french loaf)'' Hurry up! I can't stand here jabbing you all day.\
72	'''Bag Boy 1:''' Please -- ow! -- stop. Bag boys have feelings, too, you know.\
73	'''Homer:''' No, you don't.\
74	''(suddenly, the manager walks over)''\
75	'''Manager:''' Excuse me. Is there a problem here?\
76	'''Homer:''' No, I can handle it. ''(to Bag Boy 1)'' [[NeverMyFault I'll get you, squealer.]] ''(pinches him)''\
77	'''Bag Boy 1:''' Ow! [[RageBreakingPoint Oh, that's it]]. On behalf of Sack Stuffers Local 199, I'm calling a strike!
78	** Also, Agnes Skinner, who wanted all of her shopping in one bag and didn't want the bag to be heavy. When the Squeaky Voiced Teen pointed out that it was impossible, since Agnes had a lot of shopping, she got angry with him.[[note]][[http://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/CABF13.txt A few readers at the Simpsons Archive (see the Comments and other observations section)]] related to this bit, having to deal with the exact same request from old women in their experiences as baggers.[[/note]]:
79	--->'''Agnes:''' [[WhatIsThisX What are you, the Possible Police?]] Just do it.
80	* VacationEpisode: The Simpsons travel to Africa, while everybody else back in town deals with a strike.
81	* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Bushwell produces her diamond-covered pen and clipboard from inside her shirt.
82	* VineSwing: This is how the Simpsons get to Bushwell's camp.
83	* WeirdTradeUnion: The bag boy who gets fed up with Homer invokes a strike on behalf of Sack Stuffers Local 199. The trope is then exaggerated when the bag boy union smashes the food of the supermarket buyers as a strong-arming tactic, leading to the whole town facing starvation.
84	* WhaleEgg: The rhino has just hatched out of the egg!
85	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
86	** The bag boy crisis is never resolved on-screen (Homer even wonders at one point if the strike is still going on).
87	** Related to the strike, we never see if Apu's striking alongside them or not, as the Kwik-E-Mart never shows up in the episode.
88	** Subverted with Kitenge and President Muntu. At the end, a billboard proclaims that Kitenge has become Tanzania's new president, and that Muntu got overthrown and became the Simpsons' flight attendant.
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91	->''[[ThrowTheDogABone Dedicated to the hardworking bag boys of America]]...''\

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS12E17SimpsonSafari