Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / The Simpsons S 14 E 22 Moe Baby Blues

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moe_07.png
Life don't seem so hard no more...

Original air date: 5/18/2003

Production code: EABF-17

Moe becomes Maggie's babysitter after saving her life.


Tropes:

  • Accidental Hero: Moe accidentally saves Maggie's life while trying to end his own and ends up being declared a local hero. Provides the page image.
  • Babies Make Everything Better: Moe's life becomes a happy one after he accidentally saves Maggie from falling into the river from the bridge just when he, himself, attempted to jump to his death on the said bridge. He later, at the end, points it out to Fat Tony's gang, the Castellaneta Family, and President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League when he showed Maggie to them in order to save her from getting accidentally caught in their attempted shootout, resulting in the mafia being moved to tears by this in realization as soon as Maggie gives them a cute innocent smile.
  • Baby Be Mine: Moe becomes obsessed with Maggie to the degree of installing a baby monitor and a camera in her room so that he can comfort her if she cries at night, which creeps Homer and Marge out so much that they forbid him from seeing her. When Maggie subsequently vanishes from her crib, naturally Moe is the #1 suspect. He didn't do it, though.
  • Bait-and-Switch: The President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League gets himself involved in Fat Tony's gang and the Castellaneta Family's attempted shootout at Luigi's, and you'd think at first, it seemed like he was gonna stop them upon noticing Maggie in the middle of it like a peacemaker, but it turns out, he apparently also didn't notice, along with Fat Tony's gang and the Castellaneta Family, that Maggie is about to be caught in the middle of the upcoming shootout by pulling his two guns out, akimbo-style, claiming that it "burns [his] cannoli". Even the Castellaneta Family forget about their brief encounter with Maggie upon her entering Luigi's before they and Fat Tony's gang pull their guns out at each other (and it's no wonder that the Castellaneta Family are moved to Tears of Remorse along with Fat Tony's gang and the President later after Moe arrives and points out how Maggie's innocence made his life a happy one).
  • Because You Can Cope: Deconstructed. When the flower festival is overcrowded and one person has to be kicked out, Chief Wiggum kicks Moe out because "he's had his feelings hurt so many times, once more won't make a difference". Unfortunately, this is the final straw that makes Moe attempt suicide.
  • Big "NO!": Homer screams this when he fails to catch Maggie after she flies out of the car and starts falling from the bridge towards the river.
  • Comically Missing the Point: When Fat Tony's gang spill wine on themselves so they can go to the restroom and get their guns after cleaning themselves up from the spilled wine stains, Don Castellaneta, the Don of the opposing Castellaneta Family (an obvious homage to Simpsons voice actor regular Dan Castellaneta), says that they should consider sippy cups.
  • Compliment Backfire: Exploited by Moe. While he and Maggie are at the Krusty Burger ball pit, a smarmy young woman flirts with him thinking he's a single father. To get her to leave him alone, he deliberately misunderstands her pickup line, and breathes a sigh of relief when she finally gives up.
    Woman: [looking at Maggie] Oh, what a face! She looks just like you.
    Moe: You callin' her repellent? 'Cause you ain't exactly Karen Allen yourself, you know.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Louie is initially horrified when he finds out he'll need to kill his own mother. He changes his tune once he finds out she doesn't actually make good pasta sauce.
    Johnny Tightlips: It comes from a can.
    Louie: She's a corpse.
  • Everybody Cries: Fat Tony's gang, the Castellaneta Family, and President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League all do this in remorse when they are touched by Maggie's innocence that Moe points out made his life a happy one and saved his life from attempted suicide earlier, in addition to Maggie's cute innocent smile towards the mafia.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: The Springfield Mafia holds secret meetings by the Simpsons house so often that Marge has taken to making them lemonade.
  • Hallucinations: When Moe is back at his tavern after being forbidden from seeing Maggie, he sees her face on Barney, Lenny, and Carl. Awkwardly, Moe asks the barflies if he can kiss their tummies, and they understandingly nod.
  • Happily Failed Suicide: Saving Maggie aborts Moe's suicide, and he couldn't be happier about it.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Marge and Homer think Moe is going to roast Maggie when Maggie goes missing. Thankfully, it's just a ham he was about to cook for dinner. Then that said ham is later seen being carried around by Homer at the very end while he spends time with Moe and Maggie via some photos.
  • Interrupted Suicide: Moe tries to throw himself into a watery grave, but ends up interrupted when he accidentally saves Maggie's life from flying off the bridge by catching her in his hands just as he gets ready to dive.
  • I Resemble That Remark!: The president of the "Italian-American Anti-Defamation League" is so offended by the mob standoff at Luigi's that he inserts himself into it with a gun in each hand.
    "...this really burns my cannoli!"
  • Jerkass: Chief Wiggum pushes Moe down a hill because the botanical gardens were at full capacity over its corresponding number and just decides on him since Moe has been so hurt that once more won't hurt (Although he does offer Moe a chance to either leave on his own or be pushed beforehand to which Moe only takes the latter because he's so desperate for human contact). He later stops helping Homer and Marge find Maggie once it turns out Moe didn't kidnap her, resulting Homer and Marge to decide to offer Moe a chance to help them find Maggie, to which they do in the end.
  • Jerkass Realization: Both Homer and Marge are cruel towards Moe for bonding with Maggie and spending lots of time with her, including banning him from seeing her and then assuming he kidnapped Maggie. Homer is also pretty cruel towards Bart when he asks for Homer to be his father figure and offer help to get back at Moe. Then later, speaking of Maggie disappearing after following Fat Tony's gang in curiosity, Homer and Marge, after learning that Moe didn't kidnap her, decide to let him assist in the search. And the end result; They do find her and after Moe saves Maggie from almost accidentally getting caught in the mafia's attempted shootout at Luigi's, Moe, Homer, and Marge reconcile out of gratitude and agree with Moe that he can spend time with Maggie anytime he likes.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Moe is a fine example in this episode. Despite being a temperamental, gun-crazed Jerkass who owns a bar, he really cares about Maggie's well-being upon befriending her after he accidentally saves her life, even to the extent of spending quality time with her and becoming friends with her. He even bravely entered Luigi's to save Maggie from an attempted shootout between the mafia in the climax and pointed her out to them while explaining how her innocence changed his life in a good way.
  • Karmic Protection: Moe is cruelly expelled from the garden because of its strict capacity limits. Because of this, however, whilst it leaves him miserable, he's the only one not caught in the plant's foul-smelling spores.
  • Language Barrier: After he and the Castellaneta Family briefly notice Maggie entering Luigi's after Fat Tony's gang leave for the men's room to clean the spilled wine off of themselves and then get their guns for their upcoming shootout surprise attack, Don Castellaneta then says this following line that connects to this trope.
    Don Castellaneta: [happily] Ah, a bambino! [confused] Or is it a bambina? [shrugs] I no speak any language so good.
  • Licked by the Dog: After Moe accidentally saves Maggie from flying off the bridge from the Simpsons' car, she gives him a kiss out of gratitude.
  • Meaningful Name: The baby chair Maggie is poorly secured in in the Simpsons' car uses a Krap. E Latch.
  • Noodle Incident: Moe's response upon interrupting the attempted Mexican Standoff to save Maggie from getting accidentally caught in the middle of it, resulting Fat Tony's gang, the Castellaneta Family, and President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League to aim their guns at him in suspicion:
    Moe: [nervously raises his hands up in defense] Oh, gee, uh, this is the second most guns ever pointed at me.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: Johnny Tightlips, of all people, tells Louie that his mother's pasta sauce is prepared from a can.
  • Papa Wolf:
    • Moe becomes very paternal towards Maggie and protects her throughout the episode, including getting in the middle of an attempted shootout at Luigi's to make sure she's not accidentally caught in the crossfire (see Jerk with a Heart of Gold above).
    • Also Homer, as when Maggie was shot out of the car through the sunroof, he runs across the other cars' roofs in his attempt to catch her.
  • Parallel Porn Titles: Moe jokes that Maggie's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland book must be a take on an "Alice in Underpants" movie he saw. When met with a clueless stare from Maggie, he says to himself how nice it is to be with someone who doesn't understand the horrible things he says.
  • Photo Montage: The episode ends with one of Moe, Maggie, Homer, and Moe's ham enjoying a day out at the amusement park. After a few photos of all four, the rest are only of Homer and the ham.
  • Shout-Out: Three to The Godfather. First, Moe narrates the story to Maggie as if it was a fairytale. Later, Fat Tony imitates one of the scenes from the movie by putting an orange peel in his mouth to re-boost Louie's confidence and "waning passion for whacking", which causes Maggie to go missing by following him and his gang to Luigi's. Finally, at Luigi's, while crying with his gang, the Castellaneta Family, and President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League in remorse for almost getting Maggie accidentally killed in their attempted shootout after Moe points her out and explains how her innocence happily changed his life, Fat Tony tearfully exclaims that he hasn't cried like that since paying to see The Godfather Part III.
  • Stinky Flower: The Springfield residents come to see the blooming of the Sumatran Century Flower. However, it turns out that its stench is so noxious that it immediately kills nearby flowers, forcing everyone to run back into their cars for cover and causing a massive traffic jam in the process.
  • Straying Baby: In one of Maggie's more memorable incidents, she manages to tail the Mafia all the way to Luigi's restaurant and winds up in the middle of a shootout.
  • Spoonerism: When Chief Wiggum busts Moe for the assumed kidnapping of Maggie and depraved behavior of trying to cook her (which is actually his ham he's going to cook for dinner), he accidentally exclaims, "Scum, freezebag!" He then laughs off his flub.
    Wiggum: You can't write stuff like that. See, that's why sitcoms are dying.
  • Take That!: After Moe and Maggie reduce Fat Tony's gang, the Castellaneta Family, and President of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League to tears, Fat Tony says that he hasn't cried like this since he paid to see The Godfather III (see Shout-Out above). This is a bit of Self-Deprecation, as Joe Mantegna (who voices Fat Tony) played Joey Zasa in said film (again, see Shout-Out above).
  • Tempting Fate: When Fat Tony does the orange peel in the mouth bit from The Godfather to cheer up Louie:
    Louie: Oh, that's so funny, I could whack my own mother now.
    Fat Tony: [discards the orange peel] I'm glad you brought that up.
  • What Have We Ear?: Moe entertains Maggie by pulling a penny from behind her ear. She grabs the penny and swallows it.
    Moe: Okay, we won't tell no one about that.
  • Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: Although the two officially appear in the episode's third and final act alongside Louie and Johnny Tightlips, Fat Tony and Legs are briefly seen in this episode's first act among the crowd of people getting ready to see the Sumatran Flower bloom (they are seen in the shot where Chief Wiggum is looking for someone to kick out of the botanical garden before picking Moe to be the one who gets kicked out due to the botanical garden's person capacity being over its corresponding count number). Even later, in the climax at Luigi's, the customers who are hiding under the tables to avoid getting caught in the mafia's attempted shootout have all somehow vanished, and the entire restaurant is suddenly empty when Moe enters to save Maggie from almost getting caught in said attempted shootout.

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Moe's happy ending

Just as Moe is about to jump to his death, he accidentally saves Maggie from a traffic accident--and realizes that life is worth living.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (30 votes)

Example of:

Main / HappilyFailedSuicide

Media sources:

Report