Recap.The Simpsons S 34 E 1 Habeas Tortoise
Note: Recap page previously deleted due to being created by a ban evader, but per this ATT query
, that doesn’t automatically put it in the Permanent Red Link Club: if you rewrite the page, recreating it is fine. Old page for reference.
After being laughed at a town meeting, Homer goes to the zoo with his family, and is a laughingstock even among the animals. But when he notices that a 150-year-old tortoise is missing, he and several other Springfieldians form a conspiracy theorists’ group to solve Slow Leonard's disappearance, meaning people start to take him seriously. But he soon makes a shocking discovery…
This episode contains examples of:
- Birds of a Feather: Miss Hoover and Gil Gunderson bond at Homer’s conspiracy theory meetings, and eventually Gil proposes marriage to her, which she accepts.Homer: We’re gonna find this turtle, but damn it, we found love along the way.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: A newspaper headline reads "Disney Sells Back Fox: 'We Feel Clean Again'", insulting both of the companies that own the show.
- Bland-Name Product: Homer forms his conspiracy theory group on “Facelook”, with a green background and eyes for the O's in its logo, although TikTok is mentioned by its real name.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Homer forms a group of these in his home; besides himself, there’s Miss Hoover, Gil Gunderson, Sideshow Mel, Drederick Tatum, and the Comic Book Guy, and they are later joined by Superintendent Chalmers and Chief Wiggum. Gil even thinks the Earth is flat.
- Couch Gag: A parody of Google Chrome’s “Dinosaur Game” for when there’s no Wi-Fi: the family jump over cacti (like in the game) to reach the couch, and they all make it except for Homer.
- Here We Go Again!: Once Slow Leonard’s disappearance is solved, Homer’s group has nothing to theorize about…until they start wondering about where calamari comes from.
- Life Imitates Art: Homer tells the conspiracy group that there's a cartoon show that can predict the future, alluding to The Simpsons's alleged reputation for this, right before a newspaper saying that Disney is selling Fox is shown.
- Literal Metaphor: After considering every conspiracy theory possible to explain Slow Leonard's disappearance, Homer finds the tortoise in a literal rabbit hole. When Lisa lampshades the irony in this, Homer, being Homer, says he doesn’t get it now.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: Parodied. When Homer asks his reflection if he’s really stupid after being laughed at by the crowd, it says reflections can’t talk and quickly leaves.
- Milkman Conspiracy: As revealed at the end, a company that makes balls of yarn (which the group uses for their String Theory) is using them to spy on people.
- No Name Given: The zoo director plays a significant role in the episode, but she is never named.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Marge arrives with Slow Leonard on the island where the wedding is happening out of nowhere, with no explanation for how she got there.
- Reptilian Conspiracy: Discussed by Homer with his group over the end credits. He says that if there are any reptilians watching his TikTok, they should replace the chicken in his paella with insects or small mammals that go with calisparra rice.
- Ripped from the Headlines: At the beginning of the episode, Mayor Quimby proposes that Springfield stop celebrating Columbus Day due to the “problematic behavior” of Christopher Columbus, mirroring real-world debates over the holiday that occurred in the year before the episode aired; as in real life, many Italians (Luigi and the mobsters) are opposed to the proposal.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After all the theories about Slow Leonard's disappearance, it turns out that he simply wandered off into a rabbit's burrow.
- Shout-Out:
- At the library meeting, Helen Lovejoy expresses concern that children could come across texts like the sexually explicit Kama Sutra in DIY libraries.
- Homer mentions having seen Zookeeper 19 times, saying he doesn't need the zoo director's help and neither does Sylvester Stallone voicing Joe the African lion.
- String Theory: The conspiracy theorists have a a board with plenty of linked strings, boarding every theory they come up with.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Homer’s conspiracy group, an unlikely assortment of Springfieldians who rarely interact with each other, bonds over Homer’s paella.
- Truth in Television: On occasion, real tortoises have lived over a century and a half.
