Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind

"Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"
The Simpsons episode
File:Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind.jpg
Episode no.	Season 19
Directed by	Chuck Sheetz
Written by	J. Stewart Burns
Original air dates	December 16, 2007
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"The Capital of Montana is not Hannah."
Couch gag	The camera pans out from the living room, to outer space and beyond, through DNA and atoms, and back into Homer's head. Homer then says "Weird".

"Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' nineteenth season, and first aired on December 16, 2007.

Plot

The episode starts with the Springfield citizens adjusting to the Winter weather. A rather large pile of snow is revealed to be Homer, who is waking up after presumably drinking heavily. When he goes home, Homer sees that his family is gone and their dog, Santa's Little Helper hates him. Intent on figuring out what was going on, Homer goes to Moe's where Moe reveals that after Homer said that he really needed to forget something, he was served a drink called the "Forget-Me-Shot," which wiped out the last 24 hours of Homer's memory. Suddenly, Chief Wiggum appears and tells Homer that there was a domestic disturbance at his house last night, which was reported by Ned Flanders. Homer instantly receives a flashback showing Wiggum questioning Marge about her black eye, to which Marge nervously replies that she walked into a door.

A still confused Homer goes home where a picture of Marge causes a flashback of her pleading with Homer to stop, and then rubbing her eye in pain. Horrified, Homer goes to Grampa Simpson for help. Grampa tells Homer about Professor Frink's new machine that helps people go through their memories. With the help of this technology, and memories of Bart and Lisa, Homer sees himself walking in on Marge and Duffman. Marge says that she "didn't want you to find out this way" and Duffman says that he's "giving it to your wife, she is going to be sore tomorrow."

Homer now considers his life to be worthless and, with a push from Patty and Selma, jumps off a bridge. While falling, Homer's life flashes before his eyes, and he sees the full memory of the previous night. It is revealed that Marge was planning a surprise party for Homer finishing his community service, and did not want Homer to find out about it. Duffman, who was hired by Marge to entertain at the party, brings out a bottle of Duff Champagne. Overjoyed, Homer tries to open the bottle, while Marge pleads with Homer to stop, as she wants to save it for the party. The bottlecap flies off the bottle and hits Marge in the eye. Homer tells Duffman to get an ice pack, but he already got it and is giving it to Marge, while warning her that she will be sore tomorrow. The flashback ends and, instead of falling to his death, Homer lands on a moon bounce, which is at the surprise party.

When Homer questions why Marge lied to Chief Wiggum, she says that she did not want him at the party, because she knew he would bring Sarah Wiggum, who Marge is not very fond of. Lenny and Carl appear and cause a flashback which shows Homer telling his bar buddies that he felt very guilty for finding out about the party that Marge worked so hard on. When Moe offers the Forget-Me-Shot, Homer predicts exactly what is going to happen, and tells Lenny to make sure there is a moon bounce at the party. Finally, it is revealed that the dog is angry because Homer never takes care of him.

Cultural references

• The chalkboard gag, "The capital of Montana is not Hannah" is a reference to the hit Disney show, Hannah Montana.
• The title is a reference to the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
• Scrat the Squirrel from Ice Age makes an appearance.
• The closing song is "Day After Day" by Badfinger.
• Homer appears in a YouTube video where his life flashes before his eyes.
• Homer jumping into his own surprise party is a spoof of the movie The Game.