Luca$

"Luca$"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 25
Directed by	Chris Clements
Written by	Carolyn Omine
Original air date	April 6, 2014 (2014-04-06)
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	Krusty: Now doing Funerals.
Couch gag	Minecraft couch gag.

"Luca$" is the seventeenth episode of the 25th season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and the 547th episode of the series. The episode was written by Carolyn Omine and aired on April 6, 2014, on Fox.

Plot

The episode begins at the school, where Homer is sleeping in the playground spiral stairs. Marge is dropping Bart and Lisa off at school, and they are hiding so they can preserve their reputations. Homer explains his story and suddenly, the Playground building falls over. Bart is later seen in Principal Skinner's office, giving an alibi on why he was tardy. Skinner decides to pursue physical action, and while he's distracted with Groundskeeper Willie, Bart makes a run for it. Bart manages to escape Skinner, whose car accidentally reverses into the Auto Shop. Bart takes refuge in his treehouse, where he discovers that Snake Jailbird is hiding there. He reveals he is committing crimes to help his son Jeremy. Chief Wiggum arrives, thinking Snake is there, so Bart lies that Snake made it to the top of Mount Springfield. Back at school, Lisa sees a boy choking on pizza. She performs the Heimlich maneuver on him, and he reveals his name is Lucas Bortner and he's a competitive eater. She doesn't think that competitive eating is for him, and suddenly gets a crush on him. She then thinks about changing him. Snake, grateful for Bart's actions, steals a PlayStadium 4 and leaves it in Bart's room.

Milhouse suspects something, and finds out his stuff was stolen. Lucas arrives at the Simpsons' house, and for a short while, draws the attention of Homer after hearing "competitive eater". Lucas suggests a variety of foods to Lisa including Vienna Sausage, Blueberry Pie, Oatmeal, Free-style Baked Beans, Catfish and Cow Brain. Disgusted by the Cow Brain, Lisa picks the Beans. Inside the house, Patty and Selma start insulting Lucas, and compares him to Homer. Marge is surprised Lisa likes Lucas. Bart starts receiving more stolen items from Snake, including a Tiger and a Knight's Armor, Sword and Shield. Lisa suggests that Lucas eat ice cream, but he gets brain freeze from it. He instructs Lisa to kick him on the head. Marge, who is eavesdropping on it, believes Lisa is going to marry Lucas and ruin her future.

Bart goes up to the treehouse, where he finds out Snake stole Mihouse's myPad. Milhouse confronts Bart and demands how Bart is getting all the free stuff. Barts initially tries to distract Milhouse by playing him the music from Osmos, however Milhouse demands to be told. Bart reveals it's Snake, which turns out to be a mistake because Milhouse inturn reveals Snake to the authorities, who vow to execute him in a electric chair. Marge suggests to Homer that he take Lisa on a dinner date. She tells him to act like a gentleman so she'll want the same from her future husband. Marge suspects that if Homer acts like himself, Lisa will have a husband that's like him, but she doesn't mention it. Homer suspects it and realizes that Marge probably thinks it's bad. He gets angry and leaves to sleep on Flanders' couch, stating that the Simpsons couch "is crap".

At Moe's Tavern, Homer finally (or sort of) works up the courage to ask Lisa out for dinner. She accepts. Meanwhile, Bart cycles to the police station and explains Snake's story to release him. Wiggum rejects it, but Snake escapes anyway. Homer vows not to embarrass Marge; she tries to help him with his shirt, but he refuses and asks Maggie to do it. At the Gilded Truffle, Homer constantly asks about the number of entreés. Homer asks for vegetarian lasagna (with cow blood). He finds Marge there, who tries to apologize. He forgives her when she reveals she's wearing a purple dress she bought after selling the sewing machine. She joins at a bar, where Jimbo starts hitting on her, and Homer gets the lasagna. At school, Lisa discovers Lucas quit competitive eating and decided to do "what Adele does". Then, she tries to teach him how to whistle, but he fails.

Reception

Critical reception

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C, saying "Again, the resolution to the central plot is, by turns, lazy, gross, and inadequately developed. If The Simpsons is to be judged on its own merits, without referring to its past glories, fine—based solely on this episode, this isn’t a show I’d tune in to every week."

Ratings

The episode received a 1.9 rating and was watched by a total of 4.30 million people, making it the second most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating Bob's Burgers and American Dad! but losing to Family Guy with 4.77 million.