Co-Dependents' Day (The Simpsons)

"Co-Dependents' Day"
And you thought it was bad when Homer had zero care over his father losing his kidneys…
Series: The Simpsons Part of Season: 15 Episode Number: 15 Air Date: March 21, 2004 Writer: Matt Warburton Director: Bob Anderson Previous episode: The Ziff Who Came to Dinner Next episode: The Wandering Juvie

Co-Dependents' Day is the 15th episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons.

Plot

After visiting a winery, Marge joins Homer as a drinking buddy. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa criticize the creator of Cosmic Wars after they are disappointed by the latest film.

Why It Makes You Not Want To Have Homer As A Drinking Buddy

1. Homer is at his absolute worst in this episode, making it one of (if not) the worst examples of Jerkass Homer. After getting into an accident while drunk driving, Homer puts Marge behind the wheel and gets her arrested.
   • That's right, Homer framed his wife.
   • When he confesses to Marge what he did, he claimed: "he did it out of love".
2. What makes it even more unsettling is that even when Marge finds out about this, she does get understandably angry, but after a few drinks, she forgives him way too easily in just a short which does not make any sense, because realistically, it would be hard to forgive someone that framed you for a crime that you didn't do, and the fact that Marge forgave Homer for that is incompetent on her part.
3. Speaking of Marge forgiving Homer way too easily, it was a pathetic way to maintain the status quo and it could have honestly been executed much better if Homer felt full remorse for what he did, but he doesn't feel that remorseful for what he did and therefore, it makes Homer a terrible person.
4. This episode completely undermines the season 4 episode “Duffless” as in that episode, Homer gets arrested for drunk driving and after attending many AA meetings he practiced sobriety and resisted the temptations of alcohol. Unfortunately, the events of this episode have Homer forget everything he learned from the Duffless episode.
5. An annoying running gag where Homer reads his "bible" which has a whiskey bottle which he drinks.
6. The subplot where Bart and Lisa criticize the creator of Cosmic Wars, while funny, is extremely short and it barely even contributes to the episode, as it seems to only happen during the first act.
7. Although it was not relevant at the time this episode released, the cosmic wars Bart and Lisa subplot teaches a bad moral: if you are a fan of a certain franchise then you are entitled to everything you want from it and creators of those franchises should do everything you want from them. That is shown when Bart and Lisa berate The Gathering Shadow film and are shown to be completely in the right for it while not letting it’s creator explain what he was trying to accomplish and why he rejected their complaint letter to them. This message basically encourages fans to become toxic and spoiled over beloved franchises and it is especially relevant given the behavior from people concerning the Star Wars Sequel a trilogy, The last season of Game Of Thrones, and The Last Of Us Part II.
8. Even after receiving a massive hangover and telling Homer they should stop drinking, Marge continues to drink.
9. Unlike in " Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"", which at least had Homer get his comeuppance for his actions, Homer in this episode barely gets any sort of punishment for framing his wife, making him a "Karma Houdini".
10. The episode was another sign that The Simpsons was going to start another downfall, before "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister" basically started the second downfall of the series.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Despite being short, the subplot involving Bart and Lisa complaining about the new Cosmic Wars movies was, funny, enjoyable, and is a great representation of how some people thought of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.
2. The first act was decent, many of the Homer and Marge drinking jokes in the first act were admittedly kind of cute and the scene with Marge drinking with Homer at Moe's was kind of touching.
3. "I'm in no condition to drive. Wait! I shouldn't listen to myself. I'm drunk!"

Reception

• The episode received generally unfavorable reception from fans of The Simpsons, mainly due to Homer framing his wife in this episode and the fact he received little-to-no punishment for it. The episode currently sits at a 6.6/10 rating on IMDb and NoHomers ranked Co-Dependents' Day as the 30th worst episode of the Simpsons.

References

1. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701081/
2. ↑ https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/NoHomers.net%27s_50_Worst_episodes#2011_List%5B2%5D

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