33x12 Pixelated and Afraid

[9.9/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Holy hell! I didn’t know they could make Simpsons episodes this good anymore!

“Pixelated and Afraid” has a unique distinction in my book -- it’s the only modern Simpsons episode I can think of that takes a classic era premise and improves on the execution. This one has a lot in common with “Natural Born Kissers”, the season nine episode where Homer and Marge get stuck in a relationship rut and end up going on an unexpected naked adventure. It’s likely no coincidence that that episode was penned by Matt Selman, who served as showrunner for this episode.

But wow, this is head and shoulders better. I love the central idea here -- that Homer and Marge are perfectly happy and content with one another -- but have maybe lost some of that spark and passion. They’re happy being couch-potatoes together, watching reality shows, and doing their silly odd-jobs around the house together. There’s something sweet about it, and yet relatable in Bart and Lisa worrying that their parents will be fuddy-duddies forever and fall short of their ideals.

I really like the first act here, filled with well-observed quirks of longstanding couples and the disgust from kids at the comfortable relationships of their parents. Lisa enjoying the “breezy elegance” of an old romance movie and Bart fearing his future dates will have to meet his couch-bound mom and dad works as a good motivation for Homer and Marge to try something a little more active and adventurous.

I’ll admit, I feared the worst when they went off the road and watched their car float away. It seemed a little too extreme and cartoony. But the story that ensued, part Hatchet and part romance, was downright incredible.

What separates “Pixelated and Afraid” from a lot of other post-classic Simpsons episodes is that it takes its wild premise seriously. There’s still plenty of ridiculousness, likeHomer and Marge turning a champagne glass jacuzzi into a fire pit when they find the detritus of an old Honeymoon Hotel. But you feel for the couple when they’re freezing, or starving, or fighting off wild animals. The situation is extreme, but the emotions are real. You care when they’re desperate, or relieved, or terrified, because the show treats them like actual people in these situations, and unfortunate rarity for the show these days.

It’s also clever in how it goes about all this. It’s a little implausible that city-slickers like Homer and Marge would be able to survive in the wilderness like this. But the show sets up both their knowledge of how to get by from watching cheesy survivalist reality shows, and how their homebound resourcefulness of taco crumb-catching wastebaskets translates to making shelters and survival gear in the wild. You get the sense that Marge and Homer had this in them all along, and the subtle setups we see in their home life give their survivalist life the patina of plausibility it needs.

It’s also ultimately a sweet story, of two people rekindling that spark through relying on one another in a desperate situation. The peril is real and creates recognizable human reactions from our protagonists, so the catharsis and affection it reignites feels earned.

I have two favorite moments in the episode. One is when Homer hesitates for just a moment when he finally spies a park ranger. The show doesn’t gild the lily there, but it’s an acknowledgment of how lovely the little life he and his wife have scratched out here is, to where even Homer, who once imagined writing a journal about how much he’d miss T.V. out in the wild, would half-consider living this life forever.

The other is the moment when Marge and Homer reach the ranger station, stop for a moment to process their experience, look at one another, and cry. Theirs are tears of relief that this ordeal is over, but also tears of sadness that this beautiful thing the two of them found out in the middle of nowhere is done. It’s an affirmation of the power of the experience, and the closing echo of their couch-based snack pairing gives you reason to hope the epiphanies will last.

In short this was a beautiful, well-written, life-and-love-affirming episode of The Simpsons, one with humor and heart that I didn’t believe the series could conjure anymore. A bravura outing, one that ought to take its place among the great episodes of the series from any era.