Murder, She Boat

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"Murder, She Boat"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 35
Episode 9
Directed by Chris Clements
Written by Broti Gupta
Production code35ABF04
Original air dateDecember 17, 2023 (2023-12-17)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Murder, She Boat" is the ninth episode of the thirty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons , and the 759th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on December 17, 2023. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Broti Gupta.

Contents

In this episode, a crime is blamed on Bart while the Simpson family is on a cruise, so Lisa investigates when he claims to be innocent. Maurice LaMarche guest starred and filmmaker Taika Waititi appeared as himself. The episode received mixed reviews.

Plot

Marge finds two pandemic stimulus checks that were stuck in the mailbox. Lisa proposes spending the money on a cruise. The family learns that it is a pop culture cruise which counts filmmaker Taika Waititi among the passengers. Comic Book Guy arrives to present his rare Radioactive Man toy figure with Wolverine claws. Bart is angry with him because he recently laughed at his hand-drawn comic book. At dinner, where people are looking at the figure, the lights go off. When the lighting is restored, the figure's head has been cut off. Seeing Bart with three scratches on his face, the passengers blame Bart, and he is placed in the jail on the ship.

Bart tells Lisa that he is innocent, and she decides to investigate. Waititi chooses to help her. They interview the passengers and find that many people on board have a motive. In her room, Lisa discovers the figure's head under Bart's bed, which causes Lisa to think Bart is guilty. At the door, Rainier Wolfcastle tells Lisa that he knows who culprit is, but is knocked unconscious by a Captain America shield. Lisa runs after the attacker but only finds Waititi eating food left by passengers in the corridor. They learn that Comic Book Guy has gone missing.

Waititi declares he has solved the mystery. He says that Comic Boy Guy had insured the figure and escaped with the money. However, Lisa notices the British spelling of words on the figure's box and presents another theory. She thinks another person broke their own figure and went on the cruise to swap figures. She accuses Waititi of the crime. The passengers search Waititi's room and find the original figure. Waititi is arrested, and Comic Book Guy is found in the ship's gym. He had secretly recorded Lisa and Waititi's interviews of the passengers and was hiding because he was ashamed after learning what people thought of him. Bart thanks Lisa for believing him, and she declines to mention that she had lost faith.

After watching his wife Kumiko's sadness during her interview, Comic Book Guy dumps the figure into the water to put his marriage first, much to Kumiko's joy.

Production

Filmmaker Taika Waititi appeared as himself. [1] Maurice LaMarche appeared as a cosplayer dressed as Hedonismbot, a character from the television series Futurama , created by Matt Groening, that is voiced by LaMarche. [2]

Release

The episode aired simultaneously in all time zones in the United States at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT following a special episode of Krapopolis . [3] [4]

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode earned a 0.53 rating with 2.08 million viewers, which was the second most-watched show on Fox that night. [5]

Critical response

John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber gave the episode a 9 out of 10. He praised the dialog written by Broti Gupta and the performance by Taika Waititi. However, he thought the solution to the mystery was plain to see. [6]

Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant thought the episode was overly focused on the appearance by Waititi while putting aside the Simpson family. [7] He also felt the episode reinforced the perception that Waititi is "self-indulgent." [8]

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Bartholomew Jojo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character from the American animated television series The Simpsons who is part of the Simpson family. Bart made his television debut in the short "Good Night" on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed Bart while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office. Initially called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip Life in Hell, Groening instead developed a new set of characters. Unlike the other Simpson family members, who were named after Groening's relatives, Bart's name is an anagram of brat. After two years on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpson family received their own series, which premiered on Fox on December 17, 1989. Bart has appeared in every episode of The Simpsons except "Four Great Women and a Manicure".

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References

  1. ↑ "Taika Waititi's cameo on The Simpsons labelled 'cringeworthy misstep'". 1News . December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  2. ↑ Selman, Matt [@mattselman] (December 18, 2023). "Cosplay Hedonismbot from Futurama voiced by real-life Hedonismbot @MAURICELAMARCHE (on tonight's @TheSimposons)" (Tweet). Retrieved December 24, 2023– via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "(SI-3504) "Murder, She Boat"". The Futon Critic . Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ "(KRA-110) "Tyrdra"". The Futon Critic . Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  5. ↑ Pucci, Douglas (December 18, 2023). "Sunday Ratings: 'Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration' Delivers Decent in Total Viewers for CBS". Programming Insider. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  6. ↑ Schwarz, John (December 18, 2023). "Review: The Simpsons "Murder She Boat"". Bubbleblabber. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  7. ↑ Gunning, Cathal (December 19, 2023). "The Simpsons Season 35's Weakest Episode Yet Brings Back 5 Major Problems". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Gunning, Cathal (December 18, 2023). "Taika Waititi's The Simpsons Cameo Only Makes The Backlash Worse". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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