The Simpsons returned for its 29th season on Sunday and it went full on medieval.
In the episode titled “The Serfsons” Marge’s mother is turned into an Ice Walker and the only way for Homer to afford the cure is to force Lisa to use illegal magic. When the King discovers this, he kidnaps Lisa and Homer must lead a feudal uprising to save her.
The episode included nods towards Game of Thrones (the White Walker character, the George R.R. Martin cameo), Lord of the Rings (Hobbits, Ents, palantirs and Sauron’s nose), and the Chronicles of Narnia (Aslan). There was even a He-Man reference thrown in thanks to Duffman’s distinctive armor!
PHOTO SOURCE: The Simpsons, Fox
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau made a very brief, but amazing, guest appearance as Marge’s incest loving twin brother. However, that’s not where the Game of Thrones references stopped. In one scene, the town’s people are building wooden ladders, and one happens to have a face on it to which Homer says, “Trees can’t talk silly.” This of course could be a direct nod to the Weirwood trees of Westeros.
Then there’s a scene where Marge and Homer admire heads on stakes, one of them being Ned Flanders — who happens to share the first name of Ned Stark who also suffered the same fate at the end of season 1.
But perhaps the best nod to GoT was done by none other than Bart and Millhouse when they sent raven prank messages to Moe’s and his funny responses. After all these years this one gag stands the test of time and was used to great effect here.
PHOTO SOURCE: The Simpsons, Fox
Aside from this the premiere also delivered on its sign humour as it usually does. Notable examples include: Victarion’s Secret, Banana Monarchy, Rural Outfitters, Fool Locker and the Apple Store which literally sold half eaten apples.
Perhaps the only downside to the episode was the story itself. The relationship between Marge and her mother has never really been explored on the main continuity so it felt a bit cheap to try and explore it in the medieval setting with all the references and gags. The idea that Mrs. Bouvier doesn’t want to live anymore versus Marge’s unexamined want to prolong her mother’s life would have made for a good episode on its own.
All in all the episode was pretty good as far premiere’s go. It’s not its best premiere but its certainly not its worst. The gags and references are played well but the story could have been better.
Make sure to keep it locked on TGON for all your Simpsons season 29 coverage!
