You Only Move Twice: Difference between revisions

"You Only Move Twice"
The Simpsons episode
File:Scorpio with Bont.png
Episode no.	Season 8
Directed by	Mike B. Anderson
Written by	John Swartzwelder
Original air dates	November 3, 1996
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I did not learn everything I need to know in kindergarten"
Couch gag	Everyone parachutes into the living room, except Homer who falls flat on the floor.

"You Only Move Twice" is the 2nd episode from the eighth season of The Simpsons.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler Hank Scorpio, the head of Globex Corporation and a James Bond-esque international supervillain, is on the prowl for the top nuclear technician in Springfield. After Smithers rejects his offer, his cronies move on to the person with the second longest tenure at the plant: Homer. After they win him over with a slick promotional video, the Simpsons pack their belongings and get ready to move to Scorpio's company town of Cypress Creek. After the family has difficulty selling their house, they abandon it and settle into a utopian neighborhood; however, things are not as they seem. Homer is happy with their new life; despite his destructive schemes, Hank is a dream boss, and Homer finally finds a job that he is good at: bossing other people around. However, the other family members endure various hardships: Bart is initially popular at his new school (he even meets a Milhouse-type), but when his teachers learn he doesn't know cursive or the multiplication table, they tuck him away in the special education class, which is filled entirely with Ralph Wiggum-like students; Lisa falls in love with the local flora and fauna, only to find that she's allergic to most of it; and a house that cleans itself leaves Marge with too much time to drink the company's complimentary wine. When they get sick and tired of dealing with all this they plead with Homer to take them back to Springfield, and after much soul-searching he gives in. It's just as well, as the government raids Scorpio's compound. When they arrive back in Springfield, they learn that Scorpio has taken over the East Coast, Otto and his girlfriend have been squatting in their house, and the Denver Broncos (a farewell gift from Scorpio) are on their front lawn.

Allusion to Silicon Valley (and beyond)

Hank Scorpio bears a striking physical resemblance to Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corporation. Both men are exuberant, hyperenergetic, bearded Type A personalities with a love of sports and adventure. More supporting evidence:

• Cypress Creek looks very similar to Redwood Shores, CA, the planned community where Oracle's headquarters is located
• The writers' original name for Cypress Creek was "Emerald Caverns," but the former was chosen because it sounded more like the name of a town in Silicon Valley.
• The original town name of "Emerald Caverns" was probably a reference to Oracle's campus, which is nicknamed "The Emerald City" or "Oz" due to the shiny green glass that completely covers all of the buildings.
• The building Scorpio and Homer work in is round, just like Oracle's headquarters

Scorpio also has been noted to resemble (physically and in behavior) former Philadelphia 76ers President and television personality/self help author Pat Croce, as well as Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and other Virgin Brands and Danny Bonaduce.

Cultural references

• The episode features many references to Ian Fleming's James Bond and EON Productions' subsequent series of films. They include:
  • Hank Scorpio is a parody of a typical James Bondian villain, specifically Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Perhaps unintentionally, his name is also similar to that of Vladimir Scorpius, the villain from the James Bond novel Scorpius by John Gardner.
  • The episode title is a parody of You Only Live Twice.
  • Additionally, Scorpio's doomsday gun room and the battle with soldiers also greatly resembles Blofeld's volcano base and climatic battle in You Only Live Twice.
  • The episode ends with a theme song sung in the style as the themes to Goldfinger and Thunderball.
  • A British secret agent, "Mr. Bont", is tackled by Homer as he tries to escape. Earlier he is strapped to a table with a laser pointed at him, referencing a famous scene in Goldfinger. Bont asks Scorpio if he expects him to talk, to which Scorpio replies, "I don't expect anything from you except to die and have a very cheap funeral." As Hank congratulates Homer for tackling Bont ("When you get home tonight, there'll be another storey on your house"), in the background guards can be seen surrounding Bont and shooting him with their submachineguns. This is the second time Homer has ensured the death of a secret agent. The first was a deleted scene in $pringfield, when Homer's terrible blackjack dealing skills led to James Bond losing and Ernst Stavro Blofeld dragging him away.
  • A soldier is strangled by a woman using only her thighs, à la Xenia Onatopp from GoldenEye. The solider is actually General Norman Schwarzkopf, according to the DVD's episode commentary track.

Trivia

• The Simpsons' new address is 15201 Maple Systems Road in Cypress Creek.
• This is Albert Brooks' fourth appearance in a Simpsons episode, once again credited as A. Brooks He appeared previously as Bob the RV salesman in "Call of the Simpsons", Jacques in "Life on the Fast Lane", and Brad Goodman in "Bart's Inner Child" and eventually in "The Heartbroke Kid".
• Homer is disappointed by Scorpio's gift of the Denver Broncos, despite having previously wanted to be John Elway in "Cape Feare" and later rooting for the Broncos over the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl XXXIII in "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday".
• The gaming website IGN and the shows producers consider Albert Brooks' performance as Scorpio to be one of the greatest guest appearances of all-time.
• Brooks ad-libbed many of his lines.
• Homer buys Tom Landry's hat in this episode. In future episodes (such as "Bart Star"), he can be seen wearing it.
• Coincidentally, this episode aired two years prior to the Denver Broncos first Super Bowl victory.

Goofs

Neither Scorpio's control of the US East Coast nor Homer's ownership of the Denver Broncos have ever been referred to again in the series, although the latter might explain how Homer supports his family between jobs in later seasons. However, in Simpsons Comics #117 (which features Hank Scorpio, who at one point refers to his own entry on Wikipedia), there's a flashback scene showing Homer giving the Broncos to Moe to cover his bar tab. Nevertheless, the comics aren't always considered canonical; The Simpsons, and most shows of the same nature, rarely exhibit continuity between episodes.

External links

• Episode Capsule on "Simpsons Archive"
• Globex Corporation