"I Want You " is the 16th episode of the thirtieth season of the American animated sitcomThe Simpsons, and the 655th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 10, 2019. This episode was dedicated to Luke Perry who died on March 4, 2019 and previously guest-starred as himself in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled". The name of this episode is taken from a title of a Beatles' song from the albumAbbey Road.
Plot
and Homer are compelled to go to Drug and Alcohol Night of Knowledge at Springfield Suites’ Convention Center so hire Shauna Chalmers to babysit, but her boyfriend Jimbo Jones sneaks into the house. Bored with the D.A.N.K. seminar they sneak out, but in the hallway are enticed to sneak into the Springfield Wedding Expo using name tags of the Heffernens. Meanwhile, at home Lisa and Maggie are traumatized by the horror movies Jimbo is playing, while Bart is mesmerized by Jimbo and Shauna making out. The kids leave to do a walk, and the babysitters throw a house party. Ned Flanders sees the kids and has them over for a mug of hot coconut milk. Back at the wedding expo, Homer and Marge, mistaken as Doctor and Mrs. Heffernen, are forced to improvise the expo's keynote speech, “Next Year's Wedding Trends”. Back home, Marge and Homer are in bliss because of their time together at the expo but the mood is almost soured when Homer finds the house party still in process, so he clears out the partyers. Homer, still feeling romantic, attempts to carry Marge upstairs. At the top, something snaps and they fall down the stairs. At the hospital, Marge has a sprained ankle, and Homer finds out he developed an inguinal hernia. Back at home, side effects of the medication makes him hallucinate his hernia, now named Wallace, is talking to him in the form of a small man. The next day, at Springfield Physical Therapy, Marge gets trained by a New Zealander therapist named Nigel who talks her into learning kite-surfing. Wallace the hernia convinces Homer to blow off exercising, as well as a trip to the beach with Marge, causing a rift. The next day Marge is visibly disappointed when Homer uses his injury to get out of babysitting, she tells him to call Selma and Patty to help. They in turn abandon Homer in the woods while he sleeps. Meanwhile, in the park, Lisa, with no other couple to turn to, asks Jimbo and Shauna for advice, who tell her the parents should find common interests. Back at home, Lisa persuades Homer to drive the kids to the beach for her “school project”, while Maggie, who can see and hear Wallace, slaps the animated hernia. At the beach Homer recoils at how overweight Chief Wiggum is, and decides to join Marge kite-surfing, where they reconcile, but the wind blows their kites into a wind farm where they get new injuries. At the Springfield Police Station, Marge finds out from Chief Wiggum that Nigel is really a Russian spy named Dimitri, who was attempting to spy on Homer and Springfield's nuclear power plant. Wiggum and the Federal agents arrest Dimitri. In the epilogue, a trailer for a spy movie, Mission: Simpossible, that also stars Wallace the Hernia as a pastiche of the "" plays.
Reception
Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a D, stating, "The show looks crisp, and vibrant, the show's animation melding its cartoonish elements with a uniquely pleasing color palette to pop like no other show on TV. The title is a reference to one of the Beatles’ sludgiest and most un-commercial songs, a mesmerizingly plodding meditation on love and desire whose infamously abrupt ending feels like something breathtakingly catastrophic. There's a title card at the end of the episode bidding a sad farewell to memorable one-time guest star, Luke Perry, which is very sweet." "I Want You " scored a 0.8 rating with a 4 share and was watched by 2.21 million people, making The Simpsons Fox's second highest rated show of the night, behind Family Guy.
