Hail to the Teeth

"Hail to the Teeth" is the 11th episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and the 673rd episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 5, 2020.[1] The episode was written by Elisabeth Kiernan Averick and was directed by Mark Kirkland.[1]

"Hail to the Teeth"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 31
Episode 11
Directed byMark Kirkland
Written byElisabeth Kiernan Averick
Production codeZABF05
Original air dateJanuary 5, 2020 (2020-01-05)
Guest appearance(s)
Episode features
Chalkboard gagTeacher spent new year's eve at home by choice.
Couch gagThe family sits on a couch, the image of it is seen on a bronze coin that Nelson Muntz places on a railroad, and gets flattened. Nelson shows it shining and he exclaims Ha Ha!, just before getting hit by another train.

Plot

Artie Ziff invites Homer and Marge to his wedding. Although both are conflicted ongoing due to the number of times Artie has tried to break them up, they reluctantly accept the invitation. Homer goes alone to the bachelor party, where he finds Artie has regained his wealth after his parole, selling burning cash-resembling fireplaces. Attending the ceremony with Marge, Homer gives the bride away, only to find out that the bride is a robot clone of Marge. Disgusted and unsettled, Marge leaves the ceremony, only to contemplate telling the clone that Artie only married her because she looks like Marge. She and Homer get to the honeymoon suite only to witness the robot ultimately reject Artie, who admits he had been trying to clone Marge for years. In the end, following Marge's suggestion, he uses his army of Marge droids to do humanitarian work, though they still reject his sexual advances, either going into the power-saving mode or inexplicably sprouting wings to fly off.

Meanwhile, Lisa is heckled by a man who claims that she will be prettier and more popular if she smiled more often. Marge takes her to a new dentist to get a new set of braces, as her old dentist was a rogue periodontist masquerading as an orthodontist. The top half of her braces cause her to constantly smile and finally win popularity among her classmates. Initially disgusted by the shallowness of the concept, Lisa decides to bank on her newfound popularity and run for class president. Unfortunately, the other half of her braces are installed, resulting in her now constantly frowning for the next six months. Bart hires Martin Prince to manipulate a live feed of Lisa doing her election speech to make her smile, but the app malfunctions and Lisa exposes herself, causing her to lose the election to Dubya Spuckler. Outside in the school playground, Marge attempts to comfort Lisa, only to witness the same man heckle her for not smiling. Marge then sprouts wings, revealing her to have secretly built the wings on the Marge droids to ensure Artie gets over his obsession over her and attacks the man while Lisa smiles and cheers her on.

Reception

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave this episode a B+, stating, “The first credited script by former Crazy Ex-Girlfriend writer (and new Simpsons producer) Elisabeth Kiernan Averick, the episode is precisely the sort of latter-day Simpsons I’m excited my niece will slot into her growing databank of Simpsons fandom. Readers who—niece-like—have endured this critic’s grumpy dissertations concerning The Simpsons and how, with the right writers, ‘the good years’ could be now, dammit, should recognize that this is the sort of new blood I’ve been talking about. Averick clearly loves The Simpsons, and understands them. There are fine jokes that have nothing to do with the episode’s ‘message’ alongside ones that grow out of Lisa and Marge’s specific arcs.”[2]

References
  1. Ellis, Joseph (January 6, 2020). "The Simpsons Season 31 Episode 11 Assessment: Hail to the Teeth". Sunriseread. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  2. "Lisa and Marge confront their own toxic male demons in a refreshingly satisfying Simpsons". TV Club. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
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