The Simpsons (TV Series) Married to the Blob (2014) User Reviews

Cute, a bit creative and actually it was a good episode.

[Theraxorterminate · 7/10 · 13 January 2014]

Being an "outside the golden seasons" episode this was actually a pretty good presentation especially targeted at Comic Book Guy. But I wasn't really sure at the beginning, I thought it was going to be boring like the last episode (Steal This Episode) and I was also worried that the ending would get butchered and ignored (Like they did with "Love Is A Splintered Thing" that made me extremely disappointed). But it never happened!

This was certainly not a typical Simpsons episode, it was presented with more respect especially to a character who might not have so much love but does express his feeling to us. Although I do like the sarcasm of Comic Book Guy, but I have to admit that sometimes he has been a jerk to Bart and Milhouse. But this episode wasn't about them, it was more about CBG's wanting for love like the others.

The appearance of Stan Lee was good to see, but I thought it was a bit weird for him to appear as an imaginary ghost for CBG at the beginning but he did give a good appearance.

The humor was actually trying this time although some worked and others not so much but at least I didn't fall to sleep. But I think my favorite part was when Homer and Mr. Nakamura became drunk but seeing everything turning into Hayao Miyazaki's world.

Is it recommended? Well I know that many true Simpsons fans would not be interested, but even though I have followed the Simpsons in a long time I think this is so far the only good episode to present. Nothing made me cringe on this episode, it might not be gold but at least not mediocre either.

A Funny Episode with Very Creative Animation,

[lesleyharris30 · 9/10 · 31 May 2014]

Married to the Blob is a great Simpsons episode with a very well written storyline and a ton of very funny scenes.I liked seeing an episode revolving around Comic Book Guy,he dosen't get his own episodes very often but when he does they're usually great and unique episodes,and this one is no exception.I really loved some of the creative animation in this episode,you could tell the animators lived experimenting with animation you wouldn't usually see on the Simpsons,and they were clearly big fans of Hayao Miyazaki.I also really loved comic book legend Stan Lee's two scenes on this episode,he is always gets really good cameos in Marvel films,and he got a great one in this episode too.Married to the Blob is a very enjoyable Simpsons episode.

Spurred on by Stan Lee,Comic Book Guy plucks up the courage to ask out a Japanese manga artist who stops by the comic book store.

another best episode

[Cinema2kMendoza · 10/10 · 27 November 2021]

This episode have great animation, plot and jokes.

Writers, remember this when made new episodes. We need jokes that work in the plot, not jokes that come from whatever. Also as moe, comic book guy deserve more episodes.

Worst Episode Ever? No, just a cynical pixie dream tale

[moriya723 · 3/10 · 29 May 2020]

The 21st century saw its share of dull and uncreative Simpsons episodes. However, a couple times a season, we get one of those train-wrecks that show how far the series has gone from its original premise, despite a complete aversion to change anything from the series' universe, which spawned more than 30 years ago. Some of those truly provide good insight into the fall of one of TV's most influential shows. Married to the Blob is one of them. A very unfitting title I should say, given that the episode could very well act as a Comic Book Guy self-aggrandizing fantasy. This is not Everyman - at least the Everyman episode had some genuinely good moments, and had CBG acting in a believable manner.

The plot is as following : CBG feels sad about himself because he's lonely(well, duh). A random Japanese mangaka, Kumiko, enters into his shop and immediately falls for him for no apparent reason. They marry(yes, this is an actual, canon marriage, not one of those Viva Las Vegas deals). Then Kumiko's dad goes to America and basically tries to kidnap his daughter. Then dad meets Homer, they get super drunk together, then they have a bad trip where dad realizes he's being a huge jerk. Dad apologizes then goes home. The end. I really wish I could say there were more but... that's it.

The whole episode's point was to have a manic pixie dream girl moment for CBG. Yet amazingly, despite the show's willingness to stick to its guns(the marriage still stands several years later, somehow), there is nothing behind it. No character development, no plot, nothing. Kumiko's whole personality is basically girl, Japanese, mangaka. That's it. Little more is known about her. At some point mid-episode it is revealed that she is attracted to CBG because he is rude and sarcastic(yes, really!), but at the same time it is rather far-fetched for a person who acts more like a stereotypically Japanese person than an expat. Kumiko is mild-mannered and writes slice-of-life manga... seems like the kind of person who stay clear of CBG at all costs. But anyway. Mismatched couple routines can be interesting for the everyday struggles and comic situations, but there are none, we only get two short scenes of the couple's everyday life over some generic J-Pop track. Okay. For those unaware, having a Japanese girlfriend is the ultimate fantasy for so many white nerdy guys it has become a tired cliche. Having CBG marrying a Japanese girl with no punchline is just... so unlike the Simpsons I've loved in the past. Like if Hans Moleman won the lottery and had a whole 20 minutes episode where he gets tanned in the Bahamas.

This episode reeks of the "have your cake and eat it too" mentality of the Big Bang Theory, where characters ridiculed for years get a big emotional pay off out of nowhere for no apparent reason. But at least Big Bang, despite its misogyny, had somewhat developed female characters. Kumiko does not get that chance. She remains an empty shell. Possibly forever. Which is very depressing considering how rarely we get new returning characters these days. Look how far the writers will go to avoid the process, with Krabappel likely being canonically dead, yet still unreplaced 7 years later. It's as if someone in a committee decided to come up with a potentially viral, yet uncontroversial development, without allowing the writers to develop it any further. The episode feels tailored for 10-seconds clip consumption on social media, without any sort of coherent plot whatsoever.

Shootout to the unusually long(and uninteresting) couch gag, and the few minutes long Radioactive man animation(really...?). They add nothing to the episode, and only serve to eat away what could've been saved from this very mediocre main plot. A couple more minutes are spent with Kumiko's dad's hallucination, which basically acts as a challenge to cram as many Ghibli references as possible(we get it, everyone likes Ghibli). Tacky, but a few animations were kind of cool I guess.

At this point I cannot tell whether 3/10 is too harsh or generous. It feels generous given how far it fell from its potential, how an interesting premise could have achieved an interesting result, a small step away from Springfield's decades of status quo and decadence. But at the same time, if the premise was big enough to keep you watching for 20 minutes... does it really matter ?

Comic Book Guy's moment of glory

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 13 January 2014]

This is one of the better episodes I've seen in the last few seasons, though your mileage may vary. There were quite a few funny moments in this one, so there will be mild spoilers ahead:

This started with a Bill Plympton couch gag, which was absolutely great! This episode is focused on Comic Book Guy and his "love life" (or lack thereof). Harlan Ellison is one of the guest voices and his bit in the show is priceless and perfect. There are some gags which refer to previous episodes and there's a reference to a relatively minor DC Comics character I thought was hilarious. As Comic Book Guy is sadly contemplating his lonely life, Stan Lee pops in and the main plot twist begins when the love of Comic Book Guy's life walks in to buy a comic. She's Japanese and writing a manga comic. She's fascinated by Comic Book Guy.

Naturally, nothing goes smoothly, largely courtesy of Homer, who tells the girl's father where she is and he separates the happy couple. The girl's father and Homer get drunk and experience a vision, which is beautifully drawn with a lot of sight gags. Because of the vision, the girl's father realizes that he's wrong and relents, culminating in the marriage of Comic Book Guy and his love The end of the episode, just before the credits, is The. Best. Millhouse. Moment. Ever. This one is an episode I want on DVD! Well worth watching and most recommended.

Married to the Blob

[studioAT · 3/10 · 8 November 2023]

I didn't like this episode I'm afraid.

I liked that they tried something different, I like that they are trying to explore secondary characters, but Comic Book Guy wouldn't have been my choice of focus.

It has its moment, every Simpsons episode does in some shape or form, but ultimately this didn't do very much for me and is not one that I'd either recommend or wish to watch again.

I don't think this twenty-fifth series has actually started that brightly, and we seem to be stuck in a rut of rather bog standard and forgettable episodes. It's a shame, you'd think they'd want to come out all guns blazing for the big anniversary year.

The Simpsons has secretly getting better after all!

[adampkalb · 10/10 · 22 April 2016]

Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

I actually found this episode to be very admirable. It was really nice how they made lots of references to previous episodes like Radioactive Man, In Marge We Trust, and Husbands and Knives. It was also a much better version of Worst Episode Ever and an apology to Comic Book Guy for what happened in Worst Episode Ever. In that episode, Comic Book Guy falls in love with Agnes Skinner, and they bond over being jerks to other people, until Comic Book Guy gets busted for having pirated video tapes. In this episode, Comic Book Guy falls in love with Kumiko Nakamura and they bond over their love for comic books until Kumiko's dad doesn't want her around Comic Book Guy, but then Homer and Kumiko's dad drink strange wine that gives them hallucinations and Kumiko's dad realizes that he was wrong to not let Kumiko be with Comic Book Guy. Harlan Ellison and Stan Lee's cameos were also very funny and I liked how they showed time passing on clocks from different worlds, like Earth, Vulcan, Krypton (if it lived), and Bizarro Earth. At the end Kumiko and Comic Book Guy get married and the best part is that they have actually stayed together in later episodes. Who says nothing could save the Simpsons from being canceled? I know this episode certainly did, 2 months and 1 day after whatculture.com said nothing could save it. This episode actually convinced me that they were getting good again, and it's so underrated! If you're reading this review, you should keep giving this episode 10/10 ratings to increase its whole IMDb rating over 8 because you're not giving writer Tim Long enough credit for redeeming himself after Lisa Goes Gaga unless you increase your own rating vote of this episode after reading this review. Maybe this should have been called Best Episode Ever. But seriously, you should be open to new characters like Kumiko Nakamura and not just worry about the old characters, because when they actually work, you're not giving new writers in general enough credit if that doesn't help to increase their ratings.

So cute

[zarehkasraa · 9/10 · 11 March 2022]

Don't know why but i needed it. Really cool and i am very glad for the comic book guy. I wish they don't end up this relationship like ned's cause this guy needs to be married cause he is not a good single at all.