What Animated Women Want

"What Animated Women Want" is the 525th episode of *The Simpsons* and the seventeenth of its twenty-fourth season. Directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by J. Stewart Burns, it aired on Fox on April 14, 2013. Its title references the film *What Women Want*. In the episode, Homer attempts to rekindle Marge’s affection by buying sex toys after failing to be romantic. Meanwhile, Lisa becomes attracted to Milhouse when he treats her poorly. The couch gag parodies *Breaking Bad*, featuring live-action cameos from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as their characters from that series. Guest stars include Maurice LaMarche, Wanda Sykes, and George Takei. The episode drew 4.11 million viewers and received mixed reviews. Homer and Marge go on a lunch date to an upscale sushi restaurant. Marge looks forward to adult conversation without the kids, but Homer focuses solely on eating, causing Marge to leave in anger. Trying to fix things, Homer completes an old to-do list from his wallet, but Marge is disappointed to find it is six years out of date. He returns to the restaurant, where the head chef offers relationship advice. Homer brings food home, but Marge is unimpressed when he eats it himself. At Moe’s Tavern, Moe suggests winning Marge back with sadomasochistic sex, inspired by *Fifty Shades of Grey*. Homer buys various sex toys from a local shop, but Marge is confused and unimpressed. Homer accidentally sits on one of the devices and injures himself. At the hospital, the couple reconciles. They later burn the sex items, and Marge admits she was too hard on him, acknowledging that he always tries to make things right. Meanwhile, at school, Milhouse hopes Lisa will approach him. She does, but only to tell Bart their lunches were swapped. She asks for Milhouse’s cupcake, but he—having just seen *A Streetcar Named Desire*—adopts a rude, dismissive persona like Marlon Brando. This wins Lisa’s respect. Confused, Milhouse continues the act to keep her interest. He seeks advice from the school counselor (voiced by Wanda Sykes), who is fired mid-conversation and tells him to keep pretending, since his real personality is boring. Feeling guilty, Milhouse throws cupcakes at Lisa’s window and apologizes for pretending. They reconcile.