Marge Gamer

Plot

Marge feels left out at a PTA meeting because she lacks an email address, so she gets one and starts exploring the internet. Bored by an empty inbox, she keeps refreshing the page, which triggers new ads. One ad promotes Earthland Realms, a multiplayer online role-playing game, and Marge clicks it to create a character. She quickly gets the hang of it, exploring a town where she runs into other Springfield residents who also play.

Suddenly, a fearsome player called the Shadow Knight appears, killing Principal Skinner’s reptilian turkey character, which Apu then roasts and eats. Disgusted, Marge logs off. Passing Bart’s room, she discovers Bart is the Shadow Knight and feels proud of his success.

She visits his in-game castle, fussing over him and embarrassing him. Later, when Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney threaten her character, Bart rescues her. Back at the castle, Bart finds Marge swapped his trophy room for a Hello Kitty expansion pack. Furious, he smashes the decorations and accidentally kills her character, deeply upsetting her and making her cold toward him.

Meanwhile, Homer referees Lisa’s soccer game. His poor calls frustrate her, so he learns the rules and improves. Lisa trips while trying to steal the ball, and Homer awards her a foul. She fakes another foul to get a penalty kick.

When challenged, soccer star Ronaldo appears and declares Lisa a flopper. Homer gives her a yellow card, which she rips up, so he shows a red card and ejects her. At home, Homer gives Lisa a DVD about soccer riots, horrifying her.

She realizes her mistake and apologizes. Bart uses his character’s powers to transfer health to Marge’s character, losing two-thirds of his own life force. Hearing he’s weak, other players storm his castle, kill the Shadow Knight graphically, and dance around his limbless body like a maypole with his innards as ribbons. Instead of continuing, Bart goes outside to play soccer with his family, except Marge, who turns her character into a warrior and avenges Bart by eliminating everyone who killed him, starting with Moe’s character, who wonders why he pays $14.95 a month for this.

Reception

The episode pulled a 2.3 rating and drew 6.46 million viewers, ranking as the 53rd most popular show of its week. TV Squad’s Adam Finley thought the Homer and Lisa storyline could have been a stronger main plot, but said it was hurt by a terrible guest performance from soccer star Ronaldo. Finley complained that non-actors doing guest voices on The Simpsons is a distraction, and that poor voice acting makes things worse. IGN’s Robert Canning gave the episode a 4.5 out of 10, describing it as a random series of events with a subplot that didn’t start until the second act.

He also disliked that the video game animation style looked identical to the normal animation. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide found Marge’s internet storyline clever, but called the role-playing game parody gimmicky. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times included Ronaldo’s performance among the thirty-three funniest cameos in the show’s history.

Did You Know?

• The game Earthland Realms is a parody of 2000s massively multiplayer online role-playing games, combining elements of EverQuest and World of Warcraft.
• Apu cheers for the parent characters while watching the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.