Flaming Moe

Did You Know?

• The episode's title is a play on the season 3 episode 'Flaming Moe's', which also centered on Moe's bar.
• Moe's renovated bar name 'Mo's' is a reference to 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.
• In the crowd at Mo's, Bumblebee Man holds a sign reading 'Furries Fur Moe', a reference to the Furry Fandom.
• Moe's run for office is an homage to the plot of the film Milk.
• Scott Thompson reprised his role as Grady from previous episodes.

Plot

Waylon Smithers discovers he has been cut from Mr. Burns' will, with Burns' pet giant tortoise now the main beneficiary. When Smithers confronts him, Burns explains he only respects self-made men. Feeling low, Smithers heads to a gay bar called The League of Extra Horny Gentlemen, but the bouncer turns him away for not being attractive or fashionable enough. He then stops at Moe's Tavern, notices how dead the place is, and suggests to Moe that they remodel it into a gay bar. Other gays who were also rejected from the lookist bar encourage the idea. Smithers hopes both to earn Burns' respect by running a successful business and to find a place where he feels accepted. They transform Moe's into an ultra-trendy gay bar named Mo's. The new patrons assume Moe is gay, a misunderstanding he lets stand because he fears losing their business. Moe quickly becomes more popular than Smithers, and the local gay community pushes him to run for city council as the first openly gay council member. While Moe is announcing his candidacy, Smithers tries to expose him as straight by demanding a kiss. Moe puckers up and leans in, but at the last second cannot go through with it and admits he was lying. He asks for forgiveness, explaining his need to be accepted, and warns that if they don't support him, his ultra-homophobic, latent opponent might win. The crowd, however, is disheartened and angry, and they leave. Before Moe exits, he grabs Smithers and kisses him, then says, "Like frisbee golf, I'm glad I tried it once." The credits roll as Mo's is renovated back into the old Moe's Tavern. Meanwhile, Principal Skinner tries to date the substitute music teacher, Calliope Juniper. He sets her daughter Melody up with Bart as an excuse to spend time with Calliope. Melody idolizes Bart, but Bart cannot stand her and eventually breaks up with her. Calliope quits her job, and she and Melody move out of town. She asks Skinner to come with them, and he accepts. He returns three months later, saddened by the end of the relationship but content that he was able to keep it going as long as he did.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, Flaming Moe was viewed by an estimated 6.38 million households and received a 3.1 rating/8 share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, ranking third in its timeslot. Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, stating it was a very good episode with gently satirical inverse of gay panic jokes. Eric Hochberger of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars, saying it succeeded in making him laugh but felt Hannigan's and Wiig's appearances were underused.