The New Mrs. Flanders

The Simpsons, S023E21

Edna was revealed to be Ned's wife after he got injured during a passion play.  Marge and Homer threw them a party, where the tension surrounding their differing parenting styles came to a boiling point.  Ned remained angry that someone else was shaping his boys' futures until he saw that Homer and Marge still hadn't agreed upon how to raise their children over the past 10 years.  Ned went to a school assembly and made up with Edna in front of all the children and teachers.

I can't believe that Homer managed to play a decent Jesus.  Of all the years he's spent saying as many sacrilegious things as he could, you would think that Homer might burst into flames if he tried to portray someone so unlike himself (he did get electrocuted playing Jesus outside of the play).  But he had the audience captivated and even got Ned to get over his jealousy and doubt that Homer would do the role justice.  The worst thing that happened was Homer falling off the crucifix and crushing Ned.  That's amazing for Homer.  It let you know early on that this episode wasn't going to be about one of Homer's misadventures.

Instead, the story was focused on Ned and Edna's secret marriage.  Did not see that coming.  I guess it makes sense that Ned wouldn't keep "leading" Edna on and would seal the deal since they love each other enough.  That's refreshing to skip over that part and jump right into how they are living their lives together.  We 've seen enough weddings on this show that one more was certainly not going to be anything special.  But I will admit it was strange to see Edna sitting at the table with Rod and Tod, which they helped make awkward by referring to her as "Cigarette Mommy" and "Do-Over Mommy."  But soon you could see that Edna was really good with the boys, even though as a teacher she has become quite lackluster (no thanks to Bart Simpsons of the world).  I really liked seeing her go to the parent-teacher conference and not tolerate her new sons going to a school where science wasn't taught.  Still, I have my own doubts about the quality of education they can get at Springfield Elementary.

I give credit to Ned for allowing Edna to take the reigns for even a little while concerning his kids; Marge had tried to influence them once and he resisted her much more (than again, she wasn't his wife).  I'm surprised after his Davey and Goliath style nightmare where his kids were studying comparative religious studies at an east coast university that Ned didn't drive to the school that very day and drag them out. It wasn't until the party where Rod and Tod had fake tattoos and used slang like "chillax" that made Ned explode.  He was totally ignoring the positive changes that Edna had already made on those little weirdos he calls sons.  I was worried that he would just stay stubborn and would just put things back the way they were.  Or worse, I thought their fight might end Ned and Edna's marriage before it began.  Thankfully, Ned got perspective after seeing Homer and Marge argue.  I wouldn't think they would be the best examples of any aspect of marriage (not the part that works anyway), but at least it loosened the stick up Ned's butt and made him apologize.  I just don't know why he had to do it in front of all the kids (nor why all the kids cheered when they were making out in front of them).

For a story that was about a non-Simpson family member, it was pretty good.  It's going to be an adjustment to see Ned and Edna go from just dating to full-on marriage.  It'd be nice if it set up more stories of how Rod and Tod might change into a little more typical kids or how they adapt to the Springfield Elementary society.  I've very interested to see how the two would fare against bullies like Nelson walking about or what sort of friends they might make.  Maybe in the next season we'll get to see such a story.