Uncut Femmes

"Uncut Femmes" is the 17th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 701st episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 28, 2021. The episode was directed by Chris Clements, and written by Christine Nangle. In this episode, Marge participates in a jewel heist, and Clancy Wiggum's wife Sarah Wiggum receives a temporary retcon and voice change for this episode as being an ex-criminal.

The episode received generally mixed reviews and was watched live in the United States by 1.22 million viewers.

Plot[]

After discovering something terrible in the nuclear power plant, Waylon Smithers bribes Carl to keep what he has found quiet by giving him tickets to a Bob Seger rock concert. He invites Homer to join him, and he leaves Marge to chaperone a field trip on a World War II battleship, to her dismay.

At the field trip, Marge pairs up with the seemingly-boring Sarah Wiggum. After the latter sneakily tricks the children into going to bed early, Marge realizes that Sarah is not who she seems and is hiding her boisterous personality from the other mothers. The two are soon kidnapped after spending all night together, and Marge and Sarah find themselves in the lair of two women that Sarah surprisingly used to thrive with.

The other burglars, Erin and Bette, explain how, while they and Sarah were heisting a museum where Chief Clancy Wiggum was on duty, the fourth member of their team - Lindsay Naegle - betrayed them and had them arrested. However, Sarah was spared the fate due to falling in love and having slept with Chief Wiggum. They plot to steal the Hourglass Diamond from their betrayer and Marge turns out to be useful in the planning, so they recruit her for the heist.

They execute the heist perfectly until Naegle realizes she has been robbed. Naegle calls the police, and when they arrive, Homer and Wiggum instead apologize to their wives. While attempting to stop Marge and Sarah herself, she ends up tumbling down the long amount of stairs, allowing Marge and Sarah to escape publicly with the jewel, much to the surprise of Patty and Selma and their friends back at the Simpson house.

Production[]

Casting[]

Nick Offerman guest-stars as Captain Bowditch, Megan Mullally guest-stars as Sarah Wiggum (who is normally voiced by Pamela Hayden), Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony, Natasha Rothwell as Bette, Bob Seger as himself, and Tiya Sircar as Erin.^[3] In addition, Dawnn Lewis becomes the new voice of Bernice Hibbert while Tony Rodriguez voices Julio in this episode after his singing voice was previously done by Mario Jose in "Diary Queen".

Reception[]

Viewing figures[]

In the United States, the episode was watched live by 1.22 million viewers.^[4]

Critical response[]

Tony Sokol with Den of Geek said, ""Uncut Femmes" is a fun and playful movie satire. It captures the suspense, romance, glamour and pace of a heist film, but puts The Simpsons touch on it. Marge shines in the unexpected, manages to clean house at the same time, and brings Homer into an understanding. The crooks get away with it, and nothing will change. Like so many crimes in Springfield, it’s got Chief Wiggum on the case, and that’s like having no one at all." He also gave the episode four out of five stars.^[5]

Retconned continuity[]

In a series of since-deleted tweets answering fans' questions, show runner Matt Selman addressed both the change in Sarah Wiggum's personality and the use of guest star Megan Mullally instead of regular performer Pamela Hayden by confirming that this episode was non-canonical. He later explained his view of one-off episodes such as this, as well as continuity for The Simpsons in general, in an interview with IGN, stating "We're not saying this is the official continuity now, and none of that other stuff happened. We're just saying in this one episode, this is a silly way to present the character’s life. It doesn't mean that the people's beloved episodes from the past didn't happen. They all kind of happened in their imaginary world, you know, and people can choose to love whichever version they love."^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• "Uncut Femmes" at IMDb