The Great Wife Hope
Encyclopedia
"The Great Wife Hope" is the third episode of The Simpsons
' twenty-first season
. Originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States
on October 11, 2009, it sees the men of Springfield
taking immense interest in a new combat sport called mixed martial arts
(MMA). Marge
is appalled by the violent sport and demands that the creator puts a stop to it, but he agrees only if she fights him in a match and wins.
"The Great Wife Hope" was written by Carolyn Omine
and directed by Matthew Faughnan
. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC) champion Chuck Liddell
guest starred in it as himself. The episode featured multiple cultural references to fighting moves and positions, along with a single reference to professional wrestling
promotion owner
Vince McMahon
. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics, particularly towards the final scene. It received a 4.3/7 Nielsen rating
with adults ages 18–49, behind all other programs aimed at that demographic in its timeslot.
become obsessed with a violent new string of mixed martial arts
(MMA) competitions called "Ultimate Punch Kick and Choke Championships" (UPKCC). Bart
begins to fight in small MMA matches of his own at the playground of Springfield Elementary School. While fighting with Nelson
in one of these matches, his mother Marge
sees him and is disgusted by the violent nature of the entire sport. She and a group of concerned women begin protesting the sport in front of the MMA stadium. Marge decides to go on stage before a match begins and demands that everyone cease the sport entirely. Chet Englebrit, creator of the sport, agrees with Marge but only if she can fight him and win.
Marge begins to train for the event, practicing rhythmic gymnastics
. However, the family
believes that her methods are unsuitable for the extreme task at hand and get her professional help. She learns boxing
from Dredrick Tatum, wrestling
from former Yale
wrestler Mr. Burns
, jujitsu from Akira, and bullying from Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. Now fully trained, she enters the ring (after the announcer introduces her as one of "Moms we'd Like to Fight") with Englebrit and is immediately knocked to the ground. Bart wants to stand up for his mother and runs into the stadium to take her place, but is thoroughly thrashed by Englebrit. Marge witnesses this and effectively beats Englebrit, winning their bet. Marge pulls down the ring's microphone and she begins to give a speech about the demise of the violent sport. She realizes, however, that everyone has already left the building to watch a drunken brawl in the parking lot.
Bart and his sister, Lisa
, enter the empty ring and decide to settle their lifelong feud then and there. As they approach each other to throw a punch, the credits begin, but the scene immediately returns to depict Lisa easily punching Bart to the ground.
and directed by Matthew Faughnan
. The writers of The Simpsons had a vast amount of knowledge and appreciation for mixed martial arts and included multiple references and themes of the sport throughout the episode. Former Ultimate Fighter
champion Chuck Liddell
guest starred as himself, signing photographs for fans, including Bart, at a cost of $25. Liddell commented that being a guest star was "very cool" and that the recording sessions were "easy."
The episode is a satire
of the combat sport
of mixed martial arts. Throughout the episode, characters perform multiple fighting moves and positions. For example, Bart puts Nelson in a triangle choke
at the playground when the two are fighting, while Marge takes out Englebrit with a flying armbar. Marge explains in the beginning of the episode that she found out about a creative new sport called "Crazy Bowling" by typing in "girls having fun"—after ignoring several thousand pages of porn
—into the search engine
Google
.
Marge claims that the word Ultimate makes everything worse, though Otto Mann
protests that it does not affect the popular sport Ultimate Frisbee. Englebrit carries similar traits to the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon
. Marge initially tries to train for the match by performing rhythmic gymnastics. She practices boxing with a character named Dredrick Tatum, who is a parody of renowned boxer Mike Tyson
.
of 4.3/7, totaling 7.5 million viewers in the 18-19 demographic. The episode ranked the lowest in the 8:00 p.m. timeslot for the demographic, behind 60 Minutes
and The Amazing Race
on CBS
, Sunday Night Football
on NBC
, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
on ABC, and fellow Fox animated sitcom The Cleveland Show
, which followed it.
The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics. IGN
reporter Robert Canning gave the episode a 7.7/10 rating ("Good"), commenting that "what really made me enjoy 'The Great Wife Hope' were the peripheral bits, characters and jokes outside the main storyline. There were many, and they were funny." Canning wrote that the weakest part about the episode was the underdevelopment of Englebrit, but that "there were plenty of other things squeezed in around this bout to make the episode an enjoyable watch"—these included Ralph Wiggum
being used as a bell for Bart and Nelson's fight, Nelson wanting to be an event planner, and Carl's line about not knowing all African American
s in the world simply because he is one himself.
Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
, giving the episode a "B", wrote that it had "some amusing detours along the way." He compared "The Great Wife Hope" positively to season two's
"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
," writing that Marge's attempts to bring down the MMA sport is the parallel to her trying to bring The Itchy & Scratchy Show
off the air due to its severe cartoon violence
in the latter episode. The staff of the website MMAjunkie said the episode was a sign that MMA had "truly made it" and fans of the sport could appreciate the writer's knowledge on the topic.
Among more negative reviews include Jason Hughes of TV Squad, who commented that several jokes in the episode did not work, such as the reveal that Krusty the Clown has been sleeping with Sideshow Mel's wife for several years, though he did enjoy the majority of the other jokes and applauded the development of Nelson's character.
Dana White
, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), told reporters that he did not like the episode. He added, "People like the [mixed martial arts] media always try to tell me that we're mainstream. [...] Did you see that Simpsons episode? Chuck Liddell signs an autograph for somebody, and he says, 'That will be $45, please'. The sport isn't like that at all. Then the promoter of the show fights Marge Simpson in the octagon, sucker-punches her in the face, and then says, 'You're the only woman I've ever hit that I didn't love'. That's the way mainstream looks at us and thinks of us, and I know that."
The final scene in the episode, featuring Bart and Lisa fighting in the arena, has received overwhelmingly positive remarks from reviewers. Canning wrote that it was "a classic moment for the series [...] This almost felt like a moment that could have closed out the series." Hughes commented that it was "the best moment of the night" as it "would have been a typical ending" if it had not added the twist proceeding the credits. Melissa and Randall Baker of TV Guide
magazine said that the scene was a moment of "girl power
," as Lisa knocks out Bart easily with one punch.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 21)
The Simpsons twenty-first season aired on Fox from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox, and also the first season of the show to air entirely in high definition....
. Originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 11, 2009, it sees the men of Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
taking immense interest in a new combat sport called mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
(MMA). Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is appalled by the violent sport and demands that the creator puts a stop to it, but he agrees only if she fights him in a match and wins.
"The Great Wife Hope" was written by Carolyn Omine
Carolyn Omine
Carolyn Omine is an American television writer. She has written for Full House, The Parent 'Hood and The Simpsons. She was credited as an executive producer by the Simpsons' 17th season, although this changed to a producer in the 18th....
and directed by Matthew Faughnan
Matthew Faughnan
Matthew Faughnan is an animation director with The Simpsons and has directed five episodes. Prior to that, he was an assistant director with the show and won an Emmy award in 2003 for "Three Gays of the Condo".-Season 18:Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!...
. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
(UFC) champion Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell
Charles David "Chuck" Liddell is a retired American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion. Liddell has an extensive striking background in Kempo, Koei-Kan karate and kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling.As of his...
guest starred in it as himself. The episode featured multiple cultural references to fighting moves and positions, along with a single reference to professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
promotion owner
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics, particularly towards the final scene. It received a 4.3/7 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
with adults ages 18–49, behind all other programs aimed at that demographic in its timeslot.
Plot
The men of SpringfieldSpringfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
become obsessed with a violent new string of mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
(MMA) competitions called "Ultimate Punch Kick and Choke Championships" (UPKCC). Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
begins to fight in small MMA matches of his own at the playground of Springfield Elementary School. While fighting with Nelson
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
in one of these matches, his mother Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
sees him and is disgusted by the violent nature of the entire sport. She and a group of concerned women begin protesting the sport in front of the MMA stadium. Marge decides to go on stage before a match begins and demands that everyone cease the sport entirely. Chet Englebrit, creator of the sport, agrees with Marge but only if she can fight him and win.
Marge begins to train for the event, practicing rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...
. However, the family
Simpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
believes that her methods are unsuitable for the extreme task at hand and get her professional help. She learns boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
from Dredrick Tatum, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
from former Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
wrestler Mr. Burns
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
, jujitsu from Akira, and bullying from Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. Now fully trained, she enters the ring (after the announcer introduces her as one of "Moms we'd Like to Fight") with Englebrit and is immediately knocked to the ground. Bart wants to stand up for his mother and runs into the stadium to take her place, but is thoroughly thrashed by Englebrit. Marge witnesses this and effectively beats Englebrit, winning their bet. Marge pulls down the ring's microphone and she begins to give a speech about the demise of the violent sport. She realizes, however, that everyone has already left the building to watch a drunken brawl in the parking lot.
Bart and his sister, Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
, enter the empty ring and decide to settle their lifelong feud then and there. As they approach each other to throw a punch, the credits begin, but the scene immediately returns to depict Lisa easily punching Bart to the ground.
Production and cultural references
"The Great Wife Hope" was written by Carolyn OmineCarolyn Omine
Carolyn Omine is an American television writer. She has written for Full House, The Parent 'Hood and The Simpsons. She was credited as an executive producer by the Simpsons' 17th season, although this changed to a producer in the 18th....
and directed by Matthew Faughnan
Matthew Faughnan
Matthew Faughnan is an animation director with The Simpsons and has directed five episodes. Prior to that, he was an assistant director with the show and won an Emmy award in 2003 for "Three Gays of the Condo".-Season 18:Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!...
. The writers of The Simpsons had a vast amount of knowledge and appreciation for mixed martial arts and included multiple references and themes of the sport throughout the episode. Former Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...
champion Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell
Charles David "Chuck" Liddell is a retired American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion. Liddell has an extensive striking background in Kempo, Koei-Kan karate and kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling.As of his...
guest starred as himself, signing photographs for fans, including Bart, at a cost of $25. Liddell commented that being a guest star was "very cool" and that the recording sessions were "easy."
The episode is a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of the combat sport
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...
of mixed martial arts. Throughout the episode, characters perform multiple fighting moves and positions. For example, Bart puts Nelson in a triangle choke
Triangle choke
A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime in Judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold which strangles the opponent by encircling the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle...
at the playground when the two are fighting, while Marge takes out Englebrit with a flying armbar. Marge explains in the beginning of the episode that she found out about a creative new sport called "Crazy Bowling" by typing in "girls having fun"—after ignoring several thousand pages of porn
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
—into the search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
.
Marge claims that the word Ultimate makes everything worse, though Otto Mann
Otto Mann
Otto Mann is a fictional character on the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the school bus driver for Springfield Elementary School...
protests that it does not affect the popular sport Ultimate Frisbee. Englebrit carries similar traits to the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
. Marge initially tries to train for the match by performing rhythmic gymnastics. She practices boxing with a character named Dredrick Tatum, who is a parody of renowned boxer Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
.
Reception
"The Great Wife Hope" originally aired in the United States on October 11, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on the Fox network. It bore a parental rating of TV-PG for suggestive dialogue (D), offensive language (L), and graphic violence (V). In this initial broadcast, it received a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 4.3/7, totaling 7.5 million viewers in the 18-19 demographic. The episode ranked the lowest in the 8:00 p.m. timeslot for the demographic, behind 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
and The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Sunday Night Football
Sunday Night Football
Sunday Night Football is a weekly American football game held throughout most of the season by the National Football League. Sunday night games have been played regularly since 1987 and have thus far aired on three different television outlets:...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families and community schools etc...
on ABC, and fellow Fox animated sitcom The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
, which followed it.
The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reporter Robert Canning gave the episode a 7.7/10 rating ("Good"), commenting that "what really made me enjoy 'The Great Wife Hope' were the peripheral bits, characters and jokes outside the main storyline. There were many, and they were funny." Canning wrote that the weakest part about the episode was the underdevelopment of Englebrit, but that "there were plenty of other things squeezed in around this bout to make the episode an enjoyable watch"—these included Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior...
being used as a bell for Bart and Nelson's fight, Nelson wanting to be an event planner, and Carl's line about not knowing all African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s in the world simply because he is one himself.
Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, giving the episode a "B", wrote that it had "some amusing detours along the way." He compared "The Great Wife Hope" positively to season two's
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons second season and first aired on December 20, 1990. In the episode, which is a satire of censorship issues, Maggie attacks Homer with a mallet and Marge blames The Itchy & Scratchy Show for Maggie's actions. It was written by John...
," writing that Marge's attempts to bring down the MMA sport is the parallel to her trying to bring The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
off the air due to its severe cartoon violence
Violence in cartoons
Many cartoons contain situations in them that contain blood, hitting, guns, pushing, name calling, and more serious stuff such as chopping off of heads which is considered as violence. Violence has been seen in cartoons more and more as time as increased...
in the latter episode. The staff of the website MMAjunkie said the episode was a sign that MMA had "truly made it" and fans of the sport could appreciate the writer's knowledge on the topic.
Among more negative reviews include Jason Hughes of TV Squad, who commented that several jokes in the episode did not work, such as the reveal that Krusty the Clown has been sleeping with Sideshow Mel's wife for several years, though he did enjoy the majority of the other jokes and applauded the development of Nelson's character.
Dana White
Dana White
Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...
, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), told reporters that he did not like the episode. He added, "People like the [mixed martial arts] media always try to tell me that we're mainstream. [...] Did you see that Simpsons episode? Chuck Liddell signs an autograph for somebody, and he says, 'That will be $45, please'. The sport isn't like that at all. Then the promoter of the show fights Marge Simpson in the octagon, sucker-punches her in the face, and then says, 'You're the only woman I've ever hit that I didn't love'. That's the way mainstream looks at us and thinks of us, and I know that."
The final scene in the episode, featuring Bart and Lisa fighting in the arena, has received overwhelmingly positive remarks from reviewers. Canning wrote that it was "a classic moment for the series [...] This almost felt like a moment that could have closed out the series." Hughes commented that it was "the best moment of the night" as it "would have been a typical ending" if it had not added the twist proceeding the credits. Melissa and Randall Baker of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
magazine said that the scene was a moment of "girl power
Girl Power
The phrase "girl power", as a term of empowerment, expressed a cultural phenomenon of the 1990s and early 2000s. It is also linked to third-wave feminism...
," as Lisa knocks out Bart easily with one punch.