Realty Bites

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"Realty Bites" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of The Simpsons.

Plot

When Homer purchases Snake's car 'Little Bandit' at a police auction, Snake learns about the purchase and is so annoyed that he breaks out of jail, vowing to get his car back.

Meanwhile, Marge encounters Lionel Hutz, and seeing he has become a realtor, she chooses this as a career for herself. She begins working for Hutz, but he finds her honesty sells no houses and threatens to fire her, while urging her to think of more positive descriptions for whatever she tries to sell. Thus, Marge does not disclose the entire truth about one house she sells to the Flanders family. As she knows, this dwelling had been the site of several brutal murders. The Flanders purchase the house and bid farewell to their neighbours, Marge smiling through sheer guilt while Homer is very pleased.

Feeling guilty about her deception and concerned for the Flanders' safety, Marge eventually tells them the truth but they are not angry, instead pleased to be a part of Springfield history. Nevertheless, the house is destroyed by Homer and Snake, after they battle over Little Bandit in a police chase. Marge loses her job because she returns Flander's down payment, but soon turns to government welfare.

Debut appearances

This episode marks the debut appearance of:

• Gil Gunderson
• Cookie Kwan

Trivia

• The house that Marge sells to the Flanders is modeled after the "house on the hill" from Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho. This is one of many houses in The Simpsons that is modeled after that house.
• The episode title is a play on the popular cult classic film Reality Bites (1994), starring Winona Ryder.
• This episode has the final speaking appearance of Lionel Hutz prior to the death of voice actor Phil Hartman.
• This episode also marks the first appearance of Gil. Gil is based on Jack Lemmon's character from the film Glengarry Glen Ross, which like this episode, revolved around real estate agents.
• According to Simpsons writer Mike Scully, the piano wire scene was meant to end with Kirk's sandwich being sliced just the way he wanted, until fellow writer George Meyer asked "what if the wire cuts off his arm?" Scully described the ensuing laughter as the most intense he had ever heard from the staff: "They were literally choking because the joke was so unexpected. It was a shocked kind of laugh, and it just started rolling, one of those laughs that build the more they reverberate through you." [1] At the end of the episode, when Marge collects her unemployment cheque, Kirk can be seen standing behind the family with his reattached arm in a sling and wrapped in a cast. This gag was not liked by most fans due to the gore and was edited in syndicated reruns, but can be seen on the Simpsons season 8 DVD set.
• At the end of this episode, Mr. Burns' son Larry, last seen in the episode "Burns, Baby Burns", makes a cameo appearance at the Springfield Unemployment Office in line with Lurleen Lumpkin, Kirk Van Houten, the fired writer of 'Itchy and Scratchy' (George Meyer) and George H. W. Bush.
• The Snake Jailbird's car bought by Homer in the police auction looks closely like a Pontiac Firebird, and the name "Little Bandit" is likely a play on the name of James Dean's car "Little Bastard".
• Snake's car is also a driveable car in The Simpsons Road Rage and The Simpsons Hit and Run.
• When Homer stomps on the brakes you can see a clutch, revealing that the car is a manual. However, when the car comes to a complete stop and Snake and Homer are on the bonnet, the car doesn't stall.

Cultural references

• Snake sets up a wire across a road to decapitate Homer as he drives by. The wire is supplied by "Acme", after the brand of equipment used by Wile E Coyote to try and stop Road Runner in the Looney Tunes cartoons.
• When Ned Flanders explains to Marge that they were painting Todd's room red, the boy starts saying "Red room, red room" and moves his finger, like the character of Danny does in The Shining (referencing the line "Redrum").
• Homer sings the song Luka by Suzanne Vega while driving "Lil Bandit".

External links

• Capsule of this episode at The Simpsons Archive