D'oh-in' in the Wind

D'oh-in' in the Wind is the sixth episode of Season 10.
==Synopsis==
After starring in an instructional video for the nuclear plant, Homer discovers while filling out his Screen Actors' Guild form that he doesn't know what the "J" in his middle name means, so Homer goes to a hippie commune (headed by two hippies turned businessmen named Seth and Munchie), finds his answer on a mural his mom painted — and decides to be as free and wild as the hippies of the 1960s were.
== Full Story ==
Mr. Burns plans to eat a jar of pickles for lunch, but can't get the jar open. Neither can anyone else in the nuclear plant. Mr. Burns feels he needs tougher employees, so he directs Lenny, Carl and Homer in a recruitment commercial promoting the plant. Impressed with his own acting, Homer decides to become an actor and starts filling out the paperwork to join the Screen Actors Guild. Bart points out that the S.A.G. form calls for Homer's middle name, but he's only written the initial "J." Homer admits that he doesn't know his middle name. He consults Grampa, who also doesn't know, but suggests where they might find out. They drive to Groovy Grove Natural Farm, a farm run by two middle-aged hippies, Seth and Munchie, who were friends of Homer's mother in her radical days.
They point out a mural she painted which reveals Homer's middle name: "Jay." Seth and Munchie reminisce about the old days (including going to Woodstock), and Homer sees how care-free his life would be if he were a hippie and thus chooses to become one. They tell Homer they haven't see him and Abe since Woodstock, which Homer is surprised to hear. Abe however states that Mona dragged them there, during a flashback we see that Mona was asking Abe to relax and that Homer was having fun, however Abe disapproved of this behavior and declared that Homer was getting straightened out. At the end of the flashback Abe states that if Mona had raised Homer by herself he would have been a lazy hippie with no career or care.
Homer dons a poncho which had belonged to his mom and carries around a Frisbee (with "Homer Jay" written on it) as part of his hippie regalia.
His new lifestyle, however, disgusts Lisa and annoys Marge. Homer starts doing disgusting things like putting his feet up on the dinner table, burping without excusing himself, drinking strawberry wine out of a wineskin, wanting Marge to stop shaving her legs and to start going without a bra.
Homer also shocks and disgusts Maude Flanders when he moves the couch outside and lies on it naked, playing with his Frisbee.
Seeking acceptance, Homer revisits Groovy Grove where he joins Seth and Munchie in their game of hackie-sack. The fun soon ends when Homer accidentally knocks the sack in the pond, and when Seth and Munchie have to go back to work, as they have their own organic juice plant right in the barn, where they produce "Seth and Munchie's Garden Blast," a drink which has become very popular in Springfield. Because Seth and Munchie say they have to go back to work, Homer accuses them of not being real hippies and so convinces them to join him in a "freakout." After the trio spend a couple of hours freaking out 'squares' with some success, they return to the barn, only to find that it is flooded with Garden Blast and broken bottles. Homer's Frisbee has ended up inside the "juicillator" machine, jamming it and thus ruining a whole batch of juice, which means that Seth and Munchie will miss a big shipment. Furious, they remind Homer that he is not a hippie and never was one.
That night, Homer resolves to make it up to Seth and Munchie: he harvests their crops, remakes the batch of Garden Blast, and then delivers it to every store in town. In the morning, Seth and Munchie see what Homer has done, and point out there weren't enough vegetables left for the whole batch of juice. Homer says that he thought the same thing, until he looked behind the barn and found the other garden, "the one with the camouflage netting." However, that was Seth's and Munchie's personal crop -- peyote -- which means that Homer has just delivered hallucinogenic juice all over town.
When Officer Lou drinks some of the juice and starts having hallucinations in the police station, Chief Wiggum realizes what has happened and soon the police surround the farm. Homer comes out front to defend Seth and Munchie and hippie honor by reminding the police of the values taught by the 1960s, placing a daisy into each of the officers' rifle barrels as he does so. However, Wiggum fires his rifle, and the daisy from it ends up lodged in Homer's forehead. At the hospital, Dr. Hibbert says he is unable to remove the flower, as he is a doctor, not a gardener.
==Behind the Laughter==
=== Production===
Donick Cary wrote the episode after he got the idea where the town gets high and pitched it to the writing staff. This is the second Simpsons episode (after "Flaming Moe's" in 1991) to feature two directors instead of one.
=== Reception===
The episode was called "dreadful" by the BBC but was noted for "being the episode in which we discover Homer's middle name."
In its original American broadcast on November 15, 1998, "D'oh-in' in the Wind" received an 8.5 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 8.3 million viewers. The episode finished in 40th place in the ratings for the week of November 9–15, 1999. On August 7, 2007, the episode was released as part of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season DVD box set. Matt Groening, Mike Scully, George Meyer, Donick Cary, Ron Hauge and Mark Kirkland participated in the DVD's audio commentary of the episode.
Following its home video release, "D'oh-in' in the Wind" received mixed reviews from critics. Giving the episode a positive review, Aaron Roxby of Collider wrote that, even though he felt that the jokes about hippies were "a bit overplayed", he still considered it to be one of the best episodes of the season. James Plath of DVD Town thought fondly of the episode as well, calling it "funny". Writing for DVD Movie Guide, Colin Jacobson stated that, even though he feels the sixties have been lampooned "many, many times over the years", he considered "D'oh-in' in the Wind" to be a successful spoof of the era. He enjoyed the way the episode portrayed and mocked the ways aging hippies "didn't live up to their youthful ideas". He concluded his review by writing that "D'oh-in' in the Wind" is one of the first great episodes of the season.
On the other hand, Jake McNeill of Digital Entertainment News did not enjoy the episode. Considering it to be one of the worst episodes of the season, he found the "jabs" at the hippie culture to be dated, writing that the episode is "a quarter century too late". Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide were negative as well, calling the episode "dreadful". They wrote that, aside from a couple of references to sixties psychedelia and the hippie movement, the only significant part of the episode is the revelation of Homer's middle name. They concluded by writing that the episode is "humourless".
===Music===
The Woodstock flashback sequence features Jimi Hendrix's performance of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Homer also sings Billy Joel's 'Uptown Girl' during the episode, and reprises the song over the end credits theme, performed by Yo La Tengo in psychedelic homage to The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' As the music ends, Homer says "I buried Flanders" -- another Beatles reference, this time to late-1960s rumors of Paul McCartney's death.
==Citations==
fr:Hippie Hip Hourra !
pl:D'oh-in' in the Wind
pt:Jogado ao vento
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Grampa Episodes
Category:Lenny and Carl Episodes
Category:Mr. Burns Episodes
Category:Medical-Themed Episodes
Category:Episodes named after (Annoyed Grunt)/D'oh
Category:Flashback episodes
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Written by Donick Cary
Category:Directed by Mark Kirkland
Category:Directed by Matthew Nastuk
Category:Mona Episodes