The Springfield Connection

"The Springfield Connection" is the twenty-third episode of Season 6.
==Synopsis==
After nearly getting attacked by Snake in an alley after exposing his three-card monte scam, Marge gets a much-needed surge of adrenaline in her hum-drum life and decides to join the Springfield Police Force, which unsettles Homer (until he takes unfair advantage of being the husband of a female cop).
== Full Story ==
Homer and Marge, on the way back from a concert, pass through a seedy part of town. Homer cautions Marge, but gets enticed by Snake's Three-card Monte game with a 33.33% chance of winning. Snake cheats Homer out of $20, by replacing the red card with a black thus making three blacks and a 100% chance of losing, which outrages Marge. When she exposes the con, Snake takes off to avoid refunding the stolen money. Marge, not wanting to let a crook run and not getting any help, chases after him. Homer tries to stop her laboriously, but suddenly he feels pain, causing him to stop, lose breath and wheeze badly. Marge even runs faster than Snake. Snake, trapped in an alley, tries to attack Marge, but a panicked Marge manages to knock him out. Snake is then arrested and the money is refunded, She begins to feel that the entire misadventure has given her a sense of exhilaration.
Soon, she begins to find that her everyday routine is dull and boring. In the grocery store, she starts rolling around on her shopping cart till it crashes, exciting her more. She begins to lose interest in her previous magazines ("Sponge and Vacuum"), and checks out the Death Sports section. She decides to spice up her life by joining the Springfield Police Force (much to the amusement of Chief Wiggum and the other cops, although he agrees after a while).
Homer, however, is less than enthused about Marge being a cop, but she assures him that he will remain "man of the house." Marge reports for police recruit training. She does well in the obstacle course, pretty well in the shooting range and nails the high-speed driving test—although Wiggum asks her to replicate it, as he wasn't watching. Finally she goes home to her family, and announces herself to be part of the force.
The next day, after a breakfast of donuts and coffee (a cop's necessary sustenance), Marge reports to the station for work. Wiggum (after assigning some cops to stake out a donut place and some cops to sleep in), sends inexperienced and vulnerable Marge to Junkyville and Bumtown for her beat. During her beat, after encountering Lionel Hutz rummaging in a dumpster, she goes to the Kwik-E-Mart, where Apu tries to bribe her. She then settles a domestic disturbance in the Skinner residence, between Principal Skinner and his mother, Agnes.
On her day off, Marge orders Bart to wear safety gear when skateboarding, which gets him beaten up by the bullies. She goes to the beauty salon, where the people there are a little skittish around her (with Marge even pulling out her gun after a mistaken threat from a chair that makes the sound of a gun firing). Lisa tries to encourage her mom to "attack the roots of social problems" but fails when Marge doesn't understand what she means and changes the subject with a McGriff the Crime Dog hand puppet.
That night, Homer, Lenny, Carl, Moe and Herman are playing cards. Herman excuses himself to get some fresh air. Homer fires up a Cuban cigar, thinking that he's immune from the law because his wife is a cop. Marge comes in and finds them gambling illegally. Homer's friends beat a hasty retreat while Homer himself is a little mad at her for not being home more often.
The next day, she seems rather unenthusiastic, as everyone seems to be breaking the law by littering, dog without a leash—especially Homer, who has parked illegally across three handicap spaces and is buying liquor for the underage bullies. She tells him he needs to move the car and park legally, which he refuses to do still thinking that Marge can’t arrest him, leading her to write him a parking ticket. He gets even more aggressive and takes her hat which prompts her to arrest him. Later, he is released (after eating Hans Moleman's Last Meal), but is outraged with Marge for arresting her own husband.
 When he gets home, Homer finds an illegal jean-counterfeiting operation going on in his own garage, which his friend, Herman, is involved. As Herman and his cronies have illegal guns are about to tune him up, Marge busts in to save the day. As she is cuffing the rest of the crooks, Herman takes Homer as a hostage and runs to the treehouse, with Marge in hot pursuit. She manages to evade getting shot, by coming in through the secret entrance. Herman tries to escape using a pair of knock-off jeans to slide down a rope. But the jeans are so lousy, they tear up and Herman falls to the ground.
Later, Wiggum informs Marge that they can't hold him for lack of evidence. Marge retorts by saying that there is a garage full of counterfeit jeans, but Wiggum says that they have "mysteriously disappeared"; the cops are wearing some right then and there. Marge angrily says there is too much corruption on the force and she turns in her badge. After a hearty laugh, Wiggum accepts her resignation.
== Citations ==
fr:La Springfield connection
pl:The Springfield Connection
pt:Operação Springfield
Category:Crime-themed Episodes
Category:Marge episodes
Category:Chief Wiggum episodes
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Herman episodes
Category:Work-themed Episodes
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Episodes named after Springfield
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Episodes on DVD
Category:Episodes named after a film or TV Show
Category:Directed by Mark Kirkland
Category:Written by Jonathan Collier
Category:Highly Rated Episodes
Category:Maude Flanders Episodes
Category:Episodes in which Homer almost loses Marge
Category:Action-packed episodes
Category:Dramatic episodes