Pixelated and Afraid
"Pixelated and Afraid" is the twelfth episode of the thirty-third season of the American animated television series "The Simpsons", and the 718th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on February 27, 2022. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by John Frink. The title is a spoof of "Naked and Afraid". Plot. Lisa, Marge, and Homer are watching a black-and-white movie, where Mick invites Moira to The Golden Gimlet for their anniversary, and Lisa hopes she'll have the same relationship as the people in the movie when  she gets married, but Marge and Homer tell her that in ten years she'll probably have the same kind of relationship as they do. Shortly afterwards, Lisa goes to bed while they enjoy another show. The next day, Bart is playing a virtual reality game with Milhouse and Lisa comes into the room to discuss her concerns about their parents' love life, scaring him with the thought of how they'll treat his future girlfriend, obese on the couch, grabbing her with mechanical hands. To remedy on the situation, Bart and Lisa have a talk with their parents, with  Lisa proposing to use their voucher for The Saffron Togetherness Center on top of Honeymoon Mountain. After discussing the center's amenities on the way there, they tell each other they didn't wanna go, and Marge tells Homer to turn the car around. Homer tries to do so, but ends up skidding on ice and going off the road, breaking the ice on frozen river and going down it. They swim to safety while the car floats downstream. They're left stranded with a broken phone and no car. Destroying the phone, they start a fire and hang their  clothes out to dry while naked. After climbing a tree to assess the situation, Marge finds something red in an opening nearby, but as she comes down the branch breaks and the clothes burn down to ashes. Afterwards, they reach the red thing, which is a heart-shaped bathtub, and uncover the sign of The Cabins at Honeymoon Mountain. They use a matchbook to start a new fire with the bathtub full of leaves and branches, and start making new clothes and a shelter from pieces they have collected around the woods, not noticing that a wolverine is hiding in  the shadows, watching them. Time passes and they get hungry, but can't find any food, not even fish. They eventually catch a fish to cook, but the smoke from the fire attracts the wolverine. To get Marge safe, Homer climbs a tree and uses himself as bait, but the wolverine reaches him. Marge courageously gets out and hands Homer a stick with a statue head attached to defend himself, and he kills it. They passionately kiss under the moon. The next day as Homer goes out to collect moss, he finds a park ranger on a bike, but ca n't decide whether to stay. He screws up and the ranger leaves. Marge suggests following the tracks, so they pack up their stuff and say goodbye to the shack, and pass through the forest until they get to the ranger station. The episode ends as they enjoy the sunset and embrace. Reception. Tony Sokol of "Den of Geek" gave the episode a 4 out of 5 stars stating, "Some of this development is almost un-Homer-like. He is a little too competent in the wild. You get the idea he may have taken that crayon out of his nose  again. He has the capacity to understand Marge has all the real solutions, and still finds a way to go a step further, by making sure she has matching rugs on her feet at the end of the episode. What Bart and Lisa see, when they look at Homer and Marge toss diaper bags into taco bins, is a couple who have given up. The wolverine scene proves it was all an exercise, like the ‘wax on, wax off,’ lessons in "Karate Kid"." Marcus Gibson of "Bubbleblabber" gave the episode a 7.5 out of 10 stating, "This is one of  the episodes that don’t rely heavily on slapstick and concentrate on telling the story. The writers attempt to have Homer and Marge working together to survive against the wild and the deadly wolverine while providing a message about the beauty of the great outdoors. We also see more of Homer being a caring husband for Marge instead of a careless grouch like in some previous episodes, which is great for people who needed a break from his negligent attitude. The result is far from perfect, but it is as attractive as the couple’s spark regardless." Pixelated and Afraid