TV Recap/Review: Homer's Love of Food and TV Collide in New "The Simpsons" Episode with a Character Inspired by Guy Fieri

With a title that parodies James Cameron’s True Lies, the 16th episode of the 36th season of The Simpsons pokes fun at the world of celebrity TV chefs. “Stew Lies" (written by Broti Gupta) finds Homer Simpson becoming a fanboy of a Guy Fieri-type personality. Unironically, during the May 4th premiere of this episode, Fox aired several ads for different shows starring Gordon Ramsay (Next Level Chef and the upcoming Gordon Ramsay's Secret Service, premiering May 21st), which brutally underscored the episode’s plot. And as a bonus, this episode seemingly includes a real recipe that fans can make at home. Here is my recap and review.

Chalkboard Gag: “No Booger is so Perfect it ‘Demands to be Flicked’"

Couch Gag: On a computer screen, someone opens the “Couch Gag" app, which brings up an image of The Simpsons on their iconic orange couch. The mouse changes the dimensions of the image, causing the couch’s occupants to get shuffled around. They eventually fall off, becoming stickers. The cursor clicks on Homer’s face, dragging it to the trash bin.

Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) argue over who gets to ride shotgun while helping Marge (Julie Kavner) with the groceries at Try-N-Save. Frustrated, Marge gives Lisa the front seat, which causes Bart to become so bitter that he mimics everything Lisa says and does. Lisa is surprised when Bart is still doing it the next day at breakfast, at school as she reads a report in class, and at dinner as she orders food he doesn’t like.

A month goes by, and Bart is still copying everything Lisa says and does. She goes to the living room to beg Homer (Dan Castellaneta) to do something. But Homer is watching his “New favorite show of all time," Dude vs. Food, starring frosted-tip celebrity chef Thad Parkour (John DiMaggio), who wears sunglasses on the back of his head. Homer doesn’t even process what Lisa is saying, assuming she was talking about jazz.

Two months later, Lisa has decided to get the better of Bart. Since he copies everything she says and does, she teaches him Mandarin Chinese, has him accompany her protests at the local aquarium park, teaches him to play the saxophone, and helps her brother get in touch with his emotions. By the end of six months, Lisa breaks through the Bart by having him repeat back a heartfelt letter about how he’s the best brother in the world and her best friend. Marge and Homer watch their kids hug each other, both overcome with emotions. Marge goes upstairs to call her sisters and tell them how much they mean to her. Homer says he has an old man to go thank…

… At Moe’s Tavern, Homer makes the entire bar watch Dude vs. Food, professing his drunken love for Thad Parkour. Lenny (Harry Shearer) and Carl (Alex Désert) both find Thad’s gluttonous antics offensive, but Homer considers himself one of Thad’s “Food-Duders." And then Homer gets the best news he could ever receive - Thad Parkour is coming to Springfield! The celebrity chef announces the next stop for his pig-themed pink truck, where he will take on Luigi’s 17lb Meatball on October 10th. “I finally have a reason to live til October 10th," Homer declares.

A crowd has gathered inside Luigi’s, with a TV producer (Tress MacNeille) announcing Thad Parkour’s arrival. But the star seems to have lost his gusto. In fact, he seems almost green as he sits in a chair next to a meatball so big it has its own “Meatball Mover" engine stand. “Let’s chew this thing," Thad says, oinking like a pig as he tries to take a bite, falling off the chair and collapsing. The producer announces that, after 400 episodes filmed in the past 2 months, Thad is finally full and the show is over.

Homer accompanies Thad to the hospital, where Dr. Hibbert (Kevin Michael Richardson) determines that the chef’s “Can-Chew Attitude" is critically low. Having died three times in the ambulance, Thad Parkour is ready to retire, but Homer asks him to trust his number one fan. Homer brings Thad to an elevated spot in Springfield where some natural phenomenon, explained by Homer through an Asian-style weather report, makes it possible to smell everything that’s cooking in Springfield all at once. Thad’s senses are so astute that he can pick out specific dishes, all of which come with a sense memory. And then he singles out something he’s never smelled before. “I think I love food again," Thad announces, validating Homer’s decision to bring him to his secret spot. Thad follows his nose, and Homer follows Thad.

Fat Tony (Joe Mantegna), wearing a “Kiss the Mook" apron, is none too pleased to find Homer Simpson and Thad Parkour standing at his door, his bodyguards distracted. Thad rushes in to see what’s cooking, finding a pot of stew simmering on the stove. Fat Tony says it’s a recipe from a great man. He tells them the “whole sad story," which is the recipe’s required length of required simmer time.

A title card reads “The Tragic Tale of Gewalteintopf: The Stew of Violence" as Tony narrates the story of how Springfield’s Italian and Prussian mob families have long been at war. As a peacekeeping treaty, the two families' son swap their youngest boys. Tony grew up under the care of Wilhelm Von Wonthelm (voiced by special guest star Mads Mikkelsen), the owner of Springfield’s German restaurant Das Food, a man who was rumored to have never ever smiled. As Tony took an interest in learning how to cook, Wilhelm’s only son, Maximilian (Hank Azaria), disappointed his father by participating in the latest music trend, ska, joining a band called “The Skankfurters." Four years later, Maximilian was of age to be formally initiated into the Prussian Mob, a ceremony in which he should’ve learned the secret recipe to Gewalteintopf. Instead, Max refers to Tony as his father’s “real son," which literally kills the old man. But before dying on the kitchen floor, Wilhelm Von Wonthelm gave Tony the secret recipe, making him promise never to share it with Maximilian.

Fat Tony has tears in his eyes as he finishes the stew. He gives an epilogue on Maximilian Von Wonthelm, who, despite never being initiated into the Prussian Mob by his father, does, in fact, lead it. And, he’s still making ska music with The Skankfurters. Fat Tony has to add the final secret ingredients to the Gewalteintopf, asking Homer and Thad to turn around while he adds it (it looks like it’s just organo, but it’s not listed on the recipe card shown in the episode). He offers Homer and Thad a taste, smiling as they both love the “Stew of Violence."

One month later, Homer is excitedly watching the Chew Network as a commercial comes on for Thad Parkour’s new show, Kitchen Betrayals. The show’s premise is that Thad betrays other chefs, stealing their most closely guarded secret recipes and exposing them to the masses. The commercial includes a look at the first episode, “Murder Stew," and Homer gasps as he sees Fat Tony standing at his pot of Gewalteintopf. Thad’s backward sunglasses contain a secret camera that caught everything when Tony had him turn around. Homer is rightfully worried, especially when Marge returns home with groceries, followed by Fat Tony. “I was just meeting your charming widow," the mob boss tells Homer, saying the Prussians are on their way to kill him, and he will murder Homer first.

Fat Tony throws Homer over a bridge, with his feet in cement, plunging him to the river's depths. With his waterproof phone, Homer texts Tony, saying he has an idea that could save both their lives. Tony uses the Meatball Mover to hoist Homer out of the water. Homer’s plan: sneak onto the Chew Network lot and stop the episode from airing. As they head off, we see they’re being followed by The Skankfurters van.

Homer tells the Chew Network security guard that he and Fat Tony are there to participate in the “Clam Chowder Chugathon," both of them wearing frosted tips like Thad Parkour. They get inside, but they’re too late. The episode has already aired, and their lives are in danger as they drive off the studio lot. The Skankfurters begin to fire at Fat Tony’s car, breaking his back window. Homer gets an idea, moving into the driver's seat to lead the Prussian Mob to his secret spot.

Maximilian is furious at Fat Tony for stealing not only his family’s recipe, but also his father’s love. Homer puts himself between Maximilian’s gun and Fat Tony’s chest, pleading with the son of Wilhelm Von Wonthelm to take a deep breath through his nose. With every kitchen in Springfield making a pot of Gewalteintopf, Maximilian has a sense memory so strong, we see a vignette of his childhood, sick in bed as his father brings him a bowl of stew. “Father did love me," Maximilian shares, recalling how his father’s promise to share the recipe with him someday has inadvertently been fulfilled. With the tensions eased, we learn that the son swap tradition is still going strong, with Fat Tony and Maximilian asking about the offspring in the other’s care.

Kitchen Betrayals is another hit show for Thad Parkour, who returns to Springfield to thank Homer. His already onto his next show, a travelogue where he will try foods all around the world, and he wants Homer to join as his co-host. But Homer, fearing everything he’s heard about toilets outside of North America, decides to stay where he belongs. “Everything I need is right here," he tells Thad, standing outside The Lava Cake Manufactory, an all-you-can-eat fried food buffet. Before Homer can open the door, Comic Book Guy steps out wearing a plastic bib that says “full is a Myth," which he removes and hands to Homer as he enters, passing the baton from one foodie to another.

A bonus scene plays under the credits, a flash-forward to the future where Lisa Simpson is the head of a government scientific research agency ala NASA. Her team has just made contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, and as the head of the division, it’s her job to send the first contact greeting. But as she talks to the beings, Bart stands right beside her, mimicking everything she says, making her frustrated. From space, we see Kang (Harry Shearer, again) and Kodos (Dan Castellaneta, again) being the recipients of the feuding message. “Aparently, this species has a war-like nature," one says to the other, just before they obliterate Earth from existence.

Review: In an episode that deals with memories associated with scent, I find that The Simpsons automatically induces a different kind of sense memory for me. I was almost 5 when the show first premiered, and before Bart Simpson was deemed a bad influence, I never missed an episode. The show has certainly evolved and changed over its 36 seasons, but there’s always an element of nostalgia for me with the current episodes. Somewhere inside is a younger me, wrapped in an afghan blanket, holding a first generation Simpsons action figure.

While “Stew Lies" wasn’t particularly funny in my opinion, I’m all for a good story-centric episode. I liked the contemporary subtext about celebrity chef TV hosts and the quick and dirty rate they churn out new shows. The Simpsons has always found fun ways to make fun of the network it's on, and the fact that this first broadcast was underscored by ads for multiple shows by Gordon Ramsay nailed it right on the head. And for an episode about the power of nostalgia, the inclusion of new chalk and couch gags was a nice touch. Not every episode has those these days.

Bonus: The credits included writers of the recipe for “Gewalteintopf The Stew of Violence," attributed to J. Kenji López-Alt and Deb Perelman. That prompted me to do two things.

Firstly, I went back and grabbed a screenshot of the recipe Fat Tony revealed, which I’ve included below for any Simpsons foodies that want to try and make it. The recipe ends with unlisted “Secret ingredients." Still, from what we saw Fat Tony do when he made Homer and Thad turn around, it looks like he just added a pinch of oregano, which would be funny since that’s a distinctly Italian herb being used in the Prussian mob's secret recipe. Since no amount is shown, I assume it’s up to your personal taste.

Also of note is a joke ingredient, “Kobold Blood." I wasn’t up on my German mythological creatures, but a kobold is a hausgeist (household spirit) from Germanic folklore. They were mischievous helpers, primarily in the kitchen. If you’re trying to make Gewalteintopf and your house doesn’t have its own kobold to drain blood from, store-bought’s fine (or, you know, just skip that ingredient entirely).

Secondly, I noticed that among the shows advertised on the soundstages of the Chew Network, there is an homage to the recipe writers. Scroll back up to that publicity image and take a closer look at the ad on the right for “The Recipe with Kenji and Deb," which is the podcast hosted by the recipe’s writers.

Gewalteintopf: The Stew of Violence Recipe

Tie aromatics in cheesecloth (first 7 ingredients).

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Season boar in large dutch oven all over with salt and pepper.

Add onion and cook until browned. Coat with tomato paste.

Add chicken stock, wine, vinegar, brown sugar, and aromatics.

Simmer, then transfer to oven and cook for 1 ½ hours.

Add carrots, celery, cabbage, and cook 1 hour longer.

Add final secret ingredients (not listed on recipe card, but seemingly oregano to taste).

Next Episode: “Full Heart, Empty Pool" - Airing Sunday, May 11th, at 8/7c on FOX

Homer and Grampa team up to create a new sport that rivals pickleball, until Homer kicks Grampa off.