The Saga of Carl
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- "Four best friends who never quarrel."
- ―Homer
- "Homer Simpson, Lenny, Moe, and... and..."
- ―Homer, Lenny, and Moe
"The Saga of Carl"
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Episode Information
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"The Saga of Carl" is the twenty-first episode of broadcast season 24 of The Simpsons and the five hundred twenty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on May 19, 2013. The episode was written by Eric Kaplan and directed by Chuck Sheetz. It guest stars Sigur Rós as the end credits performers.
Contents
Synopsis[edit]
- In a stroke of luck, Homer, Moe, Lenny, and Carl's ticket wins the Springfield Lottery. But when Carl goes to collect the cash, he disappears with the winnings. Following a set of clues, the gang venture to Carl's homeland, Iceland, and discover the truth about his backstory and justification for his betrayal.
Plot[edit]
Homer is watching women's tennis when a notice about a recording conflict comes up on the screen. Bart and Lisa then run into the room to watch Ki-Ya Karate Monsters, their latest favorite show. The pair of them become obsessed with the show, emulating the characters in their everyday life, to the annoyance of Marge. When Bart tries to use a real sword that Grampa owns, Marge stops him and forbids the two of them from watching the show anymore. She then decides that the family will have an outing to the Science Museum to get them away from Ki-Ya Karate Monsters. However, when they arrive at the museum, they find that there's a large number of exhibits on "The Science of Ki-Ya Karate Monsters."
After getting past the Ki-Ya Karate Monsters exhibits, the family enters the Hall of Probability. An educational film, Take a Chance on... Probability! starring Blaise Pascal, is shown, where Pascal says that there's an extremely low chance of winning the lottery. After seeing this, Homer goes to Moe's Tavern where he mentions this fact to Lenny, Carl, and Moe, but then reveals that he still bought their weekly lottery ticket. As they watch the reveal of the numbers, the gang are surprised to find that their ticket won. Homer, Lenny, and Moe plan the celebration party while Carl goes to cash in the ticket and collect their winnings. When Homer tells his family about the winnings, he tells them that he's going to buy a swimming pool for the backyard with his money. However, when the party starts, Carl is still nowhere to be found. After trying to get in contact with him, the gang go to Carl's apartment to find that he has gone.
While Homer and Moe are angry at Carl for running off with their winnings, Lenny is optimistic about Carl still, believing that their friend will come back to them. The gang look for clues about where Carl might have gone and they eventually find a reflection of the Strokkur Geysir in the sunglasses of a photo of Carl. Lisa searches up the geyser and finds that it's in Iceland, and finds that Carl's family is from just outside of Reykjavík. So, the three friends head there to track him down.
Arriving in town, the gang finds out that the Carlson family are well-known and hated by everyone because a thousand years ago, they supposedly let invaders into the country without doing anything to stop them. This led to a massacre of the locals. They then find that Carl's family lives at 22 Hjorleifsstræti and go there to confront him. However, the gate to the property is locked, so they wait for Carl to emerge. When he does, the friends follow him and see him leaving a building with a briefcase. They chase Carl down and take the briefcase from him, thinking it is their stolen money. Homer then pays a guy to tackle Carl to the ground. The four of them then go to Yukki's Grossfud where Carl tells the others that they're not his friends as they don't know a thing about him, and he doesn't think of them as his friends as a result. Hearing this, Lenny snaps and attacks Carl. When the others open Carl's briefcase, they're surprised to find that inside isn't the money but a page from the saga about the Carlsons. Carl tells them that he wanted the page to clear his family's name, as the Carlsons insist they actually bravely fought against the invaders. The guys then take the page and leave Carl.
While on a bus, Homer, Lenny, and Moe discuss the page and decide to translate it to find out what all the fuss is about. After learning ancient Icelandic, they finally translate the page and find out that the truth was actually worse than anyone thought; the Carlsons didn't just let the invaders attack, they joined in with the slaughter. Realizing that this meant Carl betrayed his friends and stole the money for nothing, the guys felt bad for him. They then held a meeting with everyone in Iceland and told them about all the good deeds that Carl had done for them over the years. Hearing this moved the locals who then forgave the Carlsons. The four friends then spend some more time in Iceland before going back to Springfield.
Later, Homer tells his family that he has a surprise for them then leads them out into the backyard where there are several "keg pools," kegs that are cut in half and filled with water, for them to use. The family and Homer's friends spend time in the keg pools until Bart and Lisa tip Homer's over, getting him stuck in it. As everyone laughs at him, Homer retreats back into the keg like a turtle.
Production[edit]
The original script for the episode was "complicated" and the table read was "confusing." James L. Brooks was excited for the episode and suggested that some of the focus shifts to Lenny, saying "Guys, guys, this is Lenny's story."[1]
Sigur Rós wrote music for the episode. According to their website, they wrote and performed more original music for an episode than any other outside band in the show's history. Matt Groening is a longtime fan of the band and said that he was "honored to bring their Icelandic, ambient moods to our goofy cartoon show."[2]
Reception[edit]
In its original airing, the episode was watched by a total of 4.01 million viewers and received a 1.9 in the 18–49 demographic. It was the second most watched show on Fox's Animation Domination lineup that night.[3]
Robert David Sullivan of The A.V. Club gave "The Saga of Carl" and "Dangers on a Train" a joint B- rating, due to them airing one after the other. He praised the art for the Icelandic scenery and said that you "get the sense that the animators enjoyed getting out of Springfield". He also praised the music by Sigur Rós, saying it was a "welcome change."[4]
A list of the 100 best episodes by Vulture placed "The Saga of Carl" at #76 in 2014[5], #77 in 2019[6], and #79 in 2024.[7]
As of May 2025, the episode has a 7.0 rating on IMDb.[8]
In other languages[edit]
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Promotional images[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Vulture - "3 Simpsons Showrunners Reflect on New Fans and the 'Classic Era' Myth"
- ↑ Pitchfork - "This Is What Sigur Rós Look Like on "The Simpsons""
- ↑ TV by the Numbers - "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Simpsons' & 'The Cleveland Show' Adjusted Up, 'The Billboard Music Awards', 'America's Funniest Home Videos' & '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down"
- ↑ The A.V. Club - "The Simpsons: "The Saga Of Carl/Dangers On A Train""
- ↑ Vulture - "The 100 Best Simpsons Episodes to Stream" 2014 (archived on Wayback Machine)
- ↑ Vulture - "The 100 Best Simpsons Episodes to Stream" 2019 (archived on Wayback Machine)
- ↑ Vulture - "The 100 Best Simpsons Episodes to Stream" 2024 (archived on Wayback Machine)
- ↑ IMDb - "The Saga of Carl"
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Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Saga of Carl". |
