Lisa's Belly

"Lisa's Belly"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 33 Episode 5
Directed by	Timothy Bailey
Written by	Juliet Kaufman
Featured music	"I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister
Production code	QABF20
Original air date	October 24, 2021 (2021-10-24)

"Lisa's Belly" is the fifth episode of the thirty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 711th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 24, 2021. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Juliet Kaufman.

Plot

At an abandoned water park, Bart and Lisa contract a bizarre infection, requiring treatment from steroids that cause temporary weight gain. Before they go back to school, Marge says "Someone's getting chunky" to Lisa in affection, which causes her to be insecure about her weight.

Meanwhile, when Bart's sleeve rips while playing basketball, Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney, and Nelson take him to an underground basement in school where they teach him to get into shape and become a man.

Marge takes Lisa to the mall, shopping for back-to-school clothes to make her feel better. She later says "Flattering", making the word "Chunky" grow bigger in Lisa's mind. Lisa gets cranky in front of the customers and workers, so Marge takes her home.

Homer asks Lisa what's wrong. He lets Patty and Selma take her to the park where they describe how they no longer care what people think of them. Later, Marge apologizes to Lisa about what she said to her, but says words like "Normal" and "Perfect" to Lisa, making "Chunky" grow bigger and causing her more frustration. In the piano store, Luann tells Marge about a hypnotherapist named Dr. Wendy Sage, who is a woman who had a mastectomy and chose to stay flat rather than endure breast reconstruction surgery.

Meanwhile, Bart arrives in the gym, but he sees the guys hanging around with their girlfriends. Feeling that they haven't been friends with him, he runs away from the basement and plays basketball with the other children.

Lisa and Marge visit Dr. Wendy Sage. She uses hypnotherapy on them, transferring them to Lisa's mind. They see the "Chunky" word which takes up the entire space of her mind. They then travel to Marge's mind. At Marge's childhood memory, they discovered that Marge's mother had said a hurtful word: "Plain", to her. The word has been in her head for years. Marge and Lisa now know each other's feelings and love each other, thus, making "Chunky" and "Plain" shrink.

During the credits, it is shown that there are words in everyone else's heads. Homer is not affected by the words in his head as he is asleep on his hammock.

Reception

Viewing figures

The viewing figures for this episode is 1.83 million.

Critical response

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 4 out of 5 start stating ““Lisa’s Belly' works because her healing and acceptance comes from the most unlikely of places. Homer, Patty and Selma are what they are and don’t care how other people see them. This is valuable and the message is much more effective coming from them. This is a very sweet, and mature episode. It is just such a shame what happens to the Powerpuff Girls.”

Mark Gibson of Bubbleblabber gave the episode a 8 out of 10 stating “Overall, 'Lisa’s Belly' continues the show’s strength in delivering humorous yet relatable stories that deal with current issues. This is another episode that provided a healthy balance between comedy and drama in terms of representing real-life problems and mental health. No amount of harmful words can stop this season from chugging along smoothly.”

External links

• Lisa's Belly at IMDb