Let's Go Fly a Coot

The Simpsons are invited to Milhouse's birthday party, which is shown to be a big expensive party, so much that Kirk has to sell the house in order to pay for it. When Marge and Homer think that all birthdays are getting too expensive, Homer takes drastic measures by ruining other kids' big birthdays; however, the party committee discover Homer's deeds and at first put a black mark on the Simpsons, preventing Bart, Lisa and Maggie from ever having another birthday party, but Homer is given a deal to make sure the kids can have one again. Homer must give Rod a magical birthday party or the black mark will remain and Bart threatens to wake Homer up on Saturdays with pots and pans. When the party takes place at the Springfield Air & Space Museum, the Simpsons are surprised when one of the veteran pilots being honored at a ceremony recognizes Grampa and tells them of Homer's dad's service with the pre-USAF air command services during World War II. The veterans aren't happy that Homer and Grampa are estranged and actively intervene in the relationship, forcing Homer to hug Grampa at gunpoint.

Bart undertakes a quest to get a girl to like him when Milhouse's Dutch cousin Annika shows up for a visit. She constantly complains about American culture and introduces Bart to goofy Dutch games and vaping, which he gets addicted to. Yet, Marge catches Bart and Annika vaping, but Bart tries to remind her it is legal in this state, Marge takes it up to Homer, who again says it is legal. When Bart learns that Annika is heading to the airport to fly home, Grampa reveals that he was in love with a waitress at the main diner near the base but wasn't brave enough to attract her attention, so he stopped his regular maintenance job and took a supersonic flight that nearly killed him but won over the waitress — who was Mona, Homer's mom.

Ending his story, Grampa urges Bart to be careful with making a grand gesture to win over any girl, as it may not last especially if he's pretending to be someone he's not. Bart desperately races to the airport so he can talk to Annika before she goes. Annika scoffs at his typical "American gesture" but Bart shuts her up by telling her he actually doesn't like her because she does nothing but complain and is only nice to people when she wants something from them. He dumps the remaining e-cigarettes and walks away from her, leaving Annika feeling humiliated by being dumped by a friend of Milhouse's as she starts cursing in Dutch.

As the veterans leave Springfield, Homer and Grampa are on good terms again and Homer first grills, then blends up, a big steak to honor his heroic dad. When they don't work, he puts it in an e-cig, to Grampa's pleasure.

The episode received a 1.3 rating and was watched by a total of 3.12 million people.[1]

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C−, saying "There are ghosts of any number of potentially fruitful stories all through ‘Let’s Go Fly A Coot’, none of which the writers (it’s credited to Jeff Westbrook) develop beyond their most basic, cursory outlines. Even if the episode were stacked floor-to-ceiling with great jokes and character moments, this would still be a rushed, frenetic 22 minutes. As it is, it’s as forgettable and poorly constructed as any Simpsons in the last few seasons."[2]

• "Let's Go Fly a Coot" on IMDb
• "Let's Go Fly a Coot" at TV.com
• "Let's Go Fly a Coot" at theSimpsons.com