The Simpsons go traveling recap: Simpsons Tall Tales

The Simpsons wind up traveling in a freight train car when a hobo tells them three tall tales.

After Homer refuses to pay a routine Airport fee on a trip to Delaware, the family winds up traveling in the car of a freight train where they meet a traveling hobo. The hobo proceeds to tell the Simpsons three tales.

The first one is the story of Paul Bunyan, with Homer playing the role of Bunyan. He eats everything in sight and destroys buildings at the drop of a hat. Resenting this arrangement, the local townspeople give Paul a giant beer laced with drugs and drag him out-of-town. Seeing how the people don’t want him anymore, he builds a giant ox out of stone that comes to life after being hit by lightning. He names it Babe and the two travel across the country, creating several landmarks along the way like Death Valley.

While traveling one day, he sees a young woman played by Marge. At first she is afraid of him, but this passes and they fall in love. Meanwhile, the same townspeople who rejected Paul are threatened by a meteor. Seeing no other option, they ask for Paul’s help. He agrees, but when Paul throws the meteor back he winds up causing the Great Fire of Chicago.

After finishing the first story, the hobo asks for compensation in the form of a sponge bath. Since no one else wants to do it, Homer has to.

The next story is the tale of Connie Appleseed, with Lisa as the main character. Connie is part of a wagon train and is appalled at how the settlers kill buffalo indiscriminately. She warns them that they will run out of food, but they ignore her.

Connie stumbles upon an apple tree and tries feeding them to her father and other settlers. When they reject her, Connie stays behind and plants apple seeds wherever she goes. Meanwhile, her family and the settlers wind up killing all the buffalo just like Connie predicted. They wind up starving and are about to eat Connie’s father (Homer) when she comes along in time and gives them apples.

The final story is the tale of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, with Bart as Tom and Nelson as Huck. When Huck holds Becky’s (Lisa’s) hand, he is forced by her father into marrying his daughter. Huck manages to escape and flees town along with Tom. The two take a raft down the Mississippi and wind up on a steamboat. Tom and Huck end up causing a commotion in the steamboat’s bar and find themselves in a shootout with derringer bullets that don’t do any damage.

The barman throws the two out into the river where they are caught by the townspeople and wind up dead. At the funeral, Tom and Huck are not in the coffins, but are in the rafters and seem to be watching the service with smiles. But when Reverend Lovejoy orders their bodies lowered, it turns out they are indeed dead.

The Simpsons arrive in Delaware and say goodbye to the hobo. But when he reminds them they owe him one more sponge bath, Homer agrees to stay behind and tells his family he’ll catch up with them.