TV Recaps Reviews

As Ned Flanders runs his bible study, Homer screams out “hey, my bathing suit came off” as he goes down the sidewalk on a slip and slide, disrupting Flanders program. The entire bible study group watches Homer through the window as he slides and Ned becomes more upset. Reverend Lovejoy convinces Ned Homer can still be saved. Ned looks at WWJD bracelet and his “Jesus time for a good deed clock” on the wall and agrees.

Ned invites Homer and his family as his guests to the bible study’s trip to Israel the holy land the next month. Homer ponders out loud sarcastically about “taking my family to a war zone, on a bus with religious lame-os, in a country with no pork in a desert with no casinos” to Flanders. Marge hears the exchange and accepts Ned’s offer as long as the Simpsons pay their own way, an idea Homer’s wails indicate he is not happy with.

The plane arrives in Israel and Homer is bound and tied by airport security. Marge tells Homer he should apologize for his remarks to which Homer says “but latkes aren’t as good as American pancakes”. Homer suggests the latkes are pretty good with applesauce and he is released. Krusty is on the trip and Lisa asks him why he traveled to Israel, he says as a Jew he must travel there once in his life to avoid hell. When Lisa tells Krusty Jews don’t believe in hell, Krusty runs into the nearest strip joint.

The travel group arrives at the Wailing Waldorf and their loud, obnoxious tour guide Jacob (Sacha Baron Cohen) appears to show them the city. As Marge and the others ask questions, Jacob tells them to shut their face every few minutes. Ned is excited to see the stations of the cross, but Homer insists they visit the breakfast buffet at the hotel first. Ned calls for a vote on the tour or the breakfast buffet and the buffet wins. After the buffet Jacob starts the tour. An Israeli wanders into the group and Jacob goes into a curse-laden tirade saying people not in the group do not get to listen to him, shocking the group. Flanders prays to a statue of Jesus hoping that Homer will become inspired by Jesus, but instead Homer and Bart run into Flanders as they film home movies.

Jacob takes the travel group to the wailing wall, telling them about the prayers stuck into the wall and insulting them as he tells its history. Bart reads the paper prayers stuck into the wailing wall and makes fun of them. Homer asks Bart what he is doing and Bart says “reading prayers and ignoring them, just like God”. Homer tells Bart they should be trying to be religious on this trip. Bart finds Homer’s prayer and angers Homer, then Homer reads Bart’s prayer asking that his dad have another heart attack and chokes Bart. Bart escapes his dad by climbing the wailing wall and skating on the top. Jacob instructs his niece to catch Bart, who chases him and beats him up. Bart can’t understand how a girl can fight that well.

Jacob has taken the travel group to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Jacob tells them the church is know in the United States as the church where Christ was born, or as known in Israel, the man in the underpants. Ned prays to Jesus in thanks for the opportunity to see the place where Jesus was born. When he enters the birth place he sees Homer splayed out over the Holy Sepulchre. Ned berates Homer’s lack of decorum in such a holy place. Homer calls it the “tomb of the unknown savior” and Ned flips out. Ned gets Homer’s camera and starts deleting all of the soda cans Homer has taken photos of, then breaks the camera against the wall, prompting the guards to come in and remove Flanders from the church. The guards ban Ned from ever entering the church for life and he is even angrier with Homer. Ned tells Homer as a Christian he can no longer help him and Homer is not worth saving. Homer is shocked by what Ned says. Homer, thinking Ned went out into the desert, jumps on a camel to follow him, but Ned has actually stopped in a tea shop right outside the city gates.

Homer rides out into the desert during a sandstorm with the theme music from “Lawrence Of Arabia” playing in the background. The camel knocks Homer off his back and runs off, leaving Homer in the sand. Homer wanders alone in the desert singing about how thirsty he is. Homer drinks out of the dead sea, says its salty then adds more salt which dries up the sea. A delirious Homer see thunderclouds cover the sky. Turbaned figures of a tomato, pickle and carrot come down from the sky, telling Homer he has been chosen. Marge and an Israeli soldier find Homer lying in the desert and give him water. Homer tells Marge he is the chosen one who will unite all faiths, he is the Messiah. Homer keeps talking about being the Messiah who has come to save the world while Marge, Lisa and Bart shake their heads. They discover from Dr. Hubbert that Homer has Jerusalem syndrome. They turn back to the bed and find Homer is gone. Lisa remembers Homer said he was going to reunite all religions and only one place is sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike, The Dome Of The Rock.

Jacob takes Flanders and the Simpsons to The Dome Of The Rock to find Homer. Jacob explains that The Dome Of The Rock is the place where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son. Marge tells Jacob the tour is over, they are there to look for Homer. Jacob insists they fill out their tour guide comment cards and Marge calls Jacob pushy, triggering a loud retort from Jacob. Flanders and the Simpsons find Homer standing, preaching to Muslims, Christians and Jews to gather into a new religion together called ChrisMuJews, which doesn’t go over well with the crowd. Homer tells the crowd aren’t all religions the same, there is no reason why their commonality shouldn’t join them together as one, and they all like chicken, to which the crowd agrees. By the end of Homer’s speech a number of the bible tour group have proclaimed themselves the Messiah as Flanders shakes his head. The Simpsons and the tour group head home on Air Israel. Ned tells Homer of all the false Messiahs he was the closest to it and Homer is grateful, offering to buy Ned a $12.00 turkey sandwich on the plane.