The Wandering Juvie

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = The Wandering Juvie


image_caption = Promotional artwork for this episode.
episode_no = 329
prod_code = FABF11
airdate = March 28, 2004
writer = John Frink & Don Payne
director = Lauren MacMullan
blackboard = None| couch_gag = The shutter click of a camera can be heard as an undeveloped Polaroid photo floats to the couch and develops into the Simpsons family.
guest_star = Sarah Michelle Gellar as Gina Vendetti Charles Napier as the Warden.
season = 15

'The Wandering Juvie" is the sixteenth episode of "The Simpsons"' fifteenth season. The episode aired on March 28, 2004. It guest starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Gina Vendetti.

Plot

When the Simpson family is at the Costington's department store, Bart uses the wedding gift registry as a prank to register himself and his bride, "Lotta Cooties", for wedding presents. Bart invites many people to his so-called "wedding" and plans to take all the unused gifts back for store credit, but he is stopped in his tracks by Chief Wiggum, who arrests Bart. Bart tries to bribe Chief Wiggum with the wedding presents, but Chief Wiggum only accepts cash bribes, as stated on his badge. Bart is sentenced to six months of juvenile detention by Judge Constance Harm, going to a detention center.

At the detention center, Bart is being harassed by Gina Vendetti, amongst others. When the kids are about to beat Bart up, they discover Homer, who has taken the job of being a prison guard to protect him. Unfortunately, his shift ends until two weeks from that day, and the kids beat him up. He has another problem when he is partnered with Gina Vendetti for the "prom". When they are dancing, Gina thinks of a way she can escape. But due to the fact that they are handcuffed together, she automatically brings a reluctant Bart along (though he only comes after she kisses him). Slowly, they gain each other's trust.

They are on the lam and look for a blacksmith who can remove their cuffs. They are freed, but after it happens, Gina is alone and forlorn. Gina yells at Bart and Bart calls her a psycho. They engage in a brutal fight and this time, Bart is so angry he actually wants to kill her as much as she wants to kill him. The police come and arrest them, telling the Simpsons that now Bart will be in Juvie even longer. Gina, feeling terrible, confesses she does not have a family when she returns to jail (also clearing Bart of all charges that would result in him remaining in prison), but the Simpsons and the prison warden step in to help Gina by offering a Mexican food feast in her cell at the end.

Cultural references

*The "Little Hooker" T-shirt line sold at Costington's is a spoof of clothing manufacturers marketing adult fashions toward a pre-teen (especially female) demographic made by Abercrombie & Fitch and others.
*The "Itchy & Scratchy" cartoon, "The Battle of Slaughter-Loo", is a pun on the Battle of Waterloo.
*Much of this episode's plot (where a shackled-together Bart and Gina escape prison and learn to work together to survive) is inspired from the 1958 film, "The Defiant Ones".
*When Gina calls Bart a "family guy" it is a reference to the animated TV series "Family Guy" which also airs on FOX and focuses on a dysfunctional family, furthering the supposed rivalry between Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane (who is a fan of "The Simpsons", according to the DVD commentary of the season four episode "PTV")
*In a nod to Disney, Gina explains to Bart that she got into juvie because she pushed Snow White off the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.
*Seymour Skinner makes a remark about his mother winning dishes on the long-running game show, "Let's Make a Deal" on which dinnerware was one of the staple prizes.
*When Cletus makes wood carvings, one of them resembles the Pillsbury Doughboy with his foot trapped in a foothold trap.
*Chief Wiggum's remark, "Well, well, if it isn't Punch and Juvie" is a reference to the puppet show, "Punch and Judy".
*"The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Criminals", Snake's self-help book targeted at criminals, is inspired by the 1989 self-help book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.
*The sign in the warden's office — "HIS JUDGEMENT COMETH AND THAT RIGHT SOON" — is the same as the one seen in Warden Norton's office in the 1994 movie, "The Shawshank Redemption".
*The heavily edited "Itchy & Scratchy" short is reminiscent of classic cartoons (e.g., "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies") being edited on television due to issues of violence, racial stereotypes, and subject matter deemed inappropriate for children.
*The episode title is a play on the name of a figure from medieval Christian folklore, the Wandering Jew.
*The song played when Bart buys all the wedding gifts is White Wedding by Billy Idol.
*Bart comments that his wedding prank is his Sgt. Peppers, referring to The Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.