The way we werent

When Homer and Bart fight over a beer bottle that Bart uses to play the “Bottle” in a treehouse, Marge sets up the Simpsons Family Court, which takes place in the living room with Lisa , presiding as judge. Bart asks his father if he had kissed a girl at the age of ten. However, when Marge says that Homer's first kiss was with her in high school, the latter admits that it was not his first kiss. Homer recalls that when he was 10 years old, he went to a camp for poor boys, where Homer met Lenny , Karl, and as an adviser to Mo (although in fact his parents just left him in the camp). It turned out that in the evenings the summer camp was more like a prison, because they had to work as servants in the kitchen in the girls 'camp across the lake, because due to the lawsuits of the parents, the girls' camp could not afford dishwashers. Homer found the lock and returned it to the girl who lost her, although he could not see her (they were separated by a kitchen wall). She asked Homer to see her later that night. He did this, although due to an accident with a switching blade, he had an eye patch. Homer tells the children that she is the most beautiful girl he has ever met before meeting their mother. However, Marge surprises everyone by admitting that she was the girl that Homer met, and that if she knew that Homer was that boy, she would never marry him. Marge explains her story by stating that she was with Patty and Selma , Helen Lovejoy , Luanne Van Guten and Cookies Kwan in her camp. She fell in love with a boy who did her a favor, but the other girls laughed at his name, which coincides with the Big Ugly Homer, forcing Homer to give the false name Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.

To prepare for a date, Marge stroked her hair to make it straight, but accidentally burned it, turning it brown, this explains why Homer did not recognize her in high school . She met Homer, and after a long awkward moment of self-awareness for both of them, they finally kissed, which led them to dream of being in an imaginary paradise (both are equally colorful, although Marge's paradise is a fantastic fairy tale, while Homer - gloomy, a little funny, full of sweets and Homer devours all living things that he sees ahead). They agreed that they would meet again the next night, but Homer did not come for Marge, who had been waiting all night and left in the morning, deeply saddened. Marge mentions that because of that boy, she could no longer trust other men. Homer then tells his version of events, explaining why he did not appear. He claims that right after the date during which he gave Marge a heart stone that he found, he was so overwhelmed by bliss that he accidentally fell off a cliff into a lake and swam to a thick camp, in which his participants were accepted Mayor Quimbby , Chef Wiggum, and a comic book seller . He is caught by a camp instructor who does not distinguish between boys who drift into the camp and real participants.

While Homer was trapped in the camp for the fat, the empty Marge decided to leave her camp and threw a stone that he gave her, breaking it in two. Homer managed to escape and go to Marge's camp, but she left just a few seconds before he arrived, as a result of which Homer was sexually harassed by Patty and Selma. Despite the fact that he knows the truth, Marge is depressed about what happened thirty years ago and thinks that Homer did not care about her. However, Homer argues that he really cared for her for many years after the date, showing her a piece of the broken rock that he found. Pleasantly surprised, Marge reveals that she retained another part (albeit due to a reminder to her of the cruel things that men can do) and forgets about the past. Then the two put their pieces of stone together to form a heart and kiss until the light fades.

• The title of the episode refers to the 1973 film "Meeting of Two Hearts" ( Eng. "The Way We Were" ). Similarly, the twelfth episode of the second season was titled "The Way We Was . " ^[one]
• Homer and Marge Camps - A reference to the camps from the 1960s sitcom Camp Runamuck , which focused on a camp for unprivileged children and another completely different camp for girls.
• When Homer needs to cross the river in order to meet Marge before his date, he looks between the water and the neighboring rowing boat and says: "Hmm ... This is an exit scandal ... and it's my right to choose ."
• Toward the end, when Homer rummaged through his memory box, he finds a letter from his "old pen pal." Then he says: "Someday, I will write to you, Osama ."
• When Homer shows Marge his half heart, he says that he put it next to his IBM inventory.
• The sea captain sings a verse from the 1958 Kingston Trio song “Tom Dooley”. It also contains The Turtles' hit song, entitled “Happy Together,” which later appears in the movie The Simpsons at Cinema .
• In her memoirs, Marge tells Homer that she likes Parliament , not Funkadelic . This is a reference to the fact that the frontman of both was musician George Clinton .
• The scene depicting Homer and his friends fleeing a bicycle from an amphibious assault plane is a reference to a similar situation with teenager Art Tsuk during the events of the 1983 Glider Gimli incident.

During the premiere on Fox, the episode was watched by 6.2 million people, making it the least watched episode of the first 15 seasons.

The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Animation Program category (less than one hour).