6 A Milhouse Divided

Marge throws a dinner party to escape from the doldrums at the Simpson house, so she decides to invite the Flanders, the Lovejoys, the Hibberts and the Van Houtens. All the guests are enjoying dinner except for the Van Houtens who argue with each other as Milhouse plays in another room with Bart and the children. Kirk and Luann get more quarrelsome as the party progresses and finally, despite Marge trying to divert the party away from the pair, the two get into a fight and Luann demands a divorce.

Kirk moves out of the Van Houten house and, despite his drab new surroundings, manages to keep a cheery attitude toward it all until he is fired from his job at the cracker factory as "crackers are a family food... happy families" and Kirk, being single, is apparently unfit for the position. Meanwhile, Luann quickly readjusts to single life with Milhouse and starts a new relationship with an American Gladiator. Kirk also tries to have a new relationship with a sleazy radio station worker, but ends up getting his car stolen and his demo tape wrecked. While at Moe's, Kirk mentions that he never saw the divorce coming and regrets not being more sensitive to Luann's needs, concluding that "one minute, your wife is cooking you your favorite meal; the next, you're thawing hot dogs in a gas station sink." Homer cheers Kirk up by telling him that his marriage to Marge is solid, but Homer begins to fear that his marriage may end in divorce after coming home and finding hot dogs thawing in the sink.

Homer enlists the aid of Lisa to help him figure out how to save his marriage, but Lisa tells Homer that he is lucky to have Marge. He recalls his wedding reception, which was nothing more than Homer and Marge eating a whale cake at a roadside truck stop. Homer tries to perform selfless gestures for Marge, such as making soothing ocean noises to lull her to sleep and cutting her hair, but they only serve to annoy her.

Deciding at that point that Marge deserves a fresh start, Homer secretly files for a divorce. As Marge returns home later that night, Homer surprises her by hiding all their friends in the living room and declares that he wants to be remarried, this time with a perfect wedding. The two are remarried (though it is revealed that the marriage in this episode was invalid as Reverend Lovejoy was uncertified at this time due to a clerical error). Meanwhile, Kirk decides to try to get back together with Luann by singing "Can I Borrow a Feeling", the song he recorded on a demo tape. However, the attempt fails; Luann refuses to take Kirk back and Kirk is sent out of the Simpsons house.