Homer visits the mall, intending to bring Marge back for this year's anniversary, but finds that it has become a run-down wreck.
She quickly receives a deluge of invitations from perverted men; while deleting them, she finds a message from a likable guy named Ben and starts talking with him.
At first she tries to brush him off, but the two soon find that they share an appreciation for the British drama series Upton Rectory (a spoof of Downton Abbey).
The winner would also visit the show's studio, attend a table read, and receive an illustration of the couch gag and a prize pack.
[2] Creator Matt Groening stated that people send in ideas for couch gags all the time, so the producers decided to make it a contest.
He also noted the friendly rivalry with MacFarlane because of his shows that air on Sundays on Fox and included a joke in the episode that is a nod to it.
Club gave the episode a C+, saying, "Dangers on a Train’ is more standard 2013 Simpsons fare, with another trip to the bottomless well of stories about Marge feeling neglected by Homer as their 10th anniversary nears.
Marge and Ben's obsession with the costume-drama Upton Rectory perfectly captured the global preoccupation with the PBS show.
Seth MacFarlane also provided an amusing addition to the episode, but he pulled his usual shtick of using his Stewie voice and Sinatra-style singing, which was definitely suffering from the law of diminishing returns.