Season Two Revisited (Part One)

1. Bart Gets an “F”

• Nothing like opening your season premiere with a ten-year-old talking about making love to a woman. Martin’s Old Man and the Sea book report rules.
• I love catching new visual touches each time I watch these episodes. I don’t think I ever noticed Bart blindly pawing for the chalk once before grabbing it the second time. I also love him dragging the chalk down the board at the end of his “9.”
  
• Why hasn’t anybody made an Escape From Grandma’s House arcade game yet?
• Homer is almost adorably supportive of Bart slinking off to study in the dead of night (“Burning the candle at both ends, eh, boy? Go get ‘em!”) I also love when he and Marge walk in on a passed out Bart in his books. Marge concernedly wonders why he keeps failing, to which Homer sweetly replies, “Just a little dim, I guess.” Honestly, one could have a worse parent than Homer.
• “I got a big test today I am not ready for. Could you please crash the bus or something?” “Ohh, sorry, little buddy. Can’t do it on purpose. But, hey, maybe you’ll get lucky!”
• Ah, the joys of faking sick to get out of school. When I was a teenager, there was a good year and a half I had a freak ability to trigger my own nosebleeds, a power I only used for evil one time to get out of a math test. Clearly, I learned from the best.
• In case you needed more evidence of what a craphole Springfield Elementary is, Bart opens the nurse’s room door to find the highly trained medical professional picking up tongue depressors off the floor and putting them back in the jar.
  
• “Bart is an underachiever, and yet he seems to be… how shall I put this… proud of it?” I love how following the summer of Bartmania, the show immediately comes back with a sharp jab at it. That “underachiever” line was mass produced on many a T-shirt, something that most assuredly came from a marketing department and not the show writing staff. I also love how Bart is sitting and lifting his legs back and forth like a real fidgety kid. It’s adorable.
  
• We again see how completely uninterested Springfield Elementary is in actually helping children with their problems, with Dr. Pryor openly admitting that having Bart repeat the fourth grade will be “shameful and emotionally crippling.” Later when Bart bursts into tears upon failing the last exam, Mrs. Krabappel’s first reaction is to comment, “I’d think you’d be used to failing by now!” That and her attempt at making him feel better (“A 59 is a high F!”) makes her the perfect teacher for this series: one who has no idea how to deal with children.
• Everything with Martin in act two is so damn good. His bafflement at how his numerous academic achievements mean nothing to the other kids, his strict studying regiment for Bart (including a riding crop to keep his eyes glued to his books), and later, his crazed descent into hooliganism, culminating in pushing some unlucky boy into the girl’s bathroom (“The screams! The humiliation! The fact that it wasn’t me!”) Martin may not have had a ton of appearances over thirty years, but Russi Taylor helped create one of the low-key richest supporting characters in the whole series. RIP to a real one.
  
• “Prayer: the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
• “Look, everyone! John Hancock’s writing his name in the snow!” Yet another joke that flew by the censors. And about our sacred Founding Fathers, no less!
• The ending of Bart triumphantly telling everyone about his D- is one of those perfect show moments where you completely buy the emotionality, but it’s simultaneously still funny given our happy ending involves our hero getting a near-failing grade.

2. Simpson and Delilah

• Homer desperately trying to blurt out the right answers to the TV trivia show is great, but the additional joke of said show being “Grade School Challenge” makes it even better. Cut to a decade or so later and we got Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Boy, this show really DOES predict everything.
• “Hair… just like everybody else.” As dim-witted and buffoonish as Homer can be, this one moment of him staring woefully at the television completely humanizes him. All of his efforts through the episode are of him trying to gain back a part of himself he believes will make him whole, and even though it’s extremely hilarious and pathetic at the end to see him rub his scalp against the puddle of Dimoxinil soaking into the rug while sobbing uncontrollably, it just makes it the more sad the next morning as he solemnly stares back at his newly bald reflection.
• Background stuff I missed: a sign next to the power plant coffee pot (Honor System Coffee Refills: 25 cents.)
• I like how happy Homer’s old barber is to see him after all these years (“You got rid of the sideburns!”) I also love how casually Homer picks up and starts reading a Playdude. How many barbershops have you been in where customers are reading nudie magazines?
  
• It really feels like Karl shouldn’t work. He’s the Magical Negro character whose sole purpose is to help elevate this fat oaf of a man to a position he didn’t earn in the first place. But goddamn does this show sell it. It helps that we see glimpses of Karl living his own life in his new position (seeing his elegant living accommodations, befriending “the gals down at the typing pool,”) but it also really seems like Karl has sympathy for Homer, and genuinely wants to help him be the best man he can be. He’s the positive shade of yes man, who only wants the good in their employer to flourish and believes in them even when they don’t. Speaking of which…
• In this episode, Smithers is presented as Karl’s antonym, a right hand man who accommodates their superior to a fault. He’s wholly devoted to Burns to the point that when Homer starts encroaching on his turf, he flies off the handle. It’s pretty great to see how petty Smithers gets in the third act, and kind of dark too (“Got that big speech in five minutes, Simpson. You’re not gonna hang yourself, are you?” he asks with a laugh.)
• “Let the fools have their tar-tar sauce.” One of the greatest Burns lines ever.
• This scene transition from executive washroom is just wonderful. Stuff like this really shows the scope of this series. This kind of thoughtful staging and transition techniques were not only not done in regular sitcoms, but even in a lot of movies too.
  
• “I love you, Dad!” “Dirty trick.”
• “My reasons… are my own.” God bless Harvey Fierstein. He’s a big reason why the Karl character works. And yes, he really does believe in Homer, at least enough to lay a big smooch on him (how in the hell did they get away with that?) I also love his quick butt pat on Homer’s way out.
  
• There’s lots of notable emotional moments on this show that fans talk about a lot, but the ending to this episode is one I never hear mentioned. Marge cradling Homer and singing to him, letting him know he’s beautiful to her with or without hair… I am a humongous softie, and I’m honestly tearing up a bit just writing about it. What a lovely ending.
  

3. Treehouse of Horror

• Marge’s introductory warning about the episode is so damn good. The writers knew how out of the box this concept was, a non-canonical anthology horror special full of scary imagery, and not only did they do it anyway, but they proceeded to thumb their noses at whoever would get offended at such a thing right at the start. And having it be Marge instead of fan-favorite Bart makes it even better, as she’s exactly the type who would write an angry letter to the local TV station (as would be the basis of an episode later this season, in fact…)
• I love how desperately Homer tries to normalize the freaky stuff going on in the house because of what a great deal he got for it. Entering the room as Bart is being levitated in the air, choked out by a phone cord, surrounded by other floating objects, as an ominous voice intones, “GET OUT,” Homer’s first remark is to just reprimand Bart (“Okay, boy, let’s see you talk your way out of this one!”)
• What a trip it must have been to turn on primetime to see a cartoon featuring a family wielding sharp objects about to murder each other, three of which being small children, one being an infant. I can’t imagine a family sitcom getting away with that even now in like a fantasy sequence or something.
  
• Homer on the phone yelling at the realtor is a hall of fame Dan Castellaneta performance. “Well, that’s not my recollection!” makes me laugh every time, like he realizes he screwed up, but he still won’t admit it to the guy he’s still mad at.
• The house collapsing in on itself is such a great piece of animation.
  
• Even though there’s no canon within these specials, I like to think that Kang and Kodos’ ensuing malevolence towards Earth was purely based on being insulted by the Simpson family, inspiring them to give up their generous nature. 
• “I know that to you, we Simpsons are a lower order of life. We face that prejudice every day of our lives.”
  
• It’s great that the ever kindly Marge can barely bring herself to make Kang and Kodos feel better about their Pong game. “Your game is very nice,” she half-heartedly assures them as she looks away awkwardly.
• The Raven segment is so damn beautiful, a tour de force for David Silverman and his crew. Hell, the whole episode is great-looking. I also love Dan Castellaneta’s performance, it’s pretty incredible how much passion and nuance some of his deliveries are, all while staying true to the source material and still feeling true to Homer. The fact that he slips in a “D’oh!” in-between Poe’s words and it still feels seamless speaks volumes.
• I’ve always been struck by this final shot of Homer at the end of The Raven. It’s such a simple drawing, but it really comes off like he’s just lying there defeated and haunted. It’s great.
  

4. Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

• “Keep those mutants comin’, Homer!” “I’ll mutant you…”
• A big focus in this episode is Mr. Burns’ complete lack of understanding of the common man, an obscenely wealthy plutocrat so far removed from regular society they might as well be another species. There’s the haves and the have-nots, and Burns confidently feels he can make all his problems go away by just throwing money at the have-nots in the form of his comically blatant bribe. When the government watchdog refuses, Burns can’t even process such a thing, accosting the man and shoving bills in his coat (“Take it, you poor schmoe!!”)
  
• I also love how we see Burns at his most vulnerable, sorrily getting drunk in his office and aimlessly stumbling about the plant. Despite his immense wealth, he’s not as all-powerful as he wishes he was, perfectly setting the stage to be fed the idea of running for governor by a clueless Homer.
• Re-watching this episode in 2020 about a morally bankrupt wealthy businessman running for office solely for his own benefit, it definitely reads a little bit differently. Also, the fact that his campaign comes crashing down after his hypocrisy is exposed comes off as ridiculously quaint nowadays. That and the Engineered Public Confession trope need to be permanently retired. Although I love that in this show, when Burns is recorded before his public address openly insulting the public, it doesn’t affect him at all, as he immediately bounces back with his openly pandering defense, and the numbskull masses just eat it up. Now that feels realistic in 2020.
• “Why are my teeth showing like that?” “Because you’re smiling.” “Excellent! Yes, this is exactly the kind of trickery I’m paying you for.”
• Homer’s unflinching support for Burns is wholly based on fear for his job. I always loved this line in retort to Marge’s mention of Blinky (“I bet before the papers blew this out of proportion, you didn’t even know how many eyes a fish had!”)
• “Only a moron wouldn’t cast his vote for Monty Burns!” Perfect slogan, perfect jingle.
  
• “Is your boss Governor yet?” “Not yet, son, not yet.” I love that we come off of the energetic montage of Burns’ campaign building momentum, and we land right back in the present, where Homer and Bart, having lived through this in real time, are just waiting for this election to be over and done with.
• “Hello, handsome!” Homer looks so disturbing here. I also never understood who Burns’ campaign manager was referring to when he said Homer looked like Tyrone Power. Apparently he was a dashing leading man from the golden age of Hollywood. It feels like a reference that Burns himself would make, not his much younger manager.
  
• “Mr. Burns, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?” The perfect canned question.
• “Lisa, you’re learning many valuable lessons tonight, and one of them is to always give your mother the benefit of the doubt.” I love how shrewd Marge is in this ending, remembering Burns’ bullshit defense of Blinky the fish and is more than willing to make him eat his words, literally. It’s one of her most shining moments of the series. Also, that reporter with his jaw dropping is one of the most bizarre and funniest things ever.
  
• “Ironic, isn’t it, Smithers? This anonymous clan of slack-jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That’s democracy for you!”
• The only weak spot in the entire episode is the ending, where Homer frets about Burns’ vow that his life will go unfulfilled. Up to this point, there have been a bunch of Homer-Marge in bed ending scenes serving to wrap the stories up, and they all worked fairly well, but since it’s Homer reacting to something said at the literal end of the episode, and not something that had been set up throughout, it feels weirdly tacked on.

5. Dancin’ Homer

• It’s pretty great how the set-up of the episode (a Burns company event) is identical to “There’s No Disgrace Like Home,” but the two are still completely distinct and funny in their own rights. They even reused Burns needing cards to remember employee’s names and made a whole new funny joke out of it (“These must be Bart, Lisa and… expecting!” “The cards need to be updated, sir.”) The similar scenarios also allow us to better see Homer’s evolving personality; while “Disgrace” featured him trying to be as straight-laced as possible to appease his boss, here he’s ready and willing to have a fun, drunken night (“This ticket doesn’t just give me a seat. It also gives me the right, no, the duty to make a complete ass of myself!”)
• “You’re an inspiration to all of us in waste management, sir.” “Well, take your mind off contaminants for one night and have a hot dog!”
  
• Two pretty adorable moments before the ball game: Flash Baylor propositioning Marge (or as his teammate calls her, the ”mature quail,”) which Homer reacts in awe by (“You’ve still got the magic, Marge!”) And Lisa being the only one happily standing for her idol Bleeding Gums Murphy’s twenty-six minute national anthem. Speaking of, there’s a lot of the Simpson family having a great time together in the first act, all of them laughing with each other at Burns’ pathetic first pitch. It reminded me of the opera scene from “Bart the Genius.” It’s always great seeing the family genuinely enjoying each other’s company.
• The ballpark elderly organist’s room is filled with great touches: a broken window clearly busted by a flyaway ball, pin-ups of sexy hunks all over the walls, and a martini atop the organ. Quite a lot of thought for such a minor set.
  
• Mr. Burns and Homer make a great team, with their competing jeers and two-person wave. It feels perfectly normal for the two to bond like they do, and it’s great to watch unfold as Homer gets more and more comfortable letting loose in front of his boss.
• There’s a lot of great animation in this episode, from the baseball game itself, the crowd shots and Homer’s lively dancing. My favorite bit is his reggae-style “Baby Elephant Walk.”
  
• Ah, the days when they would bother to write a scene where Homer formally leaves work to pursue a new wacky job. And it’s funny too! (“Sure, what would you like? Four years? Five years!”)
• Tony Bennett has the honor of being the first celebrity to voice themselves, and really, if someone’s gotta be first, why not Tony Bennett?
• Another great background touch: the photo of Homer and Princess Kashmir apparently made its way to Capital City, and is now hanging in one of the player’s lockers.
  
• “My wife and kids stood by me. On the way home, I realized how little that helped.”

6. Dead Putting Society

• We’ve seen glimpses of it before this, but this opening just firmly cements the Homer/Flanders relationship: a man who is completely open and giving, almost to a fault, but all Homer can see is someone who makes his own feelings of inadequacy and personal failure burn all the brighter. If he weren’t so insecure, he and Ned would be great friends, and he could hang out in his man cave, drinking imported beer from Holland as much as he wanted.
  
• Pretty sweet moment where Marge refers to herself as her husband’s “best friend” while they’re talking in bed together.
• Another cemented relationship shown here is Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy. I love the balance it strikes that while clearly Lovejoy is absolutely (and rightfully) frustrated by Ned calling him so late, he still gives him a context-appropriate Bible passage to ruminate on before immediately handing the phone over to his wife to hang up. He’s a man of God who kind of gives a shit, which is much more interesting than one of the two extremes.
• I’ve always loved the little animation touch of Ned’s letter fluttering under the Simpson doorway as he bends down to drop it off.
• Just like last episode, it’s always great seeing the Simpsons having fun together, and them all laughing uproariously over Ned’s heartfelt letter may be the ultimate example (“Bosom!”) Marge puts on a serious face, but she proves to be not so above it all as she leaves to the room to giggle to herself.
• As a kid, I always wished we had a mini-golf course like Sir Putts-a-Lot. I also love this moment where a frustrated Homer mimics the motions of the mechanical Kong obstacle (that also has a motorboard. Professor Kong?)
  
• One of the best things in this episode is just how whipped into a frenzy Homer is throughout the whole thing, completely blinded by his jealousy, doing whatever he can to one-up his seemingly perfect neighbor in at least one thing. I love how we see him sitting and watching Bart as he’s sleeping (seemingly all night), this sort of obsessive parenting would be almost disturbing if it weren’t over something so frivolous and dumb as a miniature golf tournament.
• Jeez, was Marge blind when she was picking out these outfits? Plus she only wears her green dress and hat to church anyway. Maybe these got buried in the back of the closet for a reason.
  
• “Homer, I couldn’t help overhearing you warping Bart’s mind.” “And?”
• Honestly, Bart’s right on the money with the one-hand clapping thing. And yes, a tree falling in the woods does make a sound. Take that, Lisa.
• C’mon, kids, disgruntled civilian Krusty just wants to play pool at this seedy bar. Is that so wrong?
  
• I love the British announcer at the mini-golf tournament. He’s not really saying any jokes, but the seriousness of which he takes his job and the dedicated coverage he gives to these two dumb kids whacking putters is both incredibly funny, and actually makes the third act feel like it actually has weight and some real stakes, which makes it even funnier when Todd and Bart impromptu just agree to forfeit together.
• Of course, Ned is still in good spirits until the very end, finding the stunt of he and Homer mowing their lawns in dresses amusing, reminding him of “his old fraternity days.” Man, the days of Ned being like a normal guy were weird. Nowadays, there’d be some joke about him going to a Christian college where you were forbidden from looking at a woman for more than five seconds or something.

7. Bart vs. Thanksgiving

• Nothing beats opening your Thanksgiving special with a close-up shot of removing turkey innards.
• Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer are so great as Bill & Marty, two yammering numskulls who frequently just talk without thinking. Their questioning of their own banter during the Thanksgiving parade is one of many great moments of the series of them breaking their on-air personas (“Boy, now I know how the pilgrims felt!” “What are you talking about, Bill?”)
• Bart “helping” Marge is such a great scene, as I definitely remember many instances of me asking to help my mom in the kitchen as a kid that played out basically just like that. The animation of the cranberry sauce slowly dropping out of the can is great, as is the perfect timing between Bart walking away and the sauce quickly turning to red mush.
• I love those well-groomed go-getters of “Hooray for Everything” and their catchy “Dancin’” song. Their exit from the stadium prompts one of my favorite random one-off lines of the entire series (“In the Silverdome, now ablaze with flashbulbs, as `Hooray for Everything’ leaves the field!  Of course, a stadium is much too big for flash pictures to work, but nobody seems to care!”)
• The pacing of this episode is so unique. The first act is nearly ten minutes and it’s just the family getting together for Thanksgiving dinner. Everything feels so personal, as the show makes jokes about the headaches and frustrations of extended family reuniting under one roof. The scene where we see Maggie sitting alone on the couch as Marge walks in and out is just incredible and I’m not even fully sure why, but I love that they decided to devote so much screen time to such a small moment.
  
• Great touch: one of the guards at Burns’ estate is reading Les Miserables while eating his meager Thanksgiving rations.
• Really great pan of Bart crossing over to the wrong side of the tracks (“Yes! We Have Rot Gut!” is a very welcoming sign). I also love the glee in Bart’s voice marveling he’s entered the bad side of town.
  
• “Twelve bucks and a free cookie, what a country!”
• Kent Brockman makes his first live appearance, doing a hollow fluff piece (the type of work he’d later describe that act to “tug at the heart, and fog the mind”) on the homeless shelter (“Thanks for your help, fellas. This reporter smells a local Emmy!”)
• I like that the show encroaches on “very special episode” territory in Bart feeling bad for his homeless chums, but it cuts through it when the two bums don’t hesitate for a second in taking money from a ten-year-old.
• Bart’s nightmare upon coming home is absolutely beautiful, maybe the most visually striking sequence the series had done at this point. It just exemplifies how the series utilized the great power of its medium to create something so visually evocative, all while serving the emotions of the story. Also, all the finger pointing at Bart reminded me of the ”Deep, Deep Trouble” music video, which if you haven’t seen it, is definitely worth a watch. “Do the Bartman” has the nostalgia factor, but “Trouble” is just as good, if not better, with some really quirky animation that manages to make even seeing Bart get executed by his family and sent to Hell fun to watch.
  
• The ending is genuinely sweet and feels earned, both with Bart finally apologizing to Lisa, and Homer looking on from the bathroom window. And so, the family reunited gathers to attempt to celebrate the holiday once more (“Oh Lord, on this blessed day, we thank Thee for giving our family one more crack at togetherness.”)