With Spooky Season ending Saturday night I wanted to get in one final Halloween post. Welcome to another TreeHouse of Horror review. These are fun to do because the three segment basis allows for multiple themes and parodies throughout the show. We begin our episode similarly as the year prior. Marge giving her motherly warning telling everyone this years would be even scarier and frightening. Knowing no one will listen to her message she hopes they enjoy the show. Another great element of these holiday specials is the Simpson’s creative team changing all their names to Halloween type nicknames such as Malevolent Matt Groening & James Hell Brooks.
It is once again the night of Trick or Treating and the Simpson’s children got a haul this year. (Would have been if Lisa’s Totem Pole Costume wasn’t slowing them down). Marge in her bride of Frankenstein costume tells the kids they can have one piece of candy and save the rest, but Bart, Lisa, Homer are shoving in sugary treats hand over fist. Marge once again warns them that too much candy can lead to nightmares.
Our first story is the creative imagination of Lisa who falls asleep still munching on Halloween candy. The Simpsons are in a distant land seemly of a middle eastern marketplace. Homer is coerced into buying a monkey’s paw that is cursed. The story is a direct parody of W.W. Jacob’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” about the White’s who are foretold of a spell placed on the mummified paw that will grant three wishes with severe consequences. The story ends in sorrow and all the warnings were true. The Simpsons discuss what to wish for, but Maggie steals the first wish when a golden pacifier arrives for her. Bart then takes control and wishes his family to be rich and famous. Money overflows the home and they take to the town to see how fame feels. All of Springfield can’t stand them and their likeness being plastered everywhere is a nuisance to everyone. Lisa being the kind hearted soul that she is wishes for World peace and we see all countries coming together and throwing away all forms of weaponry. Things seem to be perfect for the human race, but our favorite aliens Kang and Kodos invade the planet and enslave everyone. The Simpsons are once again to blame. In this retelling the Simpsons actually receive four wishes which is a play on the characters only having four fingers opposed to five. The final wish Homer gets real specific with a turkey sandwich thinking nothing could go wrong, but the Turkey is a little DRY! Angered by the Monkey Paw Homer throws it away & Flanders takes it for himself saving everyone from the Aliens.
Lisa awakes in a panic and goes to sleep with Bart. At first he doesn’t want the company, but a candy necklace sweetens the deal. Bart’s dream is a take on Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life” coming from Jerome Bixby’s short story of the same title. The story goes that the town of Peaksville, Ohio is under the rule of a six year old boy with mental powers. He wrecks havoc on the town blocking television signals, causes cars not to work, and creates despicable creates for his own amusement. The towns people live in fear of him because he also possesses the power to read minds. They continuously tell him how “good” everything he does is. In this tale Bart is that little boy and the town of Springfield lives in fear of him. Bart does whatever he wants like driving the school bus and making Krusty run 24 hours a day. An argument with Homer about what channel to watch causes Bart to turn him into a Jack-in-the-box. (similarly like a character in the original story). Marge unsure what to do takes Bart to therapy and through this his relationship with Homer grows and Bart turns him back. The thought of this awakens Bart screaming.
Bart and Lisa rush to their parents room in fear. Waking up their parents who agree to let them sleep in their bed. Homer is flustered that he only has a few more hours of sleep before work and dozes off. This final dream Homer is the target of a random firing by his boss Mr. Burns. Out of work Homer must take a job as a grave digger to provide. Mr. Burns and Smithers are building a gigantic robotic lab to replace the workers. An Homage to the Frankenstein’s Monster franchise Burns mad with power searches the cemetery for a human brain to put into the robot. They find Homer sleeping on the job and believe him to be dead because of his stench. Once Homer’s brain is placed in the robot Burns instantly regrets it and realizes that the experiment was a failure. Due to Homer’s incompetence Burns switches the brain back to his body. Burns furious the experiment didn’t work he kicks the robot and it crushes him. Homer wakes up because Bart bit him for laying on him. Homer goes to the bathroom to be startled by Mr. Burn’s head attached to his own. He convinces himself it’s only a dream, but Burns insists it may not be.
Overall another excellent job by the Simpson’s team. Three segments woven into one night of bad dream mayhem. No celebrity guests for the sequel to Treehouse of Horror, but I can promise you there will be a plethora of them in episodes to come. As always would love to hear your thoughts on TreeHouse of Horror II and if there’s any parodies or easter eggs I missed don’t be afraid to let me know.
Happy Holidays!
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