The Telltale Head (S01, E08-008)

He killed a bear with his b-a-r-e hands!

Plot Summary
A lot of Simpsons continuity was established with The Telltale Head.  First off, the statue featuring the aforementioned head is that of Jebediah Springfield, the man who founded the town and supposedly killed a bear with his bare hands (or the bear killed him, reports are apparently sketchy).  It also introduces Sideshow Bob in a minor, non-speaking role, as well as Jimbo Jones and his pals Dolph and Kearney.

The episode establishes that the latter three are the "bad kids" in town, who have no problems stealing or sneaking into movies for free.  Bart attempts to join the bunch by partaking in these events, but feels bad each time.  It all comes to... ugh, a head, when its mentioned that it'd be cool if somebody decapitated the head of the Jebediah Springfield statue, that it'd anger a lot of people.  Bart, desperate to be part of the clique and given indirect approval to do so from Homer (who says that being popular is the top priority), Bart does the deed late at night.  With the town crushed in grief the next day, Bart then learns that Jimbo and pals didn't really mean what they said and that they'd pound whoever actually took the head.  Bart, desperate for a way out, tells his parents about it, and when its found out that Homer gave Bart the encouragement, the two go off to put it back.  On the way, they are found by an angry, bloodthirsty mob, who Bart is able to calm down by explaining what had happened.  Suddenly its a-okay and the head is back on and everybody is happy.  The end.

Quick Review
This episode was alright for the most part, with some good jokes throughout.  A part early on where Reverend Lovejoy and the football game audio from the radio Homer was secretly listening to sync up was among the best parts of the episode.  However, I really found the ending to be a bit awkward, like as though there was no good way for the town to get off Bart's back after he stole the head, so the story, followed by adding the head back onto the statue magically makes them happy again.  It put a bit of a damper on what was otherwise a solid episode, but there's still a lot of good to be had here.

Final Score: 7.0