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| Nothing like turnip juice to cure what ails you. |
Marge catches Bart etching his name into wet cement and is furious. At dinner, she lectures Bart about town pride, a lesson that sticks in Bart's head. The next day, Bart sees Milhouse selling lemonade just as his lemon supply runs out. The two run off to acquire more, finally reaching a rather divine lemon tree on a hilltop on the edge of town. As Bart remarks about how great it really is to live in Springfield, he's quickly countered by a batch of boys from the neighboring Shelbyville, who are there to take a batch of lemons from Springfield's lemon tree. Bart and some other kids chase them away by throwing lemons at them, saving the other lemons from being stolen.
Grampa, who is also there for some reason, tells the kids there about the origins of the tree, which goes back to the town's founding. Jebediah Springfield and another man, Shelbyville Manhattan, were ready to found a town right at that same hill, however the two come to blows over whether a man could marry his cousin or not, a right Shelbyville will refuse to give up. The settlers decide to split up from there and the two men found their own towns right next to one another at which point the lemon tree was planted to mark the sweet occasion (lemons being the sweetest fruit available at the time).
The next day at school, Nelson interrupts an important lesson about Roman numerals to show the kids that the lemon tree had been stolen and dragged to Shelbyville. Bart, still filled with that new hometown pride, decides to lead a team into Shelbyville to get it back. Telling his parents he's "going to teach some kids a lesson", which they comprehend as Bart becoming a tutor, Bart quickly gathers a group consisting of him, Milhouse, Nelson, Martin, Todd Flanders and the oft-forgotten Database to enter Shelbyville.
The boys confirm that the tree was stolen by the same group of boys that gave them trouble the other day, but eventually the trail runs dry and the group splits up. Nelson and Martin come across one of the boys during their search for the tree, and as Bart goes undercover to join up with the Shelbyville gang, the group's leader learns about the infiltration and has everyone go up to Shelbyville Bluffs to spray paint "Springfield Sucks" into a rock formation. Bart is given this task somehow and instead writes "Springfield Rules, Suckers", revealing he's from Springfield. He is given chase by the group's leader via skateboard, coming to an abrupt end when Bart ironically runs into wet cement. He runs into the zoo, specifically a lion's den, where the rooms are numbered with Roman numerals. Bart tries to contact Milhouse via radio for help, but Milhouse is interrupted by one of the Shelbyville kids though the two soon find out they have the same name and reconcile. Bart eventually uses the Rocky movies to do Roman numeral addition and escapes.
Bart eventually does find the lemon tree, but its within a car impound lot, owned by the father of the group leader. Before Bart's group can act, they are found by their fathers, who finally figured out what was going on and drove to Shelbyville in Flanders' RV to get them back. However, when Bart tells them what happened, they agree to get the tree back. However, the impound lot owner refuses to give it back, and with the lot locked up, its seems as though this is Springfield's defeat.
Bart, though, comes up with an idea. He has Flanders park in a hospital zone, so that later in the day the impound lot owner will tow it away as its parked illegally. The plan works and the group is in the lot ala the Trojan Horse. As they sneak the tree away, Bart opens the gate, which sets off an alarm. With some difficulty, the group is able to flee just in the nick of time, and the group is able to return the tree to Springfield in one condition or another. Grampa revises his tale back at the hill to include the new tale of Springfield's heroes, meanwhile at Shelbyville an old man there praises the heroes of Shelbyville for having banished the lemon tree, as it was haunted. Then everyone there enjoys a nice cool glass of turnip juice. Good times.
Quick Review
This was another fun episode. The differences between Springfield and Shelbyville, a place that creeps even Nelson out, was fun to see, and the rivalry between Milhouse and Shelbyville Milhouse was great as well, as was the dynamic between Nelson and Martin. The episode serves as an excellent example of the rivalry between Springfield and Shelbyville, with their differences and similarities providing some comedic value as well.
Final Score: 9.2
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