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| "Remember the time he ate my goldfish, and you lied to me and said I never had any goldfish? Then why did I have the bowl, Bart? Why did I have the bowl?" |
Marge gives Bart some junk mail after he gets no regular mail one day. Among the junk mail is a credit card offer, which intrigues Bart. Bart decides to apply for one and, despite him entering obviously fake credentials and the name "SANTAS LITTLE HELPER", he gets a credit card a few weeks later anyway under the name "Santos L. Halper". He finds, though, that he can't use the card anywhere where somebody knows him, or at least knows his name isn't Santos, but he finds a catalogue, and decides to buy things from that, and he buys a ton of crap from it. One of the final things he orders is a rarely bred, well trained $1200 collie, and as soon as the dog arrives it makes an immediately impression on Bart and the family, while Santas Little Helper is left ignored. The collie, named Laddie, is some kind of superdog (as Homer would say), able to perform tricks and feats and such.
Soon, Bart receives a call from a collection agency, as Bart obviously never did pay off the credit card bill. Realizing his mistake, he and Laddie go off to bury the card. Upon their return home, the repo men have come to reclaim Bart's purchases. They've collected all but one thing: the $1200 dog. Panicked, Bart tells the repo man that Santa's Little Helper is the dog, and they take him away as Bart is somewhat stunned by these turn of events.
Lying that Santa's Little Helper is at a kennel two towns over while Laddie settles in, Bart begins to feel remorse for his actions. Though the family, and the town as a whole begin to appreciate Laddie and his abilities, Bart is less impressed as the dog is and never will be Santa's Little Helper. One day, during a walk, Laddie forces Bart to take him to rescue a baby. As Laddie is giving a medal for his heroics, Chief Wiggum goes over to the two, openly wishing the police had a dog like that. Bart decides to give Laddie to him as the dog just wasn't for him. Back home, Bart tells the family that he gave Laddie to the police, and then reveals that he gave Santa's Little Helper away as well. Homer (in an attempt to get Bart to eat dog food), convinces Bart to search for his dog, and off he goes.
At the repo station, Bart learns the the dog had been taken in by a "man in a dress". After visiting his aunts with no luck, Bart tries Groundskeeper Willie, who is wearing a kilt. Willie admits to having picked up the dog, but hated him so he gave him up to the church. There, Bart learns that the dog was causing hell there, and that Reverend Lovejoy gave him to a parishioner. Bart visits this person, seeing the dog in the backyard, but learns that parishioner is a blind man, a Mr. Mitchell. Unwilling to talk about the dog with him, Bart takes his leave, but is still determined to get the dog back.
That night, Bart sneaks in to get the dog back, but the dog barks upon seeing Bart, alerting Mitchell. Bart tries to run, but flees into a closet, where Mitchell locks him in, calling the police. Bart yields and tells the man his story, and Mitchell decides to let the dog choose between him and Bart. Santa's Little Helper chooses Bart, leaving the blind man without a companion, much to Bart's sorrow. Just then, the police barge in, with Laddie. As Laddie jumps on the blind man, it seems like there's a happy ending to be had. Instead, Laddie finds a bag of pot in the man's pocket, and when Mitchell claims it to be medicinal, Wiggum advises Bart to leave as "this could take awhile". Bart and Santa's Little Helper head for home just as more police arrive to start up to "handle" the pot situation.
Quick Review
This episode definitely has its moments, including Milhouse's line above and Homer's "dog food" line to Bart later on, and the ending had a neat little twist as well. It all makes for another excellent episode for the season.
Final Score: 9.0
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