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| Typical Call of Duty player, am I right? Us gamers. |
Lisa finds herself bored with school, as Ms. Hoover has spent the entire day showing outdated educational movies. She tries to have Principal Skinner increase the challenge, but he notes that doing so will draw the ire and confusion of the less bright, and chooses not to go along with her plan. Meanwhile, Bart's class has gone on a field trip to the police station. Able to separate from the group, Bart finds a large quantity of megaphones. Learning that two of them, in front of the other, is much louder than one on its own, Bart lines up a total of fifteen megaphones aimed at the window. Upon speaking the word "testing", a large shockwave of audio feedback explodes through town, shattering every window and beer bottle it comes across. Later, with a loud ringing noise still persistent, Chief Wiggum brings Bart home to be punished. Wiggum suggests the family take Bart to a military school to teach him discipline. The two agree to do so, and take Bart there under the false premise of taking him to Disneyland.
The military school is as Bart feared, but the challenge of the classwork is exactly what Lisa is hoping for, and she's able to convince both her parents and the school's Commandant to have her attend the school, notable because the school had not admitted a girl in its history. With a girl now in the ranks, a lot of cadets are forced to move out of their barracks and into another one as theirs is converted into a girl's barracks. This immediately gets Lisa on the wrong foot with the cadets, who agree to subject both Lisa and Bart to heavy amounts of hazing. After some point, though, the cadets decide that Bart has 'become worthy' and accept him into their ranks, though they have no such plans with Lisa.
As Bart tries to fit in with the cadets, Lisa becomes isolated, and she has difficulty with with less-intellectual facets of military school. She tries to call home for reassurance, but gets no answer. After willfully listening to Grampa ramble for an entire day on the phone, she gets a care package from Marge featuring an audio tape. She tries to get Bart to listen to it as well, but he declines so that he doesn't fall out of favor with the other cadets.
Feeling bad for shunning Lisa, Bart apologizes to her the next day, and decides to help her out in secret. A short time later, the cadets are introduced to the 'final exam', as it were: the Eliminator. Its a single, blister-making rope stationed 40 ft above a garden of thorn bushes, with the goal being to crawl across the entire length of the rope. Bart tries to have a fearful Lisa practice the obstacle at night, but Lisa admits that this is a challenge she wasn't prepared for.
On the day of the challenge, all of the other cadets make it across, including Bart, with Lisa the final person to attempt it. She struggles, and at one point her hands slip, leaving her dangling by her feet. As the other cadets root for her to fall, Bart finally steps up and gives Lisa open encouragement. Lisa is rejuvenated by Bart's aid, and is able to recover and complete the obstacle. The other cadets, betrayed by Bart, plan to give him hell for the rest of the semester, but the semester ends in three hours, so Bart is basically spared. The two are able to graduate with the rest of the class, and to celebrate Homer and Marge tell the two they're going to Disneyland for real: but really they're just going to the dentist.
Quick Review
Season 8 ends on a strong note with this episode, with a fast and funny start that admittedly slows down near the end but still has enough quality for it to be among some of the season's better episodes, and is one of the better season finales out there. If Season 8 is considered the final season of the Simpsons' golden age, this episode is a fine way to conclude it.
Final Score: 9.5
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