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| "It makes no difference which one of us you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. DOOMED!" |
This is the first time a Treehouse of Horror is a season premiere, though certainly not the last time.
The Thing and I
Bart and Lisa start noticing odd, creepy noises coming from the attic, but are warned by their parents not to go check it out. After seeing Homer bring up a pail of fish heads to feed something, they later investigate the attic when their parents are out, and freak out when confronted by a shadowy figure. Homer and Marge come back home, and are terrified to learn that "Hugo" has escaped. After Bart inquires who or what that is, he learns that Hugo is his twin brother. Just then, Doctor Hibbert, who Marge called on the phone after Hugo escaped, arrives, and he further explains the story.
It seems, for the purpose of this story anyway, that Marge gave birth to Siamese twins, with Hugo, the left twin, having been scientifically proven as evil. Knowing that he'd be an outcast, Hibbert and the parents agree on the only humane option: locking Hugo in the attic giving him a steady diet of only fish heads. As the family and Hibbert head out to find Hugo, Homer tasks Bart with staying home, alone, to tape the hockey game. However, Hugo never left and now the two are by themselves. Hugo has gone mad since he and Bart were torn apart and is fully prepared and capable of sewing the two together again. Just then, Hibbert appears and is able to knock Hugo out. A short time later, Hibbert discovers that Hugo's separation scar is on the wrong side, and that the 'evil' twin is and always has been Bart. To correct the error, the family agrees with Hibbert to simply swap the two. Now Hugo gets to enjoy a turkey dinner with the family while Bart is forced to the attic to feed on fish heads.
Individual Score: +1.2
The Genesis Tub
Lisa sets up a science experiment by putting a baby tooth of hers into a small tub of soda. Just then, Bart gives her a shock of static electricity. Lisa accidentally shocks herself on the tooth, setting up an odd chain reaction.
The next morning, Lisa finds that she has created life in the tub, and that its progressing scientifically at an alarming rate. As the mini-culture reaches new heights of technology, Bart comes along and quickly brings the tub to ruin with a few finger presses. That night, the civilization responds with an all-out air strike at Bart. As Bart promises to flush the tub down the toiler, Lisa is suddenly shrunk down by a ray, allowing her to 'meet' the people she's created. However, because she can't protect them from Bart as she now is, she demands to be regrown, but the technology for that has yet to be created. Bart returns and steals the tub, using it to enter in and win the school science fair. Having lost her prize and stuck in the tub, Lisa settles into her new life.
Individual Score: +0.8
Citizen Kang
One day, as Homer is fishing by himself, he's abducted by aliens - Kang and Kodos to be precise. They have one mission this time around: conquest. They demand Homer take them to his leader, but Homer isn't sure about who it is. After all, its 1996, a week away from election time. Bill Clinton is the president at the moment, but he could be voted out in favor of Bob Dole. Kang and Kodos decide to abduct both men, store them in stasis tubes, and use bio-duplication to assume their forms, knowing that voters will vote in either one of the two, where they can begin their conquest. They spray Homer with rum so that no one will believe what he's witnessed, and send him on his way.
As the 'new' Clinton and Dole make people wonder what's going on, Homer attempts to inform the public they're fakes, but is laughed away. Depressed, Homer stumbles upon the spaceship Kang & Kodos flew in on, having been hid away in a shrub. Inside, Homer removes the stasis gel from the real Clinton and Dole (but not yet having removed them from the tubes) and heads for Washington. He attempts to free the two, but accidentally shoots them into space. Freaking out, Homer accidentally crashes the spaceship into D.C., where Kang and Kodos are giving one last debate. Homer is able to 'unmask' the two, but neither are worried as, again, they know the public has to vote for one or the other. One person suggests he'll vote for a third party candidate, but everyone knows that'll be a waste of a vote, and so Ross Perot is foiled yet again. Kang (who was Dole, mind you) wins, and promptly enslaves the public into building some kind of ray gun to use on some planet. Good times.
Individual Score: +1.3
Quick Review
Perhaps, it seems as though the best of the Treehouse of Horror is now behind it. Now, that doesn't mean these three stories weren't good, they all had their moments and were quality bits on their own, making for a fine overall episode. Still, I wasn't anticipating even this amount of drop off until a couple of seasons from now.
Final Score: 8.3
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