 |
| "Hey come on, cut it out. I insist that you desist." |
A new girl comes to school, but is instantly shunned by the other school children, a feeling Lisa knows all to well. She goes to talk to the new girl, Francine, however as soon as Lisa nears her, she gets punched in the face. Having no idea why Francine would just do that, Lisa takes a suggestion from Marge to find something in common with the new girl, but that doesn't work out either and Francine ends up being Lisa's rather vicious bully.
In a sidestory, Homer and Marge are paid a visit to someone interested in selling them baby-proofing products, but is thrown out because her stuff isn't cheap. Homer decides to baby proof the house himself, and upon 'successfully' doing so decides to expand his operations across town. With all the kids in Springfield now safe, Homer feels accomplished, however his mood is soured when he learns that people in the baby-injury fields are losing money - and losing jobs. Realizing what he's done, Homer runs around town and encourages kids to no longer be safe, restoring whatever status quo there was in that regard.
Lisa attempts to rid herself of Francine by hiring the other bullies for protection, but they won't go up against a girl bully only because of how vicious they are. As Nelson tries to explain the way of things, Lisa notices Francine bullying smart kids but only smart kids, and decides to investigate why that is. She gets Willie to show her the video room and she begins looking at several tapes where she encounters Francine: one where Francine finds a hidden Lisa, and another where Francine shows no hostility to Lisa. Lisa inspects the second case, and sees that Francine was wearing nose plugs that time, coming up with a hypothesis that bullies go after nerds based on their scent.
After a few tests, Lisa displays her findings at a science expo. Explaining that the nerd sweat, which Lisa officially calls "Poindextrose", can overwhelm a bully with rage, Lisa then reveals that salad dressing - one with lots of vinegar anyway - can block the smell receptors of a bully to render them harmless. Lisa is given a gift certificate to JC Penny and she is congratulated on her scientific find, at least until she runs out of dressing and Francine goes nuts on all of the nerds in the building.
Quick Review
This was an enjoyable episode. Willie's moments as well as the scene with Drederick Tatum were among my favorites, and Homer's babyproofing side plot had its laughs from time to time as well. As per the usual, when the episode focuses solely on Lisa, the jokes are hard to find, but even so this episode is still pretty good.
Final Score: 8.1
No comments:
Post a Comment