Insane Clown Poppy (S12, E03-251)

Krusty, playing a tune for his (not-to-be-seen-until-16-seasons-later) daughter.

Plot Summary
At a book fair, Krusty learns that he has a daughter, Sophie.  She helps him remember an instance during the Gulf War where he had to hide in a random tent during a dust storm.  There, he met a woman soldier - Sophie's mother - and the two got intimate for no apparent reason.  However, he interferes with her mission to assassinate Suddam Hussein (mostly because it'll ruin his act), thereby instilling an intense hatred of clowns into her, though Sophie is more interesting in bonding with her father.

Krusty reluctantly decides to spends time with Sophie, and finds fatherhood to be more demanding than he anticipated.  He seeks aid from another father, and asks the first one he comes across at the beach: Homer.  Although I don't think Homer gives Krusty any actual advice, Krusty does a better job at spending time with Sophie, and she decides to entrust her violin with him for some reason.

Later, Krusty is at the bar gambling with Moe, Homer, Snake and Fat Tony.  Thinking he's got a hand won with four aces, Krusty needs extra money when Fat Tony raises the pot.  Looking desperately for something of value, he decides to throw in Sophie's violin under the premise that he won't actually lose it when he wins.  However, Fat Tony has a straight flush, and wins the hand and the violin, devastating Krusty.

Krusty tries to make amends with Sophie, but Sophie wants her violin back, losing respect for Krusty.  Krusty goes to Homer for help again, and Homer decides the two should just break into Fat Tony's house to get the violin back.  As it turns out, Tony is hosting some kind of mafia summit, leaving him busy with hosting duties.  The two sneak in and find several violin cases, but most of stuffed with guns.  With no time to search, the two try to sneak off with all of them, but accidentally sneak into the room where the summit is being held. causing a series of events which ultimately lead to Krusty recovering the violin.  He returns it to Sophie who regains some love for her father.

Quick Review
Despite some oddities with the premise (and dating it with the Gulf War reference), I still found this episode fairly enjoyable, as the jokes were funny for the most part.

Final Score: 8.0