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After spending part of a day at an Apron Expo, the Simpsons see a prison rodeo on the way back and decide to attend. There, a prisoner gets forced off a bull and into a wall, with the bull charging right at it. Marge has Homer distract the bull, but Homer messes up his back in the process. In the prison infirmary, Marge sees a pair of paintings and learns they were painted by that same prisoner, Jack Crowley.
Wanting to see just what kind of hidden talent Jack has, Marge is allowed to set up an art class at the prison to learn more about the guy. She learns that Jack was arrested for shooting Apu, a common crime, and with just how talented he is with the paintbrush, Marge believes he deserves a second chance. She is able to convince a parole board that Jack is alright, and they let him go, but only under Marge's custody.
Meanwhile, Homer goes to a chiropractor to fix his ailing back. The chiropractor lessens Homer's pain a smidge, but with numerous expensive visits ahead, Homer isn't liking it thus far. However, a freak accident occurs when Homer falls, face up, straight onto a trash can. The accident ends up 'fixing' Homer's back, and he realizes he's got his next zany scheme on him. Setting up a chiropractic business of his own, he fixes people's backs by having them fall onto the same trash can. The chiropractic business gets wise to Homer, though, and soon enough goons come in to steal and subsequently destroy Homer's trash can.
Marge is able to find Jack work at the Elementary school, where Principal Skinner wants a mural painted. Marge fibs a bit to get Jack the job, and its then when she learns that Jack has actually been to jail twice, with the first time involving a farm couple in an unspecified incident. Jack tries to paint one with his own personal touch, but Skinner hates it and forces Jack to paint a cute design Skinner had drawn up. With Jack's hatred towards Skinner mounted, he follows Marge's advice and complies. The day of the mural's unveiling occurs, and sure enough everyone hates the cute mural. Chalmers gets on Skinner for it, and in his deflective manner, Skinner puts the blame on Jack for the unpopular painting.
A short time later, the mural ends up on fire, and Jack is nowhere to be seen. Fearing that Jack has relapsed to crime, Marge finds Jack hiding nearby. Jack pleads with Marge that he didn't set the mural on fire, and Marge decides on a plan to help him escape. It seems to work, but instead of escaping Jack decides to set Skinner's car on fire. Marge has given up hope on Jack, and he is driven off by Chief Wiggum where they engage in small talk.
Quick Review
I really enjoyed this episode. Homer's chiropractor sidestory has its moments, and the main story held up well enough and picked up at the end when Skinner and Chief Wiggum become involved. Admittedly, there is a bit of a lull during the middle portion when Marge is visiting Jack in jail, but its a minor complaint in what is an otherwise great episode.
As a sidenote, there is a scene in said middle portion where Marge tells Bart she's seen Sideshow Bob in jail, and that Bob says he'll see Bart "real soon". Sure enough, our next Sideshow Bob episode is just three episodes away (Day of the Jackanapes). You gotta like that hidden little foreshadowing.
Final Score: 8.6
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