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| Its like this got shoehorned in because "Grampa the Bullfighter" can't sustain its own episode. |
Homer hears the news that the commissioner of football is going to expand his league to include a new team, and decides to spearhead an initiative to bring the team to Springfield. His efforts work so well, Springfield beats out crummy ol' Los Angeles for the new team. The city quickly prepares for the commissioner's arrival, who needs to sign a few contracts to make the deal official, but the city renames it streets after football terms, making it very confusing for the commissioner to navigate. With his cell phone drained, the commissioner is forced to stop somewhere to make a call, stopping right at the Simpson place. Only Grampa is in at the moment, "babysitting" Maggie, and he lets him in. However right afterward Grampa watches a show which reveals that criminals often come into homes to 'make a phone call' only to steal valuables. Grampa begins to suspect the commissioner and is able to knock him out from behind. The other Simpsons return home from the stadium to find Grampa and a now tied up commissioner. After they free the commissioner, the man proclaims pro football will never come to Springfield, and Grampa takes the direct blame.
After dealing with everyone hating him for a few days, Grampa is convinced by someone to kill himself, using a doctor to help him with the process. Grampa comes close to death, passing out, but before the doctor can deliver death to the old man, the police arrive to arrest the doctor, as the assisted suicide bill has now been revoked. Grampa awakens, believing himself dead, and runs around town in glee. He quickly finds his family and learns he's not really dead, but he realizes that he was truly happy when he thought he was dead, as he wasn't fearful like he is usually is, and decides to live a more carefree life.
A town meeting decides that the football stadium will be converted into a bullfighting ring, much to Lisa's anger. Grampa decides to become its matador as he no longer fears death. After a few successful kills, Grampa is confronted by Lisa. While Grampa is happy that people are cheering for him again, Lisa admits that she always was, but not anymore now that Grampa is hurting innocent animals. In the next bullfight, Grampa takes Lisa's words to heart and instead of killing a bull, he lets them free on the streets, thereby preventing animal pain by allowing the bulls to inflict human pain on the people they come across. Lisa, of course, is happy with this and reconciles with Grampa.
Quick Review
This episode didn't really have much going for it. It started off okay with the football team opening, but the middle act's "Grampa is so depressed he's going to kill himself" provided little laughs, and then the final act was hardly any better when the bullfighting plot becomes the focus. Its a shame, as I usually enjoy Grampa episodes, but not this time.
Final Score: 6.2
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