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| Fruitbatman wouldn't use a gun! ...unless it was golden age Fruitbatman ...or an alternate universe version of him. Man, comics can be stupid. |
Its an Easter celebration that suddenly faces ruin when a band's musical instruments shoot out a barrage of eggs, ruining many clothes and such. The town catches Bart laughing his ass off over the prank, and all naturally assume he's behind it. A mob of people chase after Bart. Mr. Burns is in its path and he and Smithers hide within the nearest building: the comic book shop. After looking at a couple of comics, Burns reminisces over his youthful days when he would read comics until his father forbade him by buying out then burning the publisher. Feeling nostalgic, I suppose, Burns decides to buy comic book guy's entire stock of comics.
Meanwhile, Bart successfully convinces the family he didn't do the egg prank after Maggie believes Bart is innocent. Still, the school band that was used in the prank arrives to punish Bart in some way, when Lisa intervenes and declares a "youth court" be held to determine Bart's guilt. As it is a legal obligation, the band is forced to leave things up to the court, and Lisa decides to defend Bart in court. However, they need an impartial judge (i.e., someone who doesn't hate Bart), and Grampa knows just the person: Janet Reno, whom Grampa had met some fifteen years prior. Bart and Lisa doubt this claim, and are both stunned when Reno arrives to preside as the judge for the trial. Lisa defends Bart well through some revealing testimony, particularly when Lunchlady Doris reveals that the only way Bart could've even reached the eggs was to grab her personal key to the storeroom where the large quantity of eggs were being held. Lisa thinks the case is won, but makes a critical slip up when she refers to Bart as a "sweet, lovable" boy. Reno reasons that from that wording, the court would then need to hear from people who don't view Bart in such a manner, and Bart and Lisa see the trial slip away from their grasp.
Meanwhile, Burns has trouble coming across a comic book he likes, until he comes across what is basically a Batman comic book. Inspired, Burns decides he, too, can go out into the streets to fight crime, becoming "Fruitbatman". Smithers plays along with the old man's delusions, but things get serious when Burns actually spots a crime: Snake robbing Apu yet again. As Burns slowly makes his way over to the crime, a worried Smithers gets their first, and offers both men $1000 to play along with Burns. The two agree, and Burns believes himself to have stopped his first crime. Soon, Smithers is forced to pay actors, nuclear plant workers, etc. money to act as supposed villains for Burns, who gladly takes everything at face value.
After several people testify against Bart's character, notably Moe who is now aware that it was Bart who delivered those prank calls, Lisa doesn't give up and notices Fruitbatman's exploits in a nearby newspaper. She goes to Burns manor to talk to Burns, but the old man won't bother with her. Angry, Smithers reveals everything to Burns, frustrated that the one time someone actually needs help, he turns her down, shaming the old man. Later, Lisa sees Marge putting egged clothes in the washing machine, agreeing to clean up Bart's alleged mess. However, Lisa sees an oddity: a skirt with a single egg stain on it, as though it was put there on purpose to pretend they, too, got it. Marge corrects Lisa by telling her its a kilt, and the two quickly find their new main suspect: Groundskeeper Willie. Willie admits to the crime, claiming religion or something for his motive and revealing that he made love to Doris to steal the key while she was sleeping so he can have it copied to steal the eggs. However, Willie grabs his kilt back from Lisa and shreds it in a nearby wood chipper, and it seems like that's that.
Just then, Fruitbatman arrives to help Lisa out, going after Willie and, after a rather odd confrontation, is able to subdue Willie albeit just barely. In court, with Bart's character completely demolished, Reno is about to convict Bart of the crime. Just in time, Fruitbatman busts in to hand in Willie, and Bart is cleared of the crime. This is distressing news to Moe, who now fears even a single phone call.
Quick Review
One half of the episode was a straight-up Batman parody and the other half had Janet Reno as a guest star (though most of it was voiced by Reno's sister because of Janet's health). It was a recipe for disaster, yet the episode turns out to be one of the best of the season. Why was this? I liked Smithers' involvement in the episode, and while the lines delivered by either Reno weren't all that great, the plot with Bart and Lisa still had plenty of good moments, like the entire family bursting into laughter when Lisa implied a Simpson never gives up. The episode still has your now-standard slip ups, like the weird Avengers parody that led to the credits, but overall it doesn't hurt the episode that badly.
Final Score: 7.7
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