The Trouble with Trillions (S09, E20-198)

"American tax dollars will help our allies, who fought
so poorly, and surrendered so readily."

Plot Summary
Though Ned Flanders is able to send in his tax return on the first day of the year, it seems like nobody else even tries to get theirs in early as, on the final hour of tax day the post office is swamped with people who have yet to file.  This includes Homer, who doesn't realize that that forms he sent in last year don't count for this year.  In a panic, he balls up a poorly done tax return and is able to bounce it into the mail bin at the very last second.  However, the return then bounces its way into an audit bin, and Homer is in trouble.

Homer is taken in by the IRS but then handed over to the FBI, as now he is forced to work for them to pay off his tax fraud.  Wearing a wire, he's able to help the government bring in a couple of people for conspiracy, however his job isn't done.  Now they want Homer to go on a high risk mission, using an old video to explain it.  After World War II, President Truman ordered the creation of a trillion dollar bill to aid his European allies.  Delivery of the bill was tasked to Monty Burns, who as the richest American at the time was also the most trustworthy to deliver the bill.  Of course, the bill went missing, causing those European allies to act snooty to Americans forever.  Homer is tasked to go to Burns' mansion and find that bill.

Homer is able to gain access as the hounds have gone missing and Burns can't scald Homer properly.  As Homer tries to look around for the bill, Burns spots him, believing him to be a magazine writer.  Home goes along with that story and is given a tour of Burns' mansion.  At a special "patriot" wing of the house, there's a model of Burns himself holding a replica of the bill, having 'saved' it from being squandered.  He reveals the real bill to Homer, but just then the FBI agents come in to arrest Burns.  Burns goes on a tirade about how tax dollars go to waste all the time, which convinces Homer to knock out the two agents and grab both Burns and the bill before escaping.

The two grab Smithers from his apartment, who informs them that they should probably leave the country for awhile.  They're able to do so via a plane, and now agree to just find an island and buy it with the trillion dollars.  Burns comes across an island, but it turns out to be Cuba which he crashes the plane into.  Shocked that Batista is no longer in power, Burns demands to see whoever is in charge to discuss buying Cuba.

As it turns out, Cuba is bankrupt, and though Castro and friends had their fun with communism, they're willing to cede defeat to American.  Just then, Burns arrives with his money.  Castro is able to convince Burns to let him 'see' the bill, but suddenly it disappears on him and Burns is out a trillion.  On a makeshift raft back to America, the three agree that America is at least a better country than Cuba, and that Burns is more than ready to bribe a jury to escape his charges.

Quick Review
This episode goes in a couple of different directions, but once it settles into the trillion dollar bill plot it turns out to be an excellent episode.  The backstory behind the bill as well as Burns' adventure in Cuba make for the high points of the episode.

Final Score: 8.9

Bart the Fink (S07, E15-143)

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't divulge information about that customer's
secret, illegal account."  *hangs up*  "Oh crap, I shouldn't of said
he was a customer.  Oh crap, I shouldn't of said it was a secret.
Oh crap!  I certainly shouldn't of said it was illegal!  Ah, its too hot today."

Plot Summary
After spending a night at their recently-deceased Aunt's haunted house, the Simpson family each receives $100 as part of the Aunt's will.  Marge 'encourages' Bart and Lisa to invest that money into a savings account at a bank, though Bart instead puts it into a checking account instead.  A short time later, Bart just misses out on getting Krusty's autograph, but is able to slip a check for 25 cents in his pocket, reasoning that if Krusty wants that money, he'll have to sign it, and Bart will get the check back in his monthly balance.  However, when the check comes back, he finds that it was endorsed with a stamp from an offshore holding corporation.  He goes back to the bank to demand a signature, but the banker there notices something odd about the stamp.  A five-minute investigation (hah) reveals that Krusty is a giant tax evader, and with Bart's help Krusty has finally been arrested for tax evasion (or as Kent Brockman puts it, tax avoision).

Given just how much evasion Krusty made, the IRS decides to garnish 95% of his salary, leaving his show in disarray.  To further pay for his taxes, his estate and belongings are auctioned off for mere cents.  Bart tries to comfort Krusty, but Krusty can't deal with his new life as a regular guy.  That night, Krusty gets into his last remaining possession - a personal plane - and flies through the skies, garnering a lot of attention before crashing into a rock formation.  The plane wrecked and no body to be found, Chief Wiggum declares Krusty dead, much to Bart's horror.

After the funeral, Bart starts seeing a man that resembles Krusty at various points, but nobody believes him as they believe its just his grief messing around with him.  However, each sighting has something in common so he takes Lisa along to the place where all the threads meet: the wharf.  There, he finds a check featuring a signature very similar to that of Krusty's, and finds the owner of that signature, Rory B. Bellows.  Upon finding him, it doesn't take much for the kids to break him down to admit he really is Krusty.  Krusty reveals that just before the plane crash, he jumped out to start his new life out at sea, but Bart and Lisa are able to convince him that his celebrity life, where he got to hang out with phonies and be more respected than scientists and educators, is still worth living for.  He decides to go back to his old life, using the 'death' of Rory B. Bellows to handle his tax problem.

Quick Review
Bart the Fink is another solid episode, albeit not among the best episodes of the season.  After Krusty's 'death', the episode goes into a sort of lull for awhile though Bob Newhart's appearance is appreciated for its humor.  Otherwise, there were still quite a few good jokes and bits and is still a classic episode.

Final Score: 8.6