The Seven-Beer Snitch (S16, E14-349)

With that hat and that scooter, how did Homer not get killed for this earlier?

Plot Summary
The Simpsons go to Shelbyville (that's a name I haven't heard in awhile) and catch a play where they learn that Shelbyville considers Springfielders as moronic hicks.  After being 'hoot'-ed out by the townsfolk, Marge addresses Springfield's leaders over a supposed lack of cultural influence, and convinces them to build a concert hall.  Marge (eventually) convinces Frank Gehry to build it in his supposedly trademark style, and its quickly finished.  However, Springfield lives up to its stereotype as it turns out they hate classical music and other such forms of culture.  Within days, the concert hall becomes a dilapidated, abandoned building.  However, Mr. Burns comes along to buy the building and assume all of its debt, so that he can turn it into a profitable prison.

Waves of people try to apply as a prison guard.  Homer attempts to do so, but his urine sample is swapped with Otto's, who knows his sample isn't going to get things done, so Homer doesn't get the job.  Meanwhile, the prison doesn't have quite the number of inmates as Burns would like so the police start arresting people for decades old laws that never made sense.  A still angry Homer is spotted kicking a can around and is quickly arrested for 'transporting litter', and sent to Burns' prison.

Homer freaks out at first, but after he unwittingly prevents Snake from escaping, he cuts a deal with Burns to become a prison snitch, gaining all sorts of gifts and perks for ratting out violations his fellow prisoners make.  Soon, the inmates gather together to try and figure out who the snitch is, but they quickly learn its Homer.  Homer doesn't seem concerned about being a snitch until he learns from Marge that snitches usually get theirs in the end.

Breaking from that for a moment, in the episode's subplot, Bart and Lisa are curious as to why their cat, Snowball V II, is so fat.  They follow the cat around, and find that its getting extra food from a second family who even taught the cat tricks.  Lisa has Bart go into the house to find out what's so great, but he too loves the house and all of the delicious food the family's mother provides.  That's pretty much the entire sidestory.

Homer picks up 'info' from Snake that the inmates are planning a mass breakout, and quickly tells the guards.  That night, they all head outside to prevent the breakout, however the inmates take advantage of there being no guards inside by going after Homer.  As he escapes their wrath, he's met by Marge, who has a key to what was once the concert hall.  The two hide in the gas chamber, but are surrounded by angry inmates until authorities arrive to knock out the inmates with tear gas somehow.  Along with the authorities arrive Mr. Burns and Governor Bailey, and Homer decides to use his snitching for 'good', informing the Governor about the horrible conditions within the prison.  Bailey takes Homer's info to heart, and decides to shut the prison down.  Homer is let go, while the other prisons get to fight one another to the death, or something similar to that.  Homer is happy to be free, where he can once again enjoy sneaking off to Moe's late at night while passing by his obese cat.

Quick Review
This episode wasn't anything special.  The subplot didn't add anything to the episode, and the main plot had lulls where nothing really funny was happening.  There wasn't anything particularly bad about the episode, just nothing particularly good.

Final Score: 6.7

I, (D'oh)-Bot (S15, E09-322)

Now why didn't robot fighting last longer than it did?  Why, I ask!

Technically the episode name is "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" but who would actually call it that, really.

Plot Summary
Bart finds his bike to be incapable of keeping up with the 10-speed bikes the cool kids are using.  Homer explicitly tells Bart that he'll only a new bike when his old one no longer functions, no questions asked.  Bart sets up a ploy where his bike gets run into by a passing-by car, Dr. Hibbert's car, and Hibbert also agrees to pay for the new bike in apology.  However, as he begins to drive away, Lisa cat, Snowball II, leaps from Lisa's arms and ends up being run over by Hibbert's car, dying in the process.  As Lisa mourns the departure of her second cat, Homer get Bart the new bike, though he refuses to pay to have it assembled.  Homer decides to build it himself, and at first seems to actually do it, but it turns out he didn't, and the bike falls apart just as Bart attempts to show it off.

Bart is extremely disappointed in Homer and his inability to build things.  Homer decides to prove Bart wrong and tries to build a robot after noticing Bart likes to watch one of those robot fighting shows that were popular at the time.  However, he's unable to, and seemingly gives up.  The next morning, though, Bart is greeted with a hammer-wielding robot Homer seemingly built, having it smash a six-pack of beer to test its might and stability.  As Bart rushes off to show off his robot, its revealed that Homer is inside, having just built a metal casing to pose as a robot.  Bart enters the 'robot' into a robot fighting contest, calling his robot "Chief Knock-a-Homer".  In the first fight, against a saw-wielding robot, Homer gets a deep cut on his arm, but is able to defeat the robot anyway.  Homer continues fighting in the competition, keeping the truth of the robot - and his wounds - secret from Bart and the family.

Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa go to the pound to get a new cat, and Lisa finds one she calls "Snowball III".  However, a short time later she finds the new cat having drowned in the fish tank.  Saddened, Lisa tries to get a new cat, and finds one called "Coltrane", named after the jazz musician.  Lisa brings Coltrane home and tries to play some Coltrane for it, but the cat can't stand it and jumps out the window to its death.  Feeling unlucky, Lisa laments her situation when that crazy cat lady throws a cat at Lisa, a cat that looks just like Snowball II.  Lisa tries to push it away, afraid it'll die like the others, but after seeing the cat avoid death, she decides to keep it and call it Snowball V (even though she never called Coltrane 'Snowball IV'), but then decides to call it Snowball II to save money on a dish and avoid confusion, a rather odd continuity reset Principal Tamzarian Skinner points out as he walks by.

Chief Knock-a-Homer makes it to the robot fighting championship, but its up against Smashious Clay, a rather terrifying robot built by Professor Frink and boy that looks like Frink that may or may not be his son.  Despite the high probability of death, Homer tries to keep his ruse going, but after one round's worth of a beatdown, he stumbles back to Bart who finally discovers the secret.  However, Bart is even prouder of Homer now, as he risked his life to beat up robots.  The second round starts and Homer is beat up even more, being forced out of the casing.  Frink's robot stops fighting, following its directive to only serve humans, and everyone becomes disgusted with robot fighting after 'man' is declared the champion.

Quick Review
The main storyline with Homer and Bart had its moments.  It was nothing spectacular, but it held its own and I had no problems with it, really.  I didn't really have any problems with the cat subplot, not even to take away points from the episode's score but I still found it odd.  In all, three cats died in Lisa's care, and in the end Lisa gets a fourth cat that looks just like the one she started with and with the same name as well.  That, combined with the lack of jokes in the subplot kinda makes the whole thing pointless.  It doesn't detract from the episode, like I've said, but it doesn't help it any, either.

Final Score: 7.2