Whistler's Father (S29, E03-621)

Recap: Maggie inherits Grampa's ability to whistle exceptionally and becomes a baby diva before she even hits it big.  Meanwhile, the mafia asks the style-'conscious' Marge to 'redecorate' the old post office into a whore house.

Review: Overall, its a dull episode.  A few jokes worked, a few jokes didn't.  Maggie's plotline was borderline ridiculous which didn't help matters.  Episode could've fared better with more mafia gags as they were the best part of the episode.  Better than the other two episodes of this season, of course that's not saying much.

Final Score: 6.2

22 for 30 (S28, E17-613)

I'm using this image to remind myself why I scored the episode
so low.  I'll probably forget in the future.

Plot Summary
If you're not familiar with ESPN's 30 for 30 series, basically its sports documentaries usually done very well.  This episode is basically that.

Bart, whose latest prank ends up with him in eternal detention, develops basketball shooting skills while in detention.  He becomes so adept at shooting he joins the school basketball team to annul the detention.  He quickly becomes a star player and, with it, the spoils in every sense of the word.  With Willie no longer willing to coach such an annoyance, Homer volunteers to coach, but even he has enough of Bart's showboating, and politely asks Bart to be a team player.

Fat Tony takes note of Bart's anger at Homer over this and convinces Bart to point shave (win by only a single point or two to be under the spread) to infuriate Homer while, unknown to Bart, Fat Tony would make a killing in bet winnings.  Bart was happy to oblige, despite his antics now drawing the ire of everyone in town because of how obvious the point shaving was, but Bart finally realizes his error when Fat Tony tries to give Bart some of the winnings then asks him to outright lose the finals.

Eventually, with the guidance of Homer and others, Bart defies the mob and just wins the finals for the team.  Fat Tony attempts to get Bart for the betrayal, but Lisa steps in, having found embarrassing information about Tony that forces him to relent.  Afterward, Bart stops playing after a tall kid makes him realize he's not that good.

Quick Review
This episode has lots of ups and downs.  Let's review them, shall we?

Ups:

• Fat Tony was pretty good for the most part this episode.  He basically salvaged it, as much of it could be salvaged.
• Some of the cutaway "interviews" were funny, like with Krusty and especially Grampa.  Milhouse's were mixed.
• Most of the "security cam footage" bits were funny, as was the "FBI audio" bits.

Downs:

• So, like four or five times this episode, it cuts to a guy who is clearly a mimicry of Stephen A. Smith.  Smith, for those who don't know, makes a living "debating" on ESPN morning/afternoon shows, but his style of "debate" is basically loud yelling at whatever "point" his poor counterpart may have made.  The mock Smith in this episode has no counterpart so its just him loudly yelling in general.  Easily, easily the worst part of the episode, he singlehandedly brought its score down by a whole point, he's was that bad.
• There was a little sidebit which mentions Nelson's once-again-missing dad only to find out at the end of the episode that the narrator was Nelson's dad all along.  He reunites with his family only to disappear again.  Keep in mind, there was an episode during the early Zombie seasons which was supposed to bring his father back permanently and nothing happened to explain why he disappeared again.
• Oh here's a fun episode with Bart and Fat Tony and Homer I guess how will they get out of it this tim- oh, its Lisa again.  Yawn.
• Did you know basketball star Stephen Curry was a guest voice, but only provided his voice at the end?  And that he was actually paid (I presume) to say "nothing but nerd"?  Please fire the person who set up that "joke".  If it was Curry himself, please tell him his humor needs work.
• Louie, Fat Tony's goon, was rather chatty in this episode.  It was meant for gags, but it got annoying pretty quick.

So you might notice the downs are more lengthy than the ups.  I wanted to enjoy this episode, it has a some goodwill going for it, but there was just too much against it.  It ends up being a weaker episode for this season, which is saying quite a lot.

Final Score: 5.8

What to Expect When Bart's Expecting (S25, E19-549)

This was a 'gag' at the end of the episode.  My reaction: what

Plot Summary
Bartenders across Springfield increase their dwindling revenue for a night by hosting a superhero costume affair which basically boils down to more drinking for much more money.  The shenanigans leave Homer in a particularly hungover state the following morning.

Bart, meanwhile, is forced to go to art class and has particular disdain for the joyful and positive art teacher, Mrs. Trunch.  He gets an idea from Shauna (who is revealed to be Superintendent Chalmer's daughter, whatever) to use voodoo to get rid of Trunch.  Bart follows this advice and after visiting a witch doctor or some sort, he teams up with Milhouse to place a voodoo hex on Trunch, in an attempt to give her a "tummy ache".  The next day, Bart smugly reveals his ploy to the class, but is stunned not only when Trunch comes to class, but also reveals that she does have a specific "tummy ache", but because she's pregnant.  Word quickly spreads that Bart was the one to cause the pregnancy.

Punished, I guess, for what he did, Bart is soon met by a couple having trouble conceiving.  Having heard of what Bart "did" and hoping for a miracle, they ask Bart to use his voodoo on them.  Bart eventually does so, and a few weeks later, the lady of the couple is pregnant and they attribute that fact to Bart.  Soon, Bart starts up a business of using voodoo to hex couples into getting pregnant, until Homer realizes the ploy and confronts Bart over it.  The two don't have long to get into an argument over it, as the two are soon captured by Fat Tony's gang.

Fat Tony demands Bart use his "ability" to breed his horse with a thoroughbred, threatening to kill him and Homer if they fail to get the horses to conceive by morning.  As Bart shares his frustrations over how Homer's poor parenting somehow led to this specific situation, Homer realizes two things: the thoroughbred is gay, and that there's a second male steed in the shack.  The second male, a former Duff Clydesdale whom Homer kinda idolized as a kid, is used by Homer to breed with the female through a musical number, and by morning a pony is on the way, saving Homer and Bart.  The Simpsons visit the horse family a year later to see how they're doing, I guess.

Quick Review
This was a pretty weak episode.  Not a lot of it was funny.  The beginning sequence seemed like an excuse for the writers to let out their inner comic-book geek again (BOY THAT WATCHMEN REFERENCE SURE WAS FUNNY, AGAIN), and aside from a few decent jokes here and there the rest of the episode was a bit of a chore to watch.  Even the use of Fat Tony and his gang, usually a strong source of humor for me, wasn't utilized very well, and the musical number wasn't that funny either.  Really, the score its getting is better than what it should be getting, but that's mainly because nothing about the episode was particularly awful.

Final Score: 6.5

Penny-Wiseguys (S24, E05-513)

The episode barely explains why these two know each other, are they even friends or what?

Plot Summary
A game of bowling is ruined for most of the original Pin Pals when their new fourth member, Dan Gillick, is forced to leave in the last frame for work.  It turns out that Dan is a mafia accountant, and is forced to crunch numbers during mafia meetings.  Fat Tony reveals that he's been selected for jury duty, and as a result he must have someone take his place temporarily, and for some reason gives Dan that responsibility.  Dan, of course, has trouble getting the other mafioso to respect him.  At the bar, Dan - whom Homer had met while retrieving a frisbee that landed on Dan's roof - gets advice from Moe to be more aggressive and edgier.  After a swig of beer, Dan does just that and is able to put terrify the other mobsters enough to allow him to enact several cost-cutting measures.

Meanwhile, Lisa collapses during a solo at a school concert, and its learned that she has an iron deficiency, thanks in part to her vegetarianism.  She's given iron supplements to compensate, but she has a tough time swallowing them.  Lunchlady Doris, though, helps Lisa out by showing her a new avenue in acquiring iron: eating bugs, which is okay for vegetarians because of reasons.  Lisa gives it a try, and likes it enough to start growing her own grasshopper colony.  However, in the process Lisa starts to become allured to regular ol' meat again, enough to sleepwalk over to meat items.  Realizing that her new bug diet is that cause of this, Lisa quits eating bugs and has Bart (for some reason) free her grasshoppers.  Bart half-asses it, and the grasshoppers end up hopping around in the basement, which he doesn't care about.

Dan meets Fat Tony during a break and Tony is pleased with Dan's progress in cutting budget, but wants Dan to cut even more.  Dan tells Fat Tony that the only place left to cut is in personnel, and Fat Tony tells Dan that in his business, people don't get laid off, they get laid out.  Dan realizes that he's gotta kill some guys, and for some reason goes to Homer for help - to help stop Dan from killing anyone because he's built up enough edge to actually go through with it.  Homer is forced to agree - Dan has been given a gun - and Homer ties Dan up in the basement... the same basement full of freed grasshoppers.  Homer notices this a few hours later and after freeing Dan from the grasshoppers, Dan has too much edge and escapes, ready to kill him some mobsters.

As Lisa and Marge properly release those grasshoppers, Homer chases Dan across town, preventing him from killing mobsters Johnny Tightlips and Louie.  Dan goes after Legs and associate next, but Homer catches up to him and, after a struggle, Homer takes Dan's gun away from him just as Fat Tony helps give a verdict in court.  Fat Tony comes back, happy that costs have been cut even further now that there's only one gun: his, and Dan has relegated himself to shooting a piercing gun for young girls as he can never get over the thrill of pulling the trigger.

Quick Review
This was actually a pretty decent episode.  I'm always a sucker for mob antics, and this episode had a good amount to offer.  Lisa's side story was, predictably, unfunny but at least it tied into the main story for one scene anyway.  The main story's focus on Dan - voiced by Steve Carell - was kinda odd, but I didn't mind it any.  Overall, its still funnier than anything Season 23 had to offer.

Final Score: 7.3

The Real Housewives of Fat Tony (S22, E19-483)

It starts to get tiresome, going to your sister's various weddings.

Plot Summary
At the DMV, Bart and Lisa create line chaos after Homer stuck them in the line to do fun things.  Planning to sell the front of the line for money, their plans are halted when Fit Fat Tony comes in to declare a change of address.  However, the clerk working at the time, Selma, does her usual DMV bit to even Tony, and Tony is unable to accomplish anything.  Having been slighted in public, Fat Tony has Selma kidnapped, and plans on slicing off her body parts, courteous enough to let her choose first.  Selma insists of them taking off her love handles, and Tony comes to like Selma's brashness.  He gets a doctor to give liposuction to Selma, and the two begin to fall in love.

Meanwhile, Lisa discovers Bart has a knack for smelling truffles.  The pair encounter Luigi nearby, who pays the two good money for the few truffles they've found, lamenting that the pig he had flown over from Italy was proving worthless at truffle hunting.  Looking to cash in, Bart more than gladly sniffs out more truffles, but Lisa becomes more and more demanding of Bart.  Soon enough as nearly every truffle around has been harvested, Bart tries to quit, but trips and gets knocked out for a second.  Lisa uses this opportunity to cover Bart's mouth and eyes to make him better at truffle sniffing, and indeed it does.  He's able to sniff more truffles... in Lisa's room.  Lisa reveals that she hadn't been selling them, she's been eating them because, as a vegetarian, its the only tasty thing she's had in forever.  With just one truffle left, Lisa lets Bart do whatever with it, and Bart decides to let Luigi's pig eat it, which ends up being a bad idea as the pig becomes truffle crazy and runs amuck in Luigi's restaurant.

Fat Tony and Selma eventually decide to marry, and the family is invited.  During the reception, though, the Simpsons are placed at a faraway table.  Marge is irritated by this, and learns that Selma didn't want Homer screwing things up.  Marge takes offense to this, and the two have an open spat.  Later, Fat Tony decides to invite Homer and Marge to his beach resort in New Jersey so that the two sisters can make up.  After some initial hostilities, Marge and Selma do make up after Selma admits she might've been harsh on Homer out of jealousy that Marge had married.  A short time later, though, as Marge and Homer go back to their room, they overhear Fat Tony getting ready for his "goomar", which Marge knows is slang for a mistress.

Marge tells Selma that Fat Tony is cheating on her, and after Selma cries over yet another failed marriage, she confronts Tony the next morning.  Just then, a woman crashes in with her car, revealing herself to be Fat Tony's actual wife, with a ring to match.  It turns out Selma is the goomar; during the ceremony everything was spoken in Italian, leaving Selma unaware it was to make her Tony's goomar, not his wife.  As Tony's wife and Selma engage in a cat fight, Marge is again glad she's marry to simple ol' Homer, and the two make out nearby.

Quick Review
This episode starts off strong.  I'm a sucker for mob references, and the beginning of the episode had them in spades.  However, once the Jersey Shore references started up, the episode takes a pretty hard fall and there was no recovery from it.  The truffle side story had a little bit going for it at first, but it too suffered from a lame ending, and so the episode ends up as a middle of the road effort for the season.

Final Score: 6.8

Donnie Fatso (S22, E09-473)

I like how there's a carrot in Fit Tony's hand, as though we wouldn't get that he's fit otherwise.

Plot Summary
It's New Years Day, but unfortunately for Homer, he gets pinned by a slew of Springfield's new laws meant to tax the hell out of people.  Piling up $1000 worth of fines, Homer gets advice from Moe to place a bribe at window #9 at the courtroom.  Homer tries to do so, but nobody is at the window at the time so he leaves his ticket and a bag with the word "bribe" on it at the window.  Of course, a short time later Homer is arrested for the bribe and is given a 10 year jail sentence.

Homer is about to begin his sentence when Chief Wiggum reveals a way Homer can get out early: become a mob informant.  Homer meets up with an agent of the FBI, who informs Homer he's been on Fat Tony's tail for 20 years, trying to catch him smuggling Belgian guns.  He wants Homer to get close to Fat Tony, wearing a Fonzie-like wig which contains surveillance equipment as a disguise.  With Tony and his cronies currently in prison, Homer is sent in as Nicky "Blue Pants" Saxophony, and befriends Louie after he 'defends' Louie from a 'guard' (the FBI agent).  Louie takes Homer's act as genuine, and soon introduces Homer to Fat Tony, who decides to break out of prison.  As the prison was made by the mafia, Tony quickly crumbles a nearby wall and the group easily escapes.

Tony and Homer become fast friends, but before Homer can get any closer, Tony wants Homer to whack Moe, who mistakenly believed Tony's innocent mis-dial was a prank call.  Tasking Homer to burn down Moe's Tavern, Homer is saved when Moe does the deed himself rather than install a ladies' room.  Tony doesn't see this and only assumes Homer actually did it, and therefore lets Homer into the family, a gesture Homer fully accepts.  Soon, though, Homer is taken to a dock where Tony tells Homer about a Belgian gun shipment that's about to come in.  Homer tries to warn Tony, and as authorities start moving in, Tony finally figures out that Homer was a rat.  Unable to deal with the betrayal, Fat Tony has a heart attack, and dies right there.

With the FBI agents rather cold towards Homer, Homer is let free and is able to go home.  Still, he can't let go of his time with Fat Tony, and visits his grave where he gets whacked with a shovel.  Upon coming to, he thinks he hears Fat Tony's voice, but its actually the voice of his cousin, Fit Tony who, as the name implies, looks like a much fitter version of Fat Tony.  Fit Tony planned on killing Homer, but after seeing Homer's genuine sorrow and grief towards Fat Tony's death, Fit Tony decides not to kill Homer, believing that Fat Tony's memory will live on in him.  Homer narrates the rest, as Fit Tony takes over the Springfield mafia.  However, Fit Tony has a hard time dealing with the pressure of being a mob boss, and starts overeating to lessen his woes.  Eventually, he gains enough weight to be called "Fitfat Tony" and then just "Fat Tony", even wearing the same clothes as the original one.  Still, Homer is glad to be back with his family even if the only person in said family to ever shoot a gun was Maggie.

Quick Review
I remember seeing this episode when it first aired, and I remember hating it.  I gave a pass to The Principal and the Pauper back in Season 9 for its blatant screw around with established canon, but for some reason having Fat Tony die only for him to be replaced by his cousin Fit Tony who ate so much he became the new Fat Tony just bugged me badly.

Watching it again, the episode isn't as bad as I originally thought it to be.  Leading up to the big moment, the episode actually fares pretty decent, as well as most other Season 22 episodes thus far anyway, and the segment where Homer infiltrates Fat Tony's crew was entertaining.  Hell, the moment Fat Tony dies wasn't bad either by itself, I didn't have a problem with that and the gag with Homer's self-destructing hair added a nice but not overboard comical touch to it.

Still, though, the inclusion of Fit Tony, and using him to maintain a Fat Tony character for future episodes seems like such a cop out, even by Armin Tamzarian standards.  Its like the writers wanted to make an impactful episode, complete with a characters death, this time with meaning unlike a previous episode, yet they were mandated not to kill anyone off so they threw together a nonsense of an ending to keep canon intact, even though it loses all of the impact of the death.  It seems so pointless and it just ruins the episode.

Final Score: 6.4

Chief of Hearts (S21, E18-459)

Out of context, this is pretty screwy picture, so out of context it remains.

Plot Summary
Homer unwittingly causes a panic at a bank, and is arrested.  In court, Homer is sentenced to community service, Homer's least favorite kind of service.  Chief Wiggum is about to have Homer and a few other detainees do so work at the park, but he's feeling somewhat lonely as his wife is always "at a book club".  Wiggum notices Homer holding something; its several different Parmesan sandwiches, and Homer lets the interested Wiggum have a bite.  As thanks, Wiggum lets Homer just sit with him as the others do their service.  The two get to know one another and by the end of the day, the two become good friends.  With this, Homer also gets the enjoy the perks of being the best friend of the Chief of Police, and Wiggum shows Homer his secret spot on the outskirts of town where the two spend time peacefully.  Forced to duty, Wiggum brings Homer to an armed robbery, though, and a gunman is able to take Homer hostage.  Wiggum jumps in to save Homer, but gets shot in the chest as the robber gets away.

Wiggum falls into a coma, but Homer stays with Wiggum at the hospital until he finally awakens to the sight of his best friend.  However, Homer had been away from his family for quite a bit to tend to Clancy, and the two start bickering over whether Homer can leave for his family or stay with his ailing friend.  Some time later, Homer makes it back to the bar, but has to lie to Wiggum to do so, a lie Clancy is able to figure out.  Wiggum confronts Homer at the bar and the two get into an argument until Clancy gives up and storms off in a tantrum.

A short time later, Lou and Eddie tell Homer they can't find Clancy anywhere, but Homer knows where Clancy is.  He goes, alone, to Clancy's secret spot carrying along a bucket of chicken as an apology.  Before Clancy can say or do anything, the two spy the mafia trying to set up another counterfeit scheme, but as Clancy confronts them, he's points a chicken leg at them instead of his gun and both he and Homer are captured.  They're put inside the trunk of Fat Tony's car.  Homer and Clancy forgive each other, and Homer cheers Clancy on to find a solution out of their predicament.  Clancy forces the mafia to check the trunk, then the two are able to subdue the mafia as backup arrives.  Homer and Clancy agree to remain friends, albeit not as close as before, and Clancy lets Homer ride the police helicopter around to mess with Flanders.

Oh, while this was all happening, Bart is taken to a birthday party of some kid he doesn't know, and becomes interested in a new toy/card combo battle game.  Bart takes his toys and cards to school to battle others, but both Martin and Principal Skinner see only Bart taking out unknown materials from his backpack, and assume the worst.  He and Superintendent Chalmers inform Marge of the worst: Bart is dealing drugs.  Marge can't believe it, but when she gets home she overhears Bart and Milhouse talking about a 'fine product' (the game) out of context, and she too assumes the worst.  She goes into Bart's room digging for anything that could be drugs, but eventually Bart tells her about the battle game, clearing up her confusion.  Marge actually takes a liking to the game, which means Bart promptly gets rid of the now uncool materials.

Quick Review
After a string of poor episodes, Chief of Hearts gets the season back on track with a combo of Homer and Chief Wiggum that perhaps took way too long to make an episode of.  The sidestory with Bart's game was pretty worthless in every aspect, but the main story was excellent, both Homer and Wiggum shined as a combo and bringing in the mafia for its brief appearance made things just a little better.

Final Score: 8.0

The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer (S18, E01-379)

These two truly are mobsters born in the bodies of oafs.

Plot Summary
Otto loses his tunes, and is forced to listen to much lamer things during his bus drive.  On the way, he spots Metallica, whose bus has broken down.  He leaves the bus to offer the group a lift, but in the meantime Bart drives the bus away.  He's able to quite competently drive it the rest of the way to school, but Otto catches up and in pure anger spanks Bart for what he did.  Principal Skinner sees this and is forced to suspend Otto (with pay) for his use of physical punishment.  In the meantime, Marge has to set up a car pool with various kids across town, including the shy Michael who, as it turns out, is the son of renowned mob boss Fat Tony.

Apparently this wasn't known until the day Marge picks him up, and word quickly spreads.  Soon the entire school is afraid of Michael because of his father.  Lisa decides enough is enough and talks with Michael.  Neither are particularly fond of the school's food so Michael takes Lisa outside to make her a fresh salad, where Lisa learns that Michael is a top-notch cook, who one day hopes to become a professional chef.  Fat Tony is tasked to carpool the kids home, but has a run in with a rival 'business', eventually riding himself of some competition.  Afterward, Michael invites Lisa and the Simpson family over for dinner.  Fat Tony hosts for awhile, but is forced aside as he has a meeting with another family, the higher ups of the guys Tony dealt with earlier.  Its learned that they were trying to kill Fat Tony because they thought he had become soft with the carpool.  Fat Tony ensures them that if he were to ever go down, his son Michael would wreak a terrible vengeance upon them.  Soon, with Lisa's urging, Michael comes in to give everyone some souffles, telling everyone that he made them and he wants to be a chef.  The other family laughs at this pretty hard, and still considers Fat Tony "whack-able" as they don't think his son will be able to wreak any vengeance.  Lisa tries to assure Fat Tony not to care what they think, but seconds later the other family pops up in a helicopter and guns down Fat Tony.

Fat Tony survives the attack, but won't be able to do anything for a few months.  Homer decides to take over the business in the meantime, but he and Bart get a little too into things, and Michael finally decides he's had enough.  He invites the other family over for dinner, and tells them he'll surrender his business and territory in exchange for the safety of both his family and the Simpson family.  To seal the deal, Michael serves the family some spaghetti, but they quickly keel over as it turns out the dishes were poisoned.  Lisa suspects foul play, but later when Michael is congratulated by a recovering Fat Tony for what he did, Lisa worries as Michael made no effort to explain it was an accident.  It seems, though, that Michael has become part of 'the famiily', and nothing Lisa can do now will change that.

Quick Review
This episode was hampered quite badly by how it started.  The entire bit with Otto just wasn't good at all.  From there, though, the episode really picks up.  I usually enjoy episodes featuring Fat Tony and the mafia, and their main presence in the episode was greatly appreciated.  Unfortunately, it wasn't able to fully recover from its dismal start, which explains why it has the low, albeit decent, score it ended up with.

Final Score: 7.0

Moe Baby Blues (S14, E22-313)

Nobody pulls off 'creep' like Moe.

Plot Summary
The entire town, it seems, congregate to Springfield's botanical garden to witness the blooming of a rare, giant flower.  At the bar, Moe is unaware of this but sees on the news that all of his customers are at the garden, so he decides to go as well.  However, his presence at the garden puts the area one over the allowed capacity, and so Moe is asked to leave.  The flower bloom, but shoots out a rather toxic pollen which forces everyone to flee.  With traffic jamming along a bridge, Homer accidentally crashes his car against the one in front of him.  In an odd series of events, Maggie's safety belt breaks and she flies out through the car's sun roof as it crashes.  Meanwhile, Moe is also at the bridge, preparing to jump to a pathetic death, when Maggie literally falls right into his arms.  The people stuck on the bridge witness this, and Moe is declared a hero.

Some morning later, Moe goes to the Simpson house to see Maggie.  With Homer late for work, Marge is forced to have Moe take care of Maggie for a bit to tend to the latest round of Grampa's senility.  Upon returning, Marge finds that Maggie has taken quite a liking to Moe, and vice-versa and so Moe becomes the go-to babysitter for Maggie.  Moe does a lot of stuff for Maggie, even reenacting the first Godfather movie for her.  However, in typical fashion, Moe gets a little too close to Maggie for her parents' liking; Homer is upset that Moe has become her father figure instead of him, and Marge is starting to get upset that Moe has learned more things about Maggie than she has.  It comes to a head one late night, when the two learn that Moe has both a video camera and a baby monitor in Maggie's room and rushes to Maggie's side when she's crying.  Homer forces Moe out, and tells him to stay away from Maggie.

Moe once again battles through depression afterward.  A night later, Maggie overhears some mobsters discussing a hit.  To cheer up Louie, Fat Tony does the gag with the orange peel from The Godfather.  Maggie recognizes the bit from when Moe did it, and mistakes Fat Tony for Moe.  As the mafia take their leave, Maggie exits her room through the open window and gives chase.  Marge finds out a short time later, and Homer quickly concludes that Moe must've taken her.  One police sting later, it turns out that Moe is innocent, but Homer and Marge decide to let Moe help them find their baby.  At the house, Moe finding a discarded orange peel and realizes what has happened.

Maggie chases the mobster to a restaurant, where Fat Tony and his gang engage in a standstill against another mob, with Maggie caught inbetween.  Moe, Homer and Marge arrive just in time to see this, and Moe decides to enter the restaurant to grab Maggie, openly describing his sob story to the mobsters, bringing them to tears.  Afterward, though Moe makes no effort to get his babysitting 'job' back, Homer does agree to bring Maggie around whenever the two meet up (or something to that effect, anyway).

Quick Review
This episode is a strong finish to what has been a very disappointing season.  Moe episodes can be hit or miss, but somehow an episode focused on him as well as Maggie works out just fine.  It helps that Fat Tony and his gang are involved, as they usually give an episode a nice boost of comedy, but otherwise the episode contains plenty of jokes and hilarity to make it one of the better episodes of the season.

Final Score: 8.1

'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky (S14, E16-307)

Desmond is just upset he didn't bring his camera guy here to film this.

Plot Summary
Declan Desmond, a supposedly noted documentary filmer, decides to film his next documentary on Springfield Elementary.  He observes Bart becoming massively uncool, with Nelson becoming top dog around the playground thanks to a hood ornament he stole.  Principal Skinner attempts to show Desmond that the school isn't full of dopes by introducing him to Lisa, but he's not impressed with her either, criticizing her lack of direction in that if she doesn't set herself to a career path soon, she won't have much of a career at all.

While Bart continues to struggle to earn the respect of the bullies, Lisa goes to the museum to decide on a career path, ultimately deciding on astronomy.  She gets Homer to buy her a telescope, however she finds stargazing rather difficult at night as the bright lights in town make stargazing rather impossible.  Even when gazing from the outskirts, Springfield emits an orange glow which blocks out the stars.  She comes across Professor Frink who has the same problem.  With a meteor showing coming up, the two decide to start a petition around town to have the lights dimmed at night.  It works rather well, and soon Mayor Quimby shuts down the lights at night, revealing the stars in all their glory.

However, the darkness allows the bullies at school to go around town clipping off hood ornaments to add to their collection.  Bart tries to nab one for himself, but can't find any except for one extravagant ornament that graces the car of Fat Tony.  He and Milhouse come up with a ploy to get it.  Meanwhile, the town becomes angry about the hood ornament crimes, and demands the lights be brought back on.  Quimby caves to the pressure and turns them back on, but overdoes it to where not even natural sunlight is as bright as the night lights are now.  Bart and Milhouse are caught, and they run off without their trophy.

With the Simpsons family undergoing sleep deprivation from the lights, Lisa and Bart team up under a common goal to get rid of those lights again.  Borrowing Homer who is just unable to process things, the two sneak into the nuclear plant and overload the power grid, destroying the lights across town.  Quickly, an angry mob advances on them, but the meteor shower arrives and they become content.  Bart is able to steal his ornament, Lisa gets her stargazing, and Desmond makes another successful documentary.  Everybody wins!

Quick Review
This episode was alright.  Nothing was particularly bad about the episode, though a few jokes did fall flat from time to time.  A common theme nowadays, the quality of the episode dies down at the end, as the episode tries too hard to come to a conclusion (with some song to accompany it) rather than ensure said ending is also funny, though Desmond's documentary at the very end makes a decent effort to salvage things.

Final Score: 7.3

Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge (S13, E22-291)

Should I make a Stewie Griffin reference here?  Oh, I guess I already did.

Plot Summary
Springfield's in the middle of another massive heat wave.  Everyone is running air conditioning (except the Simpsons who continue to not have one), which is taxing the city's power.  Homer attempts to add some winter by plugging in a dancing Santa, but it proves to be a breaking point for the power grid.  The entire town loses power, which prompts a looting spree so grand nearly everyone loots while everyone gets looted, and the police aren't even close to being able to slow it down.

The next day, Lisa finds out that a looter stole her dolls, and Homer decides to investigate.  He figures out (well, moreso it lands on his lap) that Jimbo Jones took the dolls and he takes Jimbo to jail.  Realizing just how good it feels to be in a position of authority, Homer decides to start up a security team called SpringShield consisting of him, Lenny and Carl.  They do a good job, apparently, and the town feels safe again thanks to them.  Mayor Quimby attempts to defend Chief Wiggum but witnesses another act of incompetence and, in a fit of rage, removes Wiggum and puts Homer and SpringShield in charge of the city's law.

Homer and his team shut down some weird scheme by the Fat Tony mafia to substitute toy poodles with ferrets, but they get out of jail rather quickly and announce that they'll gun down Homer if he doesn't leave town by noon the next day.  Homer seeks backup, but nobody is willing to help.  Lenny and Carl even lock themselves in jail, leaving Homer all alone against several mobsters.  Noon approaches and Homer confronts them, but just before either he or the mobsters open fire, a mobster gets hit for a shot from an unknown spot.  The mafia attempt to figure out who is shooting, but they all get shot in the arm, unable to fire themselves.  Homer is glad to survive, and decides to give up his badge to the next person that comes along, coincidentally enough that person being Wiggum.  However, Wiggum insists he wasn't the mystery shooter either.  As he, Homer and Marge ponder that mystery, its revealed that, yes, it was Maggie that fired the shots with a rifle, with her parents none the wiser.

Quick Review
I'm pretty sure I said this last time, but: the ending was stupid.  Maggie held a gun for a shot she never intended to make several seasons ago in a mystery I'm fairly sure was meant to troll its participants more than anything else, and now here we are in Season 13's finale, she's a professional sniper.  I mean, what the hell is this?  Between this and the previous episode (and several other recent ones), it seems as though the writing staff have no realistic way to end episodes that feature life and death situations and instead use senseless cop-outs like "its an edgy reality show really" and "he got saved by his baby daughter who is a sniper now".  This ending just bugged me, especially since it was gaining a little steam with the inclusion of the mafia, and the episode puts a disappointing cap on what has been a disappointing season.

Final Score: 6.4

Trilogy of Error (S12, E18-266)

Not even Linguo's superior grammar correction stands a chance against the mafia.

Plot Summary
The events of a rather eventful day are shown through the perspectives of three different Simpsons.

Homer's Day
Marge tries to treat the family to some oddity for breakfast.  As Bart goes off to meet with Milhouse, Homer and Lisa find an excuse to leave the breakfast table.  Homer takes a look at Lisa's science project: a robot capable to fixing someones grammar: Linguo.  Homer makes a mistake when it corrects his statement about beer, pouring beer into it, and Lisa runs off to fix it.  Homer then smells brownies being made, and goes to the kitchen.  Marge baked them for after dinner, but as Homer tries to grab a piece as Marge is cutting it up, she accidentally slices Homer's thumb off.  Marge tries to call 911, but when Chief Wiggum mistakes the accident as attempted murder, Marge gives them the fake address of 123 Fake St. to keep the police off her back. 

After Homer gets his thumb back from the dog, who had stolen it, Marge and Homer quickly go to Dr. Hibbert's to have it reattached.  Upon learning its too expensive (and Hibbert's suggestion to cut off the other thumb for symmetry's sake falling on deaf ears), the two try to go to Dr. Nick's instead.  However, Marge gets distracted and rams the car into Rainier Wolfcastle's car.  As Wolfcastle goes back to destroy Marge's car in a fit of rage, Homer and Marge sneak away and drive off in Wolfcastle's car.

With the ice maintaining the thumb melting, the two stop off at the nearest place to get more: Moe's.  Though Homer is able to get the thumb into pickle brine which works apparently, Homer gets sidetracked at Moe's and gets super drunk.  When he remembers about the thumb, he goes back outside but finds Marge gone.  He hitchhikes a ride from Cletus to Dr. Nicks, but finds Nick's office on fire, Nick flabbergasted that "inflammable" means flammable.  Just then, Cletus' truck is stolen, and Homer is left without hope.  As he's about to say goodbye to his thumb, an explosion occurs nearby, and the head of Linguo falls right next to Homer.

Lisa's Day
After Homer put beer in Linguo, Lisa goes back to her room to fix it.  The delay causes her to miss the bus, with Martin Prince eager to get a shoo in science fair victory with Lisa absent.  Determined to make the fair, Lisa goes get her bike, but finds it missing.  She tries to get a ride from Marge, but she's left with Homer to Dr. Hibbert's.  Lisa decides to just run to school, but nearly gets run over by a limo driven by Krusty's monkey Mr. Teeny.  To make up for it, Krusty has Teeny drive Lisa to school (after Wiggum fails to get directions to 123 Fake St. from Teeny), but Teeny makes a mistake and takes Lisa to West Springfield Elementary instead, a mistake Lisa doesn't learn until its too late.  On her way out, Lisa befriends a young boy who shares her intellect and loneliness, and the two spend hours just twirling around.  Lisa realizes the time and makes her bitter farewell with the boy she's come to like.

Running around again, Lisa winds up at Moe's.  Surprised Homer isn't there, she finds Chief Wiggum monitoring a sting operation, but unwittingly blows it by letting the mafia know his informant is wearing a wire.  Escaping before Wiggum can offer her the job of informant, Lisa escapes from the back just as Homer comes in from the front looking for ice.  She finds Marge, and after Marge realizes Homer has gone off on a tangent, decides to take Lisa to school.  The car runs out of gas, though, but the two are able to secretly hitch a ride on the back of a truck, Cletus'.  As the truck stops at Dr. Nicks, and Homer and Cletus check it out, Marge decides to steal this car as well and takes off.  It looks like Lisa is about to get to school just before the day ends, but Bart pops out of a manhole, and Marge might not be able to stop in time.

Bart's Day
Bart meets Milhouse at the front door, who reveals to Bart he's found something pretty darn amazing.  In the backyard, Bart has Milhouse take Lisa's bike to get to where they need to reach faster.  Milhouse takes Bart to a cave where he goes to cry, where they are several burlap sacks full of fireworks.  The two go around town setting off fireworks everywhere.  An attempt to create a rocket-wheeled bike backfires, and the wheels flies off - ultimately to Dr. Nick's office which sets off inflammable ether.  As the two continue wandering with their fireworks, they hear police nearby and hide in the nearest building... located at 123 Fake St.  Wiggum and pals bust in and find the two boys with the fireworks.  With Milhouse wanting not to become currency in prison, Wiggum makes a deal with them to find out who is smuggling those fireworks in.

The boys return to the cave, with Bart wired up.  They learn its Fat Tony and the mafia behind the illegal fireworks, but Wiggum for some reason blows their cover, and the mafia go in to kill the two.  Bart is able to set off a small firework and the two make their escape into the cave.  They find a way up, at a manhole, but just as Bart surfaces, Marge is about to run him over.  She stops just in time, only giving Bart a small knock on the head, but the boys continue their escape of the mob.  Marge sees this and chases after them, but as the boys are walled off, Marge desperately tosses Lisa's Linguo at the mob.  As the mob loudly ponder what the thing is, Linguo begins correcting their broken English.  However, there is just too much to correct, and Linguo overloads, overheating into sparks that sets off some fireworks Bart had run off with nearby, causing an explosion.  The explosion sends Linguo's head flying to where Homer was, and the mafia mostly defeated.  The police come in to arrest the mafia and Homer meets back up with the family.

However, Homer's thumb is all but gone and Lisa no longer has a science fair project.  Fat Tony overhears the dilemma and decides to help out.  At the school, Lisa reveals her new science project which is mostly just Legs sewing Homer's thumb back on, and successfully at that.  Homer's thumb is saved, Lisa gets first prize, and everything turns out okay regardless of the absurdity of it all.

Quick Review
I really liked how this episode is set up, and the various links between the events that occurred in one act or the other in an "oh that makes sense" sort of fashion.  Things like 123 Fake St. being a real address and Dr. Nick's confusion over the word "inflammable" really add a nice touch to the episode as well.  Its one of the season's best.

Final Score: 8.4

Insane Clown Poppy (S12, E03-251)

Krusty, playing a tune for his (not-to-be-seen-until-16-seasons-later) daughter.

Plot Summary
At a book fair, Krusty learns that he has a daughter, Sophie.  She helps him remember an instance during the Gulf War where he had to hide in a random tent during a dust storm.  There, he met a woman soldier - Sophie's mother - and the two got intimate for no apparent reason.  However, he interferes with her mission to assassinate Suddam Hussein (mostly because it'll ruin his act), thereby instilling an intense hatred of clowns into her, though Sophie is more interesting in bonding with her father.

Krusty reluctantly decides to spends time with Sophie, and finds fatherhood to be more demanding than he anticipated.  He seeks aid from another father, and asks the first one he comes across at the beach: Homer.  Although I don't think Homer gives Krusty any actual advice, Krusty does a better job at spending time with Sophie, and she decides to entrust her violin with him for some reason.

Later, Krusty is at the bar gambling with Moe, Homer, Snake and Fat Tony.  Thinking he's got a hand won with four aces, Krusty needs extra money when Fat Tony raises the pot.  Looking desperately for something of value, he decides to throw in Sophie's violin under the premise that he won't actually lose it when he wins.  However, Fat Tony has a straight flush, and wins the hand and the violin, devastating Krusty.

Krusty tries to make amends with Sophie, but Sophie wants her violin back, losing respect for Krusty.  Krusty goes to Homer for help again, and Homer decides the two should just break into Fat Tony's house to get the violin back.  As it turns out, Tony is hosting some kind of mafia summit, leaving him busy with hosting duties.  The two sneak in and find several violin cases, but most of stuffed with guns.  With no time to search, the two try to sneak off with all of them, but accidentally sneak into the room where the summit is being held. causing a series of events which ultimately lead to Krusty recovering the violin.  He returns it to Sophie who regains some love for her father.

Quick Review
Despite some oddities with the premise (and dating it with the Gulf War reference), I still found this episode fairly enjoyable, as the jokes were funny for the most part.

Final Score: 8.0

Faith Off (S11, E11-237)

A laser-sighted ice pick, access to a billboard, Fat Tony really has it all.

Plot Summary
Homer is invited back to his old college (despite only going there for a single class) for a homecoming football in advance of the big game between his school (Springfield University) and some other school (Springfield A&M).  While there, he reunites with his old nerd friends, but at the party himself, he's forced to give money to a "fundraiser", and demands to pull a prank on the dean.  He tries to set up a prank with a pail of glue on top the door of the dean's house, but another fraternity beat him to it, and now Homer has a pail stuck over his head.

The pail is stuck on there pretty tight, as nobody can pull it off.  Homer tries to adjust to his new life by having holes drilled through the pail so he can see, but he doesn't drive very well anyway.  He crashes a car near a fair, where a nearby tent houses a faith healer.  Bart goes in to see the 'work' of Brother Faith, who "miraculously" heals the ailments of several people.  Homer goes up to him in hopes of having his pail taken off.  Brother Faith is initially unable to do so, but he gets Bart to help him pull it, and this time it works.  Brother Faith proclaims Bart to have "the power" to heal, and Bart decides to become a faith healer himself, ignoring Lisa's contentions that the heat of the bright lights caused the metal pail to expand enough to slide off.

No longer handicapped, Homer gets to work on a float for the homecoming parade to take place during halftime of the big game.  Meanwhile, Bart becomes famous around town for having "healed" Homer, and begins an act of his own.  During this act, Bart takes off Milhouse's glasses proclaiming to of healed his sight, but Milhouse shortly thereafter gets hurt not being able to see well, and gets hospitalized with a broken arm.  Bart decides to swear off faith healing.

The big game begins, and Springfield U is riding their hopes on their big star: a foreign kicker!?  With his kicks, SU takes a 18-7 lead over A&M at halftime.  Homer forgets to put his float in the halftime parade, and in the rush to drive it out before the second half begins, Homer accidentally runs over the kicker, severely injuring his kicking leg.  Fat Tony, who put a lot of money of the kicker, is about to give Homer retribution, but a panicked Homer is able to convince him that Bart can faith heal the kicker.  Although Bart is most reluctant to do so after what happened to Milhouse, he decides to 'heal' the leg - hanging on by a literal thread - to save Homer's ass.

The game is now almost over and, sure enough, now SU is down 20-18, in field goal position with just seconds remaining.  The kicker goes in with an obviously still torn leg and although his initial kick seems short, his leg has since flown off and by itself kicks the ball a second time to make a good field goal, giving SU the win and Homer is spared.

Quick Review
For most of this episode, the faith healer plotline wasn't doing much for me, however Homer's newfound college experiences were still good for a few laughs.  When the two plotlines merged at the end, it turned out okay though the leg flying off to secure the winning kick was just a bit off-putting.  I mean, really now.  Still, this ends up being an okay episode.

Final Score: 7.2

Mayored to the Mob (S10, E09-212)

Mark: "Luke, be a Jedi tonight!  Just be a Jedi tonight!"
Chorus: "Do it for Yoda, while we serve a guest a soda!"
Mark: "Uh, and do it for Chewie and the Ewoks... and all the
other puppets... Luke, be a Jedi tonight!"

Plot Summary
The Simpson family sees a commercial for the Bi-Monthly Science Fiction Convention, "Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con" for short, featuring Mark Hamill, Alf, and supposedly others.  That's enough for Homer and Bart, and so that family goes there.  As Hamill greets the crowd, they become restless when Mark tries to do a cheap marketing ploy for Sprint, and as Mark tries to salvage the effort by setting up a bit where someone can play as Obi-Won, the crowd goes nuts, sparking a nerd riot.  Mark, as well as Mayor Quimby, are surrounded and the mayor's bodyguards are outside neglecting their duties.  Homer has enough, and bullrushes the nerds to save Hamill and Quimby.  Firing his two bodyguards, Mayor Quimby decides to hire Homer to the same position, much to his delight.

After a short stint training for the job, Homer starts his job protecting the mayor.  For the most part, its just Homer witnessing the mayor accept bribe after bribe after bribe.  One such bribe involves the mafia, where Fat Tony somehow becomes the supplier of milk for the elementary school.  Homer stumbles into the 'milking room', where he learns that the mafia is milking rats.  Horrified that so many kids are drinking rat milk, Homer confronts the mayor while he's on a treadmill over the issue, but accidentally increases the speed of the thing, flying the mayor out the window.

Homer rescues the mayor, dangling outside the window, under the condition that he busts the mafia for it.  This, despite the fact that the mafia will likely kill the mayor for the betrayal.  Still, Quimby has the police shut the rat milking operation down, arresting Fat Tony in the process, but Fat Tony gets released on bail a short time later.  Homer goes to Quimby's house to guard him, convincing him to take in a show despite the immediate danger.  They go to see a rather inaccurate performance of Guys and Dolls with Mark Hamill playing the 'role' of Nathan Detroit.  Sure enough, Fat Tony is there along with Legs, and after Hamill does a Jedi-related song, Legs makes his attempt on the mayor's life.  Homer is able to intercept, and eventually overcomes and disarms Legs.  However, at the same time, Fat Tony is beating the mayor with a bat, so Homer ultimately failed his duty though the mayor ends up living.  Depressed over losing his job, Homer is cheered up by Hamill, and agrees to carry Mark out the back amidst another Hamill-crazy crowd.

Quick Review
This is another solid episode.  Mark Hamill, who plays both himself and the bodyguard instructor, really made this episode.  Being forced to star in Guys and Dolls in his Jedi gear while singing "Luke, be a Jedi tonight" was the highlight of the episode, at least to me.  The inclusion of the mafia hardly ever goes wrong and this episode is no exception.

Final Score: 8.5

The Twisted World of Marge Simpson (S08, E11-164)

The "Whitey-Whackers", contributing to a dark day in baseball.

Plot Summary
Marge is a member of the "Springfield Investorettes", a group that includes Helen Lovejoy, Maude Flanders, Agnes Skinner, Edna Krabappel and Luann Van Houten.  The group seems to have made a wise investment previously, but now want to take those profits and invest in a small business.  Marge is the only one of the group to oppose the idea, and because it was apparently a final straw, the group kicks Marge out.  Later, Marge is convinced by her family that she should invest in a business herself to show the Investorettes what she can do.

Marge goes to a franchising expo, but is initially unable to find something that suits her.  She's discouraged further when the Investorettes take interest in a Pita stand, something Marge might have possibly of thought about taking an interest in.  Just then, a man at a Pretzel Wagon stand is able to convince Marge to start up a pretzel business.

Although marketing and making the pretzels aren't difficult, selling them is a whole different game.  An attempt to sell that at the power plant, with Homer's help, fails when the Investorettes' Pita van steals her customer base.  Faulty coupon creation coupled with an incident at a baseball game where all of her sampler pretzels are wasted to be thrown at Mr. Burns (and later Whitey Ford), Marge gives up.  Unwilling to see Marge like this, Homer decides to help.  He tries to contact the Pretzel Wagon guy, but he has died in a car accident.  Out of options, Homer decides to ask the mafia for aid.

The mafia is quick to work, sabotaging non-pretzel food options in Springfield, including the Pita van.  Marge's sales go through the roof, blissfully unaware of the mafia's hand in it.  Soon, though, Fat Tony tries to collect from Homer, but when Homer escapes, he goes after Marge instead, giving her 12 hours to cough up all of the profits from her pretzel sales.  After Marge and Homer come to an understanding over what happened, they confront the mafia the next morning, refusing to give in.  Just before the mafia advances on them, the Investorettes appear, having 'caught on' to Marge's 'game', and hired a mafia of their own: the Japanese Yakuza.  As the two mobs engage in battle, the Simpson couple retreat into the house to avoid getting caught in the middle.  Good times.

Quick Review
This episode has its moments, like Skinner's supposed "boaking" accident, or the scene at the baseball game.  The mafia and its battle with the Yakuza was a superb way to the end the episode as well.  Still, besides those moments there wasn't too much funny going on, with a few other good jokes here and there.

Final Score: 8.9

Homie the Clown (S06, E15-118)

Homer is shocked to learn he can't just escape unharmed with his diploma.

Plot Summary
Homer and Krusty the Klown have similar builds and appearances and are voiced by the same person.  You would think that at some point there'd be a storyline where Homer becomes or disguises himself as Krusty or something at some point.  Well, here it is!

Krusty spends a ton of money, either on rare expensive stuff to burn as a cigarette lighter, or on various gambles on sports or the opera that never pan out for him, so much so that he's in debt to the mafia.  In an attempt to get more money, Krusty is advised to franchise, but there's only one thing left he has yet to franchise: a clown college, oddly enough.

Some time later, its the first of the month, which means new billboard day for Homer.  Eager to see all of the new billboards for food and such, Homer is turned off by a billboard for Krusty's clown college as it can't be eaten.  Still, Homer can't shake the thought from his mind, and soon enough he begin hallucinating about clowns, finally deciding to attend the college.  Homer does fine there, but he is unable to grasp Krusty's "ride the tiny bike through a loop and then eat the bike" technique.  Still, he is able to graduate the college, his best and perhaps only clown-related skill is squirting water from a flower.

Homer, now dressed up as Krusty, begins to attend various functions and low-tier awards shows around Springfield in Krusty's name but with it comes no glory or satisfaction and Homer begins to wear down.  However, one night, Homer gets pulled over while still wearing the clown outfit, when Chief Wiggum mistakes Homer for Krusty and, because the two are apparently pals, Wiggum lets "Krusty" off the hook.  Realizing what this means, Homer quickly takes full advantage by using Krusty's name to get all sorts of perks everywhere.

Meanwhile, Krusty's debts are getting worse, having bet all of his franchising money on the Harlem Globetrotters losing to the Generals for once, insisting "they were due".  Unable to pay up, Krusty flees before the mafia can kill him.  Now on a search for Krusty, the mafia instead finds Homer, still loudly insisting he's Krusty, and try to kill him, though nobody in the mafia can aim well apparently.  With that fact, they just end up kidnapping Homer.  The mob don appears and decides to spare "Krusty" only if he performs the bike trick.  Homer tries to do so, but fails once again.  Just in time, though, the real Krusty appears, ready to face the mafia, but when he tries to trick the mafia into not being able to tell him and Homer apart, the don threatens to kill both of them unless they do the bike trick, together.  Despite some difficulties and other neat tricks along the way, the two are able to pull it off, and both lives are spared.  Krusty, though, still has to pay what he owes to the mafia for all of his gambling losses: $48.

Quick Review
Homie the Clown was a fun episode, full of laughs and hilarious situations.  Homer beating up the Krusty-burglar, Krusty's wasteful spending, Dick Cavett, there's a lot of good this episode offers and it makes for another stellar entry into this season.

Final Score: 9.5

Bart the Murderer (S03, E04-039)

It makes so much sense.

Plot Summary
Bart wakes up to find himself in the middle of a particularly bad day.  The dog literally ate his homework.  He misses the bus to school and has to walk, amidst rain only around during his walk and no other period.  He rips his pants and takes a tumble at recess.  Worst of all, he forgets his permission slip to go the chocolate factory, apparently the only kid in school to do so.  After licking envelopes with Principal Skinner for a couple of hours, Bart's bad day culminates after he leaves school (with the rain returning of course), as his skateboard falls apart and he happens to fall into what is a mob hangout.

In danger of something happening to him, Bart is able to gain some trust with Fat Tony, the mob's leader, by correctly picking Don't Have a Cow in a horse race, and then by making a great Manhattan somehow.  So instead of dying, Bart ends up taking up a part time job as a bartender, something which worries Marge.  Bart gets a lot of money on the side, but after covering for a cigarette truck robbery, Bart wonders whether the mob is bad, though Fat Tony is able to rationalize Bart's worries away.

Bart's inflating ego gets him in trouble with Skinner at one point, and has to stay for detention, and on the day Fat Tony tries to give a rivaling mob boss one of his delicious Manhattans, too!  After learning that Skinner is to blame for Bart's delay, Fat Tony and the gang pay him a visit.  Wouldn't you know it, the next day Skinner is missing and presumed dead.  Bart connects the dots, and although the mob claims they didn't kill Skinner, they along with Bart get charged with Skinner's murder and the trial begins.

The mafia does not even hesitate to pin all of the blame on Bart, making him out to be the ringleader of the whole operation.  Even Homer mistakenly falls susceptible to the game, and pins Bart as the ringleader too.  Just before Bart is convicted, however, Skinner appears alive if not a bit unwell.  He explains that he shooed away Fat Tony's bunch just as they were simply trying to complement Bart, but then upon returning home accidentally toppled over a stack of newspapers.  Unable to escape the pile that lay on top of him, his pleas for help do not reach the police searching through his house.  Ultimately, Skinner makes a makeshift rocket attached to a vacuum cleaner that he uses to ensure his escape.  With Skinner alive, the charges are dropped and Bart disassociates himself with the mafia following their attempts to rat him out.  A movie based on the incident is made, with Neil Patrick Harris playing Bart, but because its just different enough from what really happened, the Simpsons can't get paid for it.

Quick Review
There was a lot of stuff going on in this episode, a lot of different arcs, each of which had a lot of laughs going for them, and it all combined to make one of the best episodes of the season.

There were a lot of laughs to be had in this episode.  Whether its Bart's bad day, or his day to day with the mafia, or the trial itself, the episode was almost non-stop with its well executed supply of jokes, and as a result becomes one of the best episodes of the series.

Final Score: 9.5