The Great Louse Detective (S14, E06-297)

You can tell by that face that Bob just wasn't into killing Bart.

Plot Summary
The Simpsons are invited for a free day at the spa.  There, Homer partakes in a steam room; when he's by himself, an unknown person locks Homer inside in an attempt to kill him, though Homer is able to escape in time.  He goes to the police to report the attempt on his life, and Chief Wiggum decides that in order to catch this killer, Homer needs the help of someone with the mind of a criminal.  For some reason, Wiggum chooses Bart's pal Sideshow Bob for this.

Bob agrees to help find Homer's assailant in exchange for having first pick in an upcoming prison play.  Bob is forced to wear a shock collar so he doesn't try anything silly like escaping or killing Bart.  As Bob begins to investigate by following Homer's movements, Homer crashes his car and chides a mechanic, Junior, just because.  Bob quickly learns that Homer has a lot of enemies.  To further that point, Bob sets up a dummy of Homer outside, which is attacked by said enemies, and thus Bob is no closer to figuring out the killer.  Bob does start finding clues, such as a thumbprint smudge on the spa postcard sent to the family, but as Bob advises Homer to stay out of sight, Homer learns he's been declared "King of Mardi Gras" (likely because the killer stuffed votes for him at the poll), and is forced to be out in the open for a significant period of time.

At the parade, Bob learns that the float Homer is riding was 'tuned up' by a mechanic.  Bob quickly adds up the pieces and realizes that Junior (and somehow not any other mechanic) must be the murderer.  The float Homer is on has had its brake lines cut, and sure enough the float goes down a hill.  Bob acts quickly to save Homer's life, and the two spot the murderer and give chase.  Cornering him in an alley, the murderer reveals himself to be Frank Grimes Jr., the son of Frank Grimes, who died after Homer drove him insane but apparently not before makin' babies with prostitutes.  The police arrive to arrest Junior and to tranquilize Bob, his job now done.

That night, Bart is visited by Bob, who had escaped the police, and attempts to kill Bart quickly (as per Lenny's advice earlier on), but finds that he can not kill Bart, having become accustomed to his face (singing a song stating as such).  Bob takes his leave, but not before getting shocked once or twice or several times more.

Quick Review
As far as Sideshow Bob episodes go, its the weakest entry thus far, slightly worse than Krusty Gets Busted, but as far as Season 14 episodes go its the highlight thus far.  Kinda sad to think about either way.  The episode itself had a good quantity of jokes, with Bob once again leading the humor charge.  Though, the reveal of the murderer was underwhelming, given age discrepancies of the two Grimes and the odd reference to Homer's Enemy, it just felt odd.  Still, I ended up enjoying the episode which, given how the season has gone thus far, is a compliment.

Final Score: 7.8

Bart of Darkness (S06, E01-104)

"I'M A MUR-DIDDELY-URDLER!!!"

Plot Summary
Its summer time to start Season 6, and sure enough there's a big heat wave rolling through town.  A one-time only pool-mobile gives Bart and Lisa a taste of what could be, and they quickly convince Homer to buy a pool.  After initially building it into a barn, as a nearby Amish man politely points out ("'tis a fine barn, but sure 'tis no pool, English" "D'oh-eth!"), the pool is correctly made and instantly the Simpson backyard is the go to spot for the town's youthful pool enthusiasts.  Shortly thereafter, Bart is dared to jump into the pool from the top of the treehouse, but Nelson's prank causes Bart to slip up and fall to the cold ground, breaking his leg in the process, essentially ending his summer fun.

With Bart out of the way, Lisa becomes the center of attention as the pool is property of her family, and her popularity rises so high she doesn't even need her brain anymore.  Meanwhile, Bart is forced to wear a cast on his leg and TV has gone into its summer re-run cycle, leaving Bart to become isolated and somewhat creepy.  Lisa finds enough time to give Bart a telescope to pass the hours, but neither the vast wonders of space nor the oddities of Springfield's night life is enough to keep Bart interested.  Suddenly, he hears a woman scream at Flanders' house.  There he sees what appears to be Flanders having killed his wife, later seeing the apparent burial in the Flanders backyard.  He attempts to tell the family this, but they don't believe him.  He later peeks at Flanders telling Rod and Todd that Maude "is with God", and soon they'll be with her too, which Bart claims is terrible, in principle.

Martin Prince sees how popular Lisa has become with her pool and quickly builds a bigger one in his own yard, claiming to become the next "Queen of Summertime", or King, whatever.  Word quickly spreads, and soon Lisa and her pool have been abandoned.  Now having time to spend with Bart, Lisa is quickly convinced by Bart to investigate Ned's currently empty house for evidence of the murder.  Soon after she goes in, because the house was apparently unlocked from the back, Ned returns home, with an axe!  Crippled leg and all, Bart attempts to go to Lisa's rescue, while Lisa realizes too late Ned is back and attempts to hide in the attic, which Ned goes into as well.  Just before Ned can do anything, Bart and Lisa yell and scream, but Ned, just putting his axe away for safe keeping, faints when Bart suggests Ned murdered someone.

Turns out, Maude Flanders was away for a week at a bible study (thus the "with God" part), and the source of the woman's shriek was Flanders himself, who shrieked after accidentally over-watering Maude's plant and buried the remains.  With that misunderstanding out of the way, the episode peeks at Martin, whose new popularity comes to a crashing end when his big pool can't withstand so many kids, falling apart, leaving Martin stunned and eventually pantsless.

Quick Review
Bart of Darkness is an excellent start to Season 6.  The "Klassic Krusty" re-runs were pretty funny because of how dull they were, and the supposed Flanders murder plot at the end was done pretty well, especially Homer's mini investigation.  The parts with the pool were great as well.

Final Score: 9.2