The Fabulous Faker Boy (S24, E20-528)

Th-thanks...

Plot Summary
Principal Skinner convinces Marge to get Bart engaged in music so that he's less likely to commit pranks (though this was done once before with modest yet temporary success).  Marge agrees and takes Bart around town to find something he can take an interest in.  Eventually, the two come across a Russian man, Slava, whose daughter gives piano lessons.  Bart becomes smitten with the woman, Zhenya, and decides this is good enough for him.  Marge and Slava agree to give Bart piano lessons if Marge gives Slava driving lessons.

Of course, Bart doesn't particularly care about the piano, Bart just wants to spend time with Zhenya.  Zhenya admits she wants to gain fame and money so her father can buy a limo to drive and hopes to get it if Bart can impress people with his piano ability.  Believing this to be a "do this and I'll love you" ultimatum, Bart decides to practice on the piano.  Eventually, at a recital, Bart apparently plays rather well, gaining mass applause.  Bart credits his ability to Zhenya, and she instantly gets offers to teach piano to other people.  Its then revealed, though, that Bart actually put a CD into the piano (CD-playing pianos are actual things, when did this happen) to play the song for him.

Bart goes to see Zhenya later, but she's busy giving lessons to all sorts of kids now, and makes Bart wait outside as the house is full.  Bart realizes Zhenya never returned his feelings, but now everyone thinks he's a musical prodigy even though he's not.  Marge signs Bart up for another recital, where Bart admits he's a fraud.  This angers Marge, upset that Bart wasted his time with those lessons, and hers to teach Slava to drive poorly for no good reason.  Later, Slava goes to Marge's house to thank Marge for all she's done for him and his daughter.  Marge admits to him that Bart 'cheated' at the recital, but Slava pays it no mind, saying that even if he did cheat, he did it to win the love of his daughter, and when that failed, he admitted his mistake because he cared for Marge.  Marge reconciles with Bart, but punishes him anyway for cheating.

While this is all happening, Homer's top two hairs fall out, leaving him fully bald up there.  Panicking, Homer wears a variety of hats throughout the episode to hide this fact.  Eventually, Homer gets help from a similarly bald co-worker (voiced by Patrick Stewart) who helps Homer come to terms with his baldness.  Homer finally shows Marge his bald head, but Marge shows no shock or disgust, stating how sexy his dome has become and complimenting Homer's feigned confidence.  These kind acts rejuvenate Homer enough for his two hairs to magically regrow, leaving Marge relieved.

Quick Review
Quite a few guest stars in this one.  Bill Hader as Slava, Jane Krakowski as Zhenya, Patrick Stewart as Homer's bald co-worker, some other guy as himself (tee hee!).  A lot was being made of Justin Bieber's appearance in the episode (whose title is rather fitting), but he only provides a single, not-that-bad line preceded by a 30 second warning and followed by a "don't worry, he's gone folks" message that makes you wonder why Bieber was brought in for a guest spot to begin with.

The episode itself was unspectacular.  Homer's baldness side story was decent but was short and had little going for it because Homer's odd use of hats.  The main storyline was mostly boring, with Slava providing most of the humor for the episode, but it wasn't nearly enough to make this worth another watch.

Final Score: 6.0

Homer the Great (S06, E12-115)

One of these days, Homer will get into a No Homers Club before Glumpet.

Plot Summary
With a pipe in the basement leaking, traffic a mess and parking at the plant so bad he can only park in a spot just past his backyard, Homer's day starts off pretty much like most other days.  Then, he notices odd things about Lenny and Carl, both having great parking spots, both having luxury chairs instead of the budget stool Homer's been using, and both being unavailable on Wednesday for some mysterious reason.  Curious, Homer decides to stalk Lenny and Carl that night, and follows them to a strange, guarded building.  There he sees a bunch of men doing seemingly secret stuff, most of which comprise of Springfield residents.  Homer confronts Lenny and Carl the next day about it, and Lenny blabs that what Homer saw was the Stonecutters.  Lenny then tells Homer that there's only two ways to become a member: be a son of a member, or save the life of a member.

Being unable to save anyone's life, Homer gets angry that he is again left out of a club (remembering, as a kid, that he was also excluded from a club called "No Homers Club", which because of the technicality of its named, was still allowed to have one Homer: Homer Glumpet).  Grampa later reveals, though, that he's a member of, among other things, the Stonecutters, and Homer has his ticket in.  After a frat-level initiation, Homer becomes a member of the Stonecutters.

Using his newfound privileges, Homer gets the pipe fixed quickly, circumvents the nasty traffic, and is given roller skates to glide into work from his terrible parking spot.  Although the Stonecutters seem to be an ancient society that has its foot in how society works, like the Illuminati, its really just a secret place for men to play pool and get drunk, like the Freemasons.  To celebrate their supposed 1500th anniversary, the Stonecutters are going to have ribs.  Afraid of getting barbecue sauce on himself, Homer tries to find a bib or a napkin of some sort, and upon failing to do so uses the closest paper he can find: the "sacred parchment" of the Stonecutters, enraging everybody.  Stripped of his title and privilege, he is about to be punished by walking home naked while dragging along a "stone of shame" when everyone notices a strange birthmark on Homer shaped like the Stonecutters logo.  Now claiming Homer to be the "chosen one" meant to lead the Stonecutters into a new age, Homer is instead allowed to drag the larger "stone of triumph" to the coronation of him becoming the new leader.

While initially thrilled at the prospect of being the leader of a club, Homer soon finds its not so fun when everyone in it is so obviously kissing his ass and letting him win every game in such obvious manners.  Feeling unfulfilled, Homer gets help from Lisa, who suggests Homer uses his position to have the Stonecutters get involved in the community.  After just a few exercises in community work, the Stonecutters are so disgusted with this turnabout they think about having Homer killed.  Instead, Moe suggests a different course of action.  Soon, every Stonecutter has become a member of a new "No Homers Club", including Homer Glumpet, and Homer is left without a club yet again, though Marge is able to convince him that the 5-member Simpson club is just as great.

Quick Review
This was a fun episode given some of the absurdity of what was going on.  The Stonecutters song was a fun song, and Patrick Stewart who played the role of the leader before Homer took over did a great job as well.  With lots of jokes and humorous scenarios, Homer the Great is, well, great.

Final Score: 9.3