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Bart Gets an F
The Simpsons Season 02 Episode 01
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Finally! They got rid of the bus stop people in the opening credits. That's been bothering me a lot. Martin's Hemingway line "To make love to a woman" cracks me up. Bart squeaks his way through the report from the book cover pic of Long John Silver. I think I pulled this same stunt with AP Physics in high school.
Charlie Brown homage, Blah blah blah blah blah. Adults are boring.
At the arcade, Bart is playing "Escape from Grandma's House" the video game, Bart reaches the level of Ungrateful Grandchild. Itchy and Scratchy episode is "Let them Eat Scratchy". "I hate that icky soup skin!" Homer exclaims as Marge calls them to the dinner table.
Lisa gets another A on her vocab test! "Oh what a glorious day!", Homer exclaims. Homer totally sidelines Bart's studying with monkey movies. I love the way the monkey squashes all the pedestrians with the big tree.
Sherri and Terri screw Bart over with erroneous information. Thanks to Martin Bart knows and fakes Amoria Phlebitis, later making Homer bring the TV up to his room. Milhouse is probably the second dumbest kid in the class yet Bart decides to get the test answers from him. The glean off Krabappel's red sharpie, "Old Red" is a nice touch.
Underachiever and Proud of It became Bart's tagline for a while. A 12% on state capitals?! That's a pretty low grade. Pretty sure I got a 24% though once on something. Compilers in college?
I think Bart's main problem are his role models - Otto. "I got held back from the 4th grade myself, twice! Look at me now man! I DRIVE the school bus." I love how in the flash forward Bart Jr. is just drawn as Bart.
Why in the hell does Martin think he's popular? His award winning dioramas? The potential for mischief varies inversely with one's proximity to the authority figure. Martin is driven mad with power. Prayer, the last refuge of a scoundrel. Thanks Lisa, you nerd.
Bell and Marty show! Two grown men who can't get enough of each other! Details like this make The Simpsons awesome. Snow Day! The funnest day in the history of Springfield! The cast of characters is actually pretty well fleshed out as they sing Winter Wonderland. Hey look everybody! John Hancock is writing his name in the snow!
CONCLUSION
Not a bad start to the second season. We get a little bit of desperation from Bart, but also get the nice ending that shows us he's not totally stupid and often sidelined by his friends and family. Probably the start of the dialogue between god and the Simpsons which goes on throughout the duration of the show (Homer dying, etc).
Despite Bart being branded as an underachiever and proud of it in this episode, he really does care, which is a shame because he was branded forever in merch as a moron. I used to have a obviously counterfeit pinto green Simpsons shirt with the slogan on it and pic of Bart. Part of this D- belongs to god. Awesome.
THIS EPISODE'S RATINGS
  4/5 donuts from Statler
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RATINGS LEGEND
= LAME
= BAD
= MEH
= GOOD
= CLASSIC
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PLOT SUMMARY FROM WIKIPEDIA
Bart presents a book report at Springfield Elementary School on Treasure Island. However, it becomes clear to everyone that he has not read the book. Mrs. Krabappel proves her suspicion when Bart is unable to answer her question about the name of the pirate in the book. After school, Mrs. Krabappel tells Bart his grades have steadily gotten worse and warns him about an upcoming exam on Colonial America; Bart does not pay attention. At home, Bart tries to study but, urged on by Homer, procrastinates instead. The next day at school, Bart collapses in class to get out of taking the test. He is sent to the nurse, who diagnoses him with amoria phlebitis and sends him home. At home that night, Bart again fails to study, instead calling Milhouse for the test answers. The next day at school, Bart takes the test but fails; Krabappel tells him his effort is "worse than Milhouse's exam."
Homer and Marge are called in to meet with Krabappel and school psychiatrist Dr. J. Loren Pryor. Dr. Pryor says that Bart is an underachiever and recommends that he repeat the fourth grade. Marge agrees that holding Bart back might not be such a bad idea. However, Bart vows that he will start to do better and will pass. In desperation, he asks Martin Prince for help. Martin is initially reluctant, but agrees when Bart agrees to show him how to become more popular. The two initially help each other out, but Martin starts to take on some of Bart's bad attitudes. He decides to stop being a book worm and hang out with his new friends and play practical jokes, and abandons Bart. Left with little time to study on his own, Bart prays to God and asks that something happen to make him miss school the next day so he can have more time to study. That night, Springfield is hit with a massive blizzard, and the schools are closed.
After receiving word of the school closures, Bart excitedly prepares for a fun snow day. However, Lisa reminds him of his prayer, and he decides to study for the rest of the day while everyone is outside having fun. Bart tries to concentrate while he is studying, but becomes easily distracted and is forced to literally slap himself continually to continue his studying. The next day, still slapping himself, he finishes the test and asks Mrs. Krabappel to grade it immediately. She does so, and tells him that he got 59%, failing by just one point. Crushed by this failure after trying so diligently, Bart breaks down in tears and compares his failure to George Washington's surrender of Fort Necessity to the French in 1754. Mrs. Krabappel, stunned at this obscure historical reference, realizes that Bart did make an honest effort after all. She gives Bart an extra point for demonstrating applied knowledge, pushing his grade up to a D-. Bart is proud of this, and he runs throughout Springfield, yelling to people that he actually passed. Homer proudly displays Bart's new personal best on the refrigerator, and Bart declares half of the D- "belongs to God."
Accessed from Wikipedia on Feb. 23, 2010