Episode 2 - Bart the Genius
27 March 2012
Synopsis: Struggling to complete an aptitude test, Bart swaps his paper with that of teacher’s pet Martin. The school psychiatrist declares Bart a genius and moves him to a special school for gifted children. Homer diligently tries to support Bart and the two of them grow closer. Meanwhile at school Bart struggles to keep up with his classmates and becomes alienated from his old friends. He eventually comes clean which greatly angers Homer.
The Good: Another simple morality play for Bart and Homer. Bart cheats on a test and doesn’t benefit from it. He also ruins the chance to maintain the new found affection from his father.
Seeing them bond is suitably sweet. “There’s nothing wrong with a father kissing his son. (Aside) I think” Homer muses. We also see Homer giggling unknowingly at his son’s graffiti and Homer’s bad hand writing. Both nice straightforward ways of showing how Bart has become who he is and how much he and his father have in common. The brief scene of Bart’s former friends rejecting the new genius Bart was a nice touch to complete the story of his isolation.
The Simpsons cynical humour begins to kick in as Mrs Krabappel announces that the aptitude test will “merely determine your future social status and financial success.” Then once Bart meets the other ten year old genius’ they are busy debating whether free will is an illusion.
The Bad: The opera scene establishes further the familial bonding but it goes on too long and gets dull.
The logic hole of this plot is what happens to Martin. Surely his low scores would have tipped off the teachers that something had gone wrong. But then once Bart admits his mistake shouldn’t Martin have been promoted to the genius school?
Best Joke: Homer bemoans his lousy letters while playing Scrabble. His tiles are laid out in this order OXIDIZE.
The Bottom Line: A simple morality tale, told well enough.
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