Episode 3 - Treehouse of Horror
27 March 2012
Synopsis: Three stories told by Bart and Lisa on Halloween. In the first the Simpsons buy a haunted house which doesn't want them to stay. Then aliens come to offer the Simpsons a better life but Lisa suspects they want to eat them. Finally Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" is brought to life.
The Good: This most innovative concept begins humbly enough here with three simple stories. Of course it will go on to provide an annual opportunity for the writers to shed the burdens of normal life and write science fiction and fantasy stories for the Simpsons to fall into. It was and became a welcome and clever change of pace.
The second story here introducing the aliens who would become Kang and Kodos is really fun. It showcases the philosophy of the writers, which is to deliberately lead the audience in a predictable direction so that the joke can be the opposite. The aliens are deliberately scripted at every turn to sound suspicious and imply they plan on eating the human family they are fattening up. Lisa is smart enough to see through their behaviour and exposes their dastardly conspiracy. Sadly for Lisa the punch line comes hard on everyone's assumptions (see Best Joke).
On the way to the finish we get plenty of fun moments as the aliens and Simpsons get to know one another. The aliens miraculously speak English (poking fun at the obvious flaw in many a sci-fi story) and show amusingly human emotions "anyone from a species who has mastered intergalactic travel raise your hand."
The opening story about a haunted house wasn't up to much but did provide a good laugh when Homer discovers the house was built on an ancient Indian burial ground. He angrily rings his realtor and tears into him claiming he never mentioned that particular feature of the house. Homer's anger continues, fluctuates and then he rings off saying "he says he mentioned it five or six times."
The final story is a complete surprise as Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" gets abridged, adapted and cast with the Simpsons family. With James Earl Jones reading the narrator's part it's a very effective and atmospheric portrayal of the poem. Bart and Lisa telling the story are woven in cleverly and Homer plays his anger as Homer so the story is unmistakably Simpsonian while bringing Poe's poem cleverly to life. It's completely unlike anything else we've seen on The Simpsons so far but a very enjoyable six minutes.
The Bad: The opening haunted house story was what it was but wasn't particularly funny. The house choosing destruction over living with the Simpson family was too simplistic a gag.
Best Joke: Lisa finds the evidence she needs of the aliens' nasty intentions - a cook book entitled "How To Cook Humans." She shows her shocked family who turn on their hosts. Kang though blows dust off the book to reveal a missing word "How To Cook For Humans." But Lisa isn't easily fooled, blows off more dust to reveal "How To Cook Forty Humans." But Kang too sees more dust revealing finally "How To Cook For Forty Humans." The aliens then act outraged at this affront and take the humans home. It's an absolutely classic case of The Simpsons building up one story which viewers will have seen coming a mile off only to deliver the conclusion which they wouldn't have seen coming. This joke was unexpected and through the continued silly revelations, pretty funny.
The Bottom Line: This is the start of a brilliant idea for the show and two of these stories in different ways are ideal entertainment.
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