The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 4 Review - Treehouse of Horror

This week's Simpsons is a very special episode: the annual Treehouse of Horror. It's a tradition as old as time. Or, as old as the first Bush administration. But in this day and age, that actually does feel like forever. It's been a staple of the Simpsons since the second season, and for good reason. The episodes are a celebration of Halloween and all things spooky, which is just what we all need at this time of year.

In the first story, a major software company is being led by an alien, who helps start an alien spore invasion in Springfield. The Springfieldians don't even realize the invasion until it's too late. However, the Simpson kids are able to escape just in time. Lou helps them escape, but they crash and are all absorbed by the aliens. The Simpsons are sent off to an alien planet, which Lisa is pretty happy about.

In the second story, Bart wakes up to the sight of Nelson and Milhouse. All three have been kidnapped by Lisa, who has multiple personalities. Homer notices Bart's absence, and Lisa brushes off his concerns and tells him that Bart is at Milhouse's. The boys try to escape, but are unsuccessful. Lisa gives them a pair of keys, and they escape from the room. Milhouse gets turned into a newspaper bundle and Nelson is killed, and Lisa tells Bart the reason she's turned into a crazy murderer (he changed her spelling test answers and she failed it). A heartfelt speech from Bart is enough to save him from death.

In the third and final story, the Simpsons tour Burns' new park for geriatrics, where they're dumping Grandpa. Lisa has concerns about the park, but nobody else seems to spot the problems. That is, until the residents turn into actual dinosaurs when Homer turns up the temperature. The dinosaurs attack everyone in sight, but the Simpsons are able to make it to an escape pod. However, they get stuck and come across dinosaur Grandpa. Lisa saves them by talking to him and showing him respect, and the other dinosaurs are tamed in a similar manner.

Wrap-Up:

Oof. I don't even want to talk about this one but here we go.

While this season of The Simpsons has been weak (to say the least) so far, this was definitely the biggest disappointment so far. It was probably the second-best episode (or really, third-worst) so far, but that's not even close to a good thing when you look at the rest of the episodes they've given us. I always love these episodes and I rewatch them all, even the ones that aren't spectacular, every single year. I have absolutely no desire to ever watch this again. It was just weak from start to finish.

The Geriatric Park story was definitely my favorite of the episode, and it's the only one that I actually liked at all. It was pretty much on par with some of the weaker, yet still entertaining, stories from Treehouses past. The first story was absolutely abysmal and the second wasn't that much better. However, my biggest problem with all three episodes in this story is that all three stories had happy endings for pretty much all of the characters in them. It's just way too Disney-like and not what anyone wants from these specials. Stop this, Simpsons, before you ruin a good thing.

Score: 5/10
Grade: D

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