The Simpsons Challenge
Season 1
Episode 2 – Bart the Genius
Couch Gag
This is the first of what would become a trademark, the couch gag and we started with Bart popping out of the 5 falling on front of the television. Simple but good for a laugh.
Plot Synopsis –Bart ends up at a school for gifted children after cheating on an IQ test.
What is going on really – Starting with a family scrabble game where Maggie spells out EMCSQ showing the genius coming up in this episode, we also continue to see how Lisa is the smartest talking member and Homer and Bart are not the smartest.
This shows the ongoing rivalry between Bart and Principal Skinner dealing with his rebellious side as well as seeing Martin Prince’s good to shoes attitude. We see how Bart struggles to deal with studying however much he concentrates on the problem.
When Bart cheats on his test he ends up swapping the names on the tests completed by Martin Prince that ends up showing Bart is a genius with his rebellious behavior being used to cover up struggle to deal with the intelligence and gets transferred to a new school for the gifted.
Starting his new school Bart finds himself way out of his depth being constantly outsmarted by his fellow class and having to go to the opera with the family, all while Lisa suspects foul play happening on the test.
The longer Bart hides his secret he sees Homer want to spend more time with him but his old friends no longer want to hang around with him. Bart eventually confesses all putting him back into Springfield Elementary before confessing to Homer wanting to keep the bond together worried about the rage Homer will react.
Star Character
Bart
Final Thoughts – This is the second episode in a row that revolves around a character keeping a secret from the rest of the family and this time we get to see how the secret build the bond between Homer and Bart. I feel this episode shows how looking at family can show how they react to your achievements. This episode introduces us to the rivalry between Bart and Principal Skinner as well as how easily he can make Homer get into a rage.
Rating 4.75/5
