Every Simpsons Christmas Special - Ranked

15. Kill Gil, Volumes I & II

Gil Gunderson is a one scene character. He can’t carry an episode. While they’ve managed to create fantastic stories with Krusty, Moe, and Apu, some characters just weren’t made to lead the story. The likes of Cletus, Luigi, or Cookie Kwan would never get arcs built around them, but for some reason, Gil gets his own episode here.

It starts off strong enough as we see Gil as his usual, downtrodden self, and the Simpsons (Marge especially) taking pity on him. You can see why such a charitable storyline became a fitting Christmas episode. It has two glaring errors though.

One, it’s not even a Christmas episode all the way through. Gil stays with the family for the whole year, meaning the Christmas theme is dropped for various calendar gags. Secondly, there’s Gil himself.

For all he’s a loveable loser in most of his appearances, he’s absolutely insufferable here. Usually, he’s a sweet man down on his luck. He shows a wonderful side of himself as he allows Lisa to have a Christmas present ahead of Costington’s daughter. However, for the rest of the episode he routinely takes advantage of the family, acting like a jerk for no reason. Bah humbug.