15 Worst Episodes Of The Simpsons (And What They Represent)
12. Kill Gil, Volumes I & II
What It Represents: Bad seasonal episodes.
The Simpsons, like any long running animated show, tends to stretch the season a little by having some seasonal episodes. Christmas is a main stay, but Easter, Thanksgiving and occasionally New Years or Valentine’s Day get an episode thrown their way.
While Skinner’s Sense Of Snow or Bart Vs Thanksgiving provide great stories (even if Bart Vs Thanksgiving is a little rough around the edges), modern offerings feel lazy.
Most recently, ‘Tis The Thirtieth Season - named after ‘Tis The Fifteenth despite no connection - was another lowball offering. You’d think after the disaster which was Kill Gil, Volumes I & II, they would keep the snivelling salesman as far away from a Christmas episode as possible, but alas no.
While he’s irritating in the most recent one, he’s downright awful in Kill Gil. His shtick has always been as a down on his luck but warm hearted man; Kill Gil starts that way, then spins him into a moocher.
He loses his job to get Lisa a toy, and is rewarded with Christmas lunch, then stays for a whole year.
For what it’s worth, Treehouse Of Horror episodes are a different beast, but they get their spotlight later on.