The Simpsons: Every Season 1 Episode Ranked

Here’s an example of when an off-the-wall premise is accomplished with believability thanks to the dialogue and pacing. On paper, the story of Bart being used as a slave in France whilst The Simpsons take in a secret spy for an exchange student is a bit of a stretch. But seeing Bart’s slow descent into misery and the convincing innocence of Adil (the exchange student) makes you thoroughly invested in how this chapter of The Simpsons lives will play out.

It starts off as any familiar episode does - Bart is causing havoc at home as his messiness leads to Homer badly injuring himself down the stairs. It doesn’t end there as he then places a cherry bomb down the loo at school, causing an unpleasant experience for Skinner’s mother who was in a cubical nearby.

Side note: Agnes was so sweet back in the early days (maybe Bart’s prank triggered her to become so bitter and harsh). This incident is the last straw for Mr Skinner who strongly advises Bart be shipped to France as part of a Foreign Exchange Programme which both Bart and Skinner, as well as Homer are keen for him to do.

What should be a fun trip for Bart is actually a living hell as he is used for slave labour with virtually no food and rough shelter. Our frustrations for Bart quickly turn into sympathy and it becomes even more upsetting seeing how oblivious The Simpsons are to his living conditions.

But things take a turn for the better as Bart is able to reach out to a French police officer by miraculously speaking the language (this twist is made more plausible since Principal Skinner earlier claims the average child can speedily pick up a new language when immersed into it) and exposes his hosts for their crimes. Returning home, Bart learns the value of his family just as much as the Simpson family realise their lives would be empty without Bart. It’s a really wonderful episode with tidy animation, a clear narrative and a good punchline to finish on.