The Simpsons: Every Season 1 Episode Ranked

It’s another episode which explores the dimensions of Bart’s character – it’s well known that he’s got a rebellious spirit but how far will he go? The plot oversees Bart mixing with the wrong crowd as the ‘cool’ bullies help smuggle him into an R-rated movie. Bart is out of his depth since he is not the type to behave like Jimbo, Kearney and Dolph do. The trio make fun of him for not having the same town pride values but determined to be part of the gang, Bart does the extreme and cuts off the statue head of Jebediah Springfield.

The moral is to not be tempted by peer pressure. As an audience, we know the bullies are not Bart’s true friends, they’re just humouring him for their own enjoyment. It’s a case of a vulnerable person being led under the wrong influence and suffering the consequences as a result (this is foreshadowed by Bart trying to sneak in a personal radio into church because of the examples set by Homer).

Bart takes the head thinking it’ll make him popular but instead he has instant regret because he’s enraged the whole town. Furthermore, Jimbo and the group are not impressed with whoever stole the head making Bart no better off with his new ‘friends’ than he was before. The ending goes as you’d expect - he learns a valuable lesson and luckily has a forgiving town (Homer almost breaks fourth wall by saying mobs aren’t usually so nice).

Even if the metaphors don’t resonate with you, it’s still a very enjoyable episode. There’s lots of well written jokes like the struggling Sunday school teacher who is bombarded with questions about heaven and there’s also a subtle movie reference to The Godfather. This episode is also the first nod to Mr Smithers’ closeted homosexuality and undying love for Mr Burns (which would become an on-going gag in years to come) - “I love you, Smithers” “The feeling is more than mutual, sir”.