The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Episode 2

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Episode 2

Aired: October 31st. 1991 Season 2: Episode 3

Written by: Atrocious Al Jean, Morbid Mike Reiss, Jittery Jeff Martin, Gasping George Meyer, Slithering Sam Simon, Spooky John Swartzwelder

Welcome to the second Treehouse of Horror "Review". The opening is the same as the first episode with Marge warning the crowd not to watch, but that everyone ignored her last year. Once again this is a Frankenstein (1931) reference.

The camera moves through the Cemetery with some new names on the Tombstones which then shows the cast names made "scary" for the first time, which will become a Treehouse staple in future episodes.

Next we see Homer watching TV while eating candy when Jimbo and Nelson come demanding candy and then egging the house. Marge (dressed as the Bride), Lisa, Bart and Maggie come home after trick r treating and they begin gorging on the candy. Marge warns them all that is they eat too much candy they will have nightmares. These nightmares serve as the segments for the episode. I love this idea of the nightmares after too much candy, I can remember my parents warning me of this, so it ties perfectly into the Halloween season.

Segment 1 - Monkey's Paw (Lisa's Nightmare) 

The segment begins with the Simpsons in Morocco with Homer buying a Monkey's Paw after being warned by the seller that it can be dangerous with each wish granted.

The paw offers 4 wishes that turn out to be the following;
- First wish - Maggie wishes for a new pacifier which arrives in a luxury vehicle.
- Second wish - Bart wishes for the family to be rich and famous, but soon everyone in town begins to hate them.
- Third Wish - Lisa wishes for world peace, everyone throws away their guns and then Kang and Kodos come to take over the world.

- Fourth wish - Homer wishes for a turkey sandwich, which turns out out to be dry.
Homer throws out the paw in frustration and Ned asks if he can have it, Homer purposely does not tell him that it is dangerous, however Ned manages to save the world and upgrade his house. This is a funny episode and I love the part where homer wishes for a turkey sandwich, they could have done a few things better but I still like it.

Here is the list of the references I noticed while watching this segment.
- "The Monkey's Paw": The entire segment is inspired by the W.W. Jacobs horror story "The Monkey's Paw"

- Midnight Express: When the Simpsons are about to board the plane, the Moroccan police stop them by aiming pistols at them in the kneeling position, then lift up Homer's shirt to find smuggled items taped to his abdomen, parodying the opening scene of Midnight Express.

Segment 2 - The Bart Zone (Bart's Nightmare)

The segment revolves around Bart having the ability to alter reality and read peoples minds. Basically Bart is running Springfield and we get to see him messing with people, especially Homer. This is my favorite segment of the episode, since it was inspired by the Twlight Zone episode and some of Homer's reactions once he is turned into a jack in the box.

Here are the references I noticed in the segment.
- "It's a Good Life" The Twilight Zone: The entire segments based on this classic episode.

- Twilight Zone Intro: The intro is like the Twilight Zone Homers Nightmare

Segment 3 If I Only Had a Brain (Homer's Nightmare)

This segment opens with Mr. Burns wanting to fire someone and picks Homer. Homer ends up working as a grave digger and falls asleep in one of the open graves. Mr. Burns and Smithers are in search of a fresh corpse in order to bring life to their new worker robot and stumble across Homer. Assuming he is dead they drag him back and use his brain. Unfortunately the robot is as lazy as Homer so they decide to reverse the process. In the process the robot falls on Mr. Burns leaving only his head, so Smither sews the head onto Homer.

This is a funny episode that may not be great but is all around solid with plenty of references to Frankenstein.

Here are the references I noticed in the segment.
- Frankenstein: The entire episode is based around this, from the grave robbing to the laboratory to the "monster"

- The Wizard of Oz:  Mr. Burns is humming "If I only had a brain" as well as the near-quote "You clinking, clattering, cacaphony of colligenous cogs and camshifts!" was originally used as an insult to the Tin Man.

Closing: The end has Homer waking from his nightmare only to find out that Mr. Burns head is actually sewn onto his shoulder. This ending is similar to the film, The Thing With Two Heads. Overall this is a good episode and moved the series in the right direction. Thanks for reading and goodnight!