Treehouse of Horror XIII

"She's become a monster! Which, I gotta admit, I sort of suspected during the sex."

- Homer Simpson

"Treehouse of Horror XIII" is the first episode of season 14, as well as the thirteenth Halloween episode.

Opening sequence
The Simpsons and Ned Flanders hold a seance in order to contact Ned's dead wife, Maude. While praying, Bart comes in dressed as Maude's ghost but sees Maude's real ghost behind him, which startles everyone. Homer and Ned admire Maude, but are terrified when she turns into a hideous ghoul. Maude opens up a green book with the white writing "THE SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR" and someone writes "13" on the book in blood.

Send in the Clones
Homer starts walking into the backyard to lie in his hammock, which soon collapses. He purchases a new one from a passing vendor, who warns him that it carries a curse. Disregarding this, Homer lies down and discovers that the new hammock can produce clones of anyone who rests on it. He inspects the first clone and notices that it doesn't have a belly button. He begins making and using clones to do all of his chores, which include helping Marge choose an outfit, visiting Grampa to listen to one of his war-related stories, and play a baseball game with Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The clones are soon revealed to be much more stupid than the true Homer. Lisa notes this while they are playing baseball with one of the clones and the clone smashes the car with a bat. When Ned Flanders asks if he can have his chainsaw back, one of the clones picks up the chainsaw and looks at Homer, who nods. The clone misunderstands and brings back Ned's severed head. Horrified, Homer immediately decides to get rid of the clones and the hammock. He bundles them in a truck and takes them to an isolated cornfield. When they arrive, Homer asks if anyone knows the way home; three Homers put up their hands, prompting Homer to shoot those three down. He then abandons the rest, along with the hammock, presuming that none of the clones are smart enough to get anywhere without him. The clones soon use the abandoned hammock to make an army of Homer clones.

Among the hundreds of clones, a few 'mutations' (including Homer as he was drawn on The Tracy Ullman Show version of The Simpsons, Homer after gaining 300lbs to get on disability at work, and Family Guy's own Peter Griffin) are seen. The clones attack Springfield and destroy all of its buildings, except for Moe’s Tavern, which reports record business. US Army officials gather in the Mayor's War Room, where Lisa thinks of a solution to solve the problem, after getting the idea from Homer, who became upset when he found an empty donut box. She suggests that several helicopters hook gigantic donuts on cables and have the clones chase them into Springfield gorge. The plan is put into action in a parody of the "Ride of the Valkyries" helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now. Upon seeing the large donuts, all the Homers gasp and exclaim,"Mmmmm. Donuts" and begin chasing the helicopters, which fly over the gorge, luring the Homer clones to their deaths. As each clone hits the bottom of the gorge, he replies,"D'oh!", which echoes across the gorge. Later that night, Marge enters the bedroom and soon discovers that the Homer next to her is a clone (he has no belly button). The clone tells her that the true Homer was the first to fall into the gorge. Marge is initially upset, but relaxes when the clone offers her a back rub as Mike O Malley's "Love The One You're With" plays in the background.

The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms
Lisa and Bart are at the Springfield Cemetery, mourning the loss of their pet goldfish, Goldie, who had always been there for them between August and October. Lisa inadvertently discovers the grave of William Bonney, a man who was killed at a young age by gun violence. According to his epitaph, he dreamed of a world without guns. In his memory, Lisa starts a gun control crusade, which makes Springfield 100% gun free. All the guns are taken including Homer's, Bart's and Maggie's guns, even the police no longer possess guns all guns are turned into a playground. The town is now defenseless, causing the corpses of William "Billy the Kid" Bonney and his cohorts, 'The Hole in the Ground' gang to rise from the dead. The gang starts wreaking havoc on the town, until Professor Frink invents a time machine, which Homer uses to go back in time to stop the gun ban and destroy the zombies. Homer tells the citizens of Springfield to shoot at the zombies' graves, causing them to rise up and flee. Lisa feels guilty about banning guns, because sometimes they are the answer. Suddenly, a more futuristic Homer comes in to warn them about guns that have destroyed Earth in the future. He is then shot by Moe, who has had enough of all this nonsense and plans to use Frink's time machine to find some "caveman hookers". An error in this portion of the episode is when The Hole in the Ground Gang started firing after being introduced, Mayor Quimby has no hair.

The Island of Dr. Hibbert
In an elaborate parody of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells, the Simpsons are going on a trip to "The Island of Lost Souls", where they find a sinister Dr. Hibbert running the island's resort. While the family are there, Marge starts to think that something creepy is going on, although Homer largely dismisses her concerns. She investigates and, consequently, she is captured by Dr. Hibbert, who transforms her into a sexy bluehaired hellcat. After having violent sex with the new Marge, Homer realizes she has been transformed.

He goes to find a cure for Marge's new state, but encounters Ned Flanders, who has become a cow-centaur who needs to be milked. After Homer reluctantly milks him, Flanders takes Homer to a clearing to see the rest of the Springfield inhabitants who have been turned into creatures to which they already bore resemblances (for instance, Disco Stu is now Disco Shrew, and Agnes Skinner is a kangaroo carrying her son, Seymour, in her pouch.) All of Springfield's known townsfolk (except Mrs. Hibbert and her brother, Chester Dupree, the Reverend and Mrs. Lovejoy, Mrs. Glick, and brothers Rod and Todd Flanders) seem to be present, either content or indifferent to their new existence. Bart is now a spider, Lisa an owl, and Maggie an anteater (almost carried off to be eaten by Lisa who was stopped by Homer). Homer, initially appalled, soon embraces being a walrus, which does nothing but eat, sleep, mate, and roll around in its own filth (after realizing how well it suits his own lifestyle). A wide shot of the island reveals Kang and Kodos are flying above the island in their spaceship, commenting on how the skull-shaped island looks like their number 4. This is a reference to the Japanese as their number 4 is an unlucky number, as it spells like death.

Production
Marc Wilmore, Brian Kelley and Kevin Curran wrote the episode. This is the first Halloween episode to use digital ink and paint as a proof of concept, which led to the decision to have the whole show's animation converted from traditional cel to digital ink and paint.

Reception
The episode received overwhelming positive reviews from Simpsons critics and fans, many calling it one of the best "post-Golden Age" Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes ever.

Gallery
Treehouse of Horror XIII