Kill Gil, Volumes I & II

"Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" is the ninth episode of season 18, written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Bob Anderson. Elvis Stojko guest stars.

Plot
Along with most of the town of Springfield, the Simpson family enjoy Krusty's Kristmas on Ice show at an indoor ice rink. Krusty the Clown emcees the event's various acts, including an skating performance and a skating performance by Krusty and Sideshow Mel stunt doubles. The main act features a reindeer, a candy cane and a snowman, who are all fretting over a green monster named, the Grumple. As the Grumple advances on the Christmas characters, threatening to steal their Holiday Cheer, the characters mistakenly stumble backward over a wooden basketball court being set up by a crew lead by Raphael. All of the Christmas characters are enraged their show is being cut short and they begin brawling with the Utah Jazz as they try to warm up for a basketball game. Marge and the kids decide to get up and leave, when they spot Homer down on the ice grappling with the Grumple and demanding back the Holiday Cheer.

On Christmas Eve at Costingtons, a huge department store, a sad Lisa sits on Santa's lap and explains the one present she wants, the Malibu Stacy Pony Beach Party Set, is sold out everywhere. Santa Claus, played by Gil, feels sorry for Lisa and he goes back to the stockroom to find an extra play set he saw earlier. An overjoyed Lisa thanks Gil as a cashier rings up the sale. As Marge and the kids exit the store, an angry Mr. Costington comes out of his office and berates and fires Gil for selling the Malibu Stacy play set he set aside for his daughter. Marge and the kids witness the scene and, feeling sorry for Gil, Marge invites him over for Christmas Eve dinner.

After dinner that evening, Gil and the rest of the Simpson family gather around the piano and sing songs. When they finish, Gil gets up to grab his coat and leave, but Marge insists he stays the night, citing the fact it's late and cold outside. A thankful Gil accepts Marge's offer. On Christmas morning, an excited Bart and Lisa charge down the stairs to open their presents, but they are shocked to see their living room piled high with cardboard boxes and clothes. Gil explains to the family he figured since he had a place to stay he would go down to his bus locker and retrieve his personal belongings. As Marge and Homer survey the situation in the living room, the Grumple can be seen looking through the front window brandishing a knife and offering threats to Homer.

Later on Christmas morning, Homer tells Marge she has to inform Gil the invitation was only for the night and he can't stay. But when Marge approaches Gil to tell him he has to leave, Gil's weak demeanor and lack of a job make Marge reconsider and she allows Gil to stay for a few more days. By the time New Year's Day arrives, Gil made himself right at home with the Simpson family and when Marge once again tries to tell Gil it is time for him to move on, Gil explains to her he is waiting for a call and a job offer from his old boss at Jackpot Realty. Marge once again takes pity on him and cannot bring herself to ask Gil to move out. January 16 Martin Luther King Day, and Gil is still living with the Simpsons and an impatient Homer orders Marge to kick Gil out; he explains to Marge her inability to say “no” caused the whole situation with Gil, but Marge still can’t bring herself to order Gil to leave. Marge has trouble saying no because when she was 7, her sisters told her to hide their cigarettes in her dollhouse. She said no and they stuffed her in the dollhouse. She called out for her mom and Aunt Larina, but when she stood up, she slipped on a toy car and fell.

At Moe's Tavern, Homer vents his feelings about the situation with Gil to Lenny and Carl, who offer some advice - he needs to tell Marge to throw Gil out, otherwise she will never learn to assert herself. The Grumple suddenly appears, still infuriated with Homer, grabs a pool cue, breaks it in half, and advances toward Homer. A bewildered Homer hits the Grumple in the head with a beer bottle, rendering him unconscious. The pages of a tear-away calendar soon float by mindlessly, as the days and holidays go by, with Gil still remaining in the Simpson residence:


 * Valentine's Day (February 14) - Homer and Marge are about to “snuggle” in their room when Gil interrupts, and just as Marge is about to throw Gil out, the phone rings downstairs and a hopeful Gil thinks it could be his old boss offering him a job. Lisa calls out from downstairs to tell Gil it is just his foot doctor on the phone and a depressed Gil slumps against the wall feeling sorry for himself.
 * St. Patrick's Day (March 17) - Gil invites some of his buddies over for some late night singing and drinking, while restless Homer and Marge struggle to get some sleep.
 * International Literacy Day (September 8) - Bart and Lisa are upset to find Gil now mooches their lunches.
 * The day after Thanksgiving - An irritable Marge rakes leaves in the backyard, muttering about the trouble Gil has been, when Ned Flanders approaches and thanks Marge for the Christmas card he received. Marge doesn't recall sending out Christmas cards yet and when she takes a look at the picture on the front of the card Ned holds, she notices Gil placed a photo of himself over the Simpson family photo and mailed it out as a Christmas card.

Marge finally reaches her boiling point, and marches into the house rampageously, dead set on kicking Gil out, but she is surprised to find Gil suddenly moved out and is in Scottsdale, Arizona, after his old boss called and gave him a job.

Marge is still hell-bent on saying "no" to Gil and she insists on traveling to Scottsdale so she can finally get the pleasure of saying the word to him. As Marge drives the family through Scottsdale, they spot Gil's image and name on billboards, park benches and buses. Even though Gil became a big shot and a success, Marge still has the urge and the need to tell Gil "no". At the Jackpot Realty office, Gil leads a meeting and motivates his realtors to go out and sell. The realtors clearly look up to Gil and are impressed with his selling capabilities, when Marge barges into the meeting and confronts Gil. She jabs him in the chest and vents out all of her built-up anger towards him. When the rest of the realtors see the successful big-shot Gil being pushed around and cowering in front of Marge, they all realize they have been fooled by his confident attitude. After Marge’s display of anger and Gil's display of weakness, Gil's boss charges out of his office and fires him on the spot. Marge is horrified when she realizes she just cost Gil his job, and feels sorry for Gil once again.

Come Christmas time, at a residence in a suburb of Scottsdale with its mailbox reading "The Simpsons" and a Jackpot Realty sold sign sitting out front, Christmas carols can be heard emerging from the house. Inside, on the piano, Gil leads the family in song, when suddenly a family of Grumples arrives at the doorstep. Homer lets them in, clearly having forgotten the friction between him and the Grumple, and Gil, the Simpsons and the Grumples continue happily in song.

Production
It is the ninth Christmas-themed episode. This episode aired exactly 17 years after the very first episode ("Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"); it was also the fifth episode to air on this date. Elvis Stojko guest stars as himself.

Opening sequence
A Christmas-themed opening sequence was animated for this episode and was later re-aired with "The Burns and the Bees". Not counting the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, this is the second time that the title sequence is radically different from the norm.

It begins with two lines of instrumental "O Christmas Tree" and then the normal theme music begins. This version is similar to the normal version, except for several key differences:
 * 1) Everything outside is covered with snow
 * 2) Bart's skateboard has been replaced with a snowboard
 * 3) Everyone is wearing winter clothes
 * 4) Mr. Burns and Smithers have been replaced by a -esque Burns and Ghost of -esque Smithers, and there are several Christmas banners in the plant
 * 5) Lisa's saxophone solo is a jazzy version "Deck the Halls"
 * 6) Bleeding Gums Murphy, who is now deceased, has been replaced with Jasper in a Santa costume. Maude Flanders, however, remains in the pan across Springfield, despite having also died.
 * 7) Marge and Maggie's supermarket and car sequence have unfortunately been cut



In the end, the family sits on the couch and the camera then pulls out to reveal that the family was reflected in a Christmas ornament, which rests on a Christmas tree.

Reception
Dan Iverson of IGN gave the episode the headline of "Worst Simpsons Christmas episode ever!". He explains that though the story wasn't bad, it was merely told poorly, especially the area were Gil gets a new household had made no sense. He writes: "Gil's storyline wasn't the only thing that didn't make sense, as the ongoing joke of the Grumpo made less sense than most anything from this season." Though he explains that even though the episode wasn't "all bad", he felt there were a couple of comedic bits to keep the show afloat, such as the unique opening sequence.