Bart the General
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"Bart the General"
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Episode Information
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- "Oh, Christ, you got to be kidding me! Nora, love of my life, is the Kickass?!"
- ―Jim Oglethorp
"No. 5" is the fifth episode of Season 1. It aired on March 19, 1981. The episode was written by Shtoindas Hmoindas and directed by Red Greensborough.
Synopsis
After being advised by Ez to take nude photos of Nora, Jim sneaks into her house, only to find to his horror, that she is his worst enemy, the Teenage Kickass. After this confrontation, he loses his concentration while attempting to fight her and performs his espionage poorly. As a result, for the first time in his crime-fighting career, he strikes out.
Plot
The episode starts when Jim and Fred are hanging around The Comestible Giraffe drinking soda. Fred leaves to use the bathroom, at which point Ez walks up to Jim and Jim starts talking about his love life. Ez gives him complicated advice on how to "win her", detailing a bizarre plan in which he would take a nude photo of her, put it up on his backpack, and then begin showing it around until he raises Nora's ire. "At first, she'll think you're the biggest creep on Earth," Ez declares, "but once you've cracked the ice she'll begin to soften little by little, and then you two will be much more open and willing to go to the bedroom together." Jim at first is skeptical, but Ez eventually convinces him, saying, "That's how I found my Laura. And she's the greatest girl in bed there is." Jim goes off to accomplish his goal, by sneaking first into his own house (where he borrows her mom's camera) and then going to Nora's. When he gets there and realizes that she isn't home yet, he hides in her dresser and gets out the camera. Jim is beginning to get very excited about the idea of seeing his dream girl "in the nood". When she finally comes home, after a relieving trip to the little girl's room she walks into her dressing area and begins changing. Jim holds out the camera, but seeing her picking up the Teenage Kickass outfit and starting to put it on, he misfires and ends up getting a picture of himself gazing in shock at the horrible revelation.
Later, Jim, Fred, and Pamela are sitting around talking about their ceepy teacher Senator Stitch, when Jim gets a call from the "Office" that he must stop The Dragon's latest evil scheme. Jim reluctantly goes off and dons his suave spy outfit, and uses his hovercraft to reach the scene of the crime. Before he is halfway there the Teenage Kickass jumps in and attempts to use her kung fu against Jim. Although he dodges her successfully, he refuses to fight back and as a result she taunts him and calls him a weakling. Eventually, she hijacks his hovercraft, and pushes a button which ejects him in a farm outside Pinnacle. Weary and humiliated, Jim slowly tries to make his way home with a heavy heart. At school Senator Stitch remarks on Jim's tardiness and his disheveled appearance. Fred asks him what happened but he dosen't want to talk about it. He says some things are better left unknown. Nora walks into class with a triumphant air and Senator Stitch immediately backs away in fear. All throughout his teaching, Stitch is constantly wary of Nora's presence and as a result stumbles around during the lesson. Jim begins to suspect that something fishy is going on, and after school he immediately dons his spy outfit and sneaks into Stitch's back office. There he sees the Teenage Kickass informing Stitch (who has been handcuffed behind his back) that for the first time in a while The Dragon has had a major victory, and that now he will have to either use his genius to serve the Dragon or return to his former status as a slave on an alien ship. Jim, infuriated by Nora's complete lack of concern for ethics, Jim leaps out and demands that Stitch be freed. The Teenage Kickass taunts him and calls him a "coward" and suggests that he start running, since that's what he does best. She also begins threatening violence on Senator Stitch. Jim, in the heat of anger, blurts out "Let him go, Nora!" When she hears her being called by name, she is overcome with fear and, in order to avoid further confrontation, seizes Senator Stitch and runs off in a hurry.
The story is continued in the next episode.
Production
Red Greensborough was the director of this episode, while most of the script was written by Shtoindas Hmoindas with some trimming by Zorgin Hmorgin. The episode is notable for containing the first scene of voyeurism in a cartoon series.
No new characters were introduced in this episode, however it did mark the first time that Senator Stitch had more than two lines of dialogue in the series. It was also the first episode in which Jim's mom Yvonne did not appear.
Reception
The episode was generally viewed very positively, and was ranked in one survey as the fourth greatest episode of the first season. Many fans applauded its pathos and character development. Additionally, some viewed it as daring since it openly portrayed male lust toward female nudity. Many believe that it was the popularity of No. 3, No. 4, and this episode that helped to permenantly establish Jim and the Teenage Kickass as part of the CRO-TV lineup.
References
