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"Brother's Little Helper"
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| "Brother's Little Helper"
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| Episode Information
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Brother's Little Helper is the second episode of Season 11 and aired on October 3, 1999. The episode was written by George Meyer and directed by Mark Kirkland. Mark McGwire guest stars as himself.
Synopsis
After Bart continually acts up in school, Principal Skinner recommends to Marge and Homer that Bart take some behavior medication. The drug initially shows promise, but it quickly alters Bart's psychosis and turns him into a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
Plot
During Fire Safety Day, the Springfield Volunteer Fire Department arrives at the school to teach kids about Fire Safety. Although Lisa has a genuine interest in Fire Safety, Bart namely asks for the names of Fire Safety equipment namely to have Principal Skinner utter double entendres. Principal Skinner introduces a fire safety skit to the students. The skit consisted of Ned and Maude Flanders playing Mad Dog and his girlfriend, a hippie couple who used drugs. During the skit, Ned Flanders catches on fire as part of the act, but it goes awry when his life is endangered due to it spreading to the extent that not even the stop-drop-and-roll method worked. The fire department tries to extinguish him, but it does not work because Bart is pulling a prank with the fire hose. Skinner has Homer and Marge come to the school. It is then when Bart is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. Principal Skinner recommends that Bart take a behavior drug called Focusyn, and states that the only alternative is that he will expel Bart if his parents don't give him Focusyn.
After several failed attempts by Homer, Marge convinces Bart to take the medication, and his behavior immediately improves. He begins paying attention in school and being respectful to his parents. However, side effects soon occur as Bart becomes paranoid that Major League Baseball is spying on the town using satellites. The doctors recommend that Bart go off Focusyn, but he refuses. Before anyone can stop him, he swallows several handfuls of Focusyn and runs away.
Bart wanders onto an army base and manages to steal a tank (ala Shawn Nelson). He cuts a swath of destruction through the town, until he eventually stops at the school. There, he points the tank's cannon into the sky and shoots down a Major League Baseball satellite, proving his theory right. Mark McGwire appears, but instead of explaining the bizarre situation, he distracts the townspeople by hitting some baseballs and then runs off with the evidence. Marge takes Bart off Focusyn for good and puts him back on "good old Ritalin", which he is okay with.
