Bart to the Future
"Bart to the Future"
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Episode Information
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"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season.
Reception
This episode, like Kill the Alligator and Run, is often considered one of the worst episodes in the show's long history, receiving almost universally negative reviews from critics and fans alike. Entertainment Weekly named it the worst Simpsons episode of all time, stating that, "while Bart to the Future was likely better than anything else on TV the week it first aired, even Mojo the monkey could've banged out a more inventive script," and that, "We didn't know it was physically possible for something to both Rot AND blow."
Plot
The Simpsons are going to a park, but when they arrive, they find that mosquitos have gone crazy and have taken over. While driving back, they find an Indian casino and stop by. Bart tries to sneak in, but is caught by the casino's manager. To teach Bart a lesson, he gives Bart a glimpse of himself thirty years in the future.
In the year 2030, Bart is apparently going through an awkward period of his life. Having dropped out of DeVry University and with no stable job he is very much adrift. He becomes good friends with Ralph Wiggum and they have an unsuccessful band, the Tequila Mockingbirds. The two stick together through much tension. They ponder the success of Nelson Muntz who now owns a nightclub and his term "smell 'ya later" has replaced all the other terms used to say good-bye (including "smell ya later forever," instead of "goodbye forever").
The United States is completely bankrupt and relies on foreign aid from Europe and China. To help, America sold the "purple mountain majesties and amber waves of grain", among other properties that they do not even own. Lisa Simpson has the honor of being the first straight female president of the United States. Milhouse is a secretary for Lisa and still in love with her. Kearney works for the Secret Service, and is Lisa's bodyguard. Alan Greenspan is in Lisa's cabinet and Helen Thomas is still in the presidential press corps. Bart meets Billy Carter's ghost at Camp David.
It is revealed that Donald Trump was one of Lisa's predecessors as president, or it may have been a president by the last name of Trump, as the first name is not explicitly stated. It is not known if Chastity Bono had been president, as evidenced by Lenny's statement "Do not blame me, I voted for Chastity Bono!", may have implied Bono was a rival candidate to Lisa. A previous administration made the catastrophic choice to invest in the nation's children. Thanks to him, America is in the midst of a massive crime wave. Well-balanced taxpayer-subsidized breakfast programs for children has created a generation of ultra-strong super-criminals; midnight basketball taught them how to function without sleep.
Bart sees Lisa's presidency as a way to mooch off the taxpayers by going to the White House and sharing the private quarters of the presidential family with Lisa. Bart makes a nuisance of himself by having Marine One transport Ralph Wiggum, and tries to use Lisa's presidency to promote his band. When Lisa has a live news broadcast and lies to the people about a tax increase, Bart inadvertently gets Lisa to admit the truth, which causes her approval rating to plummet. Lisa then tells Bart she has an important mission for him and asks him to spend some time at Camp David with his friends so they can come up with a "coolness factor". Bart takes this seriously until he is visited by the ghost of Billy Carter, who informs Bart he was sent on a wild goose chase in order for Lisa to get rid of Bart. Bart finally realizes he has been nothing but an embarassment to his family, and works to be a better man.
Meanwhile, Homer is on a search for Abraham Lincoln's gold, and tears up the White House in doing so. Homer finally succeeds at finding a letter from Lincoln saying that his "gold" is the American people, but Homer in enraged it was not real gold.
Because of America's massive national debt, Lisa meets with the countries to whom money is owed. This does not go well, until Bart shows up and uses his skills at stalling debt collectors to save the day. In return, Lisa promises Bart she'll ”legalize it“
After the vision is over Bart apparently learns nothing from it. He is pleased by the fact that he has his own band and describes Lisa's position as "some government job."
(Maggie does not appear in this episode's future, though we see her baby daughter, named Maggie Junior. The DVD commentary mentions a deleted scene where we learn that she's an astronaut, which was shown on TV commercials advertising the episode, but not in the actual episode itself. It is included as an easter egg.)
Cultural references
The title is a pun on Back to the Future. Nelson's hairstyle and attire are a tribute to the 1985A Biff Tannen from Back to the Future II.
Trivia
- It aired exactly five years after Season 6's, "Lisa's Wedding", which also depicted the Simpsons' universe in the future. An interesting point were the endings of both episodes, whereas the fortune teller told Lisa her future could not be changed, the Indian mystic tells Bart to try andf change his future for the better.
- The scene in which Bart was talking to the ghost of Billy Carter in a bar at Camp David was, most likely, supposed to be like Treehouse of Horror V where Homer was talking to Moe's ghost in the bar of Burns' mansion. Both of these scenes are parodied from a scene in Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining."
- Entertainment Weekly named this the worst episode of the entire series in 2003.
* Following a tiny tradition in the series, Ned, the kindest person (and holiest), has bad things happen to him in this episode, yet still being faithful. (e.g in previous episodes, his house was blown down, Maude died, he got married to another woman in Vegas, etc...)
Goofs
- According to future Ned Flanders, when you have lazer eye surgery, after ten years your eyes pop out - but in "Last Tap Dance in Springfield", Homer has lazer eye surgery - yet in this episode, he still has his eyes in tact.
