Kill Gil, Volumes I & II
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"Kill Gil, Volumes I & II"
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Episode Information
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"Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" is the ninth episode of season 18 of The Simpsons and the three-hundred and eighty-seventh episode overall. It originally aired on December 17, 2006. The episode was written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Bob Anderson. It guest stars Elvis Stojko as himself.
Synopsis
- "After attempting to fulfill his role as Mall Santa even further, but ending up giving his boss' gift to his daughter to Lisa, Gil is inevitably fired and finds himself homeless. Taking pity on the unsuccessful businessman, Marge lets Gil stay with the family over Christmas. However, Marge finds herself unable to turn Gil back onto the streets... she just can't tell him "no"."
Plot
The Simpson family are at a showing of Krusty's Kristmas on Ice, starring Krusty the Clown. During the show, The Grumple, a character in it, steals everyone's Holiday Cheer. This scares Homer, but the show carries on until it is interrupted by workers placing down a basketball floor for a game that is happening. The performers of the show start to fight the basketball players and the workers, as Homer fights The Grumple. On Christmas Eve, at Costington's, Lisa sits on the lap of Gil Gunderson, who is dressed as Santa Claus. Lisa tells Gil that she wanted a Malibu Stacy Pony Beach Party playset, but it was sold out everywhere. Gil tells Lisa that he saw one in the back room and gets it for her, making Lisa happy. As the Simpsons buy the playset for Lisa, Mr. Costington asks Gil if he sold the playset that he set aside for his daughter. When Gil refuses to get it back for him, Mr. Costington fires Gil. Seeing this, Marge invites Gil to have dinner with them.
At home, Gil plays the piano whilst the rest of the Simpsons sing along to "The Twelve Days of Christmas". After the song, Homer makes Grampa leave, but Marge lets Gil stay the night. After another song, everyone goes to bed and Bart and Lisa wake up the next morning to find that Gil has moved all his stuff into the house. This surprises Homer and Marge, but Homer is also shocked to see that The Grumple is outside the house, threatening to kill Homer. Homer tells Marge that she has to get Gil to leave, but Marge decides to let him stay over Christmas since it would be wrong to kick him out that day. However, Gil ends up overstaying his welcome until New Year's. When Marge goes to kick him out, Gil tells her that he's expecting a call about a job for Jackpot Realty in Scottsdale. Marge decides to let him stay a few more days until he gets the job.
Days keep passing and more holidays come and go. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Homer again tells Marge to kick Gil out of the house, but Marge tells Homer that she'll let him stay a few more days. She explains that she has trouble saying "no" due to some childhood trauma. Homer goes to Moe's Tavern where he talks to his friends about Gil. They tell Homer that he can't kick him out because then Marge will never assert herself. Homer then noticed The Grumple is also in the bar and the two of them fight, with Homer hitting him on the head with a bottle, causing him to go unconscious and bleed green blood.
More days pass until it becomes Valentine's Day. Gil eats the box of chocolates Homer got for Marge. When Marge finally decides to kick Gil out, the phone rings, but it turns out it's just Gil's foot doctor and not the Scottsdale job. St. Patrick's Day then arrives next, with Gil drunkenly singing songs with his friends, keeping Homer and Marge awake at night. Meanwhile, Gil is having an affect on Bart and Lisa too, as Gil steals their lunches and replaces them with junk. Eventually, Thanksgiving passes and Gil is still at the house. He makes and sends out a family Christmas card, with him covering most of the family. This is the final straw for Marge who finally decides to tell Gil to leave, but she finds that Gil had already left. Feeling the need to still tell Gil "no", the family goes to Scottsdale to find him.
When the family arrives in Scottsdale, they find that Gil is a very successful realtor with his face on billboards and benches. The family goes to Jackpot Realty where Marge finally confronts Gil. When Gil tries to talk to Marge about buying a house, Marge finally snaps and lets her rage out, telling him no to everything. When the other realtors see what a loser Gil actually is, they mock him and Gil gets fired. Feeling bad about getting Gil fired again, the Simpsons buy a house in Scottsdale and Gil spends Christmas with them there. As everyone sings Christmas songs, there is a knock at the door, which turns out to be The Grumple and his family, who want to spend Christmas with the Simpsons. The Simpsons, Gil, and The Grumples all sing "Grumply Grumply Christmas" together.
Production
Executive producer Al Jean wanted to do an episode similar to the film Holiday Inn, where they have multiple holidays shown during it. The episode features the first appearance of The Grumple, who became very popular among the producers after his debut.[1]
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:
- Everything outside is covered with snow
- Bart's skateboard has been replaced with a snowboard
- Everyone is wearing winter clothes
- Mr. Burns and Smithers have been replaced by a Scrooge-esque Burns and Ghost of Marley-esque Smithers, and there are several Christmas banners in the plant
- Lisa's saxophone solo is a jazzy version "Deck the Halls"
- 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.
- 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
As of November 2023, "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" has a 6.3 rating on IMDb.[2]
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.[3]
"Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" won the 2008 Writers Guild of America award in Animation.[4]
References
- ↑ Jean, Al (2017). Commentary for "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II", in The Simpsons: The Complete Eighteenth Season.
- ↑ IMDb - "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II"
- ↑ IGN - "The Simpsons: Kill Gil, Volumes I & II Review" (archived on Wayback Machine)
- ↑ IMDb - "Writers Guild of America, USA 2008 Awards"
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