Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
"Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times"
| ||||||||||||||||
Episode Information
|
"Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times" is the eleventh episode of season 18 of The Simpsons and the three-hundred and eighty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on January 28, 2007. The episode was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Michael Polcino.
Contents
Synopsis
- "After being cut off while driving, Homer decides that he wants revenge. The family then offers up three stories about why revenge may not always be a good thing. Marge retells The Count of Monte Cristo, Lisa tells a story about Milhouse getting revenge on the school bullies, and Bart tells a story about him becoming the superhero Bartman."
Plot
As the Simpson family are driving to the airport to go to Hawaii, The Rich Texan cuts in front of the car. This angers Homer who decides that he wants revenge on The Rich Texan. To try and convince him otherwise, Marge tells him a story.
The Count of Monte Fatso
In Paris in the 1800s, Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa are a happy, rich family. However Meaux is jealous of Homer because he wants to be with Marge instead. To get his wish, Meaux decides to frame Homer for treason, by writing a fake letter in support of England from Homer. Homer is arrested and tried in the Palais de Justice where he is sentenced to life in prison at Château d'If. While in prison, Homer is tortured by the guards and is eventually shown a newspaper article about Marge getting married to Meaux. Homer decides that he will get revenge on Meaux, no matter how long it takes him.
While wondering about how he will get his revenge, Homer's cellmate tells him that he has made a tunnel out of the cell and also hands Homer a treasure map so he can have the money to get his revenge. His cellmate then reveals that he's too old and decrepit to take the tunnel anymore. Homer goes through the tunnel and ends up finding the treasure. He uses it to buy up a mansion and start working on a revenge torture device for Meaux. Five years later, his plan is complete and he invites Marge and Meaux, along with many other rich people, to a gala in his mansion. When the guests arrive, Homer puts Meaux into his contraption and he eventually gets cooked in a giant crepe. Marge, Bart, and Lisa are horrified at the death of Meaux, who they loved very much. Marge is annoyed at Homer that it took him so long plotting his revenge because he lost her and the family in the process.
Revenge of the Geeks
Marge tries to tell Homer that revenge only leads to misery. However, Homer doesn't listen and continues trying to get his revenge. Lisa then goes into telling her story.
At Springfield Elementary School, the nerds (and Principal Skinner) are being bullied by the school bullies. The nerds decide that they've had enough and create the Get-back-inator that night. Milhouse is given control of the device and the nerds plan on using it. The next day, Martin insults the bullies and runs away from them, leading them to the library where Milhouse waits. When the bullies arrive, Milhouse uses the power glove to use different bullying techniques on Kearney and Dolph. Upon seeing this, Jimbo begs for mercy and tells Milhouse that he thought he was the coolest dork, but Milhouse gets him anyway.
The school becomes nicer without the bullies attacking kids and Lisa congratulates Milhouse on his work. However, when Martin and Cosine accidentally hit Milhouse with a shuttlecock, Milhouse uses the Get-back-inator on them. He then starts to go through a list of people he wants revenge, and even attacks a new student as "pre-venge". After decapitating Groundskeeper Willie with the glove, Lisa tells Milhouse that he's addicted to revenge. Milhouse then asks Lisa to be his queen, but she turns him down and attempts to spare his feelings. Milhouse goes to get revenge on Lisa but then decides that he can't hurt her and drops the glove. Nelson then picks up the glove, with Milhouse forgetting about him because Nelson had been off school with the mumps. Nelson proceeds to use the glove to bully Milhouse.
Bartman Begins
After Lisa's story, Homer decides to follow through getting his revenge. Bart then tells Homer that he hasn't heard his story yet and then goes on to tell the tale of how Bartman was created.
In Gotham City, Bart, Homer, and Marge left the Gotham City Opera House after seeing an opera that Bart hated. As they head down the alley, they are confronted by a criminal who demands their valuables. The criminal then shoots Homer and Marge, killing them. Bart vows to get his revenge and is given the opportunity to at the funeral when Grampa reveals that he used to be the Crimson Cockatoo, a superhero crime fighter. Grampa then helps Bart get into shape and prepares him to become Bartman.
Bartman goes around Gotham City and defeats various villains and criminals, including The Toker, The Diddler, Mr. Mole, Sugar and Spice, and Poison Lenny. After Poison Lenny is defeated, he tells Bartman and the police that he isn't a criminal, he's a transvestite. However, they don't listen to him and he is likely killed. Bartman realizes that none of these people are the criminal who killed his parents. At that moment, a blimp flies over the city piloted by the Serpent, who thanks Bartman for getting rid of the competition for him.
At the Gotham Natural History Museum, the Serpent shows up to rob the Stealable Jewels of the Orient. After charming everyone at the event, he grabs the jewels but Bartman shows up to stop him. Bartman hits the Serpent with his Bartarangs, which stops his charm spell on everyone and allows the police to surround him. When Bartman realizes that the Serpent is the man who killed his parents, he pushes him onto the fangs of a snake statue, killing him. Bartman feels a little bit better after getting his revenge and considers everything that happened a win.
After Bart's story, Homer and The Rich Texan have put aside their differences are getting along with each other. As the screen fades to black, a dedication to all the characters who died in Star Wars films scrolls on the screen.
Production
Director Michael Polcino said that they had to create basically three completely new worlds for the trilogy episode. But doing so gives the animators a chance to be more free with their angles and be more expressive. "Bartman Begins" was Polcino's favorite segment to direct, with him particularly liking the amount of shadows they got to use.[1]
To get away with the Batman parody, the producers just had to have Bartman not have a symbol on his torso to clear it of any copyright issues.[2] Writer Joel H. Cohen acted out the dance that the Serpent made the people at the museum do to Al Jean to demonstrate how he wanted it to look.[3]
Reception
Dan Iverson of IGN gave the episode a 7.7 rating. He said that there was some funny material in the episode, but it was still under par for The Simpsons. Iverson in particular praised "The Count of Monte Cristo", but called the other two stories "mediocre".[4]
As of February 2024, the episode as a 7.0 rating on IMDb.[5]
Gallery
Poster for "Bartman Begins"
References
- ↑ Polcino, Michael (2017). Commentary for "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times", in The Simpsons: The Complete Eighteenth Season.
- ↑ Jean, Al (2017). Commentary for "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times", in The Simpsons: The Complete Eighteenth Season.
- ↑ Cohen, Joel H. (2017). Commentary for "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times", in The Simpsons: The Complete Eighteenth Season.
- ↑ IGN - "The Simpsons: "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" Review"
- ↑ IMDb - "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times"
|
Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times". |
