American History X-cellent
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Template:EpisodeHD American History X-cellent is the seventeenth episode of Season 21, which aired on April 11, 2010. The episode was written by Michael Price and directed by Bob Anderson. The episode features several references to Stephen King's The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.
When stolen paintings are found in Burns Manor, Mr. Burns is arrested, so he has Smithers take over for him at the nuclear plant, but when he starts working the employees night and day, they try to get Mr. Burns back, even if it means breaking him out of prison - which it does; Bart and Lisa bond over one ant that survives an accident involving Lisa's ant farm.
Plot
Mr. Burns celebrates the Fourth of July in his typically despotic way - by using his workforce as slave labor for a picnic. He’s unimpressed by their efforts, which leads to a bitter Lenny, Homer and Carl getting drunk in his wine cellar and destroying his study. When Burns calls the cops, they focus not on his employees but on the fact that he possesses art stolen in an infamous (and taken-from-real-life) heist from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Massachusetts. Burns tries to bribe his way out of jail but ends up behind bars, where he changes his ways due to the influence of a fellow inmate, and by influence meaning literally dragging the evil out of Burns and eating it.
Mr. Smithers is placed in charge of the plant in his absence, where he initially proves an improvement over Mr. Burns. Unfortunately, he catches Homer, Lenny and Carl mocking him behind his back at the bar, resulting in him turning into a tyrant and the three friends launching a mission to spring Burns from the jug. But does Mr Burns want to return to his old ways?
Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa, left to their own devices because Homer’s so busy at the nuclear plant, reluctantly team up to care for an ant farm; when a fight between them results in all but one of the ants being eaten by Santa’s Little Helper they take special care of Annie, the sole survivor, and must decide between letting her live out her dotage in the wild or keeping her in captivity.
Reception
"American History X-cellent" was viewed by 5.649 million viewers and a 2.7 rating and 8% share in the 18-49 demographic tying with last week's episode. The episode received very positive reviews. TVFanatic.com said "Overall, the main story line was great. Unfortunately, Bart and Lisa were given a weak side story, where really the only funny moments were Lisa telling Bart they need to keep the lines of communication open for organ transplants and Bart licking Lisa to try and earn her forgiveness." TV Squad gave the episode a positive review saying " A pleasant enough episode of 'The Simpsons' made better by the presence of C. Montgomery Burns. Even Smithers upped his game, bringing the funny this week". Todd VanDer Werff gave the episode a B, and adding "I like Mr. Burns as a character enough, and I like the way the show tells stories about him enough to give this a mildly approving grade." Werff mentioned that Lisa and Bart's story was "just plain stupid". FireFox News gave the episode a B- saying "All-in-all, a decent episode that could have used a bit of pruning".
