The Secret War of Lisa Simpson

General

"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson"

Episode Information

Showrunner:	[[{{{showrunner}}}]]

"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" was the 25th and final episode of The Simpsons' eighth season.

Plot

File:55630.jpg

Lisa and Bart doing push-ups in the mud as a "test".

Lisa confronts Principal Skinner at school, concerned that lessons spent watching videos aren't helping her realize her full potential, ut is rebuffed by Skinner telling her that if he did make it harder other students would be in his office about the ciriculum like she is. Meanwhile, after a destructive and noisy prank involving several megaphones shatters every piece of glass in town and renders the population temporarily deaf, Homer and Marge decide to take Chief Wiggum's advice and put him in Rommelwood Military School (luring Bart into the car with the lie that they're going to Disneyland). Bart does not want to be there from the get-go, but Lisa sees the education the cadets receive and decides to stay there with him. Marge tells Lisa that if she wants to quit and come home at any time she can, while ignoring Barts please for just that

Both of them get a hard time from the other cadets: Bart starts to fit in after a while, the others calling him a "natural solider", while Lisa, the first female ever to join the academy, remains an outcast despite enduring the same hazing as her brother. Bart tries to keep her spirits up, while keeping the fact that he cares about her a secret from the others.

At the end of term, a final challenge awaits all the students; they must pass a physical test called "The Eliminator". In the Commendant's own words, it's a "150 foot hand-over-hand crawl across a 60 gauge Hemp-Jute line with a blister factor of 12. The rope is suspended a full 40 feet over a solid British acre of Old Growth Conneticut Valley Thorn Bushes". Bart helps Lisa to train in secret. The others cheer when she nearly falls off, and Bart starts calling out helpful thing such as, "C'mon, you can do it!" and "I believe in you Lisa!" They both pass, and Lisa receives a medal for "Satisfactory Completion of the Second Grade".

Quotes

Boy: Whats the matter? Don't girls like doing pushups in the mud?

Lisa: Is their an answer I could give that won't result in more pushups?

Boy: No.

← Season 7 Season 8 Episodes Season 9 →
Treehouse of Horror VII • You Only Move Twice • The Homer They Fall • Burns, Baby Burns • Bart After Dark • A Milhouse Divided • Lisa's Date with Density • Hurricane Neddy • El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer • The Springfield Files • The Twisted World of Marge Simpson • Mountain of Madness • Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious • The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show • Homer's Phobia • Brother from Another Series • My Sister, My Sitter • Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment • Grade School Confidential • The Canine Mutiny • The Old Man and the Lisa • In Marge We Trust • Homer's Enemy • The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase • The Secret War of Lisa Simpson