- "When he grows up, I want to be like me!"
- ―Ralph Wiggum
| "The Debarted"
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| Episode Information
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"The Debarted" is the thirteenth episode of season 19 of The Simpsons and the four-hundred and thirteenth episode overall. It originally aired on March 2, 2008. The episode was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Matthew Nastuk. It guest stars Topher Grace as Donny and Terry Gross as herself.
Synopsis
- "When a new, tough-looking kid at school named Donny teams up with Bart to help him carry out his pranks, Bart thinks he has found his ultimate partner in crime. However, when Bart's seemingly foolproof pranks begin to backfire, Groundskeeper Willie warns Bart that he smells a rat in Bart's group of friends. With Principal Skinner on his case and the possibility of expulsion on the horizon, Bart must figure out who he can trust and who he must get rid of before it is too late. Meanwhile, Homer receives a fancy loaner car after Marge damages their old car in an accident, and he grows extremely attached to his new set of luxury wheels."
Plot
Marge is driving Bart and Lisa to school, when the children begin fighting. Tired and exhausted from moderating the kids, Marge inadvertently crashes into Hans Moleman's car. Bart manages to escape unhurt and attends class. He is shocked to find that his seat has been taken by a new student, named Donny, who was recently kicked out of his former school. Donny soon gets Milhouse and Nelson to awe him. After Donny throws massive amounts of garbage at the school wall, Bart begins to feel he is losing popularity. While trying to imitate Donny, Bart ends up humiliating himself. Feeling his social rank amongst his peers slipping, Bart sulks.
Meanwhile, Homer has taken his car to get fixed. Raphael informs him of a loaner car he could use in the meantime. The loaner car is significantly better than Homer's old car, and Homer embraces it, and begins driving it everywhere. Bart plays a prank on Principal Skinner, employing magnets and metal sole pads in Skinner's shoes. While on the school stage, the magnets cause Skinner to dance uncontrollably and ultimately be hurled outside of the school into a container filled with old and lost mouth retainers. Bart regains the respect and admiration of his peers, but when Skinner attempts to find who is responsible, Donny takes the blame for Bart's prank. Skinner takes Donny to his office, whereupon Donny is revealed to be in fact a snitch hired by Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers to get Bart suspended. Bart invites Donny into his clique alongside Nelson and Milhouse, and they plot school pranks. To signify Donny's entrance in the group, Bart rewards him with illegal Blue Vine licorice sticks from Europe, which turn the eater's tongue blue.
Homer gets Marge's attention by unlocking the loaner car from the inside, and gives her flowers. Turning on the radio and the candles in the car. Raphael calls Homer, informing him that his old car is ready to be picked up. Homer, however, refuses to give up his luxury car. At the school, Bart is perplexed when Skinner repeatedly anticipates and foils his pranks. Groundskeeper Willie informs Bart that a snitch is amongst them, but Bart wrongly suspects Milhouse. With the aid of Nelson and Donny, Bart imprisons Milhouse in a locker. Bart plans a final prank on Skinner involving egging his house with an ostrich egg. While helping Skinner hang up a banner, Bart notices that Skinner's tongue is blue. Bart figures out that the snitch is Donny, who had given Skinner the Blue Vines. Meanwhile, Lisa finds herself enjoying Homer's loaner car as well, taking advantage of a feature that lets her contribute directly to NPR and receive a message of appreciation by radio-show host Terry Gross. While driving past the car dealer, Homer sees Raphael selling his car for $99. Homer is furious and realizes that his car is like his child, and takes it back, abandoning the loaner car.
Bart and Nelson ambush Donny and announce that they are going to force him to ingest enormous quantities of Diet Coke and Mentos. They are interrupted by the arrival of Superintendent Chalmers, Principal Skinner, and Willie, who has snitched on Bart in turn. Donny ultimately saves Bart, as he was the only person who ever cared for him. The two boys escape as Skinner, Chalmers, and Willie are caught in the Diet Coke/Mentos explosion. Before hitting the road, Donny tells Bart that he will always remember their friendship.
Reception
"The Debarted" was nominated for a 2009 Writers Guild of America award in Animation, but it lost to "Apocalypse Cow".[1] It was also nominated for a 2008 Annie Award for Writing in a Television Production, but lost to Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.[2]
References
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Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Debarted".
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