Better Off Ned
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"Better Off Ned"
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Episode Information
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"Better Off Ned" is the sixteenth episode of season 31 of The Simpsons and the six hundred seventy-eighth episode overall. It originally aired on March 15, 2020. The story was written by Al Jean, and the teleplay was written by Joel H. Cohen and Jeff Westbrook. It was directed by Rob Oliver.
"Better Off Ned" was dedicated in memory of Max von Sydow, who died on March 8.
Synopsis[edit]
- "When Bart starts to bond with Ned Flanders, Homer becomes jealous of their new relationship. To get back at Bart, Homer becomes a father figure to Nelson Muntz. However, when Nelson plans to get back at Bart, it's up to Homer to save his son."
Plot[edit]
At the Springfield Retirement Castle, after telling Bart a war story and pranking him with it, Grampa falls asleep. Bart then takes the dud grenade and brings it to a school assembly, pranking the crowd the same way Grampa did and scaring everyone away.
Ned, however, throws himself on top of the grenade to sacrifice himself to save the school, prompting Bart to reveal the prank. Ambulances and firefighters are also called, and Mrs. Muntz reveals she slept with one of them.
Homer and Marge get called in, and Superintendent Chalmers wants to suspend Bart from school. Ned intervenes, volunteering to mentor Bart with the three P's: persistence, prayer, and persistent prayer. Chalmers agrees, while Lisa and her friends make fun of him.
At Flanders' house, Bart pranks Ned, so Ned takes him fishing. Bart manages to catch a fish, and Ned teaches him how to roast it over a fire.
At the church, Bart joins the choir, and everyone congratulates Ned for his work, making Homer jealous. When Marge takes Homer to bring a pie as thanks, Homer finds Lisa there too, supervising Bart's math work.
Homer tries to help by throwing the homework to the dog so it can eat it, but the dog returns the paper intact. Feeling useless, Homer walks sadly around the city until he reaches the Springfield City Dump and finds a crying Nelson, upset about his home situation.
Homer takes Nelson to Krusty Burger and offers to become his mentor, making Bart jealous. Seeing the damage it causes, Lisa urges Homer to seek counseling and pays for it.
Homer visits a therapist who disagrees with his method. He then goes to see Nelson but finds his mother instead. She asks if he's going to leave them like all the other men, which breaks Nelson's heart.
When Homer explains the truth to Nelson, Nelson devises a plan to get even with Bart at the Christian Pride Parade, aiming to activate the mechanism Bart and Ned built—the praying hands—while Bart is under it.
Homer sees Nelson using a slingshot to activate it and pushes Bart out of the way just in time, getting squashed by the hands himself. The two ride in the ambulance together before Homer later returns to the Dump to apologize to Nelson and guide him to Ned. Ned then invites Nelson and his mother to a baseball game, where Homer throws Bart a rock in response to his question about why they traded mentorship roles.
Production[edit]
Reception[edit]
Nancy Cartwright was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards for voicing Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, but she lost to Maya Rudolph for Big Mouth.[1]
Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
Promo videos[edit]
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Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Better Off Ned". |
- Episodes
- Episodes showrun by Al Jean
- Season 31
- Production season ZABF
- 2020
- Bart episodes
- Homer episodes
- Ned Flanders episodes
- Nelson episodes
- TV-14 Episodes
- Primetime Emmy Award nominated episodes
- Episodes written by Al Jean
- Episodes written by Joel H. Cohen
- Episodes written by Jeff Westbrook
- Episodes directed by Rob Oliver
