Review: The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XXXI”

 

 

Overview:

The 32nd season’s addition to the “Treehouse” anthology kicks off with a haunting look at the possible aftermath of the upcoming US election.

The first story of the night is a parody of Toy Story. This rendition takes a dark turn as Bart’s mistreated toys enact their revenge on their sadistic owner.

“Into the Homer-verse” is a take on the wildly popular animated Spider-Man feature. The satire includes Homer opening a hole in the multi-verse allowing different versions of himself to enter his reality. When he attempts to remedy his mistake, he will have to face off with his greatest nemesis.

The finale of the episode features Lisa stuck in a temporal loop, forced to relive her ninth birthday over and over after her eventual death. With Nelson at her side, they must find a way of breaking free from the loop if she ever hopes to live a normal life.

 

Our Take:

It took some time, but one of the most anticipated events of the year for adult animation fans has come. 

This year’s Halloween-themed Animation Domination night on Fox was postponed from mid-October to the evening after the holiday.  

For once in 2020, this rescheduling was not at the fault of Covid-19, but because of a great World Series finale. This is not the first time that “Treehouse of Horror” debuted a bit too late, and it likely will not be the last.

This is the 31st installment to The Simpsons annual Halloween special. Meaning, from next year forward we can binge-watch an episode of “Treehouse of Horror” for each night of October leading to the big night. Like a spooky advent calendar.

I just think that is neat.

This year’s “Treehouse of Horror” is arguably one of the best that we have seen in years.  The episode launches with a look at the upcoming US presidential election. A snippet of this scene has already spread virally featuring a laundry list of Trump’s failures in office. Though now fans can see the aftermath of the election in Springfield, which hopefully breaks the show’s history of accurate predictions.

For something really special The Simpsons go 3-D in the segment “Toy Gory”. It has been a long time since we first saw Homer Simpson rendered in a 3-dimensional world in “Treehouse of Horror VI”. Computer graphics have come a long way.

Taking stabs at their Disney brethren Pixar, the plot takes a wild turn. Bart is much more of a Sid than he is an Andy, and like the source film, the toys get their revenge. However, Bart’s punishment is much creepier than what happens in the Pixar feature. Actually, this is one of the scariest “Treehouse” segments in quite some time.

The best part of “Toy Gory” was seeing characters like Radioactive Man and Malibu Stacy come to life. And the death of the former was one of the highlights of the episode.

The Into the Spider-Verse parody was spot on and gave service to one of the best animated films of the last decade. We were gifted with glimpses at over a dozen versions of Homer. Homer Noir was one of the coolest adaptations of TV’s famous dope. 

But we must give it up to the animators for the anime version’s attack at bacon. And of course, this segment concludes with one of the best battle scenes in Simpsons history.

With the hype around everything else this episode offered expectations for the final story of the night were not high. But Lisa’s horror-themed Groundhog Day was another great addition to the long history of the “Treehouse” anthology.

Though the temporal loop is most often associated with Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, this was more of a parody of 2017s Happy Death Day. Montage included, we get to see Lisa brutally die eight times, each more horrifying and surprising than the last. Plus, it has been a while since the “Treehouse of Horror” series has spoofed an actual horror movie.

One of the highlights of the annual Halloween episode is the Easter eggs. We at Bubbleblabber released an article last year that collected a list of Kang and Kodos’ appearance in every “Treehouse” episode to date. This year the aliens did not make a speaking role but managed to appear on Homer’s voter ballot during the intro.

The fun does not end at the credits either.  The Simpsons pay homage to their history of Halloween specials with a montage of images from every “Treehouse of Horror” counting back all the way to the original.

“Treehouse of Horror XXXI” exceeds expectations. The annual holiday episode is always one of the best episodes of the season. This year’s edition went above and beyond delivering laughs, scares, and relevant plots.

The choices of stories to parody this year were a challenge for the series. Touching on the multiverse and a fully 3D animated segment were bold moves, but the execution does not falter. The result is one of the most unique “Treehouse of Horror” episodes in many years.

Season 32 has already felt like a resurgence for televisions longest-running scripted sitcom, and this Halloween episode has pushed the level of quality higher.