Review: The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horrors XXIX”

It’s just not Halloween season until the Treehouse of Horrors airs.

Overview:

In part one, Springfield is being attacked by an invasion of body snatchers situation.  The Simpsons kids are the first to catch onto the attack but are eventually caught.  Thankfully, as Lisa is consumed, she is sent to another planet.  The aliens have saved the citizens of Springfield from being too absorbed in technology and their smartphones.

Part two sees Bart, Milhouse, and Nelson chained up in a creepy basement.  It turns out Lisa is the one who kidnapped them, or was she?  Lisa is dealing with multiple personalities, much like the film ‘Split’.  After she seriously snaps, she kills Bart’s friends and finally reveals that she is getting revenge for Bart causing her to get an ‘F’.

In conclusion, Mr. Burns is helping the elderly survive longer by mixing their DNA with that of dinosaurs.  The results, of course, is that the older adults have been transformed into dinosaurs themselves.  In a real Jurassic Park situation, the beasts end up killing everyone.  The Simpsons family are saved by Lisa making the ultimate sacrifice, asking him for his opinion about everything.

Our Take:

Is it truly Halloween until The Simpsons annual “Treehouse of Horrors” episode airs?  I really don’t think so.  And this, the 29th rendition keeps right on form offering us three retellings of classic scary films and stories.  Even if The Simpsons does not last for many more years, it would be amazing if there was still the annual Halloween event.  You have to appreciate that The Simpsons made the call to invest in a Halloween episode instead of a cheesy Christmas theme.  And, the Treehouse of Horrors, is more often than not, one of the best episodes of the year.

This episode had some Easter eggs to throw at us.  In the beginning, we get a shot of the Planet Express ship carrying a banner with the request to “bring back Futurama”.  Something that I think we can all agree on, but it was a funny addition to the episode.  But, in an even cooler move, we have our first Disenchantment Easter egg popping up in The Simpsons.  In a split second, we see Luci, the personal demon, having a smoke.  The Groening trilogy has officially come full circle.

While the first part of the episode, the Body Snatchers rip-off, started out promising, the ending was a bit confusing.  Lisa makes the call that it is a sci-fi story that has a happy ending, and I understand the social commentary about people being obsessed with technology.  However, the conclusion didn’t seem to carry the power that they were hoping for.  I am also disappointed that they didn’t take a swing at bringing in the Guardians of the Galaxy’s famous talking tree, Groot.  I was kind of waiting for it to happen, and it never did.  Instead, they end with a Christmas tree?

The Split storyline was enjoyable, mostly because I thought that movie was great.  They did an excellent job of making Lisa a creepy multiple personality villain.  They even managed to give her a clever motive.  It was well done, and that’s all I really have to say about that. Geriatric Park was easily my favourite segment.  It is kind of surprising that The Simpsons haven’t taken any shots at Jurassic Park before this, and part of me was screaming “finally.”  There were so many clever jokes in the final few minutes of the show, including shots at older adults, the original franchise, and classic Simpsons jokes.

How can you not love Treehouse of Horrors?  Every season it is an enjoyable break from the average episodes, and it is what most fans look forward to in October.  There has never been a Halloween special from this show that has disappointed me, and this year is on par.  The first segment could have been better, but I feel like there is always one forgettable part each year.  But, the Jurassic Park rip-off more than makes up for it, as it will be one Simpsons moment I won’t forget soon.

Score
8/10