The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 4: Bart Sells His Soul

Before I start the summary, I have two things to say:

• This should have been out yesterday, but I lost half of what I wrote, so that's why I haven't posted in 3 days.
• This episode is a classic for most of the longtime Simpsons fans, and this was an influential episode in the Simpsons series back in the 1990s.

OK! With that cleared up, let's start. 

After Bart pulls a prank at church, Reverend Lovejoy has Bart and Milhouse clean the pipes of the organ. While they were cleaning, they had a discussion about how Bart proclaims there is no such thing as a soul, and for $5, he agrees to sell his to Milhouse in the form of a piece of paper reading "Bart Simpson's Soul". At home, Lisa warns Bart that he will regret selling his soul, but he dismisses her fears. Bart then begins to suspect he really did lose his soul after experiencing unusual phenomena as he doesn't laugh in the Itchy and Scratchy Show and when Homer steps on a skateboard and gets his neck stuck in the railing of a stairway. Bart sets out to retrieve his soul from Milhouse.

When Bart asks Milhouse for his soul back for $5, Milhouse raises the price to $50. After having a bad nightmare and being taunted by Lisa during dinner, Bart again desperately tries to persuade Milhouse to return the paper at 2 AM in the night. However, Milhouse tells Bart that he traded the paper to Comic Book Guy at the Android's Dungeon.

In the morning, Comic Book Guy tells Bart that he no longer has the piece of paper and refuses to reveal to who he sold it to. Bart walks home in the rain, and at home he prays to God for his soul. Suddenly, a piece of paper with the words "Bart Simpson's Soul" floats down from above. Bart finds out that Lisa had purchased the piece of paper. Bart kisses her, and happily eats up the piece of paper.

In the B-Plot, Moe decides to expand his bar by turning his tavern into a family restaurant. He has an advertisement on TV, and soon his restaurant is doing well. But the stress of running the business by himself ultimately unnerves him and soon snaps at a little girl. The restaurant is a failure, forcing Moe to revert to his old tavern.

My thoughts:

How many times I have watched it: 4 times.

Chalkboard Gag: I am not a lean, mean, spitting machine. Eh. (C)

Couch Gag: The Simpsons drive to the couch in small clown cars. The honk at the end was a good touch. (B+)

Storyline: Okay, this episode was great, with one of the funniest subplots ever on The Simpsons. The main plot was great. The best part was the heartfelt ending after all Bart's wanderings and lost hopes on his soul and Lisa's lines at the end were well done. We saw some of Bart's soft spot during his time of fear, and we also saw Lisa's devious yet heartfelt side.

The subplot was great with some clever parodies of chain restaurants (Denny's) and Moe's impatience that ultimately led to his demise was just well done for his personality. His business could have been great should he have hired employees instead of just himself. Here's Moe's last minutes being a waiter at his restaurant, Moe's Family Feedbag (That's the name!):

The characteristics department also won me over. Sherri and Terri saying "We're twins" was cleverly done and Uncle Moe's commercial (couldn't find a video on YouTube) is priceless, at least. Overall, this episode is as close to perfect, both plots were well done and has a circular structure.

My Grade: A

PS- This is in the Top 10-20 of favourite episodes for me in the 28 seasons of The Simpsons.