The Simpsons Season 21 Episode 8: O Brother, Where Bart Thou?

When the power goes out during a blizzard, Bart participates in a pretend fashion show put on by Lisa and Maggie. When he notices the bond shared by the two girls, Lisa suggests that he's jealous because he does not have a brother. That night, Bart dreams about being in a park with lots of brothers, such as the Wright Brothers, the Mario Brothers, the Mannings (Cooper, Eli and Peyton), and more. Bart awakens with the realization that he wants a brother.

At the bus stop. Nelson advises Bart to trick Marge and Homer into having a baby. Bart gets two attempts to have his parents have a baby, but fails. Marge then catches Bart tampering with her birth control pills and he confesses that he wants a brother. Despite feeling bad for Bart, Marge explains that she is fine with three kids and also points out that even if the family did end up having another baby, the baby may end up being another girl instead of a boy. Bart goes to the local orphanage, and gets a young boy named Charlie, who follows him home.

Bart and Charlie do activities together, such as playing pranks on Principal Skinner and hanging out at the Kwik-E-Mart. Lisa insists that Charlie should be returned to the orphanage, but Bart disagrees. 

He takes Charlie to see a horror movie called Sever V. The movie terrifies Charlie, which makes Bart realize that being an older brother requires responsibility. On their way back from the movie, Chief Wiggum tries to capture Charlie and bring him back to the orphanage, but the two boys escape and hide in a snowbank.

In the snowbank, Lisa finds them, and she pleads to Bart to let Charlie be legally adopted by another family. Suddenly, the children are sealed in by a snowplow (by Barney riding on his Plow King truck), and Bart and Charlie urinate on the snow to melt it and open an escape tunnel. 

Charlie is later adopted by a family with six girls, who all treat him like a fashion doll. To cheer Bart up, Homer takes him to see Sever V.

My thoughts:

How many times have I watched it: Twice

Couch Gag: The living room furniture is dancing to disco music until the Simpsons come in and Homer yells, "Hey!" The furniture returns to normal and they sit on the couch. I liked the music. (B)

Storyline: First of all, I liked the usage of snow in this episode. It also makes for some neat gray-and-cloudy atmospherics, like Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney sitting on top of the drainage pipe. Anyway, The entire story felt developed, things were actually genuine here and the whole family was well-included and all were relevant to the story. Lisa and Maggie's bonding was nice, and Bart goes to desperate measures. Bart and Charlie hanging out together was great. I wished it lasted longer as it only started midway through the second act.

This episode was funny. The South Park parody was fantastic. I was not expecting that. Lisa's "You took too long to make an obvious decision!" comment was amusing. Other stuff I laughed at were Nelson's running gag with the pills, Bart and Charlie's escape plan, Charlie's adoption fate, and the fashion show with Maggie and Lisa. The dream sequence was something I couldn't stand though. The Mannings and Mario and Luigi were the only people that I liked in the dream. The biggest surprise in the show to me was when Charlie and Bart urinated in the snow. WOW. I loved Lisa's reaction. 

Overall, a very strong episode.

My grade: A-