8. Bart the Daredevil

Episode Title: "Bart the Daredevil"
Episode Number: 21
Original Air Date: December 6, 1990

Plot Synopsis: The Simpson family attends a local monster truck rally (as you do) where Bart sees a giant robot dinosaur named Truckasaurus. More importantly, though, Bart also witness a daredevil named Lance Murdock perform a death-defying leap over a giant tank filled with electric eels, sharks, a tiger and all sorts of other crazy things. Lance ends up getting terribly, terribly injured in the aftermath of the stunt, but it's too late: Bart has been inspired.

Bart takes to his skateboard and starts performing stunts for the neighborhood kids. As expected, Bart quickly injures himself. Dr. Hibbert tries to talk Bart out of further tomfoolery by showing him a ward filled with children who were injured imitating various stunts. Lisa tries to talk Bart out of further tomfoolery by getting him to speak with Lance Murdock, who ironically ends up being super supportive. Not one to be talked out of pretty much anything, Bart insists that he's going to come back bigger than ever by jumping the Springfield Gorge.

Homer has a heart-to-heart with Bart and desperately tries to keep him from jumping. Homer also flat out forbids it, but Bart sneaks out of his room one day and off he goes. All of the Springfield kids have gathered to watch Bart likely kill himself when his stunt goes wrong. Homer shows up at the last possible second and saves Bart. Homer also decides to teach Bart a lesson by trying to jump the gorge himself, the idea being that Bart will see how stupid it is (and how presumably dead Homer is about to be) and give it up once and for all. Bart almost immediately promises to never do it again.

Homer accidentally ends up carrying through with the stunt and, for a second, it looks like all is well. That doesn't last, though, and Homer plummets down the side of the gorge and is horribly injured. As he's airlifted out of the gorge and placed into the back of an ambulance, the ambulance immediately crashes which sends him back down the gorge a second time.

Overall Thoughts: Everything I want from an episode of "The Simpsons" is here in the exact right proportions. The episode is incredibly funny. There have been some good, solid episodes before this with a lot of great jokes, but they haven't really been quite on this level thus far. Episodes are starting to be littered with jokes that are so fast you can easily miss them, but when you eventually do see them you'll laugh out loud. The show is continuing to examine the relationships of its characters (in this case, primarily Bart and Homer), but from new and interesting angles. All in all, this is a great episode of the show that is up there with the best of them and is incredibly successful at what it sets out to do.

What Works: The show is getting "cartoony", but for the most part (more on "the most part" in a second) the end result in this case is more than worth it. Bart trying to jump the Springfield Gorge isn't exactly the most grounded (warning: that may or may not have been a pun, I'm not sure...) story, but the sentiment at the heart of it is very real. The writers are starting to walk that fine line between "over the top" and "just right" in regards to that cartoon element. If you tell this story just a little differently, it's broad to the point of being nonsensical.

Thankfully, the writers really nail it in a completely satisfying way. This story takes full advantage of the fact that it's in a cartoon, but still manages to have more heart than most other shows airing on a weekly basis. Even when the episode leans heavily towards the "outrageous" side, it never forgets that emotion that helps make its characters so great.

Speaking of characters, Lance Murdock is a ton of fun. It's terrific to see a daredevil who loves danger and pain, and who wholeheartedly encourages Bart to jump the gorge even when that is obviously the worst idea in the world.

This episode is also a great example of one of my favorite types of "Simpsons" stories - Bart the kid. Because of the way he talks and his intelligent wit (despite his unintelligent everything else), it's sometimes easy to forget that Bart is still just a little boy. This episode never forgets that and still manages to use it as a vehicle to tell a bunch of really great jokes and ultimately tie it into Homer in a really wonderful way. Bart entertaining the neighborhood kids by jumping over swimming pools, animals and even Homer on his skateboard is a very "kid" idea.

Speaking of Bart and Homer's relationship, Homer's idea of sacrificing himself to teach Bart a lesson is very touching. Even beyond that, this episode is filled with little touches that really inform these characters. The opening wrestling montage shows just how alike Bart and Homer are, which is really nice and funny at the same time.

This episode has the distinction of featuring one of the best jokes ever: Homer falling for a super long time down the gorge, twice. It's a wonderful example of perfect comedic timing. I remember seeing it for the first time and being totally caught off guard when the ambulance almost instantly crashes into a tree and sends Homer, now on a gurney, right back down the gorge. I only wish it had gone on longer, like it does in that random clip show from a few seasons in the future.

What Doesn't Work: The only thing I don't absolutely love in this episode is the gag where the Truckasaurus eats the Simpson family car. It's not really that funny, it's a little too big and it doesn't really serve the story in any way. Deleting it could have allotted more time for Lance Murdock or even anything, really. But still - this is the most minor of minor complaints, as the moment I'm talking about lasts for all of 45 seconds. It also still manages to lead to funny jokes (Bart yelling "Pull, you dogs!" as workmen attempt to get Homer out of their trashed car and the creator of Truckasaurus apologizing to Marge spring to mind), so in the end it works out okay, but it's a little too broad for my tastes.

Closing Thoughts:  This episode isn't quite perfect, but it's so painfully goddamn close. If I were doing "half point" grading I would probably give this episode somewhere between a 9.5 and a 9.8, but I'm not. It's better than a straight 9, so it gets a 10.

There's not really a joke that doesn't land. There's not a scene that isn't compelling. There's just the right amount of heart and sentiment. Ladies and gentlemen (let's be honest - gentlemen), I present to you the first of my top ten episodes of "The Simpsons."

Final Grade (out of 10): 10