8. The Telltale Head

Episode Title: "The Telltale Head"
Episode Number: 8
Original Air Date: February 25, 1990

Plot Synopsis: Bart meets local roughnecks Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney outside a movie theater where they're sneaking into the new "Space Mutants" release. Bart immediately looks up to them and wants to be a part of their group. After he accidentally covers for them while they shoplift from the Kwik-E-Mart, Bart realizes that they might be a little out of his league and asks Homer if popularity is really all that important. After receiving colossally bad advice from Homer, Bart decides to cut off the head of the Jebediah Springfield statue in the middle of town to impress his new friends. Not only does it not impress Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney, but it enrages the town as everyone loves that statue for some reason. So Bart feels really, really bad about decapitating a statue and all, and comes clean to Homer. Homer, feeling partially responsible for what happened, tries to help Bart reattach the head until they're both chased through the streets by an angry mob. Bart then relates his story to the mob, which satisfies them, and reattaches the head. And then everyone is happy, despite no problems having really been solved. The head is back, so that's something, I suppose. It hasn't been professionally reattached, though, so they'll need to keep an eye on that.

Overall Thoughts: This is a weird one. The episode starts with the climax, then flashes back to the beginning part story. I understand that this type of format isn't necessarily weird in relation to "television" in general, as shows do it all the time, but I can't for the life of me remember another episode of "The Simpsons" that does it. Also, the title of the episode is shown on screen at the beginning, which to my knowledge is another first (and last). The title is shown, presumably, to make the world's most obvious Edgar Allen Poe reference even more obvious.

What Works:"The Telltale Head" is a good episode of "The Simpsons" from a few different angles. First of all, Bart is going through a legitimate moral dilemma here. Bart may be a troublemaker, but this episode goes a long way towards showing that he's not a legitimately bad kid like Jimbo, Kearney and Dolph.

The episode also helps further define the Homer and Bart relationship. Homer gives Bart obviously terrible advice, which Bart follows and gets into trouble, which prompts Homer to try to get him out of it because Homer knows he screwed up. It's a really nice dynamic.

The show continues to become more and more defined. Unless I'm mistaken, the mob mentality of Springfield makes its first appearance. The Simpsons not quite knowing how to work "church" is always pretty funny. Homer listening to the football game on a radio but seeing Reverend Lovejoy give his sermon is a pretty complicated joke to pull off in animation, and it's handled here really well.

What Doesn't Work: The story moves very, very slowly. It's part of that "slower pace" issue that a lot of these first season episodes suffer from. It isn't that I'm expecting these things to move at a breakneck pace, or that I have a short attention span or anything like that. It's that we're not advancing through story points fast enough. Another thing I'm noticing about these early episodes: whenever the show meanders in a particular plot point for too long (like with the opera in "Bart the Genius" and here with Bart hanging out with his new friends), the episode grinds to a halt and even the jokes can't quite save it.

It's also completely weird that everyone in Springfield cares SO MUCH about the statue of Jebediah Springfield. I know I said that I liked the Springfield mob mentality, and I really do, but that doesn't make it any less bizarre to see Moe and Mr. Burns standing beside each other, crying over a decapitated statue in the middle of town square.

Also, this is another one of those episodes that just ends. When we catch up with the beginning of the episode at the end of the flashback, Bart just places the decapitated head back on the statue. Which, for some reason, completely satisfies the entire town. The end! I guess!

Closing Thoughts: I've always really liked the mythology of Springfield, and it's great to see it begin to develop. This is the first episode to include any type of reference to Jebediah Springfield and the story surrounding his founding of the town.

The plot of this episode is great. It's probably one of the more famous episodes of the show, as the cutting off of Jebediah Springfield's head is pretty iconic. It's the execution that isn't what it could be, but again: this is still a really young show. It's clear, though, just watching these first eight episodes that the writers are fast learners. With the exception of its pace and timing, everything you know and love about "The Simpsons" is beginning to take shape.

Final Grade (out of 10): 7