4. Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

Episode Title: "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"
Episode Number: 17
Original Air Date: November 1, 1990

Plot Synopsis: During a fishing trip to a stream near the nuclear power plant, Bart and Lisa catch a three-eyed fish. Luckily, a reporter happened to wander by who takes the opportunity to break the story. The media appropriately names the fish Blinky. A regulatory committee, under the obviously correct assumption that the power plant is poisoning all water nearby, inspects the plant and finds out that it has over three hundred separate violations. As a result, Burns gets hammered and runs into Homer, who fell asleep at his console for several hours. Homer suggests that Mr. Burns become governor so that he can just change the regulations instead of paying the $56 million dollars required to fix all the issues, which Mr. Burns thinks is a great idea. So he tries to do that.

Because he has a general reputation of being "greatly despised," and being "greatly despised" isn't how you get elected governor, Burns' election staff suggests that he go on a quest to become "more likeable." He tries to convince everyone that Blinky isn't a mutation and is instead a natural evolution of fish. He also goes on a massive smear campaign against the existing governor of the state. All of this manages to tie him in the polls with the incumbent.

On the night before the election, Burns decides to have dinner with the Simpsons at the suggestion of his advisers. Marge and Lisa really aren't happy with this, as Mr. Burns is still... well, Mr. Burns. During dinner, Marge serves Blinky to Mr. Burns to everyone's shock. Mr. Burns tries to act like eating a mutated, three-eyed fish is no big deal but ends up spitting it out in full view of the media. This causes Burns to lose the election and in turn promise that he'll make sure Homer never realizes his dreams. Marge reminds Homer that his dreams include things like sleeping until noon on Sundays, so he probably doesn't have much to worry about.

Overall Thoughts: I've always liked episodes where a Simpson family member deals with his or her own sense of morality, and this is a classic example. Here it isn't so much "Marge has a tough decision to make" but "Marge has a desire to express herself politically and can't stand being stifled by Homer and Mr. Burns." It's good stuff, and it's a nice layer to add to the Marge character. She's a Mary Bailey woman, dammit.

What Works: This episode marks the first real time that we've seen how poorly the plant is operated, which has always been a favorite gag of mine. Likewise, the ritual of Burns either trying to bribe or kill (in this case, trying to bribe) the safety inspectors is good for big laughs.

Mr. Burns makes a great antagonist. So far in the series he's gone from "dick" to "silly, evil billionaire" to "legitimate antagonist." Though he doesn't spend much time in regular old "dick" mode, the fact that he can so effortlessly move between "silly, evil billionaire" and "legitimate antagonist" is the mark of a great character.

Something else that I feel is noteworthy: one thing that all of these episodes so far have in common (with the exception of "Treehouse of Horror") is that they're all ending on a very sweet note. The writers are always making sure to go out not on a laugh, but with a display of heart, which is something that I think really sets the show apart from certainly the rest of animation at the time, but also from a lot of sitcoms, as well.

This is another one of those episodes that I wouldn't necessarily call terrific, but it's still very high quality and very, very funny. One thing that continues to surprise me is just how quickly the "Golden Age of The Simpsons" really started. Thus far, it looks like it essentially began right out of the gate in season two. This is a classic episode and a very popular one, and an absolutely enjoyable way to spend a half hour. I believe right about now is when I would have started considering "The Simpsons" to be appointment television. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "juggernaut of quality" just yet, but it's getting very, very close.

What Doesn't Work: The episode is a hair on the slow side from an "advancing the plot" standpoint. The main story of the episode is that Burns runs for governor, and it takes us one full act (or roughly eight minutes) to get there. A lot of this is because of an extended sequence where Burns wanders through the plant late one night and ends up running into Homer. I feel like, had this episode been done years later, we'd have gotten to the "Burns for governor" part much quicker. It's not a big complaint, mind you - it's just notable, especially since these episodes have been getting faster and better paced as the season has gone on.

Closing Thoughts: I like the idea that Bart keeps a scrapbook of his newspaper clippings, with stories like "Mutation Caught at Ol' Fishin Hole" alongside stories like "Vandal Decapitates Town Statue." I'd love for them to publish a reproduction after the series ends.

I'd really like to see real politicians pretend to have dinner alongside the common man on election night. I think it should be mandatory.

As far as the relevancy of this episode: look, this episode is 21 years old. I was five(ish) when this episode aired, so I don't remember if it accurately depicts what politics and the media were like then, or if they were exaggerating things purely for comedic effect. I mean, of course they were exaggerating for comedic effect, but I don't know if their goal was to allow truth to ring through or if they were playing it purely "over the top" and solely for laughs. However, I do know that the events of the last third of this episode are more or less accurate to the way politics and the media run an election today, and that's pretty amazing.

Final Grade (out of 10): 8