• Directed by: David Silverman
• Written by: David M. Stern
• Airdate: October 11th, 1990

    Bart attempts to fake his way through his Treasure Island book report, but when he can’t answer Mrs. Krabappel’s question about the name of the pirate, she makes him stay after school. She informs him of his dropping grades and reminds him of a big exam taking place the next day. Of course, Bart pays no attention to her, goes home, and wastes his time. The next day, he sits in front of Sherri and Terri on the bus in hopes of getting answers from them. They feed him answers, but Martin Prince informs Bart outside of the school that the answers he was given are completely false. During the exam, Bart fakes an illness and is sent home by the nurse. When he is at home, Bart calls Milhouse to get answers to the test and takes it the next day, of course, failing.
    Homer, Marge and Bart attend a meeting with Krabappel and Dr. Pryor, the school psychiatrist. There, they inform the family that, if Bart fails another test, he will have to take the fourth grade all over again. Desperate to pass, Bart gets the help of Martin Prince in a deal between the two. Martin will help Bart pass, and Bart will help Martin become popular. Before beginning to study for the exam though, Martin abandons Bart. Now with no time to study, and even more desperate with more on the line, Bart resorts to praying that night for help from God. The next morning brings a snow day and the schools are closed.
    As Bart races out of the house to play, Lisa stops him and reveals that she overheard his prayer. He asked for a miracle, and he got it. Bart agrees and goes off to study. He goes to the basement and locks himself in, reading from his colonial America book, but slowly his imagination makes the founding fathers notice it is snowing outside and run out, celebrating themselves. Bart tries to make himself concentrate by slapping himself repeatedly, as the family watches from outside the basement window.
    The next day, after trying his best on the test, he asks Krabappel to mark it right there. Krabappel does so and informs him that he received a 59%; a failing mark. Bart breaks down, telling her that he did try his best this time and that he really is nothing more than a failure. He says that he now knows what Washington might have felt when he surrendered Fort Necessity in 1754 to the French. Krabappel, caught off guard by Bart’s reference, gives him an extra mark, since it shows he did indeed study, and gives him a passing mark of a D-Minus. Bart runs from the school, shouting in victory that he passed, before realizing that he kissed Krabappel in his celebratory happiness. At home, the family puts Bart’s exam up on the fridge.

    The first episode of the second season, this isn’t one that contains a ton of laugh-out-loud jokes. Instead, the story focuses more on telling a straight, serious story of Bart’s struggles with proving himself more than what others think of him. Though not all of us may have struggled with getting good grades in school, we have all been pressured by school and other aspects of life itself.

    The story really paints Bart in a different light. This is the first real mention of him being an underachiever and proud of it. We’ve seen Bart as someone who simply glides through life and doesn’t really care about much, but when he’s confronted with having to repeat the fourth grade, he shows initiative and realizes the importance of the situation. Bart is like a lot of us when we were little. It isn’t necessarily that he’s not smart, it’s more along the lines that he doesn’t know how to organize his time, apply himself, or put his effort into school. It’s very relatable, as I’m sure a lot of kids have this very specific problem. It’s not that they are less intelligent, they can do the work, it is simply that school doesn’t excite or hold their attention enough for them to feel as though they can put their proper effort into it. This is what I feel is Bart’s problem. He isn’t excited by school, and doesn’t consider it fun, hence, he isn’t motivated to do the work. It is an obstacle, merely something that keeps him from doing what it is he wants to do at any given time. But when he is pushed with the fear of coming back for another year in the same grade, he buckles down, as even he understands how serious this is. Bart is someone who doesn’t have a way to rightly express himself.

    The ending of the episode is one that also points towards something incredibly important to remember. After trying hard, only to hear that he still came up short, he breaks down. What makes him cry isn’t the fact that he failed, but the fact that, after trying his hardest, he still came up short in the long run. He put his heart into this more than anything else before. He worked hard and it still didn’t help. It breaks the last ounce of confidence he had in himself, and it’s very heart wrenching to watch, because we have all felt the same way at one point or another. The oft argued aspect when it comes to schooling and testings of intelligence is what makes it important. You can’t really determine one person’s knowledge on questions they can or cannot answer on a sheet of paper. Just because they do not know the answer to the question on the page doesn’t mean that they don’t know anything about the subject. Bart proves this when he uses his Washington reference in his failing, which eventually gets him the passing grade. This is only slightly touched upon this way, but there has always been that stigma towards school, rightfully so, that it doesn’t actually focus on what children learn. It’s mostly based on how much they can retain and remember at any point.

    This episode, not surprisingly since so many are, is host to some great sequences, some that many may have forgotten in the 25+ years since. From Bart’s depressing version of his future self, his son in the same class trying to help him, to the fantastic town celebration of the snow day. The evolution of Martin is also great, as he is fully overtaken by his new, ‘cool’ persona. The reason for this is also pretty believable. It just goes to show how lonely Martin actually is. He’s not popular, or seem to have any kind of fun, at least in what the other kids consider fun, instead revolving himself around school work. Once he feels what it’s like to have fun, he realizes what he’s been missing, and turns his back on Bart.

    The episode, like most of the ones I will post, goes to show how great and natural The Simpsons crew were at writing right from the get-go. The story is incredibly relatable, funny, and sweet where it needs to be, and it makes you truly feel for Bart. You understand what he is going through and you believe that he wants to do better. The ending, with him passing, also fills you with happiness, as you see someone struggling through something so common succeed.

    As this is the first one of these that I wrote and you will (possibly) read, I will take this time to quickly mention this. The Simpsons is host to so many amazing lines and moments, to the point where you could legitimately quote an entire episode as a series of ‘favourite lines.’ I wanted to do something involving personal favourite moments at the end of each of these write-ups, but to keep myself from listing endless amounts of bits (and to make these harder on myself, because I’m a glutton for punishment), I decided to make a countdown-style listing. I’ll say ‘Top Five’ for now, though I’m sure I’ll play around with the format down the line.

Favourite Quotes And Bits:
5) The fictitious disease that Bart is suspected of having, Amoria Phlebitis, is a blood clot in the leg.
4) Homer is watching a tap-dancing gorilla when he has to take the television up into Bart’s room.
3) Otto: "I got held back in fourth grade myself. Twice. And look at me, man, now I drive the school bus."
2) Lisa: "I heard you last night, Bart. You prayed for this. Now your prayers have been answered. I’m no theologian; I don’t know who or what God is, exactly. All I know is He’s a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together, and you owe him, big."
1) Krabappel: "Bart, you haven’t been paying attention to anything I’ve said."
     Bart: "Yes, ma’am."
     Krabappel: "Well then, what did I say?"
     Bart: "Uh, straighten up and fly right?"
     Krabappel: "Pft, lucky guess."