• Directed by: Mark Kirkland
• Written by: Dan Greaney
• Airdate: May 19, 1996

     After realizing that she is unpopular with kids in her school and how she doesn't have any friends, Lisa takes the opportunity of a summer trip to Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport to reinvent herself as a 'cool' kid. Staying in Flanders' summer home, Lisa meets a few kids that she finds herself getting along with and quickly makes friends, to the irritation of Bart, who was embarassed when he was called a 'try-hard' by the kids when he attempted to impress them with his skateboarding.
     On one of the last nights there, while Lisa is enjoying the fourth of July with her new friends, Bart arrives with the school yearbook and proceeds to embarass Lisa by showing the kids her reputation as a Teacher's Pet, amongst other academic aspects. Having had enough of Bart's actions, Lisa tells him off, which in turn leads to them having constant battles at the carnival during the night. Bart begins feeling remorse as Lisa seems to except the ongoings and she returns home, only to find that her new friends glued a bunch of seashells onto the family car as a gift for her, showing how much they genuinely like her. Lisa is touched (though Homer is less happy about the gesture). In the car home, Bart tells Lisa he showed her friends the yearbook one more time before they left, getting them to sign it and wish her well, the two siblings making up.

     Over the course of the Simpsonspectives, we’ve had a chance to look at heartfelt moments in each of the family’s lives, with the only major one with dedicated episodes missing being Lisa. I thought long about what Lisa episode to explore first, but I knew very early on it may end up being Summer of 4 Ft. 2.
     I’ve always loved Lisa Simpson. Like all the family members over the decades, she has a place in my heart, but she may be the one I hold closest and dearest. There was something about Lisa that always made me feel very protective of her. You want nothing but the best for her; to have friends; to feel expected; and to feel like her talents and gifts are being utilized well. You want her to have the self-confidence she deserves, and to believe in herself in the way that a lot of us, I think, do. That’s why, in the end, it made sense to me to explore the episode where she tried to be someone else first.

     Summer of 4 Ft. 2, to get it out of the way quick, would probably rank really high on my own personal list of favourite episodes. There’s a lot going on here, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the golden standard that The Simpsons had set for itself so early. Even though we can take past episodes as building to Lisa’s predicament, it’s still incredibly well set-up here in its self-contained episode; Lisa being the head of the yearbook committee and realizing how unpopular she may be with the other kids when she doesn’t get any signatures in her yearbook, highlighted in a great (sad) and well-executed moment of a group of kids passing her book clean around a signing circle. This is off-set by Bart, who has his own table set up for singings with long line-ups (including Skinner himself). The decision to reinvent herself for the summer trip is understandable, and something I’m sure many have thought about when they were younger (or even going back to school as a new person).

     Once she’s able to ease from her nervousness and feel loose, it’s easy for Lisa to make friends. This is plausible for two reasons, one we know from the get-go and one we learn as the episode goes on; first, Lisa is a genuinely likable individual, with a great, if awkward because of her nerves, sense of humour and personality; and second, we believe that these kids wouldn’t be the type to really shun anyone for being ‘nerdy’ or the like. They keep to themselves as a group interested in the same things, yes, but there is a feeling that social standings wouldn’t really matter to them. The shock of seeing her as a Teacher’s Pet, to me, always felt more like them reacting to the fact that they bought her as the way they know her now, and that’s the point. Lisa’s standing as a teacher’s pet or anything else is irrelevant; it doesn’t define her personality or the kind of person she is, on a personal basis.
It’s funny how, in an episode dealing with Lisa wanting to be cooler, we get her in a way we haven’t seen before in a completely different aspect. Having seemingly ruined Lisa’s new friendship circle, Bart, in his most smarmy and jackass-y attitude, flaunts the events in Lisa’s face the morning after over breakfast. As soon as Marge leaves the room behind them, Lisa grabs him and gives him such a verbal trashing that you can’t help but cheer at it because of how satisfying it is.

Bart (sitting beside her at the table): “Hey Lis. I guess my little yearbook stunt was pretty rough but it did teach you a lesson. It's important to be yourself.”
(Marge exits)
Lisa (grabs Bart by the shirt, whispering): “I know exactly who I am. I am the sister of a rotten, jealous, mean, little sneak! You cost me my only friends! (she holds a bottle of syrup above Bart's head, threatening) You've ruined my life!"
(Marge re-enters, Lisa drops Bart and goes back to eating)

     Yeardley Smith’s performance throughout the entire episode is, like usual, fantastic, and here she is able to give Lisa an edge she usually never, if ever, has. She growls the words out in a way that makes it feel like she’s barely able to contain herself from fully exploding. The slight shake-y emphasis on ‘mean’ in particular resonates and makes the act of calling someone mean seem like something they should be, rightfully, ashamed of. The simple act of threatening to pour maple syrup in someone’s eye feels deadly. It’s one of Smith’s greatest few seconds with a character that she has given so much, and has endless amounts of great performance moments with already. The animation compliments it incredibly well, with the timing of Lisa pulling Bart in close mixed with her blank expression at first before returning to their original places as Marge re-enters. Together, this is a moment of bubbling rage; Lisa is mad, but she still isn’t the type of person to let it linger and take over her. She proved her point to Bart, and it’s one that he likely won’t forget.

     Though Bart, in the beginning, is there mostly to showcase the difference in social standings between them, he does end up having the obvious important role in the end. This is very much a Lisa episode, with her being the emotional focal point, but I think Bart’s small journey is one worth pointing out as well, mostly with how it ends.
     Bart realizes that here, where he doesn’t have the comfort of years of being around, he may not have much to offer in terms of making new friends. To him, popularity and friends come from being ‘cool’ and ‘in’, which in turn is rejected by the local kids. This not only puts Bart in the place he needs to be for the third act, but also re-iterates the local kids thoughts that being cool or a teacher’s pet doesn’t matter. They connect to Lisa based on who she is personally.

     The good thing about Bart’s story is that it doesn’t entirely vilify him. Yes, his actions towards his sister are awful, but they’re set up with an understanding of Bart’s personal feelings. He’s never been in a situation like this before and finds himself outwardly jealous of Lisa. Unfortunately, he’s also someone who doesn’t quite think some things through and can end up acting out of that jealousy and pettiness. What works especially well here is that Bart feels genuine remorse for his actions in the end, and tries to make things as good as he can by getting Lisa’s yearbook signed by her new friends. The Simpsons writers have always been exceptionally great at writing the individuality of kids, but they’ve also been fantastic at writing their relationships. While they butt heads often over many things, Lisa and Bart genuinely do care for each other. Bart may fall victim to his own personal faults, but heartless he is not.

     The episode is an emotional and relatable one but also holds so many great lines and gags. One things I’ve noticed in particular re-watching it was the line they walk with Homer. His usual shenanigans are present here but he also falls on a very realistic and sweet side of things as well, with two main examples being him putting the ‘Put Food In Me’ post-it on his stomach and telling Marge not to wait up after he draws the jock in the dating board game they play.
     The scene echoing American Graffiti is great, along with Marge’s reaction and Homer’s subsequent attempt to dispose of the firework.
     Going along with the mention of Lisa’s threats to Bart, there are two particular pieces of animation I adore in this episode; Homer’s extremely uncaring eye-roll and waving at Ned to get to the point is a simple few seconds that I’m sure many of us have felt multiple times deep down; and his slow growing grin as he realizes Bart drew the dud in their board-game is one of my favourite animated moments in the series.
     Speaking of favourite moments in the series, this one holds an all-time favourite one for me. As the kids are having their sweet, reuniting moment to make Lisa feel better, Homer’s shadows falls across the car as he exclaims his unhappiness with the shells glued to it. The reading of ‘Sweet merciful crap! My car!’ by Dan Castellaneta always has me laughing. It’s a very real reaction to a real(ish) moment.

     It’s an episode that is loaded with so much to discuss, even now when I’ve spent so much time talking about it. I wish I could but I know I’ll end up typing forever, so for now I’ll have to take comfort in listing some things I like the most;
     -- This isn’t something I like, but I couldn’t really fit it in properly anywhere else; it always hurts to see Lisa cry. Even knowing that she’ll end up okay, it’s always painful.
     -- There are many great shots in this episode, but the moment with Lisa on the blanket trampoline as Bart comes closer over the hill with each bounce is incredible.
     -- I really like the kids introduced in this episode, and really enjoy Christina Ricci’s performance. It’s understated, which helps it work in building such a believable and likable individual.
     -- Going along with the likability of the local kids, I like how you are never made to feel as though they have ulterior motive. They simply like Lisa for who she is and like having her around.
     -- I adore whenever characters in animated series wear different outfits, and Lisa’s here is exquisite.
     -- Marge’s statement that she always pictured her daughter being her best friend makes me smile, as it’s a nice parental moment that doesn’t feel sad but sweet.
     -- The Mad Hatter threatened Alice in Lisa’s daydream is dark.
     -- I always loved the back-and-forth concerning Bart’s standing in the school. Sometimes he’s one of the cool kids, hanging with Jimbo and the gang, and sometimes he’s a victim of the popularity ladder.
     -- It’s a random thing to point out, but something that is hilarious if you think about. Homer, in the scene mimicking American Graffiti, uses weird objects to mask the fact he wants fireworks. In the end, the convenience shop owner knows why he’s there and sells some to him… Homer still buys all the objects he used to lead to his real want in the situation.
     -- It’s mentioned often, but the timing on Marge’s entrance and exit to keep from embarrassing Lisa with orange juice and rice krispies is adorable and great.
     -- Milhouse's reveal from behind the cereal box after Lisa threatened Bart is hilarious. It's a kind of joke that deflates the tension of what came before us, but doesn't take anything away from it.

     The episode is absolutely fantastic and deserves to be ranked high on the list of some of the best the series has produced. It’s emotional and relatable, with a tale centered on wanting to be accepted and feeling like you belong somewhere. It’s a perfect example of what The Simpsons has always done best; mixing some truly hilarious moments in with fantastic writing that touches on many things we’ve experienced, and our hearts.

Quotes and Bits:
* Milhouse has two great moments within a few minutes of the episode starts, I think that’s some sort of record; first, his random, fascinating inane question over which kind of sprinkler Bart likes the most; and thinking that the beginning of the day bell was the final bell before summer, telling Krabappel to ‘suck it’ before running from the class. *

“Go home, Ralph.”

Becky (showing her love of Bart’s autograph): “’See ya’. He writes the way people talk!”

Marge: “Isn't this fun, honey?”
Lisa: “It must be exciting to make a different set of beds.”
Marge: “I know you're joking, but it is!”

Lisa: “You don’t control the bird. You will someday, but not yet.”

“I know where we can get some baguettes!”