Treehouse of Horror XV

"Treehouse of Horror XV" is the fifteenth Halloween episode of The Simpsons, airing November 7, 2004, one week after Halloween in the US. It had the lowest amount of viewers for a Treehouse of Horror episode in a few years.

Synopsis

Opening segment

In a parody of Perfect Strangers, Kang and Kodos are preparing the Simpsons for dinner for their "boss." Bart and Homer are the main course, Lisa is in a soup, and Marge and Maggie are pies. The boss comments on the delicious meal but then vomits up Bart. Kang and Kodos get a hyper-galactic promotion. Bart is sad about being an orphan, but he is adopted by Kang and Kodos. The Perfect Strangers theme song then plays over the opening credits.

The Ned Zone

Trying to get his Frisbee from the roof, Homer throws a bowling ball that hits Ned on the head. When Ned recovers in Dr. Hibbert's hospital, he has a vision of the good doctor falling out of a window, which happens shortly afterwards when Homer asks him to get his frisbee from the window ledge. Ned realizes that he can see the deaths of people whom he touches; he saves Hans Moleman from falling down and has a vision of him getting chewed up by alligators. In shock, he drops Hans - right into an open manhole, which he was standing next to. He also predicts the closing of the Rosie O' Donnell musical, but he "didn't need special powers to see that one coming!"

Later, one of his visions depicts him shooting Homer. When Homer finds out about Ned's vision, he taunts him and even gives him Chief Wiggum's gun to shoot him with. Ned refrains from shooting Homer and has another vision of Homer blowing up Springfield. Ned tries to dissuade Homer from going to work, but Homer goes anyway. Ned rushes to the power plant to stop Homer, but his warning is scrambled by static over the intercom, leading Homer to believe he should press a "core destruct" button. In desperation, Ned grabs a nearby security guard's gun and shoots Homer; but in his death throes, Homer presses the destruct button with his tongue. Shortly after Ned says "You stupid son of a...", the power plant explodes and Springfield is destroyed. Homer, Marge all the Simpsons, and their garage go to Heaven as angels and meet God, who returns Homer's frisbee.

Ned, obviously, did not prevent the future. If you look clearly in the vision of the shooting, he held a black gun, which looked exactly like the power plant security guard's gun, not Chief Wiggum's pistol. A common theme with this kind of story is the immutability of the future.

Four Beheadings and a Funeral

In 1890 London, women are being killed with swords in a series of unsolved murders. Scotland Yard Detective Eliza Simpson and her easily-amazed assistant Dr. Bartley trace the swords used back to industrialist C. Ebenezer Burns. They find him in an opium den, where he claims he lost all his wealth to opium. The next suspect in mind is Homer. The police arrest Homer and are about to hang him when Eliza finds the real murderer: Inspector Wiggum, whose eel-pie covered handprints were all over a sword used to kill one particular woman. Wiggum attempts to escape in a hot-air balloon, which is destroyed by Kang and Kodos' Victorian era-style spacecraft. However, it all turns out to be a dream that Ralph Wiggum is having while smoking opium in an opium den, which is part of an even crazier dream.

In the Belly of the Boss

At the "Invention Expo", Professor Frink creates a machine that shrinks objects. Maggie crawls inside a giant pill, which is miniaturized and swallowed by Mr. Burns. The rest of the family agrees to be shrunk within a craft and injected into Mr. Burns' body. When Homer refuses to follow Frink's instructions, the ship gets stuck in Burns' heart. The crew manage to get the ship free and are able to reach the stomach by catching a ride on a nerve impulse. They manage to save Maggie, but are forced to leave Homer behind when their craft doesn't have enough power to save them all. The submarine successfully escapes, and Homer returns to his original size inside Mr. Burns' skin. Even though Homer complains that he needs several holes, Burns is confident that things will work out. The episode ends with Burns and Homer leading a dance to the tune of I've Got You Under My Skin.

Trivia

• This is the third Halloween episode where the Simpsons break the fourth wall. After finding out that the entire family cannot be saved, Lisa says "This is the worst Halloween horror we've ever faced!" The last time the Simpsons broke the fourth wall was in Treehouse of Horror XIV, in which Homer wishes he "was Death again." The first time was back in Treehouse of Horror V, in which Willie comments (briefly) on himself getting axed in the back in all three segments, "Ach, I'm bad at this."
• This is the second Simpsons episode to parody Perfect Strangers. The first was in "Barting Over."
• Homer and Burns become attached to one another again, the first time being "If I Only Had a Brain," the final vignette of Treehouse of Horror II.
• This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode and the third Simpsons episode to be given an 'M' rating in Australia, instead of the usual PG and as such its screening on Channel 10 was pushed back to 8.30pm from 7.30pm. The first Simpsons episode to have a 'M' rating in Australia was "Natural Born Kissers" for undisclosed reasons and then "Weekend at Burnsie's" for the use of drugs.
• The addicts seen in Mao's include McCallister, Snake, Herman, Willie, Otto, Lenny, Carl, Dr. Nick Riviera, Gil, Cletus and a gray-haired Blue Haired Lawyer.
• "The Ned Zone" is the first segment of this episode. In Treehouse Of Horror II, There was a story with a similar name, "The Bart Zone", which was also a second segment.
• While in the Curio shop own by the comic book guy you can see he has on his desk the monkey paw from one of the previous halloween specials

Cultural References

• Perfect Strangers: In the opening segment, the closing credits appear over freeze frames from the episode, with the song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" playing behind them. This is done in the style of the 1980s sitcom "Perfect Strangers."
• The Dead Zone: The title and general concept of "The Ned Zone" is taken from this 1979 Stephen King novel, which has been adapted into a 1983 movie starring Christopher Walken and, in 2002, a serial drama starring Anthony Michael Hall. In all three, a mild-mannered man experiences psychic visions after receiving a blow to the head and going into a coma.
• That's So Raven: Ned can see the future, but never gets it right. The tight closeups on Ned's eye and the sound effect when he has a vision are also similar to the ones used for Raven's visions.
• Minority Report: Both Ned and the main character of this film are exposed to a vision of the future in which they murder someone unpremeditatedly.
• The Twilight Zone: The Ned Zone is reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode called "The Purple Testament." The title card is also animated in TZ style.
• Four Weddings and a Funeral: The name of "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" is taken from the name of this movie.
• Sherlock Holmes: Lisa's character in "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" resembles Sherlock Holmes, and Bart's character is reminiscent of Dr. Watson.
• Jack the Ripper: Jack the Ripper is referenced in "Four Beheadings and a Funeral."
• China: In "Four Beheadings and a Funeral," Mr. Burns has unusually long fingernails. This is a reference to ancient China, when very rich or important people grew their fingernails long as a sign that they had no need to work in the fields, like the poor did. Also, the opium he is so fond of originated there.
• Fantastic Voyage: "In the Belly of the Boss" is a parody of this 1966 classic science-fiction movie. Homer even utters the title in regard to Marge's skimpy outfit.

Goofs

The Ned Zone

• The number of buttons on Dr. Hibbert's coat changes from four to three and back to four again. To be more precise, in the scene where he says "Alright, but I swear by God, this is the very last time."
• Flanders wakes up in the hospital without his glasses. After he shakes Dr. Hibbert's hand and forsees his death (when the camera zooms in towards his eye), he is wearing them. Then, when they zoom out, he is not wearing them anymore.
• When Flanders foresees Dr. Hibbert's death, he is restrained to the bed, but when Hibbert dies he is by the window.
• In Ned's vision, Hibbert is screaming just before he hits the ground. However, when Hibbert actually does die, he's laughing just before he hits the ground (because of the morphine).
• Homer's bullet wounds are seen throughout the scene staggering around the sealed chamber, but they vanish when his tongue falls onto the Core Destruct button.

Four Beheadings and a Funeral

• Several people have American accents even though they are in England.

In the Belly of the Boss

• Before Maggie enters Frink's capsule, there are no straps on her stroller. In the next scene, there are unclasped straps that "should" have held Maggie back.
• When Marge points out that the white blood cells are eating her clothes, she is stripped to her undergarments; when she later exits the ship, however, she is clearly shown in the clothing she was wearing beforehand.
• Marge's breast size constantly changes. When she is asking Homer why her swimsuit is so revealing, her chest actually inflates to a size bigger than when she temporarily had breast implants in Large Marge.

Quotes

Opening Segment

• Bart: Am I the only one in incredible pain?...
  Homer: You're the only one who won't shut up about it! audio clip

• Bart: Wait a minute, I don't have a family anymore.
  Kang: You do now, son. You do now.

The Ned Zone

• Ned: (after waking up from his coma) Concussion-diddly, Hemorrhage-doodily, Injury, bodily.

• Ned: (after seeing the Rosie O'Donnell musical closing after three performances) Well, I didn't need any special power to know that was coming.

• Homer: I wonder if I can blow up Heaven.

Four Beheading and a Funeral

• Scotland Yard motto: What's all this, then?

• Dr. Bartley: What's this? A doorknob? Good show!

• Wiggum: Let's see the suspect in that child abduction case.
  Peter Pan: I shall never grow up.
  Wiggum: Uh, in jail you will.

• Comic Book Guy: This potion will give me new life.
  (CBG reaches for a potion, but his strength fails and the potion spills on a stool. It shakes it off like a dog)
  Simon: I'm alive. I'm going to go to America. I'll be in pictures, you'll see. The whole world's going to know the name "Simon Stooliwitz".

• Burns: The sword of Osiris. I once possessed the entire collection, but I sold them all for opium. Oh, how I wish I had them back...to sell for more opium.
• Wiggum: Why can't you be more like Eddie. He doesn't say a word against me.
  Lou: That's cause you cut out his tongue.
  Eddie: (without tongue) Eth ight, theef. audio clip

• Wiggum (escaping in a hot-air balloon): You'll never catch me! I'm travelling at the speed of wind! (Kang and Kodos' Victorian-era spaceship flies through and pops Wiggum's balloon) Remember me for my police work and not the murder!
  Kang (while having tea with Kodos): Well done! Their fleet is destroyed!

In the Belly of the Boss

• Prof. Frink: This comically large capsule has lifetime supplies of niacin, thiamine, and riboFLAVIN-glayvin!

• Homer: Captain!
  Lisa: Science officer!
  Bart: Security!
  Marge: Marge!

• Mr. Burns: Now, I suggest you take your shoes off when you get inside. Oh, and while you're there, grab as much cancer as you can. audio clip

• Homer: Peh. Science. Has science ever kissed a woman or won the Super Bowl or put a man on the moon?
  Homer: (shortly afterwards) Help me, science! audio clip

• Prof. Frink: Let the commencement begin-ulate.

• Lisa: To get Maggie in time, we'll have to catch a ride on a nerve impulse, the body's information superhighway!
  Bart: Learning is cool!
  (Lisa and Bart high-five)
  Homer: And to make sure we get there superfast, I'm going press all the buttons with my palm.
  (Homer does so. It launches several missiles, machine guns, and depth charges, causing several explosions. One of these occurs in Burns' stomach, stretching the skin and slowly returning to normal size.)
  Burns: (calmly) Well, that hurt like hell.

• Prof. Frink: Your ship is wedged in Mr. Burns' heart. You can only dislodge it from the outside. But watch out for retroviruses. Boy, are they retro! Like this one created by R. Crumb, who was friends with Harvey Pekar! Seriously, touch one and you're dead.

• Marge: Why is my swimsuit so revealing?
  Homer: Marge, that's what turns a mediocre voyage into a fantastic voyage!

• Lisa: (after learning that they can't all be saved) Oh my god! This is the worst Halloween horror we've ever faced!
  (camera switches to show that Marge's clothes are being eaten by white blood cells)
  Marge: And white blood cells are attacking my clothes! (The cells begin to fall off before they eat too much that would show Marge's breasts) Although I must admit, they know where to stop.

• Lisa: Dad, you want some of my Snickers cake?
  Burns: No thank you. I'm full enough as it is.
  Homer: I say when we're full! You don't want to piss off a guy who can kick you in the crotch from the inside!