The Simpsons 10 Classic Moments In Last Exit To Springfield

The Simpsons: 10 Classic Moments In “Last Exit To Springfield”

“Last Exit to Springfield” is a classic episode in The Simpsons’ fantastic season 4. Homer, Lisa and the family are all at the top of their game.

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The fourth season of The Simpsons is one of the most flawless runs in television history, alongside the first season of Twin Peaks and the final season of Breaking Bad. Aside from being let down by a clip show, season 4 has some truly classic Simpsons half-hours: “Lisa the Beauty Queen,” “Mr. Plow,” “Whacking Day,” “Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie,” “I Love Lisa,” “Duffless,” “Marge in Chains,” “Lisa’s First Word,” and so on.

It’s also the season that gave fans two of the episodes most commonly ranked among the greatest in the series’ entire run: “Marge vs. the Monorail” and “Last Exit to Springfield.” While the former is a masterclass in absurdism, the latter is something else entirely. The story of a labor union strike at Mr. Burns’ plant made for both a hilarious episode and an insightful satire.

10 “There’s Nobody That Evil In Real Life.” Cut To: Mr. Burns’ Schadenfreude

As with most Simpsons episodes, the opening scene of “Last Exit to Springfield” has nothing to do with the episode’s main plot. It simply serves to make viewers laugh and re-immerse them in the warped reality of Springfield. Homer and Bart watch an explosive set piece from a McBain sequel featuring a cookie-cutter action movie villain.

Homer assures Bart that no one in real life is as evil as the villain laughing at McBain’s anguish, but then the episode cuts to Mr. Burns laughing at a window cleaner falling to his death. Burns is promptly set up as the episode’s main antagonistic force and the storyline begins.

9 The Big Book Of British Smiles

In order to terrify Ralph Wiggum into taking care of his teeth, the dentist shows him pictures from The Big Book of British Smiles, a compendium of poorly maintained sets of teeth from Britain.

And although British people’s teeth aren’t that bad, it’s still a great sight gag, especially the way it’s paired with tense, dramatic music.

8 “Dental Plan!” “Lisa Needs Braces.”

This is one of most iconic moments from The Simpsons’ entire 600-odd-episode run. In most stories, if not every story, a character has a goal (like getting braces for their daughter) and there’s an obstacle in the way of that goal (like their dental plan is threatened by union action), but “Last Exit to Springfield” puts a hilarious spin on that as Homer is oblivious to the fact there’s an obstacle in the way of his goal.

When Lenny announces that Burns is axing the dental plan, Homer remembers Marge saying, “Lisa needs braces.” Then, his mind connects it to Lenny saying, “Dental plan!” “Lisa needs braces.” “Dental plan!” “Lisa needs braces.” Finally, after he’s repeated the same two pieces of information in his head a dozen or so times, Homer figures out their connective tissue: “If we give up our dental plan…I’ll have to pay for Lisa’s braces!”

7 Purple Submersible

When Lisa is under the gas at the dentist’s office, she has a hallucination that she’s floating through the Beatles’ animated classic Yellow Submarine. However, for legal reasons (according to showrunner Al Jean), the specifics are slightly changed. Instead of a yellow submarine, the band is traveling in a “purple submersible.”

Paul McCartney says, “Look, it’s Lisa in the sky,” and George Harrison (neither played themselves here, but they have both appeared on the show) replies, “No diamonds, though.”

6 Homer’s Godfather Part II Fantasy

When Homer realizes that as the head of the union, he could accept bribes and get into bed with the mob, he imagines a life involved in organized crime.

His dream sequence is a spot-on recreation of a scene in The Godfather Part II, with Homer being gifted donuts replacing Don Fanucci being gifted a necklace and an orange.

5 Lisa As Jack Nicholson’s Joker At The Dentist’s Office

While Homer is negotiating the plant’s dental plan, Lisa has to get the cheap braces as a placeholder before being able to get a hold of the expensive ones.

After the dentist puts them in, Lisa is shown from behind and backlit like Jack Nicholson’s Joker after his skin is bleached in Tim Burton’s Batman. She even asks to see a mirror and subsequently smashes that mirror while laughing psychotically, just like the Joker.

4 “It Was The Best Of Times…It Was The Blurst Of Times!?”

During Mr. Burns’ house tour, Homer is shown a room full of monkeys working on typewriters in the hope that they’ll eventually come up with “the greatest novel known to mankind.”

Burns grabs a page from one monkey’s typewriter and reads its slightly misspelled generic opening line: “‘It was the best of times…it was the blurst of times!?’ You stupid monkey!”

3 Mr. Burns And Smithers Try To Run The Nuclear Plant Alone

When the employees of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant go on strike, Mr. Burns and Smithers are sure that they can run the plant themselves, just the two of them.

Then, there’s a great montage of Burns and Smithers failing miserably, creating a two-headed dog and activating robotic workers who promptly try to kill them.

2 Lisa’s Protest Song

Lisa pickets with Homer and the rest of the plant’s employees, standing in solidarity with her dad’s cause (even if he doesn’t fully grasp it himself), and plays the guitar. She writes a protest song that, uncharacteristically for The Simpsons, doesn’t serve a purpose as a joke, but rather a proponent of the episode’s themes of class struggle and unionization.

The chorus is particularly powerful: “So we’ll march day and night, by the big cooling tower. They have the plant, but we have the power.” The joke element comes right after it when Lenny requests “Classical Gas.”

1 “Smithers, I’m Beginning To Think That Homer Simpson Is Not The Brilliant Tactician I Thought He Was.”

When Burns finally concedes and meets Homer’s demands, Homer immediately drops to the floor and starts spinning around while yelling, “Woob-woob-woob-woob!” Burns turns to his right-hand man and dryly says, “Smithers, I’m beginning to think that Homer Simpson is not the brilliant tactician I thought he was.”

The ironic satire of the episode is that an individual stood up to a powerful corporation, had no idea what he was doing, and accidentally stumbled into a triumphant victory for the working man. Homer got Mr. Burns to bow down to his demands without really realizing how he did it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/the-simpsons-10-classic-moments-in-last-exit-to-springfield/

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