11th episode of the 18th season of The Simpsons
| "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 18 Episode 11 | ||
| Directed by | Michael Polcino | ||
| Written by | Joel H. Cohen | ||
| Production code | JABF05 | ||
| Original air date | January 28, 2007 (2007-01-28) | ||
| Episode features | |||
| Couch gag | The Simpsons are infants who crawl to the couch while "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" plays in the background. After reaching the couch, they grow up to their normal ages. Maggie remains a baby. | ||
| Commentary | Al Jean Joel H. Cohen Matt Selman Tom Gammill Max Pross Joe Mantegna Michael Polcino Michael Marcantel | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsons season 18 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" is the eleventh episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 2007. The episode was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Michael Polcino.
In this episode, three stories are told about revenge as Homer seeks it after the Rich Texan cuts off the Simpsons' car on their way to their vacation. The episode received mixed reviews.
Plot
After the Simpsons' car is cut off by the Rich Texan while driving to the airport for their Miami vacation, Homer's motivation for revenge prompts his family to tell three stories concerning vengeance, hoping to convince Homer that pursuing revenge is not a good idea.
The Count of Monte Fatso
Marge tells a cautionary tale of revenge taking place in 19th century France, parodying the 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
Moe breaks up the marriage of Homer and Marge by framing Homer as an English traitor. Moe marries Marge, and Homer, now in a French prison, swears revenge. His cellmate, Mr. Burns, leads him to a buried treasure. With its riches, Homer becomes the Count of Monte Cristo. Five years later, he kills Moe with a homemade machine, expecting Marge to take him back. Marge angrily rebuffs him, showing him the triplets she had with Moe.
At the end of the story, Marge's explanation is that revenge can lead to misery and sadness. However, she finds that Homer had got distracted from her story by the car radio, requiring another story.
Revenge of the Geeks
Titled as a parody on the movie Revenge of the Nerds, Lisa's story revolves around Milhouse's campaign to fight back against the school bullies and the consequences when he goes too far.
Tired of being bullied by Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney, the geeks plan their revenge. In the science lab, Martin creates The Getbackinator, a ray gun that makes people perform various playground tortures on themselves such as wedgies and wet willies. Milhouse uses the weapon on the bullies, but then begins attacking anyone who has ever (accidentally or on purpose) wronged him, including his own friends and a new student out of "prevenge". Lisa eventually convinces Milhouse to stop, and he reluctantly throws the device aside. Afterwards, Nelson returns from an absence due to mumps, finds the weapon and ends up using it against Milhouse.
Lisa claims the moral of the story is that taking revenge makes a person as bad as those who hurt them. Homer is not convinced and resumes his pursuit of revenge.
Bartman Begins
Having missed their flight to Miami, Homer begins to approach the Rich Texan to enact his revenge until Bart offers to recount "Bartman's 'origin story'", a parody of the film Batman Begins.
After leaving the Opera House, Homer and Marge are killed by Snake Jailbird in a dark alley. Bart swears revenge on Snake, creating his superhero alter ego, Bartman. He is helped by his grandfather, who used to fight crime as the Crimson Cockatoo. Bartman flies around Gotham City, defeating enemies in his way for justice. When Snake attempts to steal the "Stealable Jewels of the Orient" from the Gotham Natural History Museum, Bartman arrives and kills him, using the fangs of a snake statue. Afterward, Lisa reminds Bartman that Snake's death will not bring his parents back. Bartman agrees that she has a point, but adds that he feels better since he finally had his revenge, has now "zillions of dollars" and is free from his parents' control.
During the story, Homer is seen to have made amends with the Rich Texan after hearing that they are both from Connecticut.
Before the credits roll, a dedication is shown to all the characters who died in the Star Wars films.
Cultural references
Homer cites the Iraq War as his excuse for seeking revenge. When the war was initiated, there was a question of whether President George W. Bush was seeking revenge against Saddam Hussein.
Reception
Viewing figures
The episode earned a 2.8 rating and was watched by 8.04 million viewers, which was the 38th most-watched show that week.
Critical response
Dan Iverson of IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.7, writing,
While there was some really funny material in the episode, "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" was still under par for The Simpsons. "The Count of Monte Fatso" showed the fact that the writers can still do a silly parody well, but the other two stories were rather mediocre, relying on gags and humorous visuals to make the segments passable. The trilogy style of episodes continues to be very entertaining, and even though this particular episode wasn't astounding, we will still anticipate the next time that the show gives us parody stories with our favorite television family.
Adam Finley of TV Squad said he would have preferred to have one of the stories expanded to a full episode because there was not enough time for each story. However, he enjoyed what he saw.
Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said the episode's stories were "tepid parodies" and "a disappointment."
In 2019, Rolling Stone named this episode the 138th best episode of the series.
References
- Delaney, Tim (2008). Simpsonology: There's a Little Bit of Springfield in All of Us. Prometheus Books. p. 273. ISBN 9781591025597.
- "Is Bush's Iraq Stance Rooted in Revenge?". ABC News. March 18, 2003. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- "Weekly Program Rankings (Jan. 22-28)". ABC Medianet. January 30, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- Iverson, Dan (January 29, 2007). "The Simpsons: "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- Finley, Adam (January 28, 2007). "The Simpsons: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times". TV Squad. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- Jacobson, Colin (December 19, 2017). "The Simpsons: The Complete Eighteenth Season (2006-07)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- Weingarten, Christopher R.; Dionne, Zach; Fear, David; Newman, Jason; Grow, Kory; Greene, Andy (December 17, 2019). "Springfield of Dreams: 150 Best 'Simpsons' Episodes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
