While not as beloved because the “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, The SimpsonsChristmas episodes are nearly at all times a deal with, like “The Fight Before Christmas” or “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” which launched the ever-faithful Santa’s Little Helper. But there have been lumps of coal as effectively. Take “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace.” In equity, it is not a horrible episode. It’s not a Yuletide “Moe’s Bar Rag,” for instance. But what sends it straight to Santa’s naughty checklist are the actions of Springfield’s residents towards the Simpsons. Cruel, harsh even, and it is a thriller why they acted so out of character.
Christmas Goes Up in Flames in ‘The Simpsons’ Episode “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace”
“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” begins at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Before being despatched to mattress, Marge (Julie Kavner) makes it clear that nobody will get as much as open presents till 7:00. Shockingly, Bart (Nancy Cartwright) ignores Marge, and wakes up effectively earlier than then. He unwraps his presents. discovering a remote-controlled fireplace truck. Bart begins enjoying with it, however sprays water on an overloaded electrical socket, setting off a hearth that melts the plastic tree and presents. Looking to evade punishment, he drags the smoldering mess out to the entrance yard and buries it below the snow. Once he is completed, Bart goes again inside, solely his timing could not be worse. It’s 7:01, and the household is downstairs in shock. Thinking quick, Bart makes up a narrative about seeing a burglar in the home taking the tree and presents.
The police are known as in, and Kent Brockman (Harry Shearer) arrives together with his information workforce to cowl the story. The information travels quick, and shortly everybody in Springfield comes collectively to drag off an It’s a Wonderful Life second, gifting the Simpsons a brand new Christmas tree and $15,000. Homer (Dan Castellaneta) makes use of the cash to purchase a brand new automobile, which, in true Homer trend, he drives onto a frozen lake, the place the automobile promptly cracks the ice and sinks (after passing the Plow King, a pleasant nod to “Mr. Plow”). However, the guilt he feels forces Bart to admit to the household. After a touching group strangulation of Bart, they decide to maintain the fake story alive when Brockman arrives to do a follow-up.
Springfield’s Citizens Make the Simpsons Pay in “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace”
Here’s the place the “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” thriller begins. A cameraman finds the tree’s stays, forcing the Simpsons to admit. Springfield’s residents are, rightly, offended, and proceed to shun the household and ship letters demanding retribution. Only there was no insurance coverage on that brand-new automobile that now sits in Lake Springfield, so no cash to pay them again. Marge will get on Jeopardy!, hoping to win some, solely she finishes with destructive $5,200. When the Simpsons arrive residence, the individuals of Springfield are on the garden ready, which Marge sees as a gesture of forgiveness. Nope. Forgiveness comes with a value, which is paid when the individuals file into the home and ransack every little thing, together with the pets, leaving solely a tattered washcloth.
While the anger of the city is comprehensible, their act of retribution shouldn’t be, therefore the thriller. Bart’s solely actual crime right here was mendacity, and there is not a 10-year-old that will instantly confess to an analogous act. The act wasn’t purposeful, and Bart has 36 seasons of moments the place he is been mischievous on objective that did not get the identical response. The remainder of the household had solely found the reality moments earlier than the city and reacted as doubtless any household would, hoping to brush it below the rug till they assessed their subsequent steps. Besides, it is Christmas. What occurred wasn’t proper, however a household was nonetheless robbed of Christmas, and taking away every little thing they personal, leaving nothing is uncharacteristic and reprehensible.
Or is it out of character? The story considerably mirrors “The Telltale Head,” the place Bart saws the top off of Jebediah Springfield’s statue and solely confesses later. When he and Homer go to return the top, a vengeful mob approaches. Only on this case, the city is fast to forgive. They aren’t so forgiving in The Simpsons Movie, the place the townspeople descend upon the Simpsons’ residence and raze it after Homer’s actions put Springfield below a dome, with the household escaping hurt because of a sinkhole below Maggie’s sandbox. “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,” “At Long Last Leave,” and “Mayored to the Mob” additionally function Springfield’s offended mobs. As far as the cash, the hypocritical townspeople have pulled scams of their very own, as in “Radioactive Man,” the place value gouging by the city forces the film’s manufacturing to go bankrupt. This would all counsel that the thriller is not a thriller in spite of everything.
“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” and different episodes of The Simpsons can be found to stream within the U.S. on Disney+
The Simpsons
The satiric adventures of a working-class household within the misfit metropolis of Springfield.
- Release Date
- December 17, 1989
- Rating
- Seasons
- 36
- Studio
- Story By
- Matt Groening and James L. Brooks