Blood Feud

Monty Burns is sick and in need of blood! Due to his rare blood-type, there's trouble finding a donor. In comes Bart Simpson! A wonderful Season Two episode written by George Meyer.

The first season of The Simpsons was pretty good and while watching it, only the knowledge of what it would become was limiting my enjoyment of it. It felt a bit too safe, a bit too straightforward and lacking in real depth in the touches and delivery. I came into the second season not sure when the magic would start to kick in; I had never really watched the episodes in order before as it came to terrestrial TV in the UK after many season and hit the screens quickly and regularly, meaning I didn't see it play out season at a time so much. Turns out that the "magic" starts very quickly – I guess the first season was just proving itself and then they had the freedom that success brings.

Many shows cling hard to anything that brings them success – almost to the point of being afraid to branch out for fear of losing touch with what they did first time; Simpsons does not do this. Instead it really goes for it and this season is much edgier, braver and funnier as a result. The plots are almost all very good and start to use a good variety of characters well – moving one layer beyond the family when it comes to getting plot devices. This makes these supporting characters much better in terms of writing and also animation and strengthens the show. The level of writing is generally where the show steps up its game – Bart is more sweary and the content more "difficult", it isn't dark or too controversial but for sure it is nowhere near as safe and accessible as the first season felt. Having said that though, it is to its credit that it does it so well that the show does remain accessible and very popular. The pop culture references and throwaway gags are better and more frequent, adding depth to the show. There are a lot of great moments in here – again many of them moments that I assumed must have come much later because of how good they were.

The voice cast and the animation are also better. The voices are sharper and this makes the delivery more effective and the lines funnier. The expansion of the supporting cast is really good too and it was great to see small throwaways for the smaller characters of Mayor Quimby, Troy McClure etc for the first time. The animation is nearly there – much higher standard than the first season, the characters are much better defined and generally it looks really good.

The second season is really a great step up from the first season in many regards and I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly and how well it did it. A very strong season with a lot of wit and creativity from the big details down to the smaller touches.

Several common Homer tropes make their first appearance in this episode-i.e. Homer and his brain having a conversation. Likewise, the episode combines a moralistic theme wrapped around a faintly absurd resolution with the totem head. And the writers proceed to undermine the point with meta-commentary in Marge trying to figure out the moral of the story. In short this episode is a token of what show was for its first dozen or so years. They made better episodes this season and certainly in the series but this is a good one to watch to get the flavor of the show.

Season 2 on the whole is a lot better than season 1 largely because the animation is better. Season 1 is rough on the directorial and animated level; the writers seemingly exceeded the then animators skills. Season 2 does a lot better on this and the animation is a lot more nuanced and frankly cleaner. The writing is a little tighter as well. There are several very good episodes in the 2nd season but I would be hard press to put most of season 2 in the "Golden Age" of the show. It was only in the final third of the season that the show started to fully hit its stride.

An episode with a good premise that probably fizzles out a bit in the second half.

In a recent series though it would probably be the best episode.

This is the twenty-second and final episode of the second season and it's a pretty good one. But like the first season, I feel like the finale could have been stronger. It has a good story and all, but I think it was undermined by the previous 3-4 episodes which were very strong. That being said, it's still rather funny and the battle between Homer and Mr. Burns never gets old.

In this episode, "Blood Feud," Burns is dying from hypothemia which is a rare blood disease and requires a blood type that no one at the power plant has. But when Homer finds out Bart has that rare blood type, he makes Bart donate some blood. But when they only receive a thank-you card for their effort, Homer feels a little bit unappreciated.

Overall, this is a solid episode but could have been a better finale. That being said, the second season on the whole makes a better progression. With better animation, better plot-lines, funnier jokes, and more timely satire, things can only get better. I rate this episode 8/10.