Cape Feare vs Marge vs. the Monorail

[stip]

Cape Feare


After receiving numerous death threats in the mail, Bart becomes paranoid. It is revealed that the writer is his enemy, Sideshow Bob, who is incarcerated in Springfield State Prison. The next day, Sideshow Bob's parole hearing is held; the parole board is easily convinced that Sideshow Bob is no longer a threat, despite having a tattoo that reads "Die Bart Die" on his chest (he explains that the phrase means "The Bart The" in German, and the board decides that "No one who speaks German could be an evil man"). When the Simpson family goes to watch an Ernest movie at the theater (called "Ernest Goes Somewhere Cheap"), Sideshow Bob sits in front of them and acts obnoxiously, smoking incessantly and laughing, much to the Simpsons' annoyance. The Simpsons then realize that it was him who sent the letters, and Marge angrily confronts him saying to stay away from Bart.

Despite their efforts, Chief Wiggum and the Simpson family are unable to protect Bart from Sideshow Bob. Sideshow Bob drives around Evergreen Terrace in an ice-cream truck, calling out the names of all the people whom he will not kill; Bart's name is not mentioned. The Simpsons opt for the Witness Relocation Program and relocate to Terror Lake, changing their surname to "Thompson" and settling in a houseboat. However, unknown to the family as they drive cross-country to their new home, Sideshow Bob has strapped himself to the underside of the car. Bob has a very uncomfortable journey, as the car goes over numerous speedbumps, Homer unknowingly throws his coffee on Bob, and the car drives through a Cacti field.

As the Simpsons arrive at Terror Lake and go inside their new houseboat, Sideshow Bob comes out from under the car. In doing so, he steps on the teeth of a number of rakes repeatedly, causing the rakes' handles to swing up and hit him in the face. Later, when Bart is walking down the road, he sees Sideshow Bob escape from the underside of another car, only to be trampled by a parade of elephants, increasingly adding to his misfortune. Bart runs home and warns his parents about Sideshow Bob's presence. Bart goes to bed, but is very hesitant and on edge.

During the night, Sideshow Bob reaches the houseboat and cuts it loose from the dock with a machete. Bob then ties up Homer, Marge, Lisa and Maggie, to ensure they will not interfere with his plan. After tying up Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II as well, Bob enters Bart's room, ready to kill him. Bart escapes out the window and tries to escape, but he cannot jump off the boat, as there are crocodiles and electric eels in the water; he is cornered. As a "last request", he has an idea: he compliments Sideshow Bob on his beautiful voice and asks him to sing the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore, to stall for time as the houseboat floats to Springfield. After the performance, Bob advances on Bart again, but the boat runs aground, and Sideshow Bob is arrested, and the Simpsons return home. Abe Simpson, however, was unaware they had moved and, without his pills, he ends up becoming a woman and being asked out by Jasper

Marge vs. the Monorail

After being caught by the Environmental Protection Agency dumping nuclear waste in the city park, Mr. Burns is fined $3 million. A town meeting is held so that the citizens can decide how to spend the money. Marge suggests that the city use the money to fix Main Street, which is in poor condition. The town is about to vote in favor when someone new to town, a fast-talking salesman named Lyle Lanley, suggests that Springfield construct a city monorail. After being swayed by a song, the now enthused townspeople decide to build the monorail.

Even though Lanley succeeds in winning over almost the entire town, his salesmanship fails to convince Marge, who is frustrated with the town's purchase because she (correctly) believes the monorail is unsafe and that Lanley is a conman. While watching TV, Homer sees an advertisement that suggests he attend Lanley's institute of monorail conducting, which is a transparent effort to make even more money from the con. Homer immediately decides to enroll. After a three-week course, Lanley selects Homer at random from among his classmates to be the monorail conductor.

Still annoyed about the town's lack of understanding of the monorail, Marge visits Lanley to question his motives, and discovers a notebook containing drawings which reveal Lanley’s intention to run off with bags of money skimmed from the monorail project while everyone else falls victim to his faulty train. Marge immediately drives to North Haverbrook, which Lanley mentioned was a previous purchaser of one of his monorails. She discovers that the town is in ruins. While exploring, Marge meets Sebastian Cobb, the engineer who designed Lanley's North Haverbrook monorail. Cobb explains that Lanley embezzled construction funds through shoddy workmanship and materials, and that the entire project was a scam. Realizing Marge believes him, he offers his assistance in helping to prevent the same fate from happening to Springfield.

At the maiden voyage of the Springfield monorail, Lanley arranges for a well-attended opening ceremony, which will divert the town's attention while he escapes on a plane to Tahiti. The whole town turns out, and Leonard Nimoy is the guest of honor. The monorail departs just before Marge and Cobb arrive. Although it runs normally at the start, the controls soon malfunction and cause it to speed wildly around the track. Homer, Bart, and the passengers are in danger, but the monorail's electricity cannot be shut off because of its solar power.

Meanwhile, Lanley's flight to Tahiti is interrupted by a brief and unexpected stopover in North Haverbrook. The townsfolk are alerted to his presence and they storm the plane to attack Lanley as revenge for ruining their town. Back in Springfield, Marge and Cobb contact Homer by radio and Cobb tells Homer that he will need to find an anchor in order to stop the train. Improvising quickly, Homer pries loose the giant metal "M" from the logo on the side of the monorail's engine, ties a rope to it, and throws it from the train. Eventually the "M" catches on the sign of a doughnut shop and the rope holds, stopping the monorail and saving its passengers.

[stip]

Damn, this is so hard. This could have been the finals.

I think Cape Feare is probably my favorite Simpson's episode but these are both off the charts great.

[tragabigzanda]

Damn, this is so hard. This could have been the finals.

I think Cape Feare is probably my favorite Simpson's episode but these are both off the charts great.

Prolly my second favorite after Homer Badman. But I agree this could have been a great final matchup.