Treehouse of Horror XV
"Treehouse of Horror XV" | |
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"Treehouse of Horror XV" is the first episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 2004.[1] In the fifteenth annual Treehouse of Horror, Ned Flanders' head injury gives him the power to predict others' deaths, Bart and Lisa play detective when a string of Victorian-era prostitutes are murdered by Jack the Ripper, and the Simpsons go on a fantastic voyage inside Mr. Burns' body to save Maggie. It was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by David Silverman.[2] Around 11.29 million Americans tuned in to watch the episode during its original broadcast. Airing on November 7, it is the latest date that a Treehouse of Horror has aired, (tied with Treehouse of Horror XXI)[3] but had to be held back a week due to Fox's contractual obligation to air the World Series.
Plot
Opening sequence
Kang and Kodos star in a fictional sitcom, entitled Keepin' it Kodos. In it, Kodos is preparing their boss' visit by cooking dinner: Homer on a baking tray (continually eating himself), Bart on a skillet, Marge and Maggie in pies and Lisa in a soup (with Bart seemingly being the only family member to be in pain). The boss gives the meal a delicious rating, but his stomach bursts, liberating Bart. Kang and Kodos are given a hyper-galactic promotion, much to the aliens' delight. Bart is sad about the loss of his parents and sisters, but Kang and Kodos decide to adopt him, which comforts Bart. The theme song from Perfect Strangers plays as the Treehouse of Horror logo appears on the screen; an alien tentacle stamps the "XV" underneath which makes it say the title of the episode in the fashion of the Mark VII Limited company logo.
The Ned Zone
In a parody of
A later vision depicts him shooting Homer, which horrifies Ned and he tries to conceal this from Homer. When Homer finds out, he taunts Ned and even gives him Chief Wiggum's gun to shoot him with, and says he could not even shoot him by accident. Ned refrains from shooting Homer, seemingly changing the future, but then has another vision of Homer blowing up Springfield by pressing the "Core Destruct" button at the nuclear power plant. Ned tries to dissuade Homer from going to work, but Homer goes anyway because of ice cream cake for Lenny's birthday. Ned rushes to the power plant to stop Homer. Unfortunately, Ned's warning is scrambled by static over the intercom, sounding as if he is his conscience encouraging Homer to press the button. In desperation, Ned grabs a nearby security guard's gun to shoot Homer, fulfilling the original prediction, but in his death throes, Homer presses the destruct button with his tongue, much to Ned's fury before the power plant explodes and Springfield is destroyed. Ned and the Simpsons go to Heaven as angels, with Marge accusing Homer of blowing up Springfield just to get out of cleaning the garage (which also entered Heaven as an angel). Just as Homer muses over whether he could blow up Heaven, they meet God (again), who proceeds to give Homer "what he deserves" – his frisbee.
Four Beheadings and a Funeral
In a parody of
Simpson and Bartley congratulate themselves for solving the crime, until they find another body,
In the Belly of the Boss
In a parody of
Reception
The episode has received mixed reviews from television critics. Pip Ellwood Hughes was positive and said "In the Belly of the Boss" was the best segment of the three.[4] Kevin Yeoman disliked the episode saying "much of it was old hat, and comfortably so. The best example of this is in the 'Treehouse of Horror XV' episode, which not only fails to elicit a single laugh, but also demonstrates how much the annual tradition had come to rely on spoofing pop-culture or horror films, rather than using the conventions of the genre to craft something funny and memorable. The execrable 'Four Beheadings and a Funeral' and 'In the Belly of the Boss' showing just how unfunny and lazily written these Halloween episodes can sometimes be."[5] Chris Morgan of Cinema Sentries thought the quality of the episode was questionable.[6] On John Hugar's top 25 Treehouse of Horror episodes he placed the episode at #21. He enjoyed "The Ned Zone" but thought "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" "bland" and "In the Belly of the Boss" done better before.[7] When ranking the top 78 Treehouse of Horror segments Louis Peitzman was positive on the segments. He placed "The Ned Zone at #56 and said "it's fairly well done" but said "like so many early 2000s episodes, it goes too far."[8] "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" was put at #49 and said "The distinctive look of the segment is great, and the murders are gruesome, but the mystery-solving itself isn’t worth more than a shrug."[8] "In the Belly of the Boss" was placed highest at #44 and he thought it had its moments.[8]
References
- ^ ""The Simpsons" Treehouse of Horror XV (TV episode 2004)". IMDb.com. IMDb, Inc. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Treehouse of Horror XV". Yahoo! Canada. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ Ruskin, Zack; Bloom, Andrew; Clark, Tyler (23 October 2019). "Ranking: Every Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Halloween Episode from Worst to Best". consequence.net. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "The Simpsons: Season 16 DVD review - Entertainment Focus". Entertainment Focus. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ "The Simpsons: The Sixteenth Season Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest". bluray.highdefdigest.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ "The Simpsons Season 16 Blu-ray Review: It Delivers What It Promises - Cinema Sentries". cinemasentries.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ "All 25 'Treehouse Of Horror' Episodes Of 'The Simpsons,' Ranked". UPROXX. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ a b c "All 78 "Treehouse Of Horror" Segments Ranked From Worst To Best". BuzzFeed. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror XV" at IMDb