Season two concludes with Blood Feud. Mr. Burns intercepts in the always volatile road to the happiness of The Simpsons. Chapter the fifth this season. I am really surprised about how repetitive were the earliest years of the show with this concept. The consolidation of Mr. Burns as the greatest villain was one of the most crucial aspects of the beginning of the show.
At that moment Homer regretted to oblige Bart to help his boss.
Mr. Burns was already involved in some hostilities like run over Bart and never have remorse or sabotaging Homer's progress in his diet, among others. But this time he reached his evilest facet when he fires the man who saved his life and not satisfied with that, he orders a bouncer to beat him a purp. No matter how offensive that ridiculous letter Homer wrote in a sarcastic and aggressive tone can be; anyhow, Mr. Burns acted in his most malevolent style since he read Homer's mockery description about him, ignoring the context of the situation. But before that, we have two versions of the old man we still were not used to. Firstly, he is weak when he is suffering the consequences of a disease, the hypohemia... I wonder why the writers invented this one instead of using a real one. He is friendly with Smithers here, something improbable in normal conditions. Secondly, he is cheerful when he recovers his health. He tries to converse with his employers even when he does not know their names and when he is absolutely out of style, he exhibits the ability to play sports and he rewards Homer with a letter, acknowledging the bravery of the boy with a terse card. Now, here it is the breakpoint of the episode: was Burns obliged to give money, gold, or diamonds to The Simpsons? I don't think so. That might be morally preferable in such a billionaire person but overall this situation just talks worse about Homer than about Burns, who later would bring out high levels of intolerance, of resentment, of anger when he read that letter signed by Homer, becoming what he was created for: the antagonist, the insensible man that is plenty of wickedness, abuses of his privileged position, and mistreats Homer.
Mr. Burns smiling no ironically...
Scenes such as Mr. Burns reading the letter in front of Homer, he abruptly ordering to thrash Homer, and he treating Smithers like Judas were excellent for the character, who finally brought out his nature over his fragile version. Topping it all off, it was enhanced by David Silverman's direction and Harry Shearer's voice acting, making of this passage of the episode the most enjoyable one. Smithers was between the hard and the rock when his boss decreed an unfair punishment against the man who saved him from the agony of losing the person about he cares the most and liberating him from the pressure of being incapable to help his boss. It's an intriguing dilemma for Smithers, who already has a profound appreciation for Burns but still was not a boot-licks (at least he is not in extreme situations). Smithers takes the correct decision and canceled the beat up, then confessed personally in his boss's office. And here is my gripe with this one: Mr. Burns suddenly forgives everyone, changes radically his mind, and forgets that letter that made him angry hysterically. I just felt it slightly rushed and kind of unpalatable. An excessively expressive and happy Mr. Burns shopping in the Springfield Mall, looking for a zip-zoop zabulous present. He rejects some easy choices and selects Ixtapolapoquetl, the God of war in the Olmec civilization–in others unexplainable change from the reality–or, how Bart baptized it: "A big, ugly head". Incidentally, I liked that Burns replied " It's a big, ugly Olmec head". Now, I get that Mr. Burns did an eccentric, unpredictable gift. But I have problems with this one: the relationship between its size and the house doesn't add up, and after all, they have a good to sell that is valued in $32,000. Why don't they put themselves in a campaign to get rid of it? It was just an odd ending.
Smithers was too much likable here. One of the few good people in Springfield.
I've said above that I realized that Homer was portrayed worse than Burns, at least throughout the first and second acts. Homer showed himself as a greedy, self-indulgent man. It would have been all right in small doses, but I think he was too much obsessive here, and that aspect consumed his characterization. One-hundred percent of his thoughts were related to the money. He didn't care about Bart's viewpoint, he didn't care about Burns's health, he didn't care about the possibility of not being rewarded for doing the correct thing. Marge was here to keep balanced the situation, expressing a reasonable point of view for dissuading Homer from his impulses. I don't have anything to bring up about her, except that I found particularly adorable the scene when she proves she knows every little detail about her husband and her children, no matter how insignificant they are. That's typical for a mother and it's accurate for her. Bart was easily the funniest here and the one whose personality fits better in the role assigned to. It was funny to watch him taking the initiative and sending the card to Burns –although I found unnecessary that scene where Homer strangles him–. It was nice the near relationship he shares with his father her: Homer telling him a wrong story in the bed, Bart receiving the dictated from Homer describing Burns, both looking together for a quick solution for the inconvenience they have involved in. The father/son moments were actually funny. Oh, and in an off-topic plotline, Lisa teaches Maggie untold words that she didn't have the opportunity to learn. It comes from and goes nowhere, but it what nice to have Maggie starring some scenes, no matter how insignificant they were.
Classic familiar reunions.
Something I always liked about this episode is the very last scene. The family sitting on the couch, contemplating that monstrosity of a gift and debating what the moral was in this situation. It was especially funny how Marge puts effort in find it out. A good deed is its own reward? No good deed goes unrewarded? Does the squeaky wheel get the grease? I frankly found it as a brilliant commentary on us, who looks for a moral lesson in a simply animated TV show. It's true they usually have one, but they looked and discovered a satirical alternative: just twenty-two minutes about a bunch of stuff that happened. However, I had an apprenticeship watching this, furnished by Barney, who left me the following philosophy of life: "You should always drink to enhance your social skills". Yup, it's a bit sad when a satirical observation makes you feel identified with. This episode also contains one of the funniest scenes of the entire season, refloated onto the pop-culture five years ago through season 7's clip show. That useless visit of Homer and Bart to the Post Office was funny because of its simplicity, and the outcome where Homer blames Bart was even better. And talking about funny scenes... Do you a fun fact about this one? In the Latin American dubbing, when Mr. Burns repeats the insults Homer wrote down in the letter, he cites one that Homer didn't express (as well as he did in the original version with 'Liver spots") and exclaims: "He didn't say it but he thought on it!" in such an expressive tone that makes me break up every time I hear it. It's one of the very few times were the adaptation enriches the original version.
Another random note: Joey takes his job too seriously.
Blood Feud was kind of a forgettable season finale. The lack of impact of Mr. Burns, the grasping that absorbed Homer, and the letdown ending (yet memorable) were the negative points for what otherwise was a slightly funny story that involves smartly every member of the family, or at least gives screentime for those that didn't fit, and that continued to evidence some hints of a change of style where the humor becomes a priority, especially evidenced during the let's send/let's recover the letter.
3/5