TVSquad

(S06E24)

Bart: Mom, you won't believe this, but something you said the other day really got through to me. And now, I'm going to teach some kids a lesson.

Marge: I choose to take that literally.

Bart (from outside): Death to Shelbyville!

Homer: Yes, Bart's a tutor, now. Toot on, son! Toot on!

I had completely forgotten that "Lemon of Troy," one of my favorite Simpsons episodes ever, was part of this season. In this episode, the kids of Springfield get a lesson in civic pride and fighting kids from another town. It begins with Bart skateboarding down the sidewalk and becoming so entranced by a slab of wet cement he completely ignores a safe filled with jewels and Professor Frink's awesome flying motorcycle. Bart doesn't see anything wrong with writing his name in the cement, since surely it will mean future worlds will want to learn more about him and the ways of his time. Marge catches him in the act, however, and tells him to have more respect for the town of which he is a part. Bart scoffs at her at first, but when he and Milhouse head to the lemon tree to get more lemons for Milhouse's lemonade stand, they encounter a group of kids from Shelbyville who bad mouth the young Springfieldians and their town. Grandpa tells the kids to gather around and shut up so he can tell them how the rivalry between Springfield and Shelbyville goes back to the pioneer days when the two towns formed because Shelbyville's founder wanted a place where cousins could marry.

Galvanized by a newfound love of Springfield, Bart and his pals decide to venture into Shelbyville after the lemon tree is stolen:

Bart: Okay, here's how it goes: I'm the leader, Milhouse is my little sidekick, Nelson's the tough guy, Martin's the smart guy, and Todd's the quiet religious guy who ends up going crazy.

Meanwhile, Lisa rats Bart out to Marge, and the grown ups head to Shelbyville in Flander's RV to find the kids. Bart infiltrates the Shelbyville gang in disguise, but the leader is somewhat suspicious of the new kid:

Shelby: We just got word there's Springfield kids in town!

Bart: Curse those handsome devils!

To prove he's really anti-Springfield, the leader tells Bart to spraypaint "Springfield sucks" on the side of a cliff. Instead, Bart sprays "Springfield rules suckers!" and tries to fly away using the spray cans as jet packs, which doesn't work so he steals a skateboard and escapes that way. After losing his pursuers by escaping through the zoo, Bart rests next to a lemon-shaped rock, which, coincidentally, has a real lemon lying behind it, and behind that, in the car impound lot, is the lemon tree.

While Bart and his platoon are staking out the impound lot, the grown ups find them. The kids explain what's going on and Homer confronts the leader's father, who works at the lot:

Homer: That tree's been in Springfield since the time of our forefathers! Give it back or we'll bust in there and take it!

Dad: Bust in here and take it? You must be stupider than you look!

Homer: Stupid like a fox! (tries to climb fence)

The Springfieldians leave, defeated, but Bart gets the idea to park in the hospital zone so they'll be towed into the lot and can then steal the tree back. The tree ends up back in Springfield, though half of it is now missing.

Great moments:

• This exchange between Springfield Milhouse and Shelbyville Milhouse:

Springfield Milhouse (about to be beaten up): Is this the untimely end of Milhouse?

Shelbyville Milhouse: But Milhouse is my name!

Springfield Milhouse: But I thought I was the only one!

Shelbyville Milhouse: A pain I know all too well.

Springfield Milhouse (sobbing): So this is what it feels like, when doves cry!

• Nelson catching trout using toy army men, and then throwing the fish at passing cars
• After Homer throws a steak to a dog that's chasing Bart, he exclaims, "Faster, son, he's got a taste for meat now!"