Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times

Plot

After the Rich Texan cuts off the Simpsons' car on the way to the airport for their Miami vacation, Homer seeks revenge. His family tells three stories about vengeance to dissuade him. Marge's story, set in 19th century France, parodies The Count of Monte Cristo. Moe frames Homer as an English traitor, marries Marge, and Homer, imprisoned, finds treasure with cellmate Mr. Burns.

As the Count of Monte Cristo, Homer kills Moe with a homemade machine five years later, but Marge rebuffs him, showing triplets she had with Moe. Marge's moral that revenge leads to misery is lost on Homer, distracted by the car radio. Lisa's story, a parody of Revenge of the Nerds, follows Milhouse fighting bullies. Martin creates the Getbackinator, a ray gun causing self-inflicted tortures.

Milhouse uses it on bullies, then attacks anyone who wronged him, including friends and a new student. Lisa convinces him to discard it, but Nelson, returning from mumps, uses it against Milhouse. Lisa says revenge makes one as bad as the aggressor; Homer concludes to never put down a weapon. Having missed their flight, Homer approaches the Rich Texan until Bart offers to recount "Bartman's 'origin story'".

Reception

The episode scored a 2.8 rating and pulled in 8.04 million viewers, landing as the 38th most-watched program that week. IGN's Dan Iverson rated it 7.7. TV Squad's Adam Finley felt one of the stories should have been a full episode due to limited time, though he liked what aired. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson dismissed the segments as "tepid parodies" and "a disappointment." Rolling Stone placed it 138th on its 2019 list of the series' best episodes.