Bart's Friend Falls in Love

Plot

On the bus to school, Milhouse shows Bart a Magic 8 Ball. Bart asks if they will still be friends by day's end; the ball predicts they will not. That day, a new student from Phoenix named Samantha Stanky joins the fourth grade, and Milhouse instantly falls in love. They begin a relationship, spending time hugging and kissing in Bart's tree house, to Bart's dismay.

Meanwhile, Lisa worries about Homer's fattening diet. Marge orders a subliminal weight loss tape, but the company sends a vocabulary-enhancer tape in the weight loss packaging. Homer falls asleep listening to it and wakes up with flowery, erudite speech, though his eating habits remain unchanged. After two weeks, he has gained thirteen pounds.

He discards the tape, and his vocabulary returns to normal. Feeling jealous, Bart reveals Milhouse and Samantha's relationship to her father. Mr. Stanky sends Samantha to Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls, a convent school run by French-Canadian nuns. Bart feels guilty and confesses to Milhouse, who fights him.

The boys visit Samantha; she says she loves the school but still has feelings for Milhouse and gives him a goodbye kiss.

Production and allusions

The episode's script came from Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, with Jim Reardon directing. Guest star Kimmy Robertson voiced Samantha, but recorded her lines alone rather than with the rest of the cast. Robertson later said she had no clue how popular she'd become from the role, adding that her friends now think she's the bee's knees and that she's made it. Samantha's look was modeled after Kogen's niece, who shares the same name.

The cold open spoofs Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. Bart plays Indiana Jones, swiping a penny jar from Homer. Homer then chases him, acting as both the boulder and the Hovitos tribe. Maggie shoots suction darts instead of arrows.

Bart just makes it through the closing garage door and onto the bus, with Homer shouting in the distance. John Williams' "Raiders March" plays throughout. To use the theme, the producers had to get permission from Spielberg. Paul Wee handled the layout for this sequence. Julie Kavner liked it because it highlighted the animation and had very little dialogue.

Reception

In its original American broadcast, the episode finished 35th in the ratings for the week of May 4–10, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 12.4, equivalent to approximately 11.4 million viewing households. It was the fourth highest-rated show on Fox that week, following Beverly Hills, 90210, In Living Color, and Married... with Children. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews. Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts called it "a fitting end to a season that had seen The Simpsons consolidate its success and become even more daring and intelligent."

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said the Raiders of the Lost Ark parody made the episode "a keeper" and noted it develops characters without becoming sappy. Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave it a 4.5 out of 5, commenting that the love triangle creates interesting drama. Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict thought the plot seemed drawn out, preferring Homer's subliminal tape subplot. Jeff Acker of The Santa Fe New Mexican also preferred the subplot.

Nathan Ditum of Total Film named the Raiders parody the greatest film reference in the show's history. Empire's Colin Kennedy called it the best film parody on the show, noting Homer played both his roles "with consummate aplomb."