Original airdate: October 20, 2019
The premise: “Danger Things” is a Stranger Things “parody.” In “Heaven Swipes Right,” Homer dies unexpectedly, and is given the ability to swap into different bodies, trying to find the perfect one for his family. “When Hairy Met Slimy” is a Shape of Water “parody.”
The reaction: Another year, another Halloween special, where I struggle to articulate the same damn criticisms without seeming like I’m exactly repeating myself. Two segments here “spoof” contemporary media, the first one being especially confusing in that it references elements from all three seasons of the Netflix series, cramming so much into a mere six minutes that even as someone who’s watched the whole series, I couldn’t even tell what was happening. Treehouse of Horrors have been parodying horror fiction since the beginning, but a big reason it worked back then is that even within the framework of a reference to another work, they were still interested in telling their own stories. “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” casts Willie as Freddy Krueger, but retold his death and origin story in a very Simpsons way. “The Shinning” recreates a lot of memorable moments from the movie, but also features new elements like Burns and Smithers kicking the whole plot into motion. I guarantee if they did a Shining segment now, it would feature Bart riding through the halls on a Big Wheel finding Sherri and Terri at the end of a hallway, because the name of the game now isn’t story, it’s references. The Christmas lights to communicate from the beyond, the water tank, the Upside Down itself, they’re all there, but ultimately meaningless with no story to hang onto, and what must be absolutely baffling to anyone who hasn’t seen the show. Segment two was just kind of boring, and had no creepy elements to it whatsoever. Neither did segment three, which I guess they only did because del Toro is such a big Simpsons fan. That’s the single biggest causality of these specials: they’re not scary anymore. Not that they were genuinely terrifying, but it was really impressive how this silly cartoon show managed to get pretty unsettling. Marge and the kids getting lobotomized as the Re-Ned-ucation Center. Martin letting out a horrifying death screech and collapsing in the middle of class. The family screaming in agony having their skin turned inside out. The gremlin holding up Ned Flanders’ severed head as he taunts Bart. In the last segment here, Kang bites off Smithers’ head, spits it at Burns to knock him out (complete with a coconut BONK sound effect) and they run away. It’s not so much scary as it is they had no idea how to end the scene and just bailed. Treehouse of Horror segments of old were kind of tense, they had a distinct atmosphere to them. But now, they’re just as meandering and pointless as any other episode.
Three items of note:
– We get a fairly long intro with an Omen parody of Maggie being a demon spawn. We open with Marge giving birth to a baby boy, but Homer doesn’t want another boy, so Hibbert just offers her demon Maggie instead? But regardless, the show already did an Exorcist spoof with Maggie two years ago, didn’t they? This is just the same thing over again. I guess it’s only here as the opening to tie into this being the 666th episode, but if that’s all it is, they could’ve made this a neat one minute long rather than three.
– In the Upside Down (or whatever hilarious name they decided to call it, I forget), we see a dead Uter prominently lying outside the town square wearing red glasses, clearly a stand-in for poor Barb from season 1 of Stranger Things. Odd choice, but there’s no Nancy analogue in the story, nor are they a whole lot of female characters from this show to choose from. Considering Russi Taylor just died, I was surprised they didn’t alter this at all, maybe just do a retake to remove just the Uter layer of the scene or something. I certainly wouldn’t cry insensitive, but it felt a little weird.
– Segment two ends with Homer finally landing on the perfect body to use: Moe. Marge seems perfectly fine with spending the rest of her days making love to the body of a creepy pervert who was unhealthily obsessed with her. Then Maggie shows up and Moe for some reason is now in her body, who tells Marge that he’s very thirsty. What better way to end your spooky Halloween special with your viewer imagining Moe in a child’s body sucking on Marge’s tits? It might be the most sickening thing ever done on the show. Like… Jesus.
One good line/moment: I think there was one scene I mildly chuckled at, but I don’t even remember what it was, so I don’t think it really counts if that’s the case.
Me Blog Write Good 
Happy Halloween! May nobody remember this “episode!”
“I guarantee if they did a Shining segment now, it would feature Bart riding through the halls on a Big Wheel finding Sherri and Terri at the end of a hallway,”
That was actually a deleted scene from the Shinning segment. (Which by the way, is turning 25 soon!) It was funnier than anything that came out of tonight’s reference-fest.
That would be a very funny coincidence if Mike said that and didn’t know it was a deleted scene.
[Narrator] It was.
Yeah, I didn’t know about this. But even a reference like this I feel would still be done differently today, they would have literally recreated the exact scene from the movie with the same camera move directly behind Bart, and Sherri & Terri at the end of the hall. Back then, they utilized the elements of what they were referencing in new ways, whereas now it’s just straight imitation.
Oh, right! You mean like when Treehouse of Horror XIX had a straight imitation of the Mad Men opening? That’s a good example.
Horrific episode (pun intended). I literally had troubles understanding what was going on. Not because it was too dense, complex, or deep. Just because it was so boring that my attention span lasted 1.5 seconds, then I got distracted, then I tried to focus again, then I got distracted, and so on. Until the final liberation from this excruciating experience. With the (very partial) exception of last week’s episode, this season seems to me to be unbelievably disappointing.
Yeah, this episode seems, um, er…well, yeah…
The best new Simpsons content being created these days are the Simpsons mashup/sh!tposting memes on Facebook groups like Rock Bottom, Compuglobalhypermeganet etc. Funny stuff that really captures the spirit of the classic seasons.
Ireland Simpons Fans!
‘Member when parodies in this show were still enjoyable when you didn’t know the source material?
Yeah, i ‘member!
First episode I have watched since March and what a crock of shit this was. I thought we had already had the low point of these specials but nope, they have proven me wrong. The intro was easily the best thing about the episode and that was only for a couple of laughs it gave me. Not only was the Stranger Things segment not even remotely funny, but it didn’t even make sense. Add on top that you can only get the jokes if you have seen Stranger Things and you have one of the worst first stories ever. The second story was even worse and repeated a Homer plot that has already been done in these things. The final one, meant to be a “parody” on The Shape of Water was just down right disgusting. I walked out of the room as I was done. Such a worthless pile of garbage for what was supposed to be celebrating the 666th episode of the series.
AREN’T YOU HAPPY TO BE BACK
lol You know, in some ways after watching the THoH I’m all like, “Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, do I really want to play catch up and continue?” Meanwhile, half of me is all, “Well duh, of course you’re going to play catch up and continue, you’ve been watching this show since 1992, you can’t just quit now!”
Called it: episode 666, Treehouse.
Those chucklefucks couldn’t let this one slide if they tried. Seriously, this reference thing they have has become like Michael Scott and “that’s what she said”.
The difference, of course, was that (in early Office, at least), the “That’s what she said” bit worked as a joke because it was coming from Michael and was meant to be predictable/unfunny and make the employees uncomfortable. It worked on a couple levels as a result.
Yes, and then eventually it became a tic.
30th Treehouse of Horror episode. Treehouse of Horror hasn’t been good since the 10th one, but this is especially painful. Can’t wait for more painful and disposable ToH episodes（ ＾ν＾）
It is hard for me to remember any Treehouse of Horror episode after the 26th one, mostly due to…lack of substance. Most of them, even in later seasons, I found pretty good. The rest are just watchable. Not great, but still memorable. The only really terrible Treehouse of Horrors I remember were the 11th and 22nd ones. Many modern Treehouse of Horrors and even regular The Simpsons episodes can be decent when you don’t compare them too much to better classics. For example, Holidays of Future Passed doesn’t need to be as good as Lisa’s Wedding to be good, and A Test Before Trying doesn’t need to be as good as Bart Gets an F to be good.
Of course, I won’t deny there are also many more episodes that are still bad when you watch them on their own, when it’s obvious that this is not the same character you remember. When I see Moe in Moe Baby Blues or Mr. Burns in Dark Knight Court, they work for me because they show a more human side to their characters while balancing it with their original…abrasiveness, so I can still see them as the same character with new sides.