S2E8: Bart the Daredevil
On the chance I don't live, let me say... seat belts save lives, so buckle up!
If naming convention is to be trusted, before the end of the millennia Bart will be or have been:
A genius (S1E2);
A general (S1E5);
A murderer (S3E4);
A lover (S3E16); and
‘A fink’ (S7E15);
Candidly, I’m hard-pressed to remember Bart being any of these things, and he was a general and a genius only a fortnight ago. But I’ll be damned if I ever forget the image of Bart Simpson, adorned in cape with skateboard under foot crossing the Springfield Gorge.
Bart decides to train for a career in death defiance after witnessing Captain Lance Murdock (The Simpson’s Evil Knievel) clear a tank of great white sharks, electric eels, ravenous piranhas, alligators, and the king of the jungle, a lion, on his motorcycle.
Following suit, Bart’s able to clear cars, swimming pools, cats and dogs, and a sleeping Homer on his skateboard.
But it’s all too easy, Bart laments, whilst on a field trip to Springfield Gorge.
Both Lisa and Homer try to talk Bart out of jumping the gorge, with varying levels of success.
Lisa takes him to the hospital to talk with the recently incapacitated Captain Murdock, who reminds Bart the fact that ‘bones heal, chicks dig scars, and the U.S.A. has the best doctor-to-daredevil ratio in the world.’ We also meet Doctor Hibbert for the first time.
Despite resigning himself to the fact that Bart will die, Marge convinces Homer to have a heart-to-heart with Bart, which fares slightly better.
HOMER: Look, I know I can't stop you. I can only ask you...to promise me you won't do it.
BART: Okay, I promise.
HOMER: You didn't mean that! This isn't a promise I don't expect you to keep. lf you promise, you have to keep it.
BART: Why?
HOMER: If you don't, I'll never believe you ever again.
BART: Come on.
HOMER: I mean it, boy!
BART: Okay, Dad. I promise. I won't jump Springfield Gorge.
HOMER: That's my boy.
Bart never actually ends up crossing the gorge (I guess I misremembered), but I’ll never forget Homer crossing the gorge in his place.
Review 3.5/5
Chalkboard Gag: I will not drive the principal's car
Couch Gag: The couch flips over, perpendicular. Maybe due to Homer’s weight.