Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times

"Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times"
The Simpsons episode
File:1811-Simpsons.jpg
Episode no.	Season 18
Directed by	Michael Polcino
Written by	Joel H. Cohen
Original air dates	January 28, 2007
Episode features
Couch gag	The family, as infants in nappys, crawls into the living room and up onto to their usual place on the couch. They begin to age into their usual appearances.

"Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season, which originally aired on January 28, 2007. It was written by Joel H. Cohen, and directed by Michael Polcino.

Plot

After the Simpsons' car is cut off by the Rich Texan, Homer's lust for revenge prompts his family to tell three stories of vengeance, hoping to convince Homer that pursuing revenge is not a good idea.

The Count of Monte Fatso

Marge offers a cautionary tale of revenge from 19th-century France, based on Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo.

Moe breaks up Homer and Marge's marriage by framing Homer as an English traitor. When Moe marries Marge, Homer, now in a French prison, swears revenge. His cellmate, Mr. Burns, tells him to find treasure through a tunnel he dug. Homer finds the riches and becomes the Count of Monte Fatso. Five years later, Homer invites Moe and Marge to a party at his mansion, where Homer kills Moe in a home-made "revenge machine". However, Marge has been with Moe for so long that she doesn't care for Homer anymore, and angrily rebuffs him for killing her husband. Back at the present, Marge tells Homer that revenge can lead to misery, but Homer was listening to a Jamaican music station instead of her story. When she tries to remind him, Homer brings out his bat and yells "Revenge!"

Revenge of the Geeks

Lisa's story revolves around Milhouse's campaign to fight back against the school bullies, and the consequences when he goes too far.

Tired of being bullied by Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney, the geeks plan their revenge. In the science lab, Martin reveals his latest creation, The Getbackinator, an awesome weapon of mass destruction. Milhouse - the only geek with any hand-eye coordination - uses the weapon on the bullies, but then begins attacking anyone who has ever wronged him, including Martin (for accidentally hitting him with a shuttlecock), Richard (for being more popular with girls), and Wendell (for giving him "Chinese cuts" in the lunch line). Milhouse even shoots a kid who had never done anything to him, claiming it is 'prevenge'. Milhouse gives Groundskeeper Willie an Ultimate Noogie which cuts his head off. Lisa eventually convinces Milhouse to stop, and he reluctantly throws the device away. Unfortunately, Nelson finds the weapon because he had the mumps and turns it on the geeks. Lisa says the moral is that revenge can make you as bad as the person who harms you. Homer argues the moral should be "never let go of your weapon".

Bartman Begins

Bart recounts Bartman's "origin story", based on Batman's origin as revealed in the film Batman Begins.

After leaving the Gotham City Opera House, Homer and Marge are killed by Snake Jailbird in a dark alley. Homer pleads Bart to avenge him. Bart does as his father says and swears revenge on Snake, giving birth to his superhero ego, Bartman with the help of his grandpa. He flies around Gotham City, defeating enemies on his way for justice. When Serpent, Snake's alter ego, attempts to steal the "Stealable Jewels of the Orient" from the Gotham Natural History Museum, Bartman arrives, saves the Jewels, and kills Serpent by impaling him on the fangs of a snake statue. In the end, a reporter (played by Lisa), reminds Bartman that the Serpent's death will not revive his parents. Bartman agrees, but adds that he now feels better, plus he got zillions of dollars and no parents to tell him what to do. Unlike the first two segments, this story implies revenge is satisfying; nevertheless, while Bart was telling the story Homer reconciled with the Rich Texan after discovering are both from Connecticut.

End Credits

At the end, the screen reads "Dedicated to all who died in the Star Wars films". The list includes: Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Greedo, Uncle Owen, Storm Trooper #5, Jango Fett, General Grievous (Droid), Storm Trooper #22, Dak, Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi, "Whoever Jimmy Smits Played" (Bail Organa), Hutt, Jabba the, Sy Snoodles (Despite the fact that she managed to survive Jabba's exploding sail barge) "Unfortunately, not Jar-Jar Binks," and "everyone on both Death Stars when they blew up". A numbers of characters are missing, including Padme Amidala, Yoda, Palpatine, Admiral Ozzel, Boba Fett (although survived in expanded universe), Count Dooku, Biggs Darklighter, Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn.

Scenes Only in FOX Promos

• In a promo, when Homer checks out his reflection in the puddle, he says "I'm checking out my reflection in this puddle of urine". In the actual episode, "puddle of urine" is changed to "yellow water".This promo can be viewed here
• In a promo, when Bart lands in the dip and says "Party's over, serpent!" Chief Wiggum says, "No kidding because you're standing in the dip. Get out of the dip." In the episode, the "Get out of the dip" line is cut, shortening the line to "No kidding because you're standing in the dip." This promo can be viewed here

Cultural references

• The title is a play on the phrase "Revenge is a dish best served cold", which was popularized by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, although the saying predates that film.
• Homer requests his favorite story, The Count of Monte Cristo, unaware that Marge already told it. Interestingly, a Monte Cristo is also a type of sandwich, which may explain why Homer likes it so.
• Bartman faces the Toker (a play on The Joker, portrayed by stoner Otto Mann), the Diddler (a play on the Riddler, actually Ned Flanders), Mr. Mole (Hans Moleman), Sugar and Spice (Patty and Selma), and Poison Lenny (Poison Ivy) who explains he's not a villain but a transvestite.
• While Bart and his parents are walking through to the alleyway the song "Take the "A" Train" can be heard in the background.
• After he finishes telling his story, Bart mentions that it could've also worked as a Halloween tale (a sly reference to the annual "Treehouse of Horror" anthology)
• Milhouse keeping a list of people who have wronged him is a reference to the My Name is Earl Season 1 special feature "Bad Karma", when Earl makes a list of people who have screwed him over and plans to get revenge on them.
• Groundskeeper Willie makes fun of Milhouse, saying that he's wearing a "Power Glove" NES accessory.
• Milhouse mentions "prevenge" in "Revenge of the Geeks." This is also the name of a song by They Might Be Giants.
• This episode also makes a reference to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" by saying that Homer will pin shooting the Rich Texan on Maggie like the time he shot Mr. Burns, even though Maggie actually did shoot Mr. Burns.
• At the end, when the Texan says that he and Homer were both born in Connecticut, he is referencing that George W. Bush, who has a very Texan image, was born in Connecticut.
• While in jail, old Lenny mentions a "rat helmet", a reference to the infamous scene in the book 1984.
• At the beginning of the episode, when the family fight over which station to listen to, they name off the radio stations from the arcade game Outrun.

External links

• "Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Three Times" at TV.com