The Simpsons Halloween recap: Treehouse of Horror V

On the 5th episode of Treehouse of Horror, the Simpsons act as winter caretakers at Mr. Burns’ hotel, Homer invents a time travel device, and something terrible is happening at Springfield Elementary.

Treehouse of Horror V opens with another attempt by Marge to warn the audience, but it’s inadvertently interrupted by Homer and Bart (in a parody of The Outer Limits). Then the credits begin in the Springfield cemetery which is filled with Moe hanging himself, Patty and Selma dressed as witches and being burned at the stake by Reverend Lovejoy, and Bart chopping off Principal Skinner’s head with a guillotine.

With that, the first segment of the 5th installment of Treehouse of Horror begins.

The Shinning

The Simpsons arrive at Mr. Burns’ massive hotel in order to be the winter caretakers. He takes away the TV and Beer and warns the Simpsons that the hotel was built on land that has hosted Satanic rituals, witch burnings, and several John Denver Christmas specials. As the title suggests, this a parody of the 1980 film The Shining, complete with Willie warning Bart to use the right title if he doesn’t want to get sued. Willie also discovers he has a psychic connection to Bart and tells him to use the gift in case Homer goes insane.

Which comes in handy as Homer begins to go crazy from the lack of TV or Beer. When a ghost Moe tells Homer that he’ll give him a Beer if he kills his family, he springs into action. Marge eventually finds Homer has repeatedly written “No TV And No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy,” and is indeed doing just that

Marge manages to lock him in the pantry, but Moe, accompanied by movie monsters like Dracula, busts Homer out. He breaks through several doors with an axe before finding the right one and the rest of the Simpsons flee. When Chief Wiggum misinterprets Marge’s call for help, Bart reaches out to Willie for help. But when Willie arrives, he is surprised with an axe in the back from Homer.

With the Simpsons all fleeing out into the snow, Lisa finds a handhold TV and uses it to distract Homer. The ability to watch TV causes Homer’s murderous impulses to wane and the entire family gathers together to watch it. But they wind up frozen together and are unable to change the channel when something they hate comes on.

Time and Punishment

One morning during breakfast Homer gets his hand stuck in the toaster. Breaking it in order to get his hand out, he goes down to the basement to fix it and inadvertently turns it into a time travel machine. Landing in a prehistoric era, Homer remembers Grampa Simpson’s advice that in case of time traveling, don’t step on anything because the smallest change may significantly affect the future.

Homer tries to do this, but ends up killing a mosquito that’s bothering him. He returns to the present to find it a dystopian state run by Ned Flanders. He winds at the Re-Neducation center where he is forced to smile widely and dress like Flanders. Fleeing back to the toaster, Homer goes back in time to make things right. But this time, he accidentally squashes a fish walking out of the water. Going back to the present a second time, Homer finds Bart and Lisa are giants and he barely escapes being crushed by them.

Returning to a prehistoric era for a final time, Homer sneezes on a T-Rex and it wipes out all the dinosaurs. But this time, he returns to the present and finds it a good place where they have wealth and the kids are well-behaved. Homer is happy until he finds out that there are no donuts here. In response, he frantically going back in time over and over again to the amusement of Kang and Kodos. Eventually returning to a world where the Simpsons all have forked tongues, Homer nonchalantly deems it close enough and sits down to eat.

Nightmare Cafeteria

Detention at Springfield Elementary gets too crowded and budget cuts have left Lunchlady Doris using low quality meat. But when Jimbo accidentally gets covered in soup, it gives Principal Skinner an idea. He sends Jimbo to help in the kitchen and the next day the teachers are all eating an unexpectedly tasty lunch. Skinner tells Mrs. Krabappel the truth about eating students and it makes her laugh. He follows the pattern with other students including the German student Uter.

When only a handful of kids are left, Bart and Lisa try to fight back. While trying to break out of school, Lunchlady Doris and Principal Skinner chase them to a ledge above a giant food processor. Willy tries to help, but is killed by an axe just like in the first sketch.

Bart falls in, but he eventually wakes up in bed as it was all a nightmare. With the 5th episode of Treehouse of Horror coming to a close, the Simpsons get turned inside out by a green fog. Undeterred, the Simpsons all begin performing a musical number.