The Secret War of Lisa Simpson

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The Simpsons episode
"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson"

Episode no.	178
Prod. code	4F21
Orig. Airdate	May 18, 1997
Show Runner(s)	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Written by	Richard Appel
Directed by	Mike B. Anderson
Couch gag	With the living room upside down, the family falls from the couch and onto the ceiling.
Guest star	Willem Dafoe as the Commandant
DVD commentary by	Matt Groening Josh Weinstein Yeardley Smith Mike B. Anderson
SNPP capsule
Season 8 October 27, 1996 – May 18, 1997
Treehouse of Horror VII You Only Move Twice The Homer They Fall Burns, Baby Burns Bart After Dark A Milhouse Divided Lisa's Date with Density Hurricane Neddy El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer) The Springfield Files The Twisted World of Marge Simpson Mountain of Madness Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show Homer's Phobia Brother from Another Series My Sister, My Sitter Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment Grade School Confidential The Canine Mutiny The Old Man and the Lisa In Marge We Trust Homer's Enemy The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase The Secret War of Lisa Simpson
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" is the last episode in the eighth season of The Simpsons.

1 Synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 Release
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

While Lisa becomes increasingly concerned that her education is not advanced enough, Bart creates a massive sonic feedback loop in a wayward stunt involving the police station's full set of megaphones. Consequently, both Lisa and Bart transfer to Rommelwood, a military school; Bart as punishment and Lisa searching for a challenge. Bart is completely against the move, only later warming up to military life. Meanwhile, Lisa originally was enthusastic about her new environment, but gradually her presence stirs discontent among the other students, since she is the first female student and gets her own barracks to herself. Bart and Lisa are both subject to harsh hazing.

Bart generally tried to distance himself from Lisa to keep in the good graces of the other students. Lisa thus grapples with isolation and has second thoughts about staying. Nevertheless, during a compulsory end-of-year military exercise, the Eliminator, Bart cheers her on and she passes successfully. The other students begin to turn against Bart, but graduation time has already come.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cultural references

The episode is a play on the 1968 film The Secret War of Harry Frigg.

[edit] Release

The episode originally aired on May 18, 1997, as the season finale, along with a rerun of "The Springfield Files."^[1] The episode was mistakenly anticipated as being about Lisa launching "a legal battle" to enrol at the military school.^[1]

The episode was one of four in 2005 released on a DVD called Bart Wars focused on crossed between The Simpsons and Star Wars. However, one critic wrote that with this episode and "Marge Be Not Proud" and "Dog of Death," both of which are also on the DVD, the "Star Wars connection" is "tangential at best."^[2] The other epsisode was "Mayored to the Mob."^[2]

[edit] Reception

A critic argued Dafoe's casting was "rare" and "somewhat offbeat."^[3] The BBC disliked the episode, writing that it was "very dull" and Dafoe was not used well.^[4]

Conversely, journalist Raju Mudhar wrote that in this episode, "The Simpsons have succinctly laid out our eventual future." This referred to the rise of robots in the real world and the quote from this episode, "The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots."^[5]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Richard Helm, "TV gets spring refresher; From myth to mobsters, sweeps give TV four- week tweek," Edmonton Journal, April 27, 1997, pg. C.2.
^ ^a ^b "Mark Hamill advises Homer to 'use the forks' in new Simpsons release," National Post, May 14, 2005, pg. TO.32.
^ Ian Johnston, "TV's great cameo cavalcade! The sitcoms are pulling out the big (and old) guns to get you watching this sweeps week," Daily News, Halifax, Nova Scotia: April 27, 1997, pg. 40.
^ "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on March 29, 2007.
^ Raju Mudhar, "Even robots need to let off steam; Homemade bots get in the ring Sumo challenge an annual event," Toronto Star, March 11, 2006, pg. H.03.