Trilogy of Error

Season 12, Episode 18, Aired
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Episode Summary

Homer's thumb is cut off following breakfast and the episode follows three different paths. Homer's day: as he and Marge race to get his thumb reattached. Lisa's day: as she misses the bus and tries to get to school so that she can win the science fair, but finds herself at one point at West Springfield Elementary. Bart's day: as he and Milhouse make use of a stash of fireworks that Fat Tony has illegally smuggled into the country. In the end their respective paths come together.moreless
9.1
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Cast & Crew

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  • Julie Kavner

    Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier

  •

    Harry Shearer

    Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Waylon Smithers, Kent Brockman, and others

  •

    Dan Castellaneta

    Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, and others

Fan Episode Reviews (24)

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  • You Have Got to Be Kidding Me

    0.1
    "None"
    By BwayJ, Mar 20, 2011 Report Abuse
    Homer having his thumb cut off? Lisa showing no concern for the fact that his thumb was cut off? A useless cameo by Frankie Muniz? Three things here: terrible plots, out-of-character actions, and relying on a well-known name. As Mr Teeny says in this episode, "This plot made no sense!"

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    2 17

  • fantastic episode with heaps of good stories with lisa, homer, bart and milhouse

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Bayyyyy, Sep 29, 2010 Report Abuse
    this episode was hilarious especially homer cutting off his thumb. Bart and milhouse getting chased by Fat Tony and his fellow mobsters for fireworks lisa about to miss her science project. it was funny when lisa walked in a different school. Homer is such an idiot when he puts beer in lisa's science project. Marge practically put the cops on Bart and Milhouse. and Chief Wiggum almost got Bart and Milhouse killed by speaking into the wire. i hated the bit where Lisa and that boy from another school were spinning around, that was the baddest part of this episodemoreless

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    0 0

  • A Simpson's classic!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Sami5118, Jul 25, 2010 Report Abuse
    Homer's thumb is cut off following breakfast and the episode follows three different paths. Homer's day: as he and Marge race to get his thumb reattached. Lisa's day: as she misses the bus and tries to get to school so that she can win the science fair, but finds herself at one point at West Springfield Elementary. Bart's day: as he and Milhouse make use of a stash of fireworks that Fat Tony has illegally smuggled into the country. In the end their respective paths come together. This was one of the best episodes from season 12 and one of the best ever.

    Reasons why:
    Fat Tony - I love the guy
    The illegal fireworks thing
    It was interesting seeing the same thing from different points of view

    Overall, I think that this episode was one of the better ones because they never did anything like it before and that you get to see the same thing from a different point of view.moreless

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    1 0

  • Perfect

    10
    "Perfect"
    By futuramarama, Jul 25, 2010 Report Abuse
    Easily one of season 12's bests, Trilogy of Error is set in one day, and we see Homer, Bart, and Lisa's stories all in one day, what they do, etc. It is a clever episode, how things that look bad in one story end up good in another. I thought it was clever and the overall episode was pretty funny, definitely one of the best in season 12. There was never a dull moment and the entire episode had me wondering what was happening next. My overall grade for this episode, without a doubt, is an A+, fantastic, fun episodemoreless

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  • Continuity, continuity, continuity

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Southparkfa, Jun 22, 2010 Report Abuse
    In one of the craziest episodes I've ever seen, this episode follows the storyline of one day in the life of the family, but does it from 3 entirely different viewpoints. First, Homer's thumb is cut off, and he tries to reach a hospital, but can't get to one, and then finds Lisa's science fair robot broken. Second, Lisa misses the bus when she makes some tweaks to her science fair robot. Krusty then gives her a ride, but he takes her to the wrong school, she tries to leave, but falls in love with a nerd similar to her. Then after leaving, she finds Marge, and they leave to find Homer. Thirdly, Bart and Milhouse go spying on Fat Tony and his mob. They then chase the two, but they escape through an open manhole, which leads right to Marge and Lisa. I really enjoyed this episode the whole way, especially how it all nicely piled together at the end. Overall, a definite must-see. 10/10 A+moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Music from this episode "Happy Together" by The Turtles (When Lisa and Thelonious are spinning in circles an instrumental version can be heard) Edit
    • For robot repair, Lisa uses "The Itty-Bitty Acetylene Torch" Edit
    • Sign seen on Dr. Nick's clinic: "If You Can Put It In, We Can Take It Out." Edit

  • Notes

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    • Blackboard Joke: Fire is not the cleanser. Couch Gag: The family does skateboarding tricks on a ramp, but Homer wipes out and gets hit in the head. Edit

  • Quotes

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    • Chief Wiggum: Your mission is to find the firework smugglers and get them to say something incriminating on this tape. Bart: Hootie and the Blowfish? Chief Wiggum: Yeah. It's cheaper than blank tape. Edit
    • Milhouse: I can't go to juvie! They use guys like me as currency! Chief Wiggum: Yeah, they'll pass you around like... like currency, like you said. Edit
    • Lou: Hey, Chief, can I hold my gun sideways? It looks so cool. Chief Wiggum: Sure, whatever you want, birthday boy. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Dr. Nick: Inflammable means flammable? What a country! This line is alluding Yakov Smirnoff's "America: What a country!" jokes. Edit
    • Trilogy of Terror The title of this episode is a take-off on the title of the 1975 TV movie Trilogy of Terror. Edit
    • Run, Lola, Run The basic plot construction as well as Lisa running as fast as she can through Springfield with electronic music playing in the background are gleaned from the 1998 German film Run, Lola, Run. Edit

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