Treehouse of Horror XIII

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The Simpsons episode
"Treehouse of Horror XIII"
Episode no. 292
Prod. code DABF19
Orig. Airdate November 3, 2002
Writer(s) Marc Wilmore (Part 1)
Brian Kelley (Part 2)
Kevin Curran (Part 3)
Director David Silverman
Guest star(s) Maggie Roswell returns to voice Maude Flanders.
SNPP capsule
Season 14
November 3, 2002 – May 18, 2003
  1. Treehouse of Horror XIII
  2. How I Spent My Strummer Vacation
  3. Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade
  4. Large Marge
  5. Helter Shelter
  6. The Great Louse Detective
  7. Special Edna
  8. The Dad Who Knew Too Little
  9. Strong Arms of the Ma
  10. Pray Anything
  11. Barting Over
  12. I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
  13. A Star is Born-Again
  14. Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington
  15. C.E. D'oh
  16. 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky
  17. Three Gays of the Condo
  18. Dude, Where's My Ranch?
  19. Old Yeller Belly
  20. Brake My Wife, Please
  21. Bart of War
  22. Moe Baby Blues
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Treehouse of Horror XIII" is the first episode of The Simpsons' fourteenth season, as well as the thirteenth Halloween episode. The episode aired on November 3, 2002, three days after Halloween. 17 million people watched. It is the second Treehouse of Horror to have a zombie-related segment, the first being Dial Z For Zombies in "Treehouse of Horror III".

Contents

[edit] Opening Sequence

The Simpson family and Ned Flanders hold a séance, which brings the ghost of Maude Flanders back from the dead. She opens a book and brings us three stories that "will crack your spines and boil your blood".

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Enlarge

[edit] Send in the Clones

Homer purchases a new hammock. When he lies down, he discovers it can make clones. He begins making and using the clones to do all of his chores. As he continues to make the clones do his work, the clones begin thinking for themselves and questioning the real Homer. When a clone permanently takes care of (kills) Flanders, Homer decides to get rid of the clones and the hammock, taking them to a cornfield where he abandons them, presuming that none of the clones are smart enough to get anywhere. It isn't long before the clones use the hammock to make more clones of themselves, and form an army of Homer-clones (one of which is Homer as he appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show, and another, Peter Griffin From Family Guy), heading their way for Springfield, which they invade. The army joins together in the War Room (from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), and only Lisa can give them a suggestion to solve the problem. She suggests that several helicopters hook gigantic donuts on cables and have the clones chase them. The plan is put into action in a parody of the 'Ride of the Valkyries' helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now. The helicopters fly towards a big cliff luring the Homer clones to their doom. Soon, all the clones have been disposed of. Later that night, Marge enters the bed and soon discovers that the Homer next to her is a clone (he has no belly button). The clone soon tells her that the real Homer was the first to jump off the cliff. Marge is initially alarmed, but relaxes when the clone offers her a back rub.

[edit] The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms

Lisa inadvertently finds the grave of William Bonney, a man who was killed by gun violence, and dreamed of a world without guns. In his memory, she starts a gun control crusade, which makes Springfield 100% gun-free; even the police no longer have guns. The town now defenseless, the corpse of William "Billy the Kid" Bonney and his cohorts rise from the dead and start wreaking havoc in town, until Professor Frink invents a time machine, which Homer uses to go back to the recent past to stop the gun ban, and also the zombies. Homer tells the citizens of Springfield to shoot at the zombies' graves, causing them to come up and run away. Suddenly, a more futuristic Homer comes in to warn them about guns but is shot by Moe who plans to use his time-machine to find some "caveman hookers".

[edit] The Island of Dr. Hibbert

The Simpsons are going on a trip to "The Island of Lost Souls" (a parody of The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells), where they find Dr. Hibbert running the island's resort. When the family is there, Marge thinks that something creepy is occurring until Dr. Hibbert captures her and turns her into a cat woman. Homer goes to find a cure for Marge's condition, but encounters Ned Flanders, who becomes a cow-centaur who needs to be milked. Flanders takes Homer to meet the others who have turned into animals. Homer, initially horrified at what everyone has become, actually decides on being an animal himself.

[edit] Animals

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Cultural references

  • At the end of the first segment, there is a parody of the War Room and General Turgidson from Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove.
  • The segment "The Island of Dr. Hibbert" is mainly a parody of H. G. Wells' novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.
  • The title of "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms" is a play on the United States Constitution amendment that says that U.S. Citizens have "the right to keep and bear arms".
  • "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms" is somewhat based on the Philip K. Dick short story The Skull.
  • "The Island of Dr. Hibbert" features Marge as a cat and Homer as a walrus. The final scene sees them getting a little frisky. This is reminiscent of Peter Jackson's film, "Meet the Feebles," which has a much more amorous interlude between walrus and cat as one of its first scenes.
  • Billy the Kid's Hole in the ground gang is parody of the Hole in the Wall Gang, which was formed by Butch Cassidy.
  • "Send in the Clones" is a parody of the Michael Keaton movie Multiplicity
  • The name "Send in the Clones" is a pun on the famous song "Send in the Clowns".
  • The Homers falling off the cliff is probably a nod to Lemmings.
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The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror
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