Review: The Simpsons “Not It”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

This “Treehouse Of Horror” special episode follows Homer and his group of friends who are pursued by a killer clown in a spoof of Stephen King’s novel “It“. When an evil, shape-shifting clown named Krusto causes the disappearance of the children of Kingfield, Homer and his friends must band together to destroy it, or die trying.

Our Take:

This episode featured many great gags while still staying true to the source material. The first half of the episode focuses on young teenage Homer who is confronted by a team of bullies including a young Superintendent Chalmers. Luckily, another group of teens called “The Losers” led by Moe, Carl, Comic Book Guy, and Marge come to Homer’s rescue. Their victory celebration is short-lived however when they all reveal they have seen the evil Krusto the Clown. 

The Losers prepare themselves for battle as Krusto rears his ugly head. But the weapons they have gathered prove to be useless against Krusto. It isn’t until Krusto injures himself and induces laughter that The Losers discover how to defeat him. Before Krusto can be properly vanquished, he retreats down into the sewer. The first half of the episode was a great tribute to Stephen King’s work, even focusing on the awkwardness of teen love and the sadistic humor of the otherworldly evil clown.  

27 years later, we reach present-day Kingfield as Nelson and his gang of friends is murdered by an unseen villain. This catches the attention of Homer, who has become a bartender at a lowly tavern. Honestly, is there a more fitting job for Homer? Meanwhile, Moe has become a rockstar, Carl is now a heroic astronaut, Marge is a powerful CEO and Comic Book Guy has taken over as patriarch of the Simpson family (Worst. Father. Ever.) Bart and Lisa each make an appearance as well, though they look slightly off from their normal appearances, which might be the freakiest thing about this episode. 

With Krusto now back in the picture, The Losers continue their pursuit of the murderous clown. When Bart and Lisa are kidnapped by Krusto, The Losers head to the sewers to go after Krusto once again. After they stumble upon his subterranean lair they discover Krusto’s captive audience, including a still very unlucky younger Frank Grimes, who are forced to endure Krusto’s routine and power his evil abilities with laughter. But after one well-placed throw from Marge, Krusto’s “laughter” sign is destroyed and he becomes weakened until he is defeated and the captive audience is released from his control. 

“Not It” wasn’t a particularly funny episode, but it was a strong and captivating story elevated by a well-written parody script. It was also very interesting seeing the alternate lives of these familiar characters, but Homer’s “virgin loser” lifestyle was the showstopper. This was a very solid entry into the “Treehouse Of Horror” collection with a full episode dedicated to one story. “Not It” may have lacked a constant stream of laughs, but the audience should still feel captivated nonetheless.