Blood Feud (The Simpsons)

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Blood Feud
episode_no = 35


image_caption = The Simpsons discuss about what to do with the antique Olmec Head (Xtapolapocetl) that Mr. Burns gave them.
prod_code = 7F22
airdate = July 11, 1991
show runner = James L. Brooks
Matt Groening
Sam Simon
writer = George Meyer
director = David Silverman
blackboard = "I will not sleep through my education"
couch_gag = The couch falls through the floor with the family on it.
commentary = Matt Groening
Al Jean
David Silverman
season = 2"Blood Feud" is the last episode of the second season of "The Simpsons". However, The Simpsons Archive lists "Blood Feud" as not belonging to any season, as it aired "after" the formal end of the second season and "before" the beginning of the third season. It is considered part of Season 2 as it appeared on that season's DVD. [ [http://snpp.com/episodeguide/season2.html The Simpsons Archive: Episode Guide ] ]

Plot

When Mr. Burns falls ill with "Hypohemia" and desperately needs a blood transfusion, Homer discovers Bart has Mr. Burns's rare blood type, double O negative, and Homer, disappointed he only has A Positive, urges his son to donate, promising that they will be handsomely rewarded. He mistells the story of "Androcles and the Lion" (instead, referring to it as "Hercules and the Lion"), telling Bart the hero was rewarded with riches. However, Mr. Burns knows nothing of this promise, or even of the Simpsons' desire for a reward, and having received the blood, all he does is send the family a card. Enraged, Homer writes an insulting reply, but Marge convinces him at the last minute not to send it. Later the letter goes missing, as Bart has mailed it, still thinking its message is called for.

Homer and Bart's attempts to stop the mail delivery end in failure, and Mr. Burns is furious at the insult and demands that Homer be beaten up. Waylon Smithers calls off the beating, however, on the grounds that this action is no way to thank the man who saved Mr. Burns's life. Just as Marge had convinced Homer to refrain from sending the letter, Smithers has a calming influence on Mr. Burns, and the two decide instead to buy the family a present. The Simpsons receive an antique "Xtapolapocetl" or "Xt'Tapalatakettle", an Olmec head (a massive, Tiki-god-like affair) that Bart, the blood donor, likes, and which Homer hates. At the end, as the family stare at the head, the Simpsons debate on what the moral of this whole story is. It can't be 'A good deed is its own reward' as Bart got a reward he likes, but at the same time it isn't 'No good deed goes unrewarded' as they never would have got anything if Homer hadn't wrote the angry letter. Homer decides that there isn't a lesson to be learnt from this, as it's "just a bunch of stuff that happened".

The antique head appears many times in subsequent episodes, usually in the family's basement.

Cultural references

*Burns's line about getting "A frabulous, grabulous, zip-zoop-zabulous present" is similar to lines used in many Dr. Seuss books. Burns also has Dr. Seuss-inspired lines in "Last Exit to Springfield" and a few other episodes.
*Otto is also heard humming the Black Sabbath tune "Iron Man".

References

External links

* [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F22.html Episode Capsule on "Simpsons Archive"]
*imdb episode|id=0767440|episode=Blood Feud