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Throughout their 33 year run, The Simpsons have given audiences some of the best episodes of television in sitcom history. Every fan that has seen The Simpsons has a different view on which episode is the best, or their favorite. Though, as the longest running animated sitcom in history, there have been some bumps along the road. This episode in particular will go down as one of the worst episodes of The Simpsons in their storied history.
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And I further decree that everything will be just like it was before all this happened
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and no one will ever mention it again. This knowing statement issued with a nudge-nudge-wink-wink delivered in the closing minutes
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was one of the earliest moments we knew The Simpsons would do what it wanted with no abandon
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After years of intelligent, heartfelt comedy, the principal and the pauper flat out told us
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things were about to change, and not for the better. The Simpsons will always be a show that warrants discussion
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From family dynamics, romantic relationships, and what exactly is small-town life, the creators wanted to both satirize and celebrate the day-to-day life of existence
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We felt safe in Springfield. We have roots here, Homer. We have friends and family and library cards
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Bart's lawyer is here. And while the newer seasons have lessened that trust and includes inarguably worse episodes
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there were long stretches of perfection. which makes season 9 episode 2, The Principal and the Pauper, hit us in the gut so much harder
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The episode was written by pre-Futurama co-executive producer Ken Keeler and directed by Stephen Dean
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Moore. Aired on the tail end of what is widely considered the golden era of The Simpsons in 1997
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it was a rare misstep that unfortunately became a harbinger of things to come
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The episode feels slightly off right out the gate. Focusing on secondary character Principal
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Seymour Skinner, we follow him through his daily routine until his mother sneaks him into an
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anniversary ceremony in his own honor. Put on your special suit and get in the car. Yes, mother
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So far, the setup is different than normal, but there are still a few wonderfully clever jokes to
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hold our hands. And there is something nice and kind in seeing Skinner relish in the mundane
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They are telling us that Skinner doesn't want or need excitement and change. When we finally settle
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into the idea that we are following principal skinner the episode drops its first bombshell
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the man we know as principal skinner is actually a man named armin tamzarian
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and yeah it comes as out of nowhere as it sounds a conveniently passing soldier in a taxi happens to notice the billboard celebrating Skinner and interrupts the ceremony to declare that he is in fact Skinner
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Already, there's so many problems with this setup. From the unusual opening to the plot-necessary coincidence of right street, right time
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it all feels so rushed. Whereas previous episodes took their time in explaining why or how this was happening
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this episode has a goal that it barrels toward like a runaway train
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While we've had episodes that do follow other characters, generally at least one family member was more firmly invested
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When The Simpsons do show up for the flashback, they're just more vessels to dump exposition into
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Oh, it's one of those stories. Speaking of the exposition, the abbreviated version is
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Armin was a troubled kid forced to enlist in the army who assumes his mentor's identity when they're presumed dead
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Yet somehow, instead of moving the story along to deal with the repercussions of that fraud
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the episode manages to meander about as though a criminal act hasn't taken place in front of their
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eyes for 20 years. In dealing with comedy shows, especially through the 90s, we as an audience grew
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accustomed to suspending our disbelief, to follow along as we enjoy the plot. But the plot here is
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so alien and completely out of left field, we're constantly second-guessing the show's logic
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wondering why nobody in the small town realized this wasn't their hometown hero returned from war
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In the flashback, the real Skinner himself constantly told heartfelt stories about their
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childhood in the idyllic Springfield. Armin found the story so moving that he decided to straighten
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out his life and maybe someday settle down in a town like Springfield. When Skinner is presumed
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missing, Armin volunteers to deliver the news only to slip into the life of Skinner. But again
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we don't see any of the decision making. We are only told very briefly and honestly
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there's nothing interesting in how it's done. Perhaps if Armin had a scheme only to be charmed
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by the small community, or if Armin had done something more malicious to conceal his identity
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But that never happens beyond a kind lie to make a lonely old woman happy And Mrs Skinner tells her own lie It clear she knows this isn her son but letting him in is easier than acknowledging the truth But the Springfield where shown just rebukes Skinner stories at every turn This was the first episode to make the town feel genuinely
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heartless, both to the plight of the recently freed from a sweatshop Skinner and the now aimless
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Armin. Just put an X, then call yourself whatever the hell you want. My name may have changed
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but I'm still the same man I was last week. Not us, you're not. There's just a general level of
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indifference on display that we haven't seen before in Springfield. The town has always been
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filled with eccentrics, characters that act as both oddities and extreme in their belief
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but here they seem apathetic to the plot happening around them. And that apathy seems to apply to
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Skinner and Armin also. Skinner quickly drops any anger directed towards Armin after realizing his
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mother had been taken care of during his imprisonment. While Armin is quick to abandon a life we know he
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loves, this episode single-handedly devastated our idea of Armin's beliefs. While the side
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characters have always been eccentric, they were also consistent in their eccentricities
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Burns is money hungry, Moe is a lovable loser, Sideshow Bob is a murderer, and the principal
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loved his job. But not in this episode. As soon as an obstacle approaches
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Armin leaves Springfield for his hometown of Capital City. When he gets to the city, there's an immediate sense of missed opportunities
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Instead of still working to be a mentor, a skill he supposedly picked up from Skinner
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Armin is wallowing in self-pity. Not only does this episode destroy the idea of Armin as Principal Skinner
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it quickly walks back the idea that Armin turned his life around
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This is Armin's life, and maybe it's not perfect, but at least I'm back where I belong. It's this haphazard approach to character that runs throughout the Principal and the Pauper
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that blatantly tells us none of this matters. Having a principal turn out to be as much of a troublemaker
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as one of the show's most beloved characters was almost a stroke of genius
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There are countless stories to be told around this idea. The fact that Armin could be to Bart what Skinner was to him
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With this new context of who the principal really is, we can understand Armin frustration No longer just uptight he seeing the boy he was knowing the man he could be It has to be heartbreaking knowing there is a chance for Bart that the kid just won take
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But none of this happens. The principle in the pauper was almost like the comic book
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What If or Elseworlds, stories that warp and tweak an origin or ride an abstract idea without the restraints of continuity
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But in the years we had been watching The Simpsons, episodes like this did not exist
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This wasn't a prediction like Lisa's future in Lisa's wedding three seasons earlier
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The principal and the pauper presented itself as true and steadfast. Until the ending minutes when Skinner's mother and the Simpsons decide Armin must return to
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Springfield, the town rallies behind them. They excommunicate the real Skinner by tying him to a chair atop a train car
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cheering as he's pulled away. When Armin asks what they do now, our judge decrees the entire town will act like none
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of this happened, and they do. The show carries on, Armin being Skinner once again
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and we just don't speak about it. Now, there are definitely less funny, heartwarming
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or technically well-written episodes than The Principal and The Pauper. Part of what makes this episode feel like such a betrayal
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is the fact that it sets a precedent the show will eventually follow for years
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With this single episode, the showrunners and creative team told us, we'll just do whatever we want
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partly for shock, partly for experimentation, but mostly because we can't. And they are not wrong
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This show is, in fact, their show. They are the ones who have been trusted and hired to work upon the scripts and development
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but that doesn't mean the stories ring any less hollow. There is no art without a level of indifference
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As an audience, we don't always know what we want. It takes creators making brave choices to guide us along with them
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but those choices need to be confident and assured. The principal in The Pauper literally tells us in its closing minutes
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none of this matters. Well, from now on, you're going to see a new Seymour Skinner
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Oh, no, we won't. Yes, my dear. Not for Skinner, not for Armin, not for the creatives
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working behind the scenes, and definitely not for the audience. That exclamation shouted to us through the mouthpiece
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of a cartoon judge may be what makes the principal in the pauper The Simpsons' worst episode
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