YMMV / The Simpsons S2 E22 "Blood Feud"

• Accidental Aesop: While this isn't directly touched upon by any of the characters and isn't the actual moral of the story, the episode does make a good point about blood donation. Blood donations aren't just needed during events such as highly publicized disasters; people with serious illnesses, (in particular, the elderly and the chronically ill,) may end up needing one at any time, blood shortages can and do happen, and donating blood can mean the difference between life and death for somebody in that situation.
• He Really Can Act: Harry Shearer gives two poignant performances during the episode's tense beginning scenes. As Mr. Burns, Shearer sounds upsettingly breathless and frail, and as Smithers, he convincingly sounds like he's struggling not to cry. Impressive in and of itself, but the way Shearer has both characters play off each other in the same scenes is damn well near seamless.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Mr. Burns in need of a blood donation from Bart since they both have the same blood type in order to keep the former alive. However, in season 5's "Treehouse of Horror IV" segment "Bart Simpson's Dracula," Burns, as a vampire, actually steals another donation from Bart.
  • The episode shows Mr. Burns feeling much better after getting his blood transfusion and being cured of his illness. However, subsequent episodes show that he still needs semi-regular blood transfusions... implying that he relapsed at some point and that his hypohemia/anemia is probably something he'll struggle with for the rest of his life.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Mr. Burns plans to (metaphorically) crush Homer like an ant for his Strongly Worded Letter, despite initially dismissing it as "too easy". A later episode would have Burns attempt to crush an actual ant, only to fail so badly that the ant topples him over.
• Jerkass Woobie: Mr. Burns, at least in first part of the episode. He develops a life-threatening illness, nearly dies, and it doesn't help that he didn't really do anything to warrant his misfortune here. He even spent what he thought were his last hours actually being nice to Smithers. He loses all woobiness when he gets better, though.
• The Woobie: Smithers, when it appears that Mr. Burns is going to die. His voice is shaking and he's visibly holding back tears.

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