Recap / The Simpsons S34 E5 "Not It"

If the clown doesn’t get you, the anxiety might!

"Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It" is an episode of The Simpsons that first aired on October 23, 2022. Directed by Steven Dean Moore. Written by Cesar Mazariegos. Episode Code Number UABF17. This is the first of two Treehouse of Horror episodes produced for that year, and parodies the movie It (2017).

Young Homer (Dan Castellaneta) and other youngsters in Kingfield, Massachusetts are pursued by an evil, shape shifting, unfunny clown named Krusto (also Dan Castellaneta).

After a run-in with some random thugs, Homer joins the Losers Club, which so far consists of Jeff "Comic Book Guy" Albertson (Hank Azaria), Carl Carlson (Alex Désert), Marge Bouvier (Julie Kavner) and Moe Szyslak (also Hank Azaria).

The club resolve to research Krusto, hunt him down and kill him. At the library, Homer, crushing hard on Marge, writes a love poem and slips it into Marge's backpack. Later, Jeff, who also has a crush on Marge, finds Homer's poem and signs it "Comic Book Guy." So when Marge reads the poem, she thinks Jeff is the author.

The club go to the Channel 14 station to confront Krusty. They don't kill him, but do injure him badly enough that he won't come back for 27 years (no explanation is given for that particular duration).

Twenty-seven years later, Jeff and Marge are married and have two children, Carl is an astronaut, Moe is a famous rock ventriloquist, and Homer, the only one of the club not to move out of Kingfield, runs a pub.

Krusto is back with a vengeance. In the confrontation, Krusto reveals to Marge that Jeff took credit for Homer's love poem. Jeff sacrifices himself, and the other club members kill Krusto.

Kang and Kodos have been observing these events from space, and they are revealed to have been the force behind Krusto. With Krusto dead, they begin to look for a new plan against the earth, all of which happen to be inspired by Stephen King books.

Tropes

• 555: Homer Simpson's number is 555-0158. No area code is given.
• Adaptational Name Change:
  • Moe's is renamed D'oh.
  • Milhouse's mother Luann is named Van Houten in a missing person picture, despite her maiden name being Mussolini in the main canon.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • Comic Book Guy was childhood friends with Moe, Marge, Carl and Homer, eventually marrying Marge.
  • Because Carl became an astronaut and left Kingsfield, it's shown that Lenny's drinking buddy is instead Moleman.
• Alternate Reality Episode: It's an entire episode and story set outside of The Simpsons canon, taking place in Kingfield instead of Springfield where several iconic members of the cast were killed by a Monster Clown, Homer and Marge never got married and the characters all lived different lives.
• Alternate Timeline Ancestry: Marge chose Comic Book Guy instead of Homer, but the relationship still results in Bart and Lisa...sort of.
• Alternate Universe Fic: Essentially places the cast of The Simpsons in the story of It.
• Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: Marge is the CEO of a company, Moe is a successful rockstar and ventriloquist, and Carl is an astronaut in this world.
• Answer Cut: Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with Krusto, Homer now runs D'oh's Tavern, and wonders if the rest of the Losers are doing as badly as him. We then see that Moe is a successful ventriloquist, Carl is an astronaut, and Marge is CEO of a seltzer company and married to Comic Book Guy.
• Barbaric Bully: Seymour Skinner and Dewey Largo's counterparts, and their leader, Super Intense Kid Chalmers.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Krusto's show aired on Channel 14, "a proud Fox affiliate." Homer, Marge, Jeff, Carl and Moe recoil in horror upon learning that.
• Bittersweet Ending: Krusto is dead for good, Homer and Marge end up together, with the latter, Moe, and Carl still have dream jobs. But Comic Book Guy dies in the process. Worst, Kang and Kodos, who are hinted to behind Krusto's actions, go through their library of Stephen King books for their next monster and decide to enact Tommyknockers on Kingsfield.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Parodied. Homer is about to reveal that he wrote the poem that made Marge fall in love with Comic Book Guy. He even mentions that he needs to tell it before he has a reason not to. Of course, the moment is interrupted when he sees Marge's kids.
  Homer: Marge, there's something I have to tell you. Right now. Cause if I wait even one more second. I'm talking one single second. Just one. Something might happen that will make me not-
  Bert and Lizzie: Mom!
  Homer: Oh... Be able to tell you.
• Captive Audience: Krusto eats kids in order to steal their souls, so they can be his audience, and be forced to laugh at his unfunny jokes.
• Composite Character: Many, as the episode completely switches the roles of the original characters around.
  • Homer is here a mix of Ben (the latest inductee to the Loser's Club, who has a crush on the lone female Loser that isn't fulfilled until they're adults, and who writes her a poem), Mike (the lone Loser who remains in town living an humble life, and unites the group to defeat the Monster Clown for good) and Bill (the lead character of the story).
  • Marge is a mixture of Bev (the female member of the Loser's Club) and Bill (the Loser who has to save a loved one that got kidnapped by the Monster Clown when the group reunites).
  • Comic Book Guy is at the same time Ben (the fattest Loser, dressing up in a sweat suit when he is a kid), Bill (the Loser that Marge/Beverly falls in love with despite Homer/Ben's crush), Eddie (the Loser who performs a Heroic Sacrifice during the final battle) and Bev's abusive husband.
• Cut the Juice: Marge unplugs the TV set where Krusto erupted from, making him disappear.
• Death by Adaptation: It's shown that Krusto killed many characters in this version when they were children such as: Barney, Otto, Lovejoy, Mc Callister, Martin, Luann Van Houten, Frank Grimes, Nelson, Smithers, Yellow and Black Weasel, Üter, Mr Burns, Apu, Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney and Cletus. He later kills Comic Book Guy.
• Delinquent Hair: Lizzie, a version of Lisa who acts like Bart, has Lisa's "starfish" hair in a messier style with the points sticking in different directions.
• Dirty Coward: Super Intense Kid Chalmers and his lackeys have no qualms about bullying Homer when he's alone but, once his defenders show up and make it a fair fight, they flee.
• Eat the Bomb: When Krusto discovers that him getting hurt makes the Losers laugh, he starts inflicting slapstick on himself. The losers take advantage of this and give him some lit cherry bombs; Krusto can't resist the obvious gag and puts them in his mouth.
• Expy: Aside from the obvious one of Krusto for Pennywise, Chalmers and Moe represent Henry and Richie respectively.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After the time skip, we're greeted to a shot of a bar resembling Moe's Tavern, only instead of Moe, it's Homer who runs the joint, our only clue of this change being that the sign says "D'oh's" instead of "Moe's".
• Greaterscope Villain: Kang and Kodos are hinted to have something to do with Krusto, going through their library of Stephen King books to devise a new monster to terrorize Kingsfield with.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": At the end, Kang and Kodos amuse themselves by repeating "Tommyknockers".
• In Spite of a Nail: Couple of examples.
  • Mr. Burns was as a child killed by Krusto but Kingfield still has a Chowder Plant taking the place of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
  • Even though Marge married Comic Book Guy instead of Homer, her children look and sound exactly like Bart and Lisa even though they have opposite personalities.
  • While the local bar of the present is owned by Homer instead of Moe, Lenny still is a regular there alongside his best friend...though said friend is Hans Moleman rather than Carl.
  • Though it may be more a Series Continuity Error, Luanne was killed by Krusto 27 years ago, yet Milhouse ends up as one of his modern-day victims. But it still can be explained since Kirk is still alive.
• Irony: The jobs of three members of the Losers club. As a kid, Marge feared to be drowned in seltzer water, Moe has a phobia of ventriloquist dummies and Carl of space monsters. As adults, their jobs are all related to these fears as Marge is CEO of a seltzer company, Carl is an astronaut, and Moe is a rock ventriloquist. Also, it's ironical that Krusto predicts that the losers will indeed stay losers for ever. Minus Homer, everyone has a successful life as an adult.
• It's Personal: Said by Homer, after Krusto kidnaps Marge and Comic Book Guy's kids and destroys their phones.
  Homer: Now, it's personal. Just like it always was.
• The Lad-ette: Marge and Comic Book Guy's "special little gal" Lizzie is a version of Lisa with Bart's exact personality and interests, including pranking teachers, skateboarding indoors and cussing up a blue streak.
• Monster Clown: Krusto, naturally. A child-eating monster who resembles a clown.
• Pie in the Face: Krusto's first onscreen kill in the modern-day second half is caused by a pie thrown at Jimbo with enough force to break through glass and slam Jimbo against a wall across the street.
• Pun-Based Title: It's a play on the common phrase "Not it!" when playing games like Nose Goes, as well as Krusto being Not It.
• Redemption Equals Death: After lying about writing the poem that made Marge fall in love with him for 27 years, Comic Book Guy decides to take the bullet for Marge just as Krusto is about to attack her. In spite of that, Marge still doesn't forgive him for lying to her all these years.
• Repetitive Name: While it isn't brought up, assuming Marge took Comic Book Guy's rarely mentioned last name of Albertson in the marriage, this means Bart's counterpart is named Bert Albertson.
• Role Swap AU: Bert and Lizzie, Marge and Comic Book Guy's children and Bart and Lisa's counterparts, have the personalities of their mainstream counterpart's sibling. Bert is a polite, overachieving nerd who plays jazz, like Lisa. Lizzie is a skateboarding foul-mouthed hooligan, like Bart.
• Schmuck Bait: When the Losers arrive at the abandoned TV studio, there is a box with "Free Candy" written in blood. Naturally, Homer rushes over and opens the box, releasing Krusto.
• Shout-Out:
  • Many to other works of Stephen King.
    • Lizzie mentions that Kingfield has a misspelled pet cemetary, 'Salem's parking lot, and a store that sells items in exchange for your soul. Doctor Sleep Mattress Store can also be seen in the background.
    • Kang and Kodos' possible plans for their next horrors to inflict after Krusto's defeat are all taken from their bookshelf of Stephen King titles. A Saint Bernard with rabies, an angry car, a prom that goes seriously wrong, a haunted hotel, and the plan that they settle on, some Tommyknockers.
  • Also, to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Bert did a school project about her.
  • Carl is leaving a space mission to join the other Losers, leaving the others a manual for destroying an asteroid, which suggests the plot of Armageddon.
• Single-Target Sexuality: As Homer couldn't have Marge when they were kids, he apparently did not try to date someone else until they met again 27 years later. In the Present Day, Homer is single, and even states he stayed a virgin.
• Spit Take: Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with Krusto, Moe has become a rock and roll ventriloquist, and while drinking water, he receives a text from Homer that Krusto has returned, causing his puppet to do the spit take.
• Stealing the Credit: Homer slips a love note on Marge's backpack. Comic Book Guy finds it first and, afraid that Marge will leave him for Homer, puts his name on it to pass it off as his own. When Krusto reappears 27 years later, he reveals this to Marge.
• Take That!:
  • Krusto feeds on forced laughter, just like Jimmy Fallon.
  • He also yells "I blame cancel culture!" as he dies, a obvious jab at the many comedians who claim political correctness for their careers stalling.
  • One of the adult anxieties Krusto brings forth on the grown-up Losers is a relative wearing a MAGA hat preparing to talk about politics at Thanksgiving, which is yet another jab at Donald Trump. Another is a book labeled "Old Problematic Tweets" that spout angry blue birds at the cast, a reference to a practice of digging up old posts on someone's Twitter and shame them for it.
• Taking the Bullet: Comic Book Guy redeems himself by jumping in front of Marge when Krusto attacks her, getting bitten in her place.
• Television Portal: Krusto appears through the television at the library. However, the TV is too small, and he gets stuck halfway through.
• Tomboy: As a kid, Marge plays baseball. She's even called a tomboy. Her daughter Lizzie also displays some tomboyish traits.
• Whole-Plot Reference: To It (2017) and It: Chapter Two.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: Krusto is said to return every 27 years, with the present of 2022 being the latest visitation. However, the previous 3 years of his appearances given in the 27 years ago scene are 1936, 1909 and 1882, which would place that segment in 1963, the present scenes in 1990 and the future scenes in 2017.