YMMV / The Simpsons S18E18 "The Boys of Bummer"

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Chief Wiggum really callous enough to condone Bart's suicide attempt, or was he simply too stupid to comprehend what was actually going on with Bart, only wanting to see what would happen? If it's the latter, then his defensive response to the townspeople looking at him could be seen as him misinterpreting this as meaning that he is merely being inappropriate.
• Angst Aversion: While the series was always sadistically funny with the whole town full of jerks, it is difficult to watch this episode, with all the characters excluding the titular family being worse than usual, and thus are absolutely unsympathetic.
• Angst? What Angst?: The darkness of the main story doesn't really touch Homer and Marge's antics in the B-plot, as shortly after Bart's fall from the water tower they sneak into the Lovejoys' house to try and steal back their mattress.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Marge verbally tearing the citizens of Springfield a new one when their bullying goes too far.
  • Abe booing Joe LaBoot, especially considering that LaBoot set off the latter half of the episode by driving Bart to tears.
• Fanon Discontinuity: It's very difficult to find fans willing to defend this episode due to the sadistic treatment of Bart that goes so far that it stops being funny, instead coming off as sad and mean-spirited.
• Funny Moments:
  • Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney singing "Bart Stinks" to the tune of "Love Stinks" by The J. Geils Band.
  • Lisa telling Bart that his rabbit died and Homer buried it... but not quite in that order.
  • Homer and Marge reminiscing about their wedding night, where they made out behind a billboard while a hobo watched them — who turns out to be the same one watching them now.
  • Moe streaking during the baseball game.
  • Homer trying to find a chair to rest on in the clothing store.
  • After Bart's humiliation, Homer reads the sports section of the newspaper with the headline "SHAME!". He turns to the business section with the headline "Boy's Error Weakens Dollar".
  • At the end when Bart finally gets the ball (after a whole night trying to do so) and the sun rises, the Large-Ham Announcer has this to say:
    This glorious sunrise brought to you by God, the invisible giant you turn to when you're about to die.
  • And of course, Grampa Simpson heckling LaBoot right when his grandson touched the ground in his suicide attempt.
    You stink, LaBoot!
• Harsher in Hindsight: If this episode was hard to watch back when it first aired, try watching it now after hearing about the number of reports of people committing suicide because of bullying as a desperate attempt to escape from the abuse.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Despite this episode being criticized for showing Springfield as cruel enough to drive a ten-year-old boy to suicide, the scene of Marge calling the town out for what they've done and arranging a new game to pick up Bart's shattered self-esteem is a bright spot in an otherwise pitch-black episode.
  • Grampa Simpson heckling La Boot for his role in bullying his grandson and driving him to suicide and then for his excuse of an attempt to catch him when he tries to kill himself.
  • LaBoot trying to save Bart's life is also this, especially considering how he reacted to him earlier in the episode.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Due to the episode's reputation, some viewers will only watch the episode just for the subplot involving Homer becoming a mattress tester, skipping over the main plot.
• Never Live It Down: While the citizens of Springfield did apologize to Bart and tried their best to make up for it, fans do not see the same mindset, especially considering it took Bart 78 tries to actually get the ball and get his confidence back. They would never see them in the same light ever again, and some even wish that the titular characters would move out of Springfield for the sake of their safety, given Bart was at risk of being murdered until Marge snapped at the townsfolk.
• Nightmare Fuel: Just the fact that such a seemingly cheerful, quirky town like Springfield would do something so heinous as what they did to Bart alone counts as this, especially to a number of long-time Simpsons fans who saw the episode for the first time.
• Realism-Induced Horror: The intense cruelty that Bart faces in this episode unfortunately happens in real life, especially when social media is thrown into the mix. Even worse, plenty of people have died because of this.
• The Woobie: Bart. Normally, he'd be a Jerkass Woobie, and he is pretty arrogant before his depression, but in this episode, all he did to "deserve" his treatment was missing a fly ball.

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