"Bart the Murderer" is the fourth episode of Season 3, and the show's 39th episode overall.
Synopsis[]
Bart's bad day at school turns good when he gets a job as a gofer for local mob boss, Fat Tony, but spending time with mafioso may be turning Bart into one of them — especially when news hits that Principal Skinner has gone missing and rumor spreads that Bart had a hand in it.
Full Story[]
The day begins with Bart preparing for the school day, during which he is supposed to go on a field trip, a tour of the Ah Fudge! chocolate factory. But his day quickly turns sour, as Homer steals his cereal prize, Santa's Little Helper eats his homework, and he misses the school bus and walks all the way to school in the pouring rain, of which he arrives late. During recess, he rips his pants and gets a dodgeball to the face, and finally, he realizes he left his field trip permission slip at home. Bart is forced to stay behind, spending the day at the school helping Principal Skinner with menial tasks in his office, such as licking envelopes for the PTA.
On his way home from school, he wipes out skateboarding in front of a local mafia hangout, and meets the Springfield Mafia Don, Fat Tony. After picking a winning horse for him, they tell him to mix drinks for them. Bart uses a chart to figure out how to make a Manhattan, and makes Legs a "supoib" one. The men hire him as their bartender.
Not knowing that his new boss is a mobster, Bart begins to unwittingly help Fat Tony, accepts a gift from him, and even hides a stolen cigarette shipment in his bedroom. As he begins to flaunt his money, Marge becomes concerned and asks Homer to talk to Bart's employers and find out more about them.
Homer is completely oblivious, as he approves Bart's job after the mobsters intentionally lose at poker in order to curry Homer's favor.
Carrying over his new persona into the schoolyard, Bart gets detention for trying to bribe Principal Skinner. As a result, he is late for work (showing an in-universe depiction of the chalkboard gag), where Fat Tony has promised his mafioso guests the "finest Manhattans in all of Springfield." Bart arrives late, and is reprimanded by Fat Tony. When Bart explains that his absence was due to Principal Skinner, Fat Tony decides that he and his associates will go to "meet and greet" this individual.
The very next day, Skinner goes missing. Bart suspects Tony may have something to do with it, and begins to have nightmares about Skinner's death. Bart runs to the mob headquarters, where they deny having killed Skinner. During their chat, Chief Wiggum and his officers enter Tony's hangout, arresting everyone in there for Skinner's murder.
A trial begins, but unfortunately Lionel Hutz acts as Bart's lawyer. On the stand, Bart is upset to find that Fat Tony and his gang name Bart as the Don of their organization, pinning any issues regarding Skinner's disappearance (as well as everything else they did) on him. Just when it seems that Bart is going to be found guilty, Skinner bursts into the courtroom, and tells everyone that he was in fact trapped under a pile of newspapers in his garage the entire time. The case is dismissed (despite Fat Tony's lawyer requesting that Skinner's testimony be stricken from the record), and Bart angrily rejects Fat Tony for using him. The case of Skinner's disappearance becomes a highly inaccurate TV movie, which Bart enjoys, but when Marge reveals it was so inaccurate the producers were not required to pay royalties to the Simpsons, Homer remarks that they should go after the real crooks in Hollywood.
