When Bart betrays Lisa, he has to deal with his guilt – literally. Meanwhile, Springfield is surprised when Homer is revealed to be a chess savant.
Full Story[]
The episode opens with Lisa explaining how even though she and Bart had some rough times there was one even that drove a wedge so far between them it almost destroyed their relationship. After seeing a newscast on tv, the Simpsons take a fun vacation at the newly "safe" Springfield beachfront area, which Mayor Quimby stated that the dangerous polluted water is not better in any way, it was only classified that after the safety standards were adjusted. Bart is left saddened by the failure of his "Bad to the Bone" temporary tattoo which comes off in the water and the bullies get it, while Lisa finds a new sun hat (nicknamed "Sunny") which makes her relatively happy and wins her a lot of fans and admirers. However, Bart is not one of them; outraged with Lisa's good fortune and his lost tattoo, he throws her hat out the car window on the ride back while she sleeps and it lands in a junk yard. When Lisa finds out that her hat is missing, she becomes inconsolable and goes to find it. Bart feels more grotesque and gets uncomfortable visits from his "monster of guilt", a slime covered creature (voiced by Patton Oswalt) and reminds him of the misdeed. Bart is no longer able to withstand the guilt and tells Lisa the truth; she promptly states it is "a wound that won't heal" and refuses his desperate attempt to make amends with her.
After a while, Bart goes back to the junkyard and finds that the hat is now in the wreckage of an old car compressed into a cube by a pressing engagement. He uses a combination of Rod Flanders and Todd Flanders' Jesus-like powers and the acidity of Buzz Cola to break through the car and retrieve Sunny. However, when he gives the hat to Lisa, she rejects Sunny (the hat), and says that their relationships is over and that he should just focus on Maggie ("give her raisins, Bart, she likes raisins") and he walks off, defeated. Lisa however is glad that Sunny is back and then has an emotional spirit vision of her own, telling her that he is trying to help her; she begins to sob and forgives Bart as they hug each other. The ending returns to the future-set opening, where Lisa describes her ups and downs of Bart being a sibling, and lets the viewers realize that Mrs. Muntz is dating a gaffer on this TV show.
Meanwhile, Homer is playing chess when Marge wants him to stop leering at women, and to the surprise of everyone, especially himself, turns out to be a grandmaster. This impresses the family especially since he doesn't even know the rules to Chutes and Ladders. Homer then remembers why he stopped playing: he and Abe bonded over chess after his mother Mona left them, but his father refused to continue playing after Homer beat him, and Homer thinks that his restored ability is a sign that he wants to kill his father. Thanks to some great advice from chess champion Magnus Carlsen (who is apparently Carl Carlson's adoptive cousin), Homer and Abe play again and Homer lets Abe (sort of) heal a wound from the past. Homer wants to Skype with Carlsen again, but is told by the grandmaster that he does not want to talk to him anymore.
Trivia[]
The episode's title is a reference to The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
In this episode, Kearney, Dolph, and Nelson are shirtless while riding on their bikes and giving Bart and Lisa smug looks, which is a reference to Peter and Ramone being shirtless on bikes while looking smugly at Lois in the Family Guy episode "Encyclopedia Griffin".
Encyclopedia Griffin (top) and The Cad and the Hat (bottom)
