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A new season of Futurama premieres today, like 20 minutes ago! Cancelled again? Probably.

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Starting strong with Bart and Lisa picked up for school in a prison bus while the regular school bus broke down, the mood of a miserable school day is set.

There is even somber harmonica playing and dramatic lighting on the ride.

At school the torture continues with the reveal of new "posturific" chairs that are so bad even perennial teacher's pet Martin speaks up against the chairs.

As Ms. Crabapple begins class, Bart looks out the window to freedom and happens to see Freddy Quimby living a carefree life.

This spurs Bart to action as he hand writes a fake parental note to excuse himself from class. Ms. Crabapple accepts it but is immediately suspicious and brings it to Principal Skinner and his crime lab. Skinner determines the note a forgery and begins to track down Bart.

Bart meanwhile is spending his day in various carefree activities.

Skinner at first has trouble finding Bart as he goes to places he would enjoy. It is the source of a viral image.

Eventually however, Skinner gets on Bart's trail and takes a robotic, terminator-like approach to the chase. As Bart put it: "He's like some sort of...non-giving up...school...guy."

Bart ends up fleeing to a mountainside highway with nowhere left to run.

At the last moment, a car drives by, coincidentally Freddy Quimby's from earlier, and Bart jumps in, escaping Skinner's grasp.

Bart rides in the car to a high society part where he mingles in. At the party Freddy Quimby displays himself as a loud oaf and verbal bully. He insults the French waiter serving the party and follows him into the kitchen, where Bart had snuck in to take a bite out of a giant rice krispy square.

Bart hides under a table and witnesses the sounds of a violent altercation that the audience only hears.

The immediate aftermath is revealed with the waiter apparently brutally beaten and Freddy Quimby the only suspect. Bart blurts out at the family breakfast that he knows Freddy is innocent but quickly catches himself.

Immediately a trial is set. Homer receives a jury notice as does Principal Skinner. After an early outburst by Freddy the entire jury is ready to convict almost immediately, but Homer sees an opportunity to get put up for free in a hotel during jury sequestration, and votes innocent as the only holdout. Skinner and Homer end up roomed together.

At home, Bart tries to play it cool but Lisa prods him to testify about what he saw. Bart goes to Marge and obliquely asks for advice about what to do if you know an innocent person is going to be punished. Marge replies ominously:

"Well Bart, your uncle Arthur used to have a saying: 'Shoot 'em all and let God sort it out." Unfortunately one day he put his theory into practice. It took 75 US Marshals to bring him down. Now let's never speak of him again."

Bart eventually does decide to testify in court, knowing it will prove to Skinner that he skipped school. Bart recounts that while Freddy insulted the waiter in the kitchen he almost immediately walked of, leaving to waiter to trip on his own into a line of pans and then continue flailing around the room, getting more and more injured until he was left on the floor.

The waiter protests in court, but immediately clumsily falls out a window.

Outside court, Bart and Skinner have a heart to heart moment where Skinner appaulds Bart for coming forward with the truth knowing it put a noose around his own neck. For such bravery he gives Bart three, no, four months detention.

This episode is smack dab in the middle of the Simpsons golden era and it doesn't disappoint. It is full of classic jokes, great animation, and has a plot that threads seamlessly from the beginning of the episode to the end. The first scene of Bart feeling especially imprisoned by school leading to his breakout prompts Principle Skinner to track him down, and then Skinner being on the jury and roomed with Homer keeps him in the episode all the way to the end rather than sidelining his early pursuit as a mere setup to the real plot. Homer and Lisa both get great moments as supporting characters. Marge has only a light appearance in the episode, but her haunting meandering advice (?) to Bart is a top Simpsons moment for me.

Next week will be: S05E14 'Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy'. Watch it early and share your thoughts.

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