TV Recap / Review: Patty and Selma Have a Falling Out In "The Simpsons" Season 37, Episode 9 - "Aunt Misbehavin'"

This evening saw the debut of the ninth episode in season 37 of The Simpsons, entitled "Aunt Misbehavin'" (a play on the title of the 1929 song "Ain't Misbehavin'" and the 1978 musical it inspired), and below are my recap and thought on this installment of the long-running animated sitcom.

"Aunt Misbehavin'" begins with twin sisters Patty and Selma Bouvier (both voiced by Julie Kavner, as always) getting ready for work in their Spinster City apartment building. After getting their hair tangled together and separating it, they report to the Springfield Department of Motor Vehicles, where their supervisor informs them that he has won the lottery and is moving on. He flips a coin to see which of the two sisters will be taking over for him, declaring "the one with the circle earrings" (meaning Selma) the winner.

Meanwhile at a dentist appointment, Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith) gets a perfect checkup, while her brother Bart (Nancy Cartwright) pulls a prank where he eats an entire sleeve of Oreo cookie right before he goes to sit in the chair, racking up such a huge bill (Bart: "Can you really put a price on that level of comedy?") that his father Homer (Dan Castellaneta) takes an electric drill to the boy's Xbox.

Back at the DMV, Selma has started power-tripping thanks to her new superiority over her sister, so later at the Simpsons house, Patty takes a break from their usual slideshow and goes to chat with Bart, with whom she shares a mutual hatred of Homer and overbearing siblings. Together they decide to have Homer legally declared dead, using Selma's DMV login. "This will make every aspect of his life a living hell," declares Patty.

But Homer's newfound status as a deceased person only serves to make him much, much happier. He no longer has to pay any of his bills, and his wife Marge (also Kavner) is even gifted a black card by Krusty the Clown (also Castellaneta) for a lifetime of free meals at Krusty Burger-- which Homer promptly "yoinks."

Things are going less well for Patty and Selma, who are increasingly irritating each other. Bart advises Patty to get a new hairdo so she doesn't get mistaken for her sister so often, and Selma starts dating a sleazy new beau named Merle (guest star Stephen Tobolowsky of Groundhog Day fame) who stays over in the twins' shared apartment without Patty's permission or input.

So Patty takes it upon herself to move out and head toward Palm Springfield (the Springfieldian desert oasis equivalent of, you guessed it, Palm Springs) where she gets a new government job rejecting people from renovating their classic homes. But Marge doesn't believe that either of her sisters is happy without the other, and Bart and Lisa back up that their by looking at their social media profiles. So the Simpsons plan a run-in between Patty and Selma at an LPGA tournament in Palm Springfield, but in order to get in they must enlist Merle's help in racking up credit card points-- not to mention the fact that Homer must have himself legally declared alive once more, an action he says he would only take for Marge.

At the tournament, Patty and Selma have it out with Marge acting as mediator, and of course by the end of the confrontation they've made up and decide to move back in together-- only this time in adjoining apartments rather than the same shared space. Still, they get together to watch MacGyver pretty much immediately. And the really important thing, as far as The Simpsons goes, is that this is the second really funny episode in a row that absolutely nails the voices and relationships of the characters we've known and loved for over three and a half decades. Honestly, quality-wise, I think "Aunt Misbehavin'" might actually stack up against some of the installments from the series' prime. Let's hope the powers that be at the show keep the streak going!

New episodes of The Simpsons air Sunday evenings on FOX.