Every Episode Of The Simpsons Season 2, Ranked (According To IMDb)

After the impressive start to The Simpsons shown in season 1, season 2 had a lot to live up to. Luckily, they were able to surpass everything they’d done so far with flying colors and without looking back. The animation style had improved, the voices had solidified, and the writing was unbeatable.

With the lowest episode rated at an impressive 7.5, it is really hard to go wrong with season 2 of The Simpsons. In fact, it feels rather unfair to rank some of the incredible episodes on this list as ‘low,’ just on principle. We’ve done it anyway.

22 Dancin’ Homer (7.5)

Allowing an episode of the caliber of ‘Dancin’ Homer’ to be at the bottom of the list seems like a crime, but here we are. In this episode, Homer dances his way to a role as the official mascot for the Springfield Isotopes, but in true Simpsons fashion, things don’t go quite right.

21 Principal Charming (7.5)

This was the first episode in Simpsons history to hand over the primary storyline to Principal Skinner, and he puts in a sterling performance. Homer attempts to palm Marge’s sister Selma up with him, but it’s Patty that Skinner is after.

20 Bart’s Dog Gets An F (7.5)

The title might seem like a sequel to a previous Bart-centric episode at the start of the season, but in reality, this is an episode following the family dog, Santa’s Little Helper. To avoid being thrown out onto the streets, the dog has to make it through a rigorous obedience course.

19 Old Money (7.6)

Despite being of an indeterminate, but very old, age, Grandpa Simpson is still able to charm the ladies. He ends up getting himself a girlfriend who tragically dies (we told you that the earlier episodes of the show can be pretty dark) and leaves him a six-figure sum in her will.

18 Bart Vs. Thanksgiving (7.8)

One of Bart’s most shameless actions ever was his accidental incineration of Lisa’s carefully crafted Thanksgiving centerpiece: a cornucopia about important women from across history. After his refusal to apologize, Bart decides to run off, spending the night in a homeless shelter.

17 Bart Gets Hit By A Car (7.8)

The title of this episode pretty much does what it says on the tin. Bart gets hit by a car.

Multi-millionaire Mr. Burns tries to buy Bart out for $100, but instead, Lionel Hutz is brought on board in an attempt to get a lot more.

16 The War Of The Simpsons (7.9)

For some reason, ‘The War Of The Simpsons’ introduces us to Homer’s obsessive love of fishing, which he never seems to possess at any other point. It leads to a decision to either destroy his marriage or catch this fish he, for some reason really, really cares about. What?

15 Blood Feud (7.9)

For some reason, Bart donates blood to Mr. Burns to save his life. This is a man who is openly evil, has set his dogs on Bart, and literally runs him over. On top of that, all the millionaire sends as a thank you is a card.

14 Dead Putting Society (8.0)

In one of their staple feuds (which are often relatively one-sided), Homer forces Bart to enter a mini-gold competition against Ned Flanders’ son Todd.

13 Homer Vs. Lisa And The 8th Commandment (8.0)

Even though she ends up converting to Buddhism, early on in The Simpsons, Lisa likes to stick close to her Christian beliefs and becomes outraged when Homer breaks the ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ commandment.

12 Brush With Greatness (8.0)

This Marge-centric episode also gives Mr. Burns the spotlight. But considering he spends the majority of the episode with no clothes on, you might want to think about repositioning that spotlight.

11 Itchy And Scratchy And Marge (8.1)

Back before being overly politically correct was ‘cool,’ Marge was on hand to complain about cartoon violence. This episode sees her on a rampage against the brutality of Itchy And Scratchy.

10 Two Cars On Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish (8.1)

The three-eyed fish ended up becoming quite an important device in Simpsons lore, despite being, y‘know, a three-eyed fish. This is the episode that first introduces us to the orange fish and sees Mr. Burns try to become Governor.

9 Bart Gets An F (8.2)

Despite being given yet another F grade and schoolboy genius Martin Prince refusing to help, this episode sees Bart let off the hook by a snow day.

If he had gone to school and failed his history test again, he’d have been made to re-sit fourth grade…

8 The Way He Was (8.3)

In one of the first Simpsons episodes dominated by a flashback, we learn the story of how Homer and Marge met. Of course, various discrepancies come into play later on in the show as much of this story ends up not making sense, but it was good at the time.

7 Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (8.3)

For the longest time, we had no idea Homer had a brother. However, we get to meet Herb when Grandpa Simpson ends up in the hospital. Danny DeVito knocks it out of the park in an incredibly guest-star role.

6 Simpson And Delilah (8.3)

One of the most iconic one-time characters in The Simpsons history was the inimitable Karl. Voiced by Harvey Firestein, he seemed too good to be true. He fixed every situation Homer needed him to fix and was gone just like that, with no return.

There are various fan theories dotting about that suggest Karl was nothing more than a figment of Homer’s imagination.

5 Treehouse Of Horror (8.3)

The first in a long, long line of Treehouse Of Horror specials from The Simpsons, this Halloween edition introduced us to the three-story parody format the show likes to engage with so often, with lashings of violence and horror on the side.

4 Three Men And A Comic book (8.3)

Comic Book Guy might be dangerously close to the offensive end of the nerd-stereotype spectrum, but you can’t deny he delivers some priceless one-liners. This episode is full of them as Bart, Milhouse, and Martin attempt to split a comic book three ways.

3 Bart The Daredevil (8.4)

Bart seems to take a lot of external influence from things he sees, and this episode is no different. Seeing a stunt show makes him crave the career for himself.

2 Lisa’s Substitute (8.5)

Landing their most impressive guest star yet, ‘Lisa’s Substitute’ puts Hollywood legend Dustin Hoffman right in the middle of our screen.

His performance is both brilliantly funny and surprisingly moving.

1 One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish (8.8)

Without a doubt, the most iconic episode of season 2 by a long way is ‘One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Bluefish.’ It shows Homer finding a love for sushi, then risking it all for one very risky bite. The risk doesn’t pay off, and he spends the next day ticking off a final bucket list.