Ep 1. Treehouse of Horror XV

In the 16th season of one of the longest-running sitcoms in the American history of television, The Simpsons brings back its hallmark horror-themed episode, the Treehouse of Horror, for the fifteenth time in an unforgettable manner.

In the opening skit, 'The Ned Zone,' by Don Payne, Homer, while attempting to steal Flanders' valuable sugar, wrangles himself into a near-death scenario. However, he escapes death, but not before he gains the supernatural power of foresight. While struggling to decipher the visions his power gives him, Homer figures out how to stop the potential disaster from occurring, but there's always a catch.

Next up, in 'Four Beheadings and a Funeral,' by Marc Wilmore, Marge's sister, Selma, seeks to start a family, and she doesn't mind if the sperm comes from someone deceased. She falls in love with an English nobleman who belongs to a family of dark lords who cohabitate with vampires. When the nobleman dies, his family is so inflated with pride that they won't let a loss stop their legacy. Selma must fight her way through the castle's labyrinthic household to bust out with the loving family and then decide whether or not to conceive with an undead member of the ancestry.

Lastly, in 'In The Belly of the Boss,' by David S. Cohen, Homer subsists on a dodgy sandwich that his bosses hastily make him eat. It turns out they carried him to a gigantic wildlife-crushing machine that churns out "Chippos" (the new healthy snack). The only option is for Joe Mantegna to permit Homer to return to the Earth's surface, so Homer embarks on an escapade to find the buttons that will make the machine turn off.

The Treehouse of Horror usually includes segments that spin-off popular horror films or literature, making this particular episode stand out from the regular Simpsons' lineup. A particular theme that resonates throughout the episode is that bad things happen when the Simpsons tamper with the supernatural, which they do frequently with their bumbling through rituals, gargoyles, and clairvoyance.

In 'The Ned Zone,' the episode satirizes the heightened societal fears of terrorism post-9/11 by showing a fiasco at a county fair by the Trailer Park. This episode, as well as the others in the Treehouse of Horror series, will have people chuckling if they're familiar with the terror motion pictures that the sketch is drawing from. In addition, the episode pokes fun at the way people use their phones and technology now. In one scene, Homer uses his foresight to save people from a water balloon, but it's futile. Nobody thanks him for his heroism and instead document his quirk on their smartphones.

'Four Beheadings and a Funeral' melds understated comedy with horror influences, making it a standout of this particular Treehouse of Horror. It's filled with a ludicrously intricate character lineage of British aristocrats and also had a fair amount of vampiric lore to keep it frightful. From the introduction to the episode with Lisa reciting an Edward Gorey poem to Smithers' awesome wardrobe, Wilmore packed in a lot of Easter eggs for viewers that are knowledgeable about classic horror stories.

'In The Belly of the Boss' (a rudimentary survival episode featuring Homer on an adventure to recover his passwords and television remotes) feels the most like the everyday Simpsons' episode, particularly with the ending when the family asks Homer how he regained power and he jests that he remembers nothing. However, the compelling nature of the episode is the villain, which is a botched up machine that creates hazardous snack foods without any human interaction. The episode takes jabs at public food safety and the audience's general awareness of the obesity epidemic in America.

Overall, Season 16's Treehouse of Horror XV, just like its predecessor and later versions of the annual event, is an engaging exhibition of The Simpsons' genre-melding spectacle. It has comedy, horror, and an assortment of popular productions on which it casts itself.