The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons' “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It,” which aired Oct. 23 on Fox.
The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror specials are one of a kind, but this season brought a brand-new presentation that fans have been waiting for by parodying Stephen King's It. The special, titled "Not It," saw Krusty as the infamous Pennywise as a Marge and Homer-led Losers Club oppose him in the town of Kingfield. It was the first full-episode parody in Treehouse of Horror and was one of the strongest segments the show has ever done. In fact, the episode was able to stand on its own as a very faithful adaptation, but "Not It" also did something the film adaptations were never able to pull off.
The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror Improved Pennywise
This is not to say that "Not It" has better scares than the live-action It films, but the parody understood the source material's messages and adapted them. Krusto was surprisingly effective as Pennywise and combined the best of both adaptations. Keeping the creepy image of the 2017 film and the sense of humor of the original 1990 version, Krusto was a villain that dominated every scene in a good way through his sense of humor and self-aware villainy. He also used the full potential of his clown appearance by utilizing pies and turning internal organs into balloon animals.
While much of the original It novels and adaptations kept much of Pennywise's origins a secret, "Not It" leaned into them. Using unique source material with Krusty, Krusto is a monster who returns every 27 years to kill kids but is also described as terribly unfunny in every single return, no matter the platform. The special also creates a core group of Marge, Homer, Carl, Moe and Comic Book Guy to fight the monster. And while his unfunny nature makes him ironically hilarious, it also leads to his first defeat after the Losers Club laughs at him legitimately, which is something he's never experienced before. Switching from a creature that feeds on fear to a poor comedic entity that feeds on laughter is hilarious enough, but the special takes things further.
Krusto's Demise Is More Satisfying Than Pennywise's
Stephen King's book It is iconic, but many complain about the ending. The 1990s miniseries and the recent adaptation stayed mostly true to the book's finale but ultimately fell flat. However, "Not It" flipped the script by focusing on the lost souls and using Krusto's strength against him. Throughout the episode, he kills a young Barney Gumble, the Kingfiedian bullies and numerous other children as the now-adult Losers Club return to finally end Krusto's reign of terror/humor. But as they return to the town, they find the full extent of the villain's power and his knowledge of their fears.
As the group steps away from their lives to put away their childhood enemy, Krusto subverts the original story by leaning into adulthood fears. In the adaptations, the adults still have the same fears they had as children, which doesn't hold as much weight since the audience already saw the group overcome them. "Not It" ignores this by leaning into adulthood fears, such as bills, doctor's exams and even old tweets, but finds that this is also a part of Krusto's sick sense of humor.
In the climax, instead of transforming into a giant spider, Krusto uses the souls of the children he killed as his own personal studio audience and uses a sitcom-style laugh sign to fuel his powers. Realizing that this is the source of Krusto's power, the Losers Club destroys the sign, freeing the children and reducing him to nothing. Unlike the film adaptations, the uses of the souls he kills are more involved in the plot, and their presence plays a part in the finish. Their laughter fed Krusto, and as his source disappeared, he did as well.
Treehouse of Horror Was a Strong It Parody
Though 22 minutes is a short amount of time to spoof dozens of hours of material from either adaptation, Treehouse of Horror does a good job of staying faithful while critically lampooning the work. "Not It" takes a surface look at It's themes of childhood trauma and fear but does so by making light of the source material's strongest beats. Though it takes away much of the character building that the novel is known for by sticking to the most iconic moments, "Not It" questions the core of what makes the moment scary. Even the famous drain scene is questioned as reaching into a sewer for a paper boat is odd, and Treehouse of Horror makes Barney the hilarious victim of this circumstance.
The main characters also end up with careers that embody their worst fears as a symbol of mastery. For instance, Marge becomes a seltzer executive, Moe becomes a ventriloquist, and Carl becomes an astronaut. This helps the notion of the Losers Club evolving their fears but is also a hilarious callback to their childhood. The live-action adaptations explore the Losers Club still having a trace of their fears, but "Not It" adds some levity by addressing them in an ironic way.
"Not It" isn't a perfect parody of It, but what it excels at is pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the source material. Though it shifts largely away from the Lovecraftian horror aspect and into a ghost/monster story, it tells the story in a clean enough manner to justify the novels and films. "Not It" follows the spirit of the books but is warped by the nature of Springfield into a must-see parody.
To see Krusto terrorize Kingfield, The Simpsons' “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It” aired Oct. 23 on Fox.