As mentioned before, The Simpsons is known for its brilliant outlook on many different aspects of life. Whether it is family, gay issues or in this case, politics, The Simpsons always bring their views onto the table while giving fair presentations of both sides of every issue. In this episode, we get to see our every first glimpse of the writers' take on elections and politics in general.
When Bart and Lisa manages to fish a three eyed fish out of a pond that is being dumped radioactive waste from the nuclear plant, the nuclear plant is put up for inspection. Needless to say, the plant fails the inspection to such a degree that Burns attempts to bribe the inspector. After being forced to either shut down the unsafe plant or spend 55 million dollars fixing it, Burns, with words of inspiration from Homer, plans to run for governor. Here, much like the election team in real life, Burns' election team is split into two groups, where one is used to make an evil Burns appear like a saint, while the other to trash his opponent as much as possible.
Burns is an infamous character in Springfield, and to make him popular among voters is truly no small feat. With his brilliant campaign that are "the best money can buy", Burns soars in voters' popularity. It is important to realise that while it seems that the corruption of the election may seem to have only come from the campaign team, the writers' also point their fingers at the voters. While Bailey seem to trust that the voters are not "gullible fools" that Burns believe they are, Burns' campaign videos consisting of false and repetitive empty promises with flashy cover ups ("Super Fish!"). However, such phoniness do manage to sway a lot of voters like Barney and Grampa Simpson, who represent the less intelligent and lower class citizens.
To secure Burn's victory, the campaign team asks him to dine in one of his employees' house on the night before election to reestablish his connection with the common man in the form of Homer Simpson. Throughout the episode, Marge and Lisa represents the righteous and more intelligent citizens, who are alone in their defence of the uncorrupted Mary Bailey. When Burns visits their house and threatens to overtake Bailey to win governor position. Marge pulls out a cooked three eyed fish and indirectly makes Burns devour his promises. When Burns spits out the fish, his campaign also falls with him as he trudges away back to his nuclear plant, not before vowing to make Homer's dreams unfulfilled.
"Two Cars In Every Garage and Three Eyes On Every Fish" not only brings up an important issue regarding to the nature of politics, but also represent them in a way that is much more mature than any other show could possibly imagine to present it. From bribing the safety inspectors to lavishing money on his campaign team, while The Simpsons points out the major problems of corruption regarding to candidates in the form Montgomery Burns, The Simpsons also recognises that the voters are either too greedy for their own good to choose a proper leader (such as Homer Simpson worrying about not getting fired), or just too stupid and buys into false promises( like Barney). It is a unique trait of the Simpsons possesses: the ability to present a view while not pointing out a clear villain, but claiming that all parties are responsible to at least some degree. Such mature and realistic takes on issues are one of the reasons why the Simpsons is one of the greatest shows ever.
Characterization: 5/5
Plot: 3/3
Subjective: 1/2
Overall: 9/10
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