4.01: “The Name Game”

Bart manages to stop a pregnant woman from being mugged on the streets and is classified as a hero. He is happy when he discovers that the woman has decided to name the baby after him, but later realises that the news has spread all over Shrubsville and everyone thinks he is the father. Meanwhile, Herb tells Marge he had an important business meeting when the baby boy Joe was being born, and they bond over caring for him.

4.02: “Loot Who’s Talking Now”

Bart and Lisa decide to visit Marge and Herb in Springfield. Bart stops off at the Kwik-E-Mart and the alarms trigger as soon as he walks out. He realises he has been framed, and immediately blames Herb. However, he must come to the terms that it may be his own fault after gathering more evidence. Meanwhile, Lisa enjoys spending time with baby Joe but worries about leaving her other kids just with Milhouse.

4.03: “Just Another Manic Mandy”

Milhouse is exasperated when he discovers his ex-girlfriend Mandy has showed up at the house, desperate for some extra income. Milhouse remembers the reason he dumped her – she was insane, and would resort to anything to get what she wants. He and Lisa decide to team up to get her out of the house, but it is tougher than they thought. Meanwhile, Bart and Lucy are excited when Dennis almost says his first word.

4.04: “Amy Gets Married”

Malcolm receives an invitation to his mother Amy’s wedding, and Milhouse is upset when he realises that he won’t get one himself. He decides to take Malcolm to the wedding ceremony and is infuriated when he is refused access. Milhouse drags Malcolm back home but is soon feeling guilty about it. After talking to Lucy, he is afraid that Amy doesn’t want him there because she still loves him. Milhouse is confused.

4.05: “Camp of a Killer”

Bart and Lucy decide to pack up their things and go to Lucy’s parents mountain retreat for Dennis’ second birthday. There, they discover that the house has been sold and so they must camp out in the forest for a couple of days until they can get a taxi home. Bart realises that he has an insane fear for the great outdoors ever since a traumatic incident when he was fifteen and has trouble coming up with a believable lie.

4.06: “Rhyme and Punishment”

Lisa and Milhouse encourage Becky to enter the annual Shrubsville poetry competition at Shrubsville Elementary. However, she has problem coming up with material and resorts to stealing one of Lisa’s. She wins first prize and Lisa is infuriated, but is happy after hearing what the prize is. She enjoys writing poems for Becky but soon begins to feel jealous that she doesn’t get any credit for them herself.

4.07: “The Old and the Restless”

Lucy’s father comes to visit, and manages to wreak havoc as soon as he arrives. He drives his car recklessly into the neighbor’s house and Bart and Lucy find themselves doing housework for the neighbor to repay their debt. Bart eventually flips out at Lucy’s father and sends him home. Lucy demands that he apologises and tries to win back his respect, but it proves difficult. Meanwhile, James starts his first day at school.

4.08: “The Back Story”

Bart is in the middle of writing an article for the Shrubsville Times when he suddenly falls off his chair, hurting his back. Bart must take a few weeks off of work, and he realises his work enemy, Alex Zane, has replaced him for a while. Bart becomes determined to prove that Alex had something to do with the “incident”. Meanwhile, Milhouse doesn’t know how to help Malcolm when he asks for advice about girls.

4.09: “Little Miss Nose it All”

Lisa trips up on the streets and breaks her nose, making it disfigured. She refuses to leave the house and so Milhouse, along with the help of Malcolm, attempts to get her to re-consider. However, they are shocked when they discover she has taken herself off to Springfield to get plastic surgery on her nose. They must catch up to her in time before she goes through with it, but this proves more difficult than hoped.

4.10: “Lucky Thirteen” (1)

As Malcolm’s thirteenth birthday approaches, Milhouse and Lisa prepare to take him to New York to visit Amy. However, they realise that Amy is more interested in flirting with Milhouse than spending time with her son. Malcolm enjoys hanging out with a girl named Angie but has trouble dealing with the fact that he can only see her for a few days. As the visit draws to a close, he shocks everyone by saying he wants to remain in New York.

4.11: “Lucky Thirteen” (2)

Malcolm’s thirteenth birthday party has started and Milhouse and Lisa feel uncomfortable with him remaining in New York with a careless Amy. They become determined to find a way to tell him he must return to Shrubsville, but Milhouse is the only one who can see that New York might actually be a better place for him to grow up. Meanwhile, Malcolm has plucked up the courage to ask out Angie and she says yes.

4.12: “The Death of Grampa Simpson”

Bart, Lisa and Maggie travel to the Springfield hospital after hearing that Grampa has recently passed away. Bart has trouble dealing with this news and has an insane fear that he will be next in line. Lisa finds her old saxaphone at Marge and Herb’s house and enjoys playing for the hospital residents, and Maggie is excited when she discovers that her offer for the small house outside of Shrubsville has been accepted.

4.13: “Communication Frustration”

Bart and Lucy are staying with Milhouse and Lisa temporarily. Bart has trouble getting along with Lisa all the time, which reminds him of the time he went to the brother/sister communication summer camp with her when he was thirteen years old. Flashbacks ensue, which forms a large rivalry between them for something that happened back then. Meanwhile, Lucy tells Milhouse she feels she can’t forgive Bart for what he did.

4.14: “Sweet Home Springfield”

After realising there are no affordable places in Shrubsville, Bart considers purchasing a place in Springfield. However, after Lucy flatly refuses, he realises what he would be leaving behind – his perfect job, and his friends. He decides he needs some time away from Lucy and asks to stay with Marge for a short time, but first he must get his boss’ permission, which is hard when he realises how intense he can get.

4.15: “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Bart”

Bart has recently moved in with Marge and Herb, who are celebrating their anniversary. Bart is asked to babysit baby Joe while they go to dinner, and he immediatley begins to miss his own son Dennis. He wonders whether he is doing the right thing by spending some time away from Lucy. He decides to become a father figure for Joe but ends up missing Dennis even more. Meanwhile, Lucy can’t househunt without Bart.

4.16: “Grade in America”

Bart is in need of a job whilst he stays in Springfield and he decides on getting one at the university as a journalism tutor. However, he manages to get himself in an investigation for a student, to find out whether essays are being graded fairly in an English class. He later discovers that the entire faculty hate him after finding out what he is doing. Meanwhile, Lucy begins to miss Bart and is shocked when Lisa suggests dating other men.

4.17: “Where There’s Will…”

Bart is asked to tutor a student in journalism for his new job at Springfield University. However, he hears rumors that this student, Will, is the most obnoxious teenager to roam the halls in years. Bart is nervous about tutoring Will but realises he has no choice when his job depends on it. Meanwhile, Milhouse and Lisa visit Malcolm all the way in New York, and they also meet his new girlfriend Angie.

4.18: “Call of the Child”

Bart finds himself attracted to another journalism tutor at Springfield University but feels as if he’d be cheating on Lucy, even though they’re on a break. He decides to ask this Julie girl out but misses Dennis once again when he discovers that she has two young children. Meanwhile, Lucy considers calling Bart over the phone, asking him to come home, but Lisa suggests otherwise and holds her back.

4.19: “The Return of Bobby Falcon”

A now retired Bobby Falcon has invested in a movie, which receives poor reviews. He is almost bankrupt and needs a place to stay. Bart invites him to live at the Simpsons house, much to Marge’s disappointment. Bobby asks Bart to help him get back his money, and Bart suggests he invests in the hit soap opera It Never Ends, which inspires him to audition for a role on the show. However, he realises he can no longer act well.

4.20: “The Long Legs of the Law”

Marge isn’t happy when Bobby Falcon starts dating a young policewoman, and she realises that even Herb finds her attractive. Bart decides to help Bobby and his new girlfriend find a new house, but later discovers how intense this policewoman can get, and is confused when she flirts with him. Meanwhile, Lucy realises that she is able to forgive Bart but is afraid that he is adjusting to life in Springfield after talking to Milhouse.

4.21: “Compromising Love”

Lucy is shocked to discover that someone has moved into her and Bart’s old house. Desperate missing her old home, she attempts to compromise with the new neighbor but ends up regretting doing so when she believes that she could be falling in love with him. Meanwhile, when Bart finds $1000 in one of his students’ bags, he becomes paranoid and decides to form an investigation to find out how he acquired the money.

4.22: “Spark and Ride”

Maggie discovers that Waylon Smithers has recently moved into her neighborhood after getting a job nearby. She decides to become friends with him after hearing about how he coped with Burns’ death, but later gets more than she bargained for when she discovers something no one else told her – she shot Burns when she was one year old. Meanwhile, Bart finally starts to miss Lucy and asks Herb for advice.

4.23: “Malcolm’s Night Out”

Milhouse and Lisa are worried when they discover that Malcolm’s girlfriend Angie is pregnant. They become determined to find out whether it belongs to Malcolm or not. However, this proves false and Malcolm is upset that she had sex with another guy. Milhouse, determined to help him feel better, decides to help him find another girlfriend but it proves difficult when he never had any luck with the ladies himself.

4.24: “Looking for Dennis in All the Wrong Places”

Taking care of the house, going to work and looking after Dennis becomes too much for Lucy and she has a nervous breakdown. Things turn for the worse when she can’t find Dennis anywhere and discovers he has wandered off into the busiest part of Shrubsville. There are more surprises when Bart returns home, ready to get on with his life. Lucy tries to hide the fact that Dennis is missing but things don’t go to plan.

4.25: “Clip Show I”

Bart and Lucy are celebrating the fact that they are back together and have a dinner party with Milhouse and Lisa. They raise a glass to the fact that they have all lived in Shrubsville for four years, and look back at some of the good times, and bad, they’ve had in the past, in the first Older Bart clipshow. Bart then surprises everyone at the end of the party by announcing he is becoming a full-time journalism tutor.