The Fabulous Faker Boy

"The Fabulous Faker Boy" is the twentieth episode of Season 24.
== Synopsis ==
Bart fakes his way into being a piano-playing virtuoso to impress a Russian girl named Zhenya. Meanwhile, Marge helps Zhenya's father, Slava pass his driver's test, and Homer hides his baldness when the last two hairs on his head fall out.
==Full Story==
Marge is at Bart's school and in a conference with Principal Skinner, where they discuss about Bart's future. Skinner suggests that Bart should take music lessons.
While Homer is shaving his mustache, he finds what he believes to be a cork that is blocking the pipe, causing a lot of water to overflow in the sink. He realizes that, instead of a cork, his hair was blocking the pipe and frantically tries to put it back on his head. It fails and the hair goes back into the basin. He tries to stick them back on, without success. He resorts to wearing various hats and wigs to cover up his now-bald head.
Marge suggests that Bart takes music lessons from Lisa, Sideshow Mel, Comic Book Guy and Professor Frink, but chooses Zhenya, a Russian piano teacher whom Bart quickly develops a crush on. Bart later starts to perform better (with the help of a CD). Zhenya explains the actual reason for teaching piano: her father, Slava, wants to learn how to drive. Bart feels neglected soon after, and at a recital, he explains to Marge that he was faking piano playing the entire time.
Marge is displeased at Bart until she learns that Slava obtained his driver's license by bribing Patty and Selma (although it was a bigger reaction when he tells her that Russian dressing is just thousand island). Slava convinces Marge to forgive Bart, and she does.
Later that night, Homer explains to Marge that he lost his last two hairs. She comforts him, and his hairs grow back.
== Reception ==
Even though fans liked the "Robot Chicken" couch gag, this episode received mixed, but mainly negative reviews from fans and critics.
Robert David Sullivan of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C–, saying that "the relationship between Marge and Bart is actually one that hasn’t been done to death on The Simpsons, but it comes up too half-heartedly and is resolved too quickly in this episode."
Teresa Lopez of TV Fanatic gave the episode two and a half stars out of five, saying that "Not only was the mother-son dynamic shoved into the narrative late in the game, but Marge's disappointment was easily waived away by her Russian driving student saying Bart cheated for love and for his mother. Kind of a simple rationalization, right? The B-plot involving Homer's loss of his last two hairs did lead to some hilarious The Simpsons quotes and an amazing guest appearance by Patrick Stewart (I could see your belly), but it was mostly a distracting vehicle that allowed Homer to try on various hats."
== Citations ==
fr:Un talent caché
pl:The Fabulous Faker Boy
pt:O Pequeno Impostor
Category:Bart episodes
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Marge episodes
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Episodes with stop motion
Category:Romance-themed Episodes
Category:Episodes named after a film or TV Show
Category:Episodes featuring musical guest stars
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Directed by Bob Anderson
Category:Episodes showran by Al Jean
Category:Written by one-time writers
Category:Poorly-received episodes
Category:Episodes with mixed reviews
Category:Episodes with Different Ratings