It fixes the agency problem by letting Bart address what they did to him in his own way. And it addresses his arc by him realizing not to put his self worth into winning the big game and ultimately rejecting it (and laughing at everyone who is still hung up on it)
@therealjims.bsky.social unrelated again but i was watching your lisa vs martin video about 2nd graders interacting with the 4th grade frequently, and you should make a simpsons mysteries on the third grade. We never usually see anything about it. (Same with 5th i guess).. Unless you count BVLVTFG.
The downside is it doesn't give Marge and Lisa the credit for trying to help him. But even in that situation they could realize what he's doing to the crowd and laugh. It's kinda like the Marge's Son Poisoning ending
I know I'm trying to "fix" an episode that happened so long ago but I feel like these thought exercises are fun to think about what endings would be possible given the setup. Just little tiny tweaks that dramatically change things