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The Simpsons (animation)/Recap/Who Shot Mr. Burns: Difference between revisions
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"Who Shot Mr. Burns" (production codes 2F16 and 2F20) is a two-part episode, and the only one in
== Part One ==
Principal Skinner walks into school and discovers that the class gerbil has died. As Groundskeeper Willie digs a grave, he unexpectedly strikes oil. Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers lavishly think of ways to spend the school's newfound wealth, taking many student and staff requests, including Lisa's suggestion of hiring Tito Puente as a music teacher.
At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer gets upset when Mr. Burns can never remember his name, even after working for him for ten years. He takes a suggestion from Marge and sends Mr. Burns a box of chocolates with a family picture underneath the candy; however, Mr. Burns and Smithers are not interested in the one candy covering Homer's face and discard the box. As a result, Burns writes a "thank you" card only to Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, further angering Homer.
Meanwhile, Mr. Burns learns of the school's oil and immediately decides that he must have it, even as Smithers voices his disapproval. After failing to convince Principal Skinner to give him the oil, Mr. Burns establishes a slant drilling operation and beats the school to tapping the oil well. The school is told they have no legal recourse, and Willie and Puente are laid off to cover the school's losses.
Mr. Burns' drilling operation causes further harm and distress to many Springfield citizens: Moe's Tavern is closed due to the harmful fumes from the drilling, enraging Moe and Barney; the drilling destroys the Springfield Retirement Castle, leaving Grampa homeless and forcing him to move in with the Simpsons; and Bart's treehouse is destroyed by a burst of oil from the rig, which also injures Santa's Little Helper.
Mr. Burns then reveals to Smithers his grandest scheme: the construction of a giant, movable disc that will permanently block out the sun in Springfield, forcing the residents to continuously use the electricity from his power plant. A horrified Smithers finally stands up to Mr. Burns, insisting that he has gone too far; Mr. Burns fires him in response.
Later, Homer, driven to insanity by Mr. Burns not knowing his name, sneaks into Mr. Burns' office and spray-paints "I am Homer Simpson" on the wall. Mr. Burns catches him in the act, but still seemingly does not recognize Homer. In a rage, Homer attacks him and is hauled away by security. All the citizens affected by Mr. Burns' mad schemes, including Homer and even Smithers, swear revenge.
A town meeting is held to discuss Mr. Burns' actions. Mr. Burns arrives, armed with a gun after his encounter with Homer. Despite the whole town standing up to him, he activates the sun-blocking device, thinking himself invincible. He walks into an alley, obscured from view, and struggles with someone until a gunshot is heard. He stumbles out into the open, wounded, and collapses on the town's sundial. The townspeople find him and Marge tells all of them that since Mr. Burns has angered so many people recently, just about anyone could have been the shooter.
== Part Two ==
As Mr. Burns fights for life at the hospital, the Springfield police are working to find his assailant. Smithers wakes up the next morning and vaguely remembers shooting someone the night before in a drunken rage. Guilt-ridden, Smithers heads for a local church, and is promptly arrested when the confessional turns out to be a police sting. While passing the media on his way to the police station, Smithers makes a witty remark Sideshow Mel recognizes from an episode of Pardon My Zinger that aired at the same time as the shooting. Mel realizes Smithers must have watched it as well, giving him an alibi. As Smithers' memory clears, it turns out he had actually shot Jasper in his wooden leg. Meanwhile, the townspeople pull down the sun-blocker, which crushes Shelbyville to their delight.
With one of the prime suspects cleared, the police, aided by Lisa, eliminate other suspects, including Puente (whose revenge took the form of a "slanderous mambo"), Principal Skinner (who was found by Chalmers to be applying what he thought was camouflage make-up at the time of the shooting), Willie (who cannot fire a gun due to arthritis in his index fingers), and Moe (who is cleared via polygraph test). After a surreal dream about Lisa, Chief Wiggum finds an eyelash on Mr. Burns' suit which matches Simpson DNA. At the same time, Mr. Burns wakes up from his coma, exclaiming "Homer Simpson!" The police raid the Simpson home and find a gun under the seat of their car, covered with Homer's fingerprints and loaded with bullets that match the one fired into Mr. Burns. Homer is arrested for attempted murder, but escapes from the paddywagon when it overturns.
At the hospital, it is revealed "Homer Simpson" is the only thing Mr. Burns can say, suggesting his "accusation" may not have actually been one. Hoping to clear Homer's name, Lisa returns to the scene of the crime to investigate and discovers the identity of Mr. Burns' true assailant. At the same time, Homer arrives at the hospital to confront Mr. Burns. After a police bulletin reports Homer's location, the police, Lisa, and many other citizens of Springfield race to the hospital. Upon entering Mr. Burns' room, everyone finds an enraged Homer vigorously shaking Mr. Burns. This returns Mr. Burns' ability to speak normally, and he quickly asks who the person shaking him is. Apoplectic with fury at Mr. Burns again not remembering who he is, Homer aims Wiggum's gun at Mr. Burns' face, demanding he recant his accusations. Mr. Burns laughs at the idea and confirms Homer did not shoot him. He then reveals the true assailant: Maggie.
After leaving the town meeting, Mr. Burns came across Maggie eating a lollipop in the Simpsons' car. He decided to try stealing candy from a baby, but Maggie would not let go of the lollipop, resulting in a struggle. As he finally yanked it away, his gun slipped from its holster into Maggie's hands and fired at Mr. Burns. The gun and lollipop both fell beneath the car seat; Homer would later unknowingly leave fingerprints on the gun while feeling around under the seat for an ice cream cone he accidentally dropped. Lisa guesses that with his last strength Mr. Burns pointed to the "S" and "W" on the sundial (with the "W" appearing as an "M" from his perspective) to identify his assailant. Mr. Burns corrects her, saying that the positions of his arms were purely coincidental.
Mr. Burns demands for Maggie to be arrested, but he is dismissed by Wiggum, who says no jury would convict a baby for a crime. Marge also adds the shooting must have been an accident, considering Maggie, being an infant, is very unlikely to know how to operate a gun. In the final shot, Maggie is shown with shifty eyes, suggesting that she may have shot Mr. Burns deliberately.
{{tropelist|page=Who Shot Mr. Burns}}
* [[After-Action Villain Analysis]]: Smithers provides some.
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