One of Springfield’s long-standing mysteries has been solved. And leave it to The Simpsons to do it in the style of an ‘80s detective mystery. The Oct.
27 th episode titled, “Shoddy Heat,” revealed how Homer Simpson has kept his job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant despite being fired by Mr. Burns many times over the series’ run. As for how he’s kept that employee ID badge despite many mishaps? Well, the mystery is unraveled during the flashback episode that reveals that Homer’s dad, Grandpa Abe was a private investigator alongside a man named Billy O’Donnell.
Homer’s kids Bart and Lisa look into the cold case surrounding Billy’s disappearance and it’s revealed that he and Grandpa Abe were looking into the shady dealings surrounding a job with Mr. Burns and his girlfriend Agnes Skinner. After Billy disappeared, Mr.
Burns told Grandpa Abe that he would make sure that his son (Homer) had a lifelong job at the nuclear plant, if he called off the investigation, “no matter how often and how badly” he messed up. As the show has made clear, he’s stayed true to his word, telling Grandpa Abe in the present day, “And that’s why your son wasn’t fired for screwing up 742 times.” Over the course of The Simpsons three decades long run, Homer has never been a model employee, often sleeping on the job, operating machinery in a way that’s dangerous to him and his coworkers—and simply being Homer.
This Sunday a new @TheSimpsons will solve a mystery.