Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish (S02, E04-017)

Burns loses because of this, not from any of his other atrocities.  Politics.

Plot Summary
In this rather lengthy titled episode, Mr. Burns feels the pressure on him as his plant fails a safety inspection brought on by the discovery of a three-eyed fish Bart caught in a river just outside of the plant.  Faced with the possibility of the shutdown of his plant (or paying millions of dollars in repairs), Homer inadvertently gives Burns the idea to run for Governor so he can decide what is or isn't safe.

As it turns out, nobody likes Mr. Burns.  Yet, with his money he buys the best advisers and political strategists he can, and slowly but surely he starts rising up the charts.  It creates a political divide at the Simpsons' home as well: Marge roots for the incumbent Mary Bailey because her priorities are correct, and also because she isn't Mr. Burns.  Homer roots for Mr. Burns so that Burns doesn't fire him.  Such heated controversy!

Eventually, Burns ties Bailey in the polls, and his advisers determine that a dinner with one of his plant workers (guess who!?) will push him over the top.  Homer convinces Marge to have the dinner, but she has a plan up her sleeve.  At the dinner, she offers Mr. Burns the three-eyed fish Bart caught earlier in the episode.  After previously mentioning how natural and delicious it is in a political ad, Burns is unable to stomach the taste of this one, and spits it out, and his bid for Governor along with it.

Quick Review
Ah, politics.  Its like sports, except without any of the fun.  They have big conventions showcasing their political stars like some big wrestling event, political parties mock one another like two cliques in junior high school.  Then somehow people from these sides get elected and it turns out showboating and making fun of people offer no help in actual lawmaking.  Go figure.

The episode, while fine on its own, is a weaker effort compared to the last two episodes from this season.  The inspection of the run-down plant and Burns' eventual bribe were the best parts of the episode, I believe.  Otherwise, there just wasn't too much to laugh at.

Final Score: 7.3