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| A typical scene during production of a Season 24 episode. |
A near death experience leaves Mr. Burns pondering about the future of his fortunes. With no son (not until Season 8 anyway), and plans to bury Smithers alive with him, Burns has nobody to give his fortune to upon his passing. He decides to have contest to determine an heir, inviting all of Springfield's young boys to try out. At the tryouts, only Nelson gains any favor with Burns, while Bart, reading from a card Homer of all people wrote, provides the worst entry yet, forcing Burns to kick everyone out, literally doing so with Bart using a mechanical boot to do the kicking. Angry, Bart separates from the family afterward and begins throwing rocks at the mansion. Impressed with Bart's mischievous behavior, Burns declares Bart to be his heir.
After finishing up the legal matters at the Simpsons place, Burns portrays himself as lonely and sad, prompting Marge to suggest that Bart spend an evening with Burns. Burns is able to win Bart over by letting the boy do whatever he wants, an attitude he tries to bring home. When Homer gets mad at Bart for giving the end piece of some meatloaf to the dog, Bart runs off to Burns, and upon trying to retrieve him Burns counters by locking the door (or sending out a robotic Richard Simmons that goes haywire, whichever one you prefer).
Attempts to legally regain Bart prove worthless when Lionel Hutz is unable to disprove that Burns is Bart's biological father in court. Homer and Marge hire a guy to kidnap and "deprogram" Bart, but instead brainwashes Hans Moleman. Bart, meanwhile, begins to regret his choice to stay with Burns, until Burns shows him video of the Simpsons having completely gotten over Bart (which is actually just actors portraying Lisa, Marge and Homer somewhat poorly i.e. "B'oh!" and later "D - oh!"). Bart begins to accept that Burns has become his new father.
Later, at the plant, Burns decides it would be a fun time if he and Bart fire some employees. After Burns sends Lenny into a seemingly bottomless pit, he has Bart try to do the same for Homer. However, Bart finds that he can't fire Homer, and "fires" Burns instead, tricking him to fall into that same pit (with Smithers advising Burns to land on Lenny's carcass). Back home, Homer tells Bart about the actors, as they spent time with the actual family for their one part, and also introduces his new brother Hans Moleman.
Quick Review
Burns' Heir is one of Season 5's better episode. There are lot of classic moments, like the Mr. Kurns bit, or the confrontation at the mansion and the actors portraying the Simpsons. It all makes for a very funny episode.
Final Score: 9.4
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