Burns, Baby Burns (S08, E04-157)

Nothing like a party to end an episode.

Plot Summary
As the Yale alumnus Mr. Burns returns from a Harvard-Yale football game, the train is forced to stop momentarily.  Nearby, the owner of a souvenir shop takes advantage of the opportunity to peddle his wares.  When he sees Burns in a car, he's stunned, as he also has in his possession an old photo of Burns.  As the train starts moving again, the man learns where the train is headed.

As the Simpsons return home from a day at a Cider Mill, they find the man trying to hitchhike and, after some lengthy debating, go back to pick him up and drop him off at Burns' estate.  There, the man, Larry, reveals to Mr. Burns that he's the old man's son.  Burns recalls that in 1939, he attended a 25th year reunion for Yale graduates, where he found himself infatuated with the 21 year old daughter of one of his old peers.  The two get intimate in a hurry, and soon Larry is born, though the scandal that followed forced the woman to give up Larry to an orphanage and shipped her to a convent in the south seas.  Either way, it seems at first Mr. Burns are Larry are glad to of found each other.

Soon, Mr. Burns gives Larry a job at the plant, in the same room as Homer no less, where the two find they have a lot in common.  That night, Mr. Burns takes Larry to a social function, but Larry's uncouth behavior serves only as embarrassment for Burns.  In an attempt to right Larry's social ineptitudes, Burns tries to get Larry admitted to Yale, but Larry did so bad, Burns would have to 'donate' an international airport to get Larry in.  Furious, Burns finally vents on Larry at dinner (which Larry invited Homer to).  Though Larry initially admits his mistakes and is willing to fix them and make himself a better man, he eventually goes with Homer's idea to win Burns' love: a fake kidnapping.

Holing himself, Larry, and most of the living room in the basement, Homer attempts to convince Burns to show a token of love to Larry, but isn't able to.  Marge eventually picks up on the scheme, and forces the two to go back to Burns despite the police on the lookout for the kidnapper.  Sure enough, their trail is quickly picked up, and they find a place to hide in a movie theater showing a rather unpopular movie.  After being rude to the only other person in the theater, he calls the police on them, setting up a standoff.  Eventually, Homer is spotted and the police ready their guns, but Larry steps in to reveal the phony plot.  Burns is about to give him another scolding, but Homer steps in to tell Burns that even though his children can annoy him sometimes, they can still count on his unconditional love.  Despite those words, Burns still can't find it within himself to 'love' Larry, but Larry shakes it off, as he does have a family of his own as well, and starts up an impromptu party for the hell of it.

Quick Review
A good episode throughout, the late Rodney Dangerfield as Larry Burns was an excellent casting choice, and his lines and dialogue were all well done.  The phony kidnapping bit in the later part of the episode was also well done, as were a few parts when the family was at the cider mill.

Final Score: 8.6