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| Man, he is eating that donut like a pro, goddamn. |
Mr. Burns sees a segment on TV regarding Frank Grimes, a man who has struggled through adversity after adversity yet was still able to work hard and acquire his degree in nuclear physics. Inspired, Burns has Smithers find Grimes to make him his Executive Vice President. The next day, Burns has now found similar inspiration in a heroic dog and has Smithers find it instead for that position, having Grimes be pushed off somewhere in the plant.
As it turns out, he ends up right next to Homer. As Lenny introduces himself, Carl and Homer to Grimes, Homer immediately becomes a great annoyance to "Grimey", as Homer calls him, eating his lunch and messing with his pencils. Frank is astonished that such an incompetent man could be the plant's safety inspector. A turning point occurs when Homer is about to unwittingly drink acid. Frank is able to knock it away, damaging a wall in the process. Mr. Burns catches wind of this, learning that Frank is technically responsible, and punishes him for the damage done. Further upset over these developments, Frank officially declares to Homer that they're enemies.
In the meantime, Bart is able to acquire an abandoned factory for a dollar in an auction. The factory is clearly run down and dilapidated, but he 'hires' Milhouse and the two have fun within the decaying structure. By episode's end, though, the factory does fall apart, its rats running over to Moe's for shelter.
Upset that he has an enemy, Homer gets advice from Moe and decides to bring him over to dinner, though he simply told Frank he had "something important" to tell him rather than send a formal invitation that might've been declined. At the house, Frank notices just how much better off Homer is despite how lazy he has been. A beautiful wife, a wonderful home, a son who owns a factory, lobsters for dinner, and having gone on several wild adventures and encounters. Further agitated from this, Frank plainly calls Homer "what's wrong with America", as well as a fraud before taking his leave.
Homer refuses to go to work the next day because of Frank, but after talking to Marge, decides that he'll act more professional to gain Frank's favor. Frank isn't affected by Homer's half-assed attempts, but finds that nobody will join him in pointing out that Homer is a moron. Noting that he could die happy if he can prove to everyone in the plant that Homer is a dope, Frank notices a flier for a children's nuclear plant design contest. Carefully carving out any reference to children, Frank plants the flier at Homer's station, hoping that he'll enter and embarrass himself in front of the plant by partaking in a children's contest. Homer takes interest in the contest in hopes of impressing Frank, and thus Frank's plan is underway.
However, Frank's plan backfires as not only does Homer win the contest (as Lenny says, he "beat their brains out"), but gains the applause of the crowd. Its the final straw for Grimes, as he has a mental breakdown right then and there. He prances around the plant, promising he can be just as lazy and irresponsible as Homer, to the point where he deludes himself into believing he's Homer. To further show he's now as 'dumb' as Homer, he tries to handle live wires with his bare hands, which electrocute him to death. At Frank's funeral, Homer falls asleep, and his murmurs entertain the crowd just as Grime's casket descends into the ground.
Quick Review
For a time, this episode seemed to be rather controversial. After all, it takes your real life hard-working person, pits him against lazy ol' Homer, and not only does Homer 'win', but the hard worker goes insane and eventually kills himself, and nobody even really cares. I mean, that's pretty dark. Its an episode that's more forgiven by younger viewers, who probably view it with a bit of nostalgia, whereas those who first saw it as adults thought it went just a bit too far, a few even considering it a "jumping the shark" moment for the series.
I'm personally in the former camp, and I'm willing to admit that nostalgic bias has a lot to do with how well I'm scoring this episode. Homer's interaction with Grimes, Lenny and Carl's indifference to Homer's incompetence, Bart's factory subplot, these all add up to become one of Season 8's best episodes, and while the ending was indeed dark, I was not bothered by it at all.
Final Score: 10
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