Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two (S07, E01-129)

"Yeah, that's what they all say.  They all say 'd'oh'."

Plot Summary
Recalling what happened in Part One, there are several suspects for the shooting of Mr. Burns, currently in a coma.  The one with the highest level of suspicion?  Waylon Smithers, who as the episode begins is a complete wreck, his mouth full of cigarettes and watching Comedy Central of all things.  Trying to recall what happened around the time Burns was shot, he recalls pulling out a gun and shooting an unclear victim.  Smithers believes from this that he shot Burns, and soon confesses as much to the police.  However, as Smithers appears on TV after being indicted, he quotes a line from Pardon My Zinger, a program on Comedy Central back in the 90s I guess.  Watching this interview, Sideshow Mel notices the coincedence, and recalls that Smithers wouldn't miss that program, noting it odd that anyone would watch Comedy Central to begin with.  Further noting that Burns was shot after the program began, he quickly surmises that Smithers could not of shot Burns as Smithers had already returned to watch that program.  He quickly goes to the police station to inform them of this and Smithers then recalls that he did try to leave early, but still remembers shooting an old man: one by the name of Jasper, but no report of a second shooting was made.  The police look into this and find that Jasper was indeed shot - but in his wooden leg.  Smithers is relieved that he didn't kill anybody, and the investigation continues.

At the Simpsons place, as the family ponders how everyone in the family (except Marge I guess) could be the shooter, Lisa decides to get involved with the investigation.  Around this time, Grampa reveals that he dug up his gun from the yard, placing an awful lot of suspicion on him at the moment.  Meanwhile, as the police retrieve the bullet Burns was shot with and begin to determine motive, Lisa comes along with four possible suspects with motives: Moe and Barney who both lost Moe's bar, as well as Principal Skinner and Groundskeeper Willie who suffered big when Burns practically stole their oil.  The police also include Tito Puente who would have similar motive to Willie at least, much to Lisa's dismay, and its Tito Puente they first investigate.  After seeing that Puente's "revenge" was an angry mambo, the police clear him.  Skinner reveals that while he was planning on engaging Burns, a failed attempt at camoflauge delayed him and the shot occured while he (and Superintendant Chalmers) were in the bathroom.  Willie reveals that he couldn't of pulled the trigger as his crippling arthritis (from "Space Invaders") prevents him from handling a firearm.  Moe is also off the hook when a lie detector test clears him as well.

With just one lead left, Chief Wiggum falls asleep where a peculiar dream tells him to check the suit Burns got shot in.  Sure enough, in the suit there lays a single eyelash, and a DNA test will allow them to learn the genetic lineage of the eyelash: Simpson.  Just then, Burns wake up from the coma and blurts out "Homer Simpson", prompting the police to act.  They arrive at the Simpsons house and find a gun in Homer's car with his fingerprints on it (not the same gun Grampa has), which matches the bullet found in Burns.  Having everything they need, Wiggum arrests Homer for the attempted murder of Mr. Burns.

A fast food trip gone wrong allows Homer to escape custody, prompting a renewed Smithers to offer a reward for Homer dead or alive, while at the same time Lisa isn't convinced Homer did it, saying Homer's fingerprints could've gotten on the gun some other way (perhaps by accident), and that the eyelash could belong to any of the Simpsons.  Seeking one last desperate clue, Lisa visits the crime scene and looks at the sundial where Burns collapsed.  Seeing how his arms landed, Lisa realizes what happened.  Just then, its learned that Homer is at the hospital Burns is in.  As it turns out, "Homer Simpson" is all the tramatized Burns can say at the moment, and as Homer confronts Burns, he starts shaking him in an attempt to get Burns to stop naming him the murderer.  The attack snaps Burns out of it and he regains his ability to talk just as everyone arrives.  There, Burns reveals that Homer did not shoot him, and points out the real shooter in the crowd: Maggie Simpson!

As Burns explains, after the town meeting, he decides to celebrate, and sees Maggie alone in the car with the dog holding a lollipop (Marge having left to look for everyone else, who were unaccounted for).  Remembering the phrase "as easy as taking candy from a baby" from Part One, he decides to try it out now, but Maggie's grip is super strong (as Burns probably should've remembered).  Just then, the gun Burns had equipped himself with falls out of his holster, and lands on Maggie's lap.  A shot is fired, and Burns is hit.  The gun then falls under the seat.  As nobody outside of maybe Texas would convict a baby, the case is settled and everything seems to of returned to status quo rather quickly.

Quick Review
Despite how ludicrously plausible that ending was, this ended up being a strong conclusion and an excellent start to the new season.  The progress of Wiggum's incompetent yet efficient investigation was full of great laughs, the bit with Smithers worked well enough, and though the ending was a little weak the episode was still very excellent.

Final Score: 9.7

Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One (S06, E25-128)

Who would want to shoot such a cheeful face like that?

Plot Summary
After the holiday break, Principal Skinner finds one of the classroom's pet hamster dead, and requests that Groundskeeper Willie bury him.  Willie decides to bury "Superdude" in the basement, and upon doing so reveals an oil well.  The news travels fast, and Mr. Burns learns about it.  Unwilling to allow anybody else to have their hands on such financial security, he goes to trick Skinner into giving it to him, but when that doesn't pan out he just decides to tap the well himself.

Meanwhile, the school plans ahead and decides to increase its budget in preparation for the oil income, the music program is expanded under Lisa's suggestion to include Tito Puente, and Willie was gonna get himself a new crystal bucket, too.  However, the oil rig fails to produce, and then Burns is successful in building a slanted rig that pumps the oil first.  With no oil, plus costs to build, operate and then destroy the school's oil rig, Skinner is forced to make multiple cuts, including music and maintenance.  When the slanted rig shot off oil, it hit Bart's treehouse directly, destroying it and leaving Santa's Little Helper's hind legs broken.  The fumes from the rig also forces the nearby Moe's to close down, much to the anger of both Moe and Barney, and the oil well causes a sinkhole below the retirement home, forcing its residents to abandon it until it can be fixed.

As this is happening, Homer becomes increasingly frustrated that Burns can never remember his name.  On Marge's suggestion, he sends Burns a box of candy with a photo of him and his family.  Burns and Smithers remember each face they see in the box, but neither are willing to eat the last piece - a sour quince log - which still covers Homer's face.  Burns sends a thank you note to Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, which sends Homer into a fury when he finally realizes his name wasn't included.  He tries to spray paint his name in Burns' office, but when Burns still doesn't know who he is, Homer attacks him in a vain attempt to get him to learn, saying Burns is "dead" when being dragged off by the guards.

Despite having crippled the school and closing down the tavern and the retirement home, Burns still isn't satisfied, as he knows that for most of the day people in town get free energy and light from the sun.  He reveals to Smithers, who wasn't particularly fond of the oil-stealing plan, his next plan which involves blocking out the sun, forcing Springfield to use Burns' electricity 24 hours a day.  Smithers refuses to go along with this fiendish plot, and as a result Burns fires him on the spot.

The town has a meeting to discuss Burns' plot, where many people are stroking guns.  As people tell their sob stories, Burns makes an appearance.  Before Bart can advance on him, Burns reveals he's carrying a gun after an attack from an "unidentified assailant".  Burns enacts his plan, and quickly the sun is blocked off.  The town becoming all the more frustrated, Burns scuttles off happy as a fly now that he has complete control of the town's energy.

As an odd series of occurrences are revealed, including Smithers leaving his coat behind, Skinner leaving his mother behind, a gun that Grampa brought to the Simpsons home that Marge buried only for it to be dug up, and no Simpson other than Marge or Maggie to be found.  Off screen, Burns gets into a struggle with an unknown person, and is soon shot thereafter.  He struggles to the sundial in front of town hall, his arms landing on "W" and "S", and the town gathers around to see the victim.  Marge realizes that this mystery may never be solved, and that everyone in town is a suspect.  The episode ends with Dr. Hibbert saying he couldn't solve this mystery only to wonder if YOU (by which he means Chief Wiggum) can solve it.

Quick Review
This episode is part of what is still the only real two-parter in the series (that whole "Nedna" nonsense a couple of years back never had an actual Part 2, just a mention in the next season's premier).  What's more, its an episode shrouded in mystery.  Clues are everywhere, there are shots to people which makes you suspect them even if just a little, and like 20 people are given motives to go and shoot Mr. Burns.  Its a mystery that was set up as a contest as well, where people could call in at one point in the summer between each part and guess who pulled the trigger, which nobody was able to guess correctly given the absurdity of the correct answer.

Its the shining moment that perhaps defines the quality of these early, "golden" years of the series, that takes everything people have come to know and love about these characters over six years and really makes them really think if any of them had the guts to shoot that fiendish old man.

As a lot of the episode was spent placing clues and setting up suspects, the quantity of jokes were lesser than they had been for many of the episodes for Season 6.  Even so, there's no question this episode along with its conclusion are some of the most well known and beloved episodes of these early season.  I-it just wasn't as funny.

Also, just to note, the list of suspects this episode set up:
Principal Skinner: Burns stole the oil that was under his school, essentially stealing financial security
Groundskeeper Willie: Lost his job because of the oil incident, because the school had to make cuts.
Mr. Largo (that music teacher): Same as Willie
Tito Puente: The oil incident robbed the school of Tito Puente
Homer Simpson: Burns can never remember his name, missing during the shooting
Bart Simpson: The slanted rig crippled his dog and destroyed his treehouse, missing during the shooting
Lisa Simpson: The oil incident robbed the school of music, missing during the shooting
Abraham Simpson: The slanted rig caused a sinkhole over his retirement home, he and his gun are also missing during the shooting
Moe Szyslak: The slanted rig forces his bar to close.
Barney Gumble: The slanted rig forced Moe to close the bar.
Waylon Smithers: Fired after trying to tell Burns that the latter's plan were diabolical, became a drunk.

I think that's most of them.  And then Part Two concludes in such a silly way.

Final Score: 8.7