The Great Louse Detective (S14, E06-297)

You can tell by that face that Bob just wasn't into killing Bart.

Plot Summary
The Simpsons are invited for a free day at the spa.  There, Homer partakes in a steam room; when he's by himself, an unknown person locks Homer inside in an attempt to kill him, though Homer is able to escape in time.  He goes to the police to report the attempt on his life, and Chief Wiggum decides that in order to catch this killer, Homer needs the help of someone with the mind of a criminal.  For some reason, Wiggum chooses Bart's pal Sideshow Bob for this.

Bob agrees to help find Homer's assailant in exchange for having first pick in an upcoming prison play.  Bob is forced to wear a shock collar so he doesn't try anything silly like escaping or killing Bart.  As Bob begins to investigate by following Homer's movements, Homer crashes his car and chides a mechanic, Junior, just because.  Bob quickly learns that Homer has a lot of enemies.  To further that point, Bob sets up a dummy of Homer outside, which is attacked by said enemies, and thus Bob is no closer to figuring out the killer.  Bob does start finding clues, such as a thumbprint smudge on the spa postcard sent to the family, but as Bob advises Homer to stay out of sight, Homer learns he's been declared "King of Mardi Gras" (likely because the killer stuffed votes for him at the poll), and is forced to be out in the open for a significant period of time.

At the parade, Bob learns that the float Homer is riding was 'tuned up' by a mechanic.  Bob quickly adds up the pieces and realizes that Junior (and somehow not any other mechanic) must be the murderer.  The float Homer is on has had its brake lines cut, and sure enough the float goes down a hill.  Bob acts quickly to save Homer's life, and the two spot the murderer and give chase.  Cornering him in an alley, the murderer reveals himself to be Frank Grimes Jr., the son of Frank Grimes, who died after Homer drove him insane but apparently not before makin' babies with prostitutes.  The police arrive to arrest Junior and to tranquilize Bob, his job now done.

That night, Bart is visited by Bob, who had escaped the police, and attempts to kill Bart quickly (as per Lenny's advice earlier on), but finds that he can not kill Bart, having become accustomed to his face (singing a song stating as such).  Bob takes his leave, but not before getting shocked once or twice or several times more.

Quick Review
As far as Sideshow Bob episodes go, its the weakest entry thus far, slightly worse than Krusty Gets Busted, but as far as Season 14 episodes go its the highlight thus far.  Kinda sad to think about either way.  The episode itself had a good quantity of jokes, with Bob once again leading the humor charge.  Though, the reveal of the murderer was underwhelming, given age discrepancies of the two Grimes and the odd reference to Homer's Enemy, it just felt odd.  Still, I ended up enjoying the episode which, given how the season has gone thus far, is a compliment.

Final Score: 7.8

Homer's Enemy (S08, E23-176)

Man, he is eating that donut like a pro, goddamn.

Plot Summary
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