Homer's Enemy
When done well, I love a good fan theory. Too many are "they were dead all the time" or "isn't the bad guy the real good guy"? But sometimes it is about explaining weird aspects in the media that makes sense in the moment but, when you step back into a larger picture, might look a bit stranger. Despite my second example, fan theories and examinations can reveal heroes to really be villainous or vice versa (there are right and wrong ways to do it, to be sure). Within the context of a show or movie but in reality things would come across differently removed from the structure and formula of storytelling. A lot of loveable characters would be completely awful to experience in real life. There are definitely a lot of great media that deconstruct not only their own genre, but the very show/movie series/book/etc. itself. For example, in The Invisibles, a sci-fi comic by Grant Morrison, we get the messy life story of a rando henchman who was murdered in one panel in the first issue, exploring him and both his awfulness and the fact that at some points in his life he was just a guy before "the hero" of the comic brutally murdered them. And in this episode of the Simpsons, we see that the reality of Homer would be far more intolerable than the fiction.
In this episode, the Plant gets a new employee in a self-made man named Frank Grimes. Grimes is immediately put-off by Homer Simpson's oafish and thoughtless behaviour. But it eventually goes from dislike to hate and horror when he realizes he's in charge of everyone's safety. Homer tries to win over Grimes but his plans to invite him for dinner backfire when Grimes realizes Homer has stumbled his way to the top of the middle class and hates him even moreso. Homer tries to act professional and impress his enemy but Grimes isn't having it. When Grimes realizes his co-workers are more or less blind to the fact that Homer should not be working in a nuclear power plant and see his opportunity to expose him as a fraud when he tricks him into a children's contest at the plant. However, Homer ends up winning the contest and is celebrated, which causes Grimes to have a nervous breakdown. In his panic, Grimes ends up accidentally killing himself. At his funeral, Homer talks in his sleep during the service, causing everyone to laugh at their lovable friend.
Homer's Enemy is an amazing episode of television. It might be the densest and bleakest episode of the series but at the same time challenges the nature of the show without damaging it. It forces us to rethink Homer while still making him likable. It also has a new character who is a one-off who is both largely correct but is also rather unlikable. I don't know where to begin unpacking.
I guess with Grimes. I know a lot of people found this episode too mean-spirited but I don't think it is, certainly not compared to other season. But it is very dark and it starts with Grimes. A complete outsider to the world of the Simpsons, despite being a Springfieldian, Grimes is a sensible person who realizes pretty quickly how wrong it is that Homer is in the position that he's in. It feels very much like both a commentary on the nature of the show but also on the American dream, on how romanticize the people who make their own way in the world against all odds, the kind of American dream shit people eat up, especially right leaning folk (but also definitely people of all political stripes). And Grimes should definitely be commended for his accomplishments and professionalism. But while it makes him a person of integrity and ability, it doesn't actually make him likable. He's bitter and offended by the idea that someone can have an easier life and have it easier, as if the world is a meritocracy, a world created by someone to make the point that its a stupid idea.
Homer, meanwhile, is the flip side of the American dream. He's thoughtless, crude and lazy. And yet despite everything, Homer lived a charmed life, having a nice house, a great if "dysfunctional" family, has befriended multiple celebrities and went to space. Each of the adventures alluded too are crazy enough for one lifetime but putting all of Homer's adventures together as a tapestry reveals Homer is the most interesting person in the world and he barely even notices. And its not just that, Homer's stupidity is actively dangerous, hurting many people. People like him but in their like, they are willing to put aside the fact that HE SHOULD NOT HAVE THIS JOB, a fact more pointed when you compare him to, say, many people with any sort of political power. But Homer is likable and even in this episode where it is specifically pointing out not only Homer's flaws but way those flaws go beyond weird quirks but also something dangerous, for all his good intent (when he bothers to have intent). It's a fantastic balancing act and it helps, as writer John Swartzwelder says, that Homer is a "dog", dumb but sweet and loyal but also a dog should not be in charge of nuclear safety.
So, yeah, this is an episode about the American dream, about what people want it to be vs. what it might be. We like Homer and don't like Grimes but Grimes is not wrong, even if he is bitter and eventually vengeful. But he's also in many ways weak. Yes, its actually responsible to try to get Homer removed from his position. But he does it through a cruel prank and it becomes more about himself than about him caring about the safety of others. Its the principle of the thing above his humanity while Homer is all humanity without any of the restraint that he definitely should have. When Grimes realizes the world isn't going to reward him for being right, he freaks out and gets himself killed. This is the myth of the American worker dying as a result of the triumph of a caricature of the reality that you don't need talent or hard work to succeed. Homer's Enemy might have been a divisive episode when it came out, but I think it currently has a much more positive reputation, one that challenges the structure of the show while expanding what it can be. It is such a shame that the show fell into formula in terms of plotting and jokes when Homer's Enemy show that you can still expand the show into exciting new realms and new ways to look at the characters. And that the end of the day, it doesn't change the fact that
Jokes I missed before:
I think it was taken out for syndication but Homer fishing Grimes' lunch out of the garbage.
Other great jokes:
TOO MANY!
"Hehe, which if true means death for us all."
I always love first moments or shots that perfectly set up the theme.
"During his long recuperation, he taught himself to hear and feel pain again."
A minor in determination is great.
"Smithers, I've just seen the most heroic dog on television. He saves a toddler from a moving car and pushed a criminal in front of it."
I love that Homer doesn't even care if its his name on a pencil, just so long as there's A name on a pencil.
"I didn't even know what a Nuclear Panner Plant was."
Also love that Marge is willing to settle for Nitsy as a personalized plate.
"Ugh, the man eats like a pig."
"No, pigs tend to chew. I'd say he eats more like a duck."
Homer checking his watch the second time.
Homer's grin when Grimes asks if Homer knows how close to killing himself is both hilarious and chilling. Homer as happy horror works.
"He likes you."
"Because from now on, we're enemies."
"OK... do I have to do anything?"
"You're a fraud, a total fraud... It was nice meeting you."
"Yeah, yeah, that's it, he's a nut. Its not about me being lazy, its about him being a crazy nut."
"But this was a contest for children."
"Yeah, and Homer beat their brains out."
"Frank Grimes, or Grimey, as he liked to be called..."
Other notes:
This is an episode SO dense, it also has a completely unrelated b-plot that is hilarious and somehow doesn't take away from the rest of the episode.
Great voice acting from Castellaneta as he's just annoying Grimes in his office.
If I had an office job, I would buy that "Mr. Good Employee" poster.
I love the use of the term "media room" in this series and wish it came into real world vogue. It makes so much more sense now than "TV room".