Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched The Simpsons’ latest episode, “Shoddy Heat,” so be warned!
As the longest-running scripted series on the Fall TV schedule, The Simpsons has yet to run out of episode ideas, and hopefully never runs out of A+ Treehouse of Horror parodies. Its latest flashback episode, the pulpy quasi-noir “Shoddy Heat,” delivered a relatively rare Abe-centric episode that delved into his past as a private detective partnered with the Topher Grace-voiced Billy O'Donnell. And Abe is apparently the catalyst for one of fans’ biggest questions for more than three decades: how does Homer keep his job?
Despite voluntarily exiting his Springfield Nuclear Power job plant multiple times over the years, and despite occasional firings for absurd negligence, Homer has never permanently lost his role as safety inspector. Certainly, the easiest answer for it is: “it’s a hilarious cartoon, and these characters constantly make moronic choices for our belly-laugh currency.” But now we know the real “real” reason, and while it’s fine and all, the reveal kind of made me sad as a longtime Simpsons fanatic.
How Abe Simpson Is Responsible For Homer Keeping His Job
Without getting bogged down in the episode's backstory, the point at hand can be fairly simply explained. Abe wondered what Mr. Burns' role was in the disappearance of his former P.I. partner, the aforementioned Billy, and Mr. Burns didn't want to talk about it. Instead, to dissuade Abe from investigating the case further, Burns vows to give then-young Homer a job one day, affirming that it'll be a job maintained in aeternum.
Viewers weren't the only ones that have been kept in the dark all this time, as the safety inspector himself wasn't even aware of his dad's past agreement. (It's altogether unclear why Homer thinks he's kept his job, amusingly enough.) Rather than reacting angrily as Abe fears, Homer is rather pleased, saying:
Wait just a minute. All those times I screwed up and should have been fired, but wasn’t, that was thanks to you? No matter how big of an idiot I am, I can never lose my job. I’m like a Supreme Court justice.
Considering no paperwork was signed, and no witnesses were brought in, this hardly seems like a forever deal. But it’s a fun episode all in all, and I guess I can wrap my head around the idea that Billy O’Donnell’s secrecy was so important to Mr. Burns at the time that he made a totally batshit agreement regarding one of the most important positions within any nuclear power plant. However, it kind of represents something that bugs me more and more each time The Simpsons does it.
I Don't Need Or Want The Simpsons To Fully Explain Every Bit Of Its Weird Lore
Don't get me wrong, I do love when The Simpsons humorously reflects on past inconsistencies and anachronisms and proves to fans that it understandably doesn't take its continuity too seriously regarding every single detail and character. As well, I like when random surprises like Barfly Larry's death in Season 35 and whatever new insights they offer.
But what I don't need or desire is The Simpsons' creative team trying to fill in every plot gap and logically explain every Springfield eccentricity before the series wraps its historic run. It's the same narrative issue that plagues a lot of modern prequels, this need to source and justify every familiar detail.
If The Simpsons never gave us an answer for why Homer maintained a steady power plant paycheck despite decades of awful work and rampant unprofessionalism, I wouldn't have suddenly started rethinking my tastes this many years later. Similar to how I don't need explanations for how the family celebrates so many birthdays and holidays without ever aging.
Weirdly enough, "Shoddy Heat" also lands a swell joke referencing what may very well be the most asked question about this series: where is Springfield located? During Chief Wiggum's stakeout with Carl, the latter kicks off the joke with this Shakespeare quote:
- Carl: There's something rotten in the state of Denmark.
- Wiggum: Is that the state we're in? Denmark? Huh.
I will rue the day The Simpsons actually delivers a legitimate answer to that question, and can only hope the concepts of states and locations cease to exist before that happens. Or perhaps something less extreme.
Check out all the past debatable joke punchlines and semi-retcons by streaming The Simpsons with a Disney+ subscription, and check out new episodes airing every Sunday night on Fox at 8:00 p.m. ET.