Have you ever wondered why Mr. Burns doesn’t fire Homer from his job at the Nuclear Power Plant? Probably not. It doesn’t matter Homer is lazy and wildly incompetent to the point of being dangerous. His lack of both professionalism and personal hygiene aren’t important, either. The Simpsons is a cartoon where no one ever ages and very few things actually ever change. There doesn’t need to be a reason for him to keep his job beyond “that’s where he works.” But that didn’t stop the show from providing an answer to a question no one has ever actually asked. Season 36‘s flashback-heavy fourth episode “Shoddy Heat” revealed that, long before Mr. Burns ever hired Homer, his father Abe assured his son would always have a steady job.
The Flying Hellfish aren’t the only major connection Grandpa Simpson has with Mr. Burns. The discovery of a corpse on The Simpsons‘ latest episode (which we first heard about at CBR) led to the revelation Abe Simpson worked as a private detective in the ’80s. He also had a partner, Billy O’Donnell voiced by That ’70s Show‘s Topher Grace.
Following Billy’s disappearance, Abe came to believe Mr. Burns had his partner killed. Rather than turn him in, however, Abe accepted a deal to drop the case entirely. In exchange, Mr. Burns promised Abe he would give Abe’s young son Homer a power plant job when Homer grew up. Even more importantly (in ways Mr. Burns could never imagine) the deal also meant he couldn’t fire Homer. For any reason. Ever.
Dark stuff for a flashback! (Though not as dark as some of the Agnes Skinner parts of this episode.) At least it was until Mr. Burns revealed Billy was still alive and living in a tropical paradise as part of his own deal with mr. Burns to stay quiet.
Did Mr. Burns engage in illegal activity to amass his fortune? Yes, we knew that already. But now we know his riches came at a cost: he’s stuck with Homer Simpson forever. Of course, since we’re talking about a cartoon, that was true even before we knew why.