Simpsons Review: "Who Shot Mr. Burns?"

Doesn't seem like it's been 30 years, hasn't it? I remember this like it was yesterday. So the episode starts off... somewhat innocently. The class hamster, named Superdude, sadly passes on. Groundskeeper Willie buries the hamster, while venting about his father's burial, but all of a sudden, Willie inadvertently digs up some gold. Black gold. Texas tea.

So Springfield Elementary strikes oil, and the plans for the school are immense, including (but definitely not limited to) bringing in the legendary Tito Puente as a music teacher. However, not everyone was excited. Charles Montgomery Burns heard about the school's oil strike, and wanted that oil for himself. Though, he had his own problems. Homer Simpson finally got sick of Burns never remembering his name. Unfortunately, any attempts to through to that liver spotted, thick head of his had totally failed. Even worse, sending chocolates to Burns with a picture of the entire Simpson family didn't go well, as the one piece he didn't like just happened to be the one covering Homer's face.

It led to a hilarious moment where Homer reads Burns' letter, which was to everyone in the family but him. It's followed by the kids running out, and loud organ music. Thanks to Flanders, we know what happened:

"That's the loudest profanity I've ever heard!"

So yeah, while that was happening, Burns was working on his plan to take the school's oil--a plan that was met by actual defiance from Waylon Smithers, Jr.:

"Sir, what I'm about to say goes against every sycophantic bone in my body, but I wish you would reconsider," said Smithers. "This isn't a rival company you're going after. This is a school; people won't stand for it."

Burns does it anyway, and the result is damning. The school ends up totally ass out, meanwhile, the construction results in Moe's being closed, and the retirement home is also hampered, forcing Grampa Simpson to move back into the Simpson home. Also, a blast of oil demolished Bart's treehouse, injuring not only Bart, but also Santa's Little Helper. Despite it all, Burns is happy. He got what he wanted.

Or did he?

Burns successfully stole the school's oil but he wanted something more. To Burns, there was still one enemy against him: the sun. Yeah, Burnsie wanted to block out the sun. Smithers tried to talk him out of it, but he ended up fired for it. The climax saw a town meeting about Burns, and how he's plagued everyone. The old man himself appears, reveals he's packing after being attacked by an "unknown assailant" (it was Homer), and then, he did it. He blocks out the sun successfully. With the press of a button, a sun blocker stands tall and covers up the sun, leaving the entire world in darkness. As the town frets about this situation, Burns dances as lampposts light up. However, Burns' happiness is quite short-lived.

BANG!!!

The shot heard 'round the world (well, in Springfield) struck Burns, and after staggering for a good bit, he collapsed on the sundial. So Charles Montgomery Burns was shot, and everyone is a suspect. What an ending to the episode, and to Season #6.

After an entire summer of hype, guesses, and a few special promos, Season Seven kicked off with the long awaited conclusion, and it saw suspicion bounced from character to character. First, it was Smithers, who woke up drunk as a skunk and was in a TV show with Burns, but that was a fever dream. Smithers was suspected, and he was take into custody. A funny quip about Madonna came from Smithers' lips, enraging Krusty, who watched and accused Smithers of stealing his bit. Sideshow Mel reminded Krusty that the clown stole it from an episode of Pardon My Zinger, which Mel suddenly remembered was Smithers' favorite show.

Mel and Krusty went to the station and stated that Smithers couldn't have shot Burns, because he was on his way to watch Pardon My Zinger. It all came back to Smithers, and the earlier memory of Smithers shooting someone became clearer--the victim was Jasper Beardsley. They appeared at Jasper's place, and thankfully, Smithers' shot struck Jasper's wooden leg. Literally no harm. Many people were interviewed: Tito Puente, who performed a song condemning Burns. Principal Skinner, Moe Szyslak, and yes, Groundskeeper Willie, among others. Finally, it was time to look at the DNA evidence. A certain name ended up popping up: Simpson. Oh boy.

That wasn't the only thing that popped up. Burns woke up and shouted Homer's name. So now he remembers it. In fact, it's all he could say. Homer's taken in after the gun's found, but he ends up out of it. Lisa's convinced there's no way Homer could have done it, but Homeboy doesn't help his case when he suddenly appears in Burns' room and violently shakes him. The shaking actually brings Burns back to normal, and he asks Smithers who it is that is thrashing him. Homer grabs a gun and orders Burns to say that he didn't shoot him. Burns calmly says that there was no way Homer could have done it.

"The one who shot me was...":

MAGGIE SIMPSON!

I'm going to be honest, giving the wackiness of the show, I should have seen this coming. I never bothered guessing, I was just patiently waiting for the conclusion for the whole summer, and when that day came, it was everything I wanted and then some. So how did this happen? Well, as Burns as celebrating blocking out the sun (BTW, a group of guys took down that blocker in the beginning of Part 2), he makes a turn and sees Maggie inside the car. Burns asks Maggie what she's happy about. Maggie holds up her lollipop. Burns attempts to take candy from a baby, but Maggie holds on tight. The struggle causes Burns' gun to fall out of the holster, land in Maggie's hands, and go off.

Burns actually wants Maggie, all of two years old (if that), arrested. Wiggum thinks he's nuts. So that's all wrapped up in a neat little package.

"Who Shot Mr. Burns?" was, undoubtedly, the biggest event in the history of The Simpsons. Part 1 ended Season Six, and aired on May 21, 1995. Part 2 began Season Seven, and aired on this day 30 years ago: September 17, 1995. 30 years. Think about how long ago that was. I was finishing fourth grade when Part 1 aired, and starting fifth grade when Part 2 aired. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was coming out. Adam Sandler had just got canned from SNL, but it worked out for him. In sports, the Houston Rockets repeated as NBA Champions, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup, and a team from Quebec City was moving to the Rocky Mountains. Oh, and on the same day that a baby was revealed to have shot Mr. Burns, another baby was born in Texas. That baby: Patrick Lavon Mahomes II.

I remember the whole hype surrounding this whole thing. Part 1 received some promos, and the whole summer was spent building up the conclusion. Right before Part 2 aired, a special episode of America's Most Wanted profiling the events aired on Fox. There were actually betting odds on who pulled the trigger. Maggie was a 100 to one shot. So anyone who bet on the baby made quite a killing. This was quite an arc for the show, I certainly enjoyed watching it on Fox when it aired. The whole thing was a clear homage to "Who Shot J.R.?," the famous arc from Dallas, and Matt Groening played it off wonderfully.

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