Homer's Enemy - Plot

Plot

In a new segment of "Kent's People", Kent Brockman tells the story of Frank Grimes, a 35-year-old man who "had to struggle for everything he ever got" and overcame such disasters as being abandoned by his family and severely injured in a silo explosion to earn a degree in nuclear physics. After seeing the show, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant owner Mr. Burns is so touched that he asks Smithers to hire Grimes as his Executive Vice President. However, the following day, Burns sees a similarly sentimental story concerning a heroic dog (who saved a child from traffic and pushed a wanted criminal into it) and demands that it instead be appointed Executive Vice President. Consequently, Grimes is shuffled into Sector 7G, where he must work alongside Homer, Lenny, and Carl. Grimes takes an instant dislike to Homer, irked by his obnoxious cheerfulness, poor work ethic, and general irresponsibility. Despite his frustration, Grimes prevents Homer from drinking a beaker of sulfuric acid, dramatically slapping it out of Homer's hands into a wall, disintegrating a portion of it. A passing Mr. Burns admonishes Grimes for destroying the wall and spilling his acid, resulting in Grimes being punished with a reduced salary. An angered Grimes marches into Homer's work area and declares that they are now enemies.

Homer attempts to appease Grimes by inviting him to his home for a lobster dinner. Grimes' visit to the Simpson house only fuels his resentment; he is incensed by Homer's ability to live a comfortable life with a wonderful family (not to mention seeing Homer's accomplishments, such as meeting President Gerald Ford, going on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, winning a Grammy, and being an astronaut) despite his laziness and incompetence, while Grimes has little to show for a life of hard work and struggle. Declaring Homer a "fraud", a bitter Grimes storms away in anger. The following day, Homer again attempts to earn Grimes' respect by acting as a model employee, but his efforts fail. When Grimes vents his frustration with Homer to Lenny and Carl, they merely tell him to "give Homer a break", so Grimes sets out to show that Homer has the intelligence of a six-year-old child. To prove his point, he tricks Homer into entering a nuclear power plant design contest intended for children. Homer, unaware that the contest is only open to kids, eagerly takes on the challenge to prove his professionalism; Grimes' glee at seeing Homer leave to start the contest vanishes when Homer smashes his car into Grimes' vehicle while reversing out of the car park.

Meanwhile, Bart becomes bored during a visit to Springfield Town Hall and buys "35 Industry Way" for a dollar during a foreclosure auction. It turns out to be a run-down old factory. He and Milhouse spend their days wrecking the factory until one morning Bart returns to find it has collapsed during the night while Milhouse was on watch duty.

At the awards ceremony, Homer's model wins first prize and Grimes is horrified to see that instead of Homer being humiliated for winning a children's competition, his co-workers applaud and cheer him. This causes Grimes to finally snap, declaring the whole plant insane, and he psychotically runs through the plant, mimicking Homer's bad habits such as peeing on the seat and eating like a slob but nobody minds. Grimes then runs into Homer's office saying he doesn't need to do his work so someone else will do it for him. Then declaring that he does not need safety gloves as he is Homer Simpson, Grimes grabs a high voltage cable and is electrocuted to death. At Grimes' funeral, Homer falls asleep and drowsily tells Marge to 'change the TV channel', causing the attending mourners to laugh as the coffin is lowered into the grave.