Homer Defined - Plot

Plot

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, employee Homer is eating jelly doughnuts and one of them splatters onto the core temperature dial, which is nearing the red zone. Homer is unable to see the warning and the plant approaches a nuclear meltdown. He seems to be the only person who can stop it, though he has no skills and cannot remember any of his training. In desperation he chooses a button via eeny, meeny, miny, moe, and miraculously presses the button that averts the meltdown. Springfield is saved and Homer is honored as a hero. The owner of the plant, Mr. Burns, names Homer "Employee of the Month". Homer's family is also proud of him, especially his daughter Lisa, who starts to see him as a role model. Meanwhile Homer himself is troubled by the fact that his so-called heroism was nothing but luck.

Burns introduces Homer to Aristotle Amadopoulos, the owner of the nuclear power plant in Shelbyville, Springfield's neighbor town. Aristotle wants Homer to give a pep talk to his plant's lackluster workers. Homer is hesitant to accept, but Burns forces him into it. At the Shelbyville plant, he gives a fumbling motivational speech. Suddenly an impending meltdown threatens also the Shelbyville plant. Amadopoulos and Homer go to the control room, and Amadopoulos asks Homer to avert the meltdown. In front of everyone, Homer repeats his rhyme and presses a button blindly. By luck, he again manages to avert a meltdown. Amadopoulos thanks Homer for saving the plant, but is angered to find out that it was done with just dumb luck, rather than heroic intelligence. Soon the phrase "to pull a Homer", meaning "to succeed despite idiocy," becomes widely used and is entered into the dictionary.

In the subplot, the relationship between Bart and his best friend Milhouse is tested. On the bus ride to school, Bart is upset to discover that Milhouse had held a birthday party the previous Saturday without inviting him. It turns out that Milhouse's mother, Luann Van Houten, thinks Bart is a bad influence on Milhouse. Suddenly deprived of his best friend, a sad Bart resorts to playing with his younger sister Maggie. When Bart's mother Marge finds out about the situation she decides to visit Luann. Although Marge admits to her that Bart is a "bit of a handful," she explains that he and Milhouse are best friends and only have each other. She asks Luann to allow the boys to play together, and Luann changes her mind after seeing the impact her decision has on her son. Later, Milhouse invites Bart over to his house, and Bart thanks Marge for standing up for him.