Plot
After being caught dumping nuclear waste in the city park by the EPA, Mr. Burns is fined $3 million. A town meeting is immediately held so that the citizens can decide what to spend the money on and Marge suggests that the city use the money to fix up Main Street, which is in poor condition. The town shows enthusiasm for this idea and is about to vote for it when suddenly a sleazy, silver-tongued, fast-talking gentleman named Lyle Lanley suggests that the town construct a city monorail. He leads them in a song, which convinces the town to buy the monorail.
Even though Lanley succeeds in winning over the entire town, including skeptical Lisa, Marge is unhappy with the purchase, believing that the monorail is unsafe. While watching TV, Homer sees an advertisement that suggests he become a monorail conductor, and Homer, claiming it to be a lifelong dream, immediately agrees. After a three-week course described by Lanley as "intensive," Homer is named the monorail conductor. Still feeling uneasy about the monorail, Marge decides to visit Lyle Lanley and discovers a notebook that reveals Lanley’s true intentions of running off with bags of money while everyone else falls victim to a faulty monorail. Marge immediately drives to North Haverbrook, which Lanley mentioned was a previous purchaser of one of his monorails. Once she arrives, Marge discovers that the town is in ruins, and that those still living there deny that they ever had a monorail, despite the fact that the town is covered in advertisements for it. While exploring, she meets Sebastian Cobb, the man who designed Lanley's monorail for North Haverbrook. He has to explain that Lanley cut costs everywhere when building it and that the entire thing is a scam.
At the maiden voyage of the monorail, all of Springfield has come out, and Leonard Nimoy is the guest of honor. Lanley grabs his money and jumps in a taxi, which takes him to the airport. The monorail leaves just before Marge and Cobb arrive. At first things run smoothly, but the controls malfunction, causing the monorail to accelerate dangerously. Meanwhile, Lanley’s flight makes a brief unscheduled stop in North Haverbrook, where Lanley is immediately recognized and brutally beaten down by the locals. Back in Springfield, Cobb tells Homer that in order to stop the train, he needs to find an anchor. Homer grabs the giant "M" from the side of the monorail and uses it as an anchor. Eventually, it latches onto a giant doughnut, stopping the monorail and saving its passengers.
Read more about this topic: Marge Vs. The Monorail
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