The Simpsons will be officially turning 35 years old later this year, and the newest episode of the animated series revealed how there’s been a secret deal in place to keep Homer Simpson employed with the Nuclear Power Plant even after all these years of shenanigans. The Simpsons kicked off Season 36 of the long running animated sitcom with the promise that the end was nowhere near in sight. This experimental nature continues with the latest episode of the series that reveals a previously unseen part of Abe Simpson’s past. Highlighting his life in the 1980s, there’s actually a big reveal involving Homer and his future too.
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The Simpsons has previously revealed a past connection between Abe Simpson and C. Montgomery Burns in classic episodes like “Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in ‘The Curse of the Flying Hellfish’” but the newest episode reveals another situation where they crossed paths decades later. In order to buy off Abe and have him help keep a secret, Mr. Burns offers a deal in which he’ll always provide a job for Homer at the Nuclear Power Plant and vows to never fire him regardless of what happens. Which means this long running gag finally has an in-universe explanation.
The Simpsons Explains Why Homer Still Has a Job
Homer being a terrible employee has been one of the longest running gags in The Simpsons‘ entire history (almost as old as Homer choking his son), but fans have always just accepted his still being employed at the Power Plant as a result of just returning to the status quo. He’s been fired many times, quit to pursue other careers, and outright goes weeks without actually working at the power plant. Yet despite all of this, Homer has never once completely lost his job as a Safety Inspector for more than a single episode. But outside of a few instances and jokes, it’s usually not brought up as an actual, in-universe thing.
That changed with the Season 36 episode, “Shoddy Heat.” This episode reveals that Homer’s father Abe actually worked as a detective in the 1980s with a partner named Billy O’Donnell (voiced by guest star Topher Grace). When O’Donnell goes missing after investigating Mr. Burns, Abe goes to find out what happened to his partner. Upon meeting with Mr. Burns (with a young Homer in tow), Burns alludes to the fact that O’Donnell has taken a one way trip out of town and even gone to “paradise.” Abe rightfully guesses Burns is hiding something, so Burns offers Abe a deal.
If Abe forgets about his partner and stops looking for him, Burns will give Homer a job when he grows up. He promises to never fire him how often or badly he messes up, and Abe agrees once he realizes that the young Homer is likely going to need the help. Mr. Burns then explains that despite Homer messing up “742 times,” Homer’s never going to be fired. Abe was worried how Homer would feel about such a revelation if he found out, but Homer actually feels empowered. Now that he knows he’ll never actually lose his job, he feels better than ever. He even thanks his dad for keeping that secret all this time).
Does This Retcon The Simpsons?
The Simpsons is no stranger to retconning or readjusting its timeline considering how long it’s been running for and how many episodes have aired, but this isn’t one of them. Homer has never once permanently lost his job, so while he might be fired in passing, at the end of the day he was always okay. Now there’s just an in-universe acknowledgement of the status quo. Mr. Burns even once told Homer, “Don’t forget, you’re here forever,” and it turned out to be one of the truest things Homer’s boss has ever said.
It actually even adds a secret layer to their relationship that shows that while Mr. Burns has outright forgotten Homer’s name, he’s never once forgotten that deal he made with Abe. It was all for the sake of Abe’s partner Billy O’Donnell, who turned out to be completely fine. Mr. Burns was just keeping up his end up the deal to keep Abe from prying further, but he never killed O’Donnell. He just paid him off, and it led to all of this in the first place.
