23 Homer's Enemy

In a new segment of "Kent's People", Kent Brockman tells the heartwarming story of Frank Grimes, a man who had to struggle for everything he ever got, including a correspondence degree in nuclear physics. After seeing the show, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant owner Mr. Burns is so happy that he asks Smithers to hire Grimes as his Executive Vice President. However, the following day, Burns sees a sentimental story concerning a heroic dog 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. Settling into his new job, Grimes is amazed and aghast at Homer's bad manners and general irresponsibility. When Grimes prevents Homer from drinking a beaker of sulfuric acid, dramatically slapping it out of Homer's hands into a wall, a passing Mr. Burns admonishes Grimes for destroying the wall and spilling his acid. Grimes is demoted and later angrily declares to Homer that the two of them 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 such a comfortable life despite his slothful and ignorant ways. Declaring Homer a "fraud", a bitter Grimes storms away in anger. The following day, Homer, after getting advice from Marge, makes further attempts to earn Grimes' respect by acting as a model employee, but his efforts fail. Grimes rants about Homer to Lenny and Carl, both of whom insist that Homer is an essentially decent person. To prove Homer's lack of intelligence, he tricks Homer into entering a nuclear power plant design contest intended for children, by carefully cutting away all references to them in a promotional poster which he leaves at Homer's control panel. Homer, unaware that the contest is only open to kids, eagerly takes on the challenge to prove his professionalism. At the contest, Grimes is shocked when Homer's model, which is almost exactly the same as the current power plant with only a few modifications, easily wins against Ralph Wiggum's Malibu Stacy dream house, and Martin Prince's futuristic model that supplies power to the room. The audience's applause and cheers for Homer cause Grimes to finally snap and he runs amok through the plant, mimicking Homer's habits. Entering Homer's office, Grimes sees a machine labeled "Extremely High Voltage", sarcastically declares that he does not need safety gloves, grabs the high voltage wires and is electrocuted. At Grimes' funeral, Homer falls asleep and in a drowsy state tells Marge to change the TV channel, causing all the attending mourners to laugh as Grimes' casket is lowered into the ground.

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, which he and Milhouse spend the day wrecking it until the next morning Bart returns to find it has collapsed during the night while Milhouse was on watch duty, leaving the rats to swarm Moe's Tavern.