We're flashing back to the 1980s, when it all began for The Simpsons, and solving a mystery in the process. On October 27th's season 36, episode 4, "Shoddy Heat," a decades-old case is resurrected to the present. In a surprise twist, it's Grampa Simpson leading to the absolution.
Yet, no, The Simpsons episode isn't without its comedic flair, and "Shoddy Heat" has plenty of it. The bulk lies between the Simpson kids and Grampa as they work together to crack the hair-raising case. I like how this became a family affair because, once again, The Simpsons are integrating "kid-safe" storylines into an adult-aimed show.
Before we unveil the episode's review, get a quick read of the synopsis on Fox's take.
"An unearthed corpse opens up a cold case from Springfield in the 1980s… as well as a steamy relationship between young Grampa and Agnes Skinner."
The Simpsons "Shoddy Heat" review
As I was saying, "Shoddy Heat" flashes back to the 1980s, 1982 specifically. Homer was just a kid of 5, and his dad, Abraham "Abe" Simpson or Grampa, was a Private Eye in the form of Columbo, but it's really a spin on the 1981 film Body Heat. Now, a Private Eye, you say? Abe's secret was learned when Chief Wiggum and his partner, Lou, discovered that a second corpse had snuck into a coffin. Naturally, this was an abandoned cold case, left to be forgotten until the inevitable happens. And it did.
Abe backtracks to his past, unfolding that he was a PI and had a partner named Billy O' Donnell. The two were given a case by a young Agnes Skinner, who suspects that her boyfriend, Mr. Burns, was cheating on her. Well, Burns is quickly forgotten and she and Abe have a steamy thing between them. Nothing came out of it though, except Agnes held a vital clue regarding Burns' power plant materials.
And no, Seymour Skinner isn't the illegitimate son of Abe and Agnes, in case you were wondering about that. It'll give the Simpson hierarchy an.extra tier of intelligence though, if Skinner wasn't it to be cursed with the Simpson Gene.
As part of the team, Bart and Lisa assist in the case, with Lisa using her little chemistry set to find out what residue was left on the business card. She discovers its blood and types AB-Neg, which piques her and Bart's excitement. But in order to find out who the blood belongs to, the kids head over to the DMV, where Patty and Selma work. After being "tortured" with photographic slides, they're free to look through the citizens' confidential files. The mystery is coming closer to a conclusion, as the blood belonged to Billy. It leads them to believe that Billy passed on and is the unidentified corpse.
But is Abe's former partner the poor soul in the coffin? Or is it someone else?
Agnes then tells the part of what really happened to Billy after no one believes Burns' explanation. Billy knew that Burns used phonebook pages (Agnes's clue)in place of cement for the power plant's construction, and so the latter paid him off with a huge check, huge enough for Billy to jet off to paradise and live the rest of his days there.
It was then revealed why Homer kept his job, despite screwing up 742 times. In exchange for keeping the phone book material under wraps, Burns promises Homer a job and will never be fired, no matter how bad he is at it. While any father would accept the offer, the plot creates a hole in how Homer went looking for a job when Marge was pregnant with Bart to support his family in "I Married Marge." For long-loving The Simpsons fans such as myself, this "discrepancy" will falter our critical thinking of the narratives. But I'm not one to judge the writers' work as this is the story they want to tell; we're the dedicated listeners and observers.
While the mystery of Billy is solved, what the dude in the coffin? Well, his case was solved too, for he was the husband of the deceased woman who was sharing the coffin. He loved his wife so much that he never wanted to be separated from her, even in death. All i took was a DNA test to find out his identity.
But then, we wouldn't have "Shoddy Heat."
Why I enjoyed "Shoddy Heat"
There a few variables why I enjoyed "Shoddy Heat." One being how there's so many 80's throwbacks like the VHS Cassette store, brick cell phones, and a KMart reference. These were the things of my own 1980s childhood, so it was a nice recall. Speaking of which, there were past episode recalls ecased in "Shoddy Heat", reflecting how far The Simpsons have come in 35 years.
It was another awesome piece to season 36, and if you were growing up or borned during the 1980s, then you'll like this one.