Who Killed Frank Grimes? 

This was originally an Extra Seconds review, but found myself bored writing about the nuts and bolts of why Homer's Enemy works. I feel like everyone intuitively understands that. So I switched to this more gimmicky approach. One of my favorite things about this episode is that it allows viewers to approach Grimes' situation from multiple angles, so I thought it would be fun to go over some of them. (Also, maybe I am just nostalgic for doing those "Who REALLY Shot Mr. Burns" videos.) 🤣

I like the idea that everything EXCEPT homer is the cause of his death. The world treating him like garbage his whole life, burns giving him double standard treatment, the other plant workers shared apathy to his concerns with no one trying to help him in some form. Grimes misguided anger at homer instead of these people actually causing the problem. As well as the will of the writers not allowing a status quo change. Homer however, is the only person in the episode who even shows an interest in grimes feeling better on some level (and marge technically). Grimes is being effected by everything else in his life and yet blames the one person who wishes him no ill will. The only innocent in "homer's enemy" is homer. Its perfect irony.

Frank Grimes was a man in a cartoon who didn’t understand cartoon logic.

if Millhouse had been a harder working employee, Frank Grimes wouldn't have died

Technically, burns is responsible because he allowed the extremely high voltage wires to just hang out without any cover An OHSA violation if nothing else

Remember that Mr. Burns originally hired Frank Grimes to be his executive vice president. If only he hadn't seen that dog on TV.

Being a real person in a Simpsons episode is why the electric shock killed him, had it been any other character they wouldn't have died, just comically zapped.

"[He] refused to become a nameless background character, and paid the price for it." Man, what an incredible quote.

I just realized something. If the real Homer grabbed those wires like Grimey did, he likely would've survived and it would've been played as a joke.

wasnt it the baby

When Homer realizes Frank doesn't like him, he backs off, stops trying to spend time with him. But Frank just had to keep pushing.

I think a lot about Bill Oakley saying that Grimes' actual foil is Superintendent Chalmers, a man who understands and accepts that everyone around him is insane but does not question or confront it and is able to live in peace because of this.

Why Homer Simpson did of course, it was his last words “I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer Simpso--"

I really like that you point out that Homer isn't being an asshole here. I actually tear up on rewatches on the observation that basically only Homer asks Grimes if he is ok, he actually does care about the man.

And eventually they found out that Grimes was killed by oh... lets say... Moe

My favourite part of this episode is how crucial the B plot is for the A plot. Normally, Bart is not a son that one would envy Homer for having. However, because Bart happened to be a factory owner at the same time Frank came over for dinner, it makes Homer’s life look perfect. What if the factory plot didn’t happen that week? Would it have humanized Homer and make Frank realize that Homer’s existence isn’t so perfect after all? Would Frank have survived?

Maybe blame the engineer who builds rooms with easy access to deadly high voltage death cables.

I blame whoever owns both bowling alleys.

I'd say it's simply "all of the above". That's the beauty of the episode. The tragic, dark, but very funny beauty. Frank Grimes was just another unlucky but ambitious guy in a horrible world filled with stupid/horrible people who finally snapped after meeting the luckiest/laziest/dumbest individual in said world, and all of it was probably a meta-joke about cartoon logic. So yeah, to reduce the perpetrator to one particular aspect of the simpsons world as a whole is, in my opinion, quite silly in general. It's just that springfield, and the show's world in general, by realistic logic, is hell.

Maybe the high voltage electric wires shouldn't have been out in the open, with no shielding or protective insulation. This is not the reactor or cooling tower. It's a random corridor.

A line from Tommy Boy occurs here; "Son, you strike me as a smug, unhappy little man, and you treat people like they were idiots."

I blame the canine Executive Vice President. Had he not pulled a child out of the path of a moving vehicle and pushed a criminal in front of it, Frank Grimes would have been Executive Vice President and would likely not have had to interact with Homer.

If Frank Grimes stayed alive, he would've been the leader of the mob in the movie telling Lenny and Carl " I told you guys about Homer "

that's right. the REAL killer of frank grimes was....marge simpson. *cue simpsons mysteries intro music*

As someone who has worked in a scientific setting where nobody else cared about health and safety, I do sympathesize with Grimes more now.

Can we talk about how Clancy and Sarah Wiggum, while both present at the plant model building contest, don't seem to be sitting next to each other? I'm wondering what's the story there.

Hands down, this is the best video essay on 'Homer's Enemy' I've seen. Having it be a mystery like this forces you to approach the story from a totally different angle. Super meta, but totally highlights just how much depth is in this episode ❤

Martin is to blame, he was providing too much power to the building.

Burns killed him, in revenge for shooting him in Who Shot Mr. Burns

I think what killed Frank Grimes was ultimately a severe personality clash with Homer. Homer is everything Grimes isn't, and Grimes is everything Homer isn't. Putting them together in a situation for an extended period of time is bound to end in disaster. Grimes felt invalidated his own life, whilst through the entire episode, Homer was validated. He felt like the loser in life and broke down, unable to bear it. As for who's to blame, honestly, I think it's one of those situations where you can't just put the majority of the blame on one person. It's just a bad situation with everything working against Grimes. If anything, I kind of consider Lenny and Carl to kind of be the heroes of the episode, trying to teach Frank to let it roll off him, and he ultimately can't.

This just reminds me of your Who Shot Mr Burns series and how you somehow missed the most obvious candidate: Mr Snrub. For those who don't recall, Mr Snrub is the name of a minor character in the Simpsons who appeared only once, in one scene in Marge Vs The Monorail. We know relatively little about him, just that he comes from 'someplace far away,' that he has a luxurious mustache, but otherwise looks coincidentally very similar to Mr Burns, and that he values the nuclear power plant immensely, to the point where he wanted the town's money to be invested in the plant. But why am I saying that the mild-mannered Snrub is the true shooter in Who Shot Mr Burns? Well, think about it: he's someone who's looks nearly identical to Burns, so when Burns acted so terribly that the whole town wanted to kill him, then Snrub would be in danger too! Snrub could be killed due to a case of mistaken identity. He might have wanted to kill Burns to either eliminate that possibility (as soon as Burns is publicly known to be dead, then no one is hunting him and so no one is shooting at people like Snrub, who happen to look like Burns,) or as revenge for Burns's actions having endangered his life in this way. Or he could be doing this as revenge for how Burns's actions have affected Smingers, who we know sees eye to eye with Snrub and has helped Snrub in the past. Alternatively, he may be disgusted that the nuclear plant that he clearly loved so much, was being run by a tyrant. He fits the sundial clue left by Burns, because his name starts with MS, (we don't know his first name, but if we assume that Mr Snrub is what he's known as, then it fits. And for all we know his first name begins with M. His name could be Mailliw Snrub, or Mada Snrub, or any of the other common boys names starting with M). He's around about the same age as Burns, so he's likely close enough in strength with Burns for a fight between the two of them to be a struggle, rather than just a cakewalk; explaining the sounds of struggle we hear between Burns and his assailant. And as for why Burns chose not to accuse him, and to accuse Maggie Simpson instead..? Possibly because Burns wanted to keep Snrub around, so that he could use Snrub as a patsy for one of his own crimes in the future. As an evil billionaire, Burns has a ton of uses for a doppleganger, Snrub could be a walking get out of jail free card for Burns. Since if Burns was caught doing another crime in the future, with eye-witnesses or on CCTV, he could insist that it was actually Snrub who did it... But he can't make that accusation if Snrub's already in jail.

You COULD view Kent and Burns as two sides of the same coin, societal indifference and short attention span leaving people like Grimes to rot. Even when they do showcase the problem, it’s never a lasting change, just a token effort that at best just brings short term improvement. Kent does one showcase on the troubles of Grimes and then moves on to cute animals. Mr. Burns takes one moment to think about Grimes, but forgets and gets distracts immediately for something else, landing him in yet another dead end working job instead of the VP role that could have pulled him out. Lenny and Carl also fit into this. Really, this would make Homer the tragic good guy of the situation. He’s the one person who’s trying to connect and isn’t just moving on, but he’s the wrong person for the job and it’s the worst possible time

To be fair, if Grimes was someone who was wholly logical and believe in hard work, then he would have left the job. We don’t expect this from Homer because…it’s Homer. He would have moved on to another town rather than stay and make it a problem. So yeah, he kind of orchestrated his own downfall

That "Never Ever" video on this episode is so good

Supposedly, Franky Grimes is what happens when a "normal person" enters the world of The Simpsons, even though Grimes is far from a normal person, since his backstory has him essentially falling out of the frying pan and into the fire, while at the same time working ridiculously hard just to get by (as well as pay off the occasional hooker, as revealed later on). Really, it's his hang-ups about Homer getting undeserved praise and recognition by the equally stupid people around him that ended up being his undoing. He figured Homer is the exception to the rule, a quirk in the system, and once he reveals Homer's incompetence to the world, everything will go back to the way it's "supposed" to be, not realizing that the world of The Simpsons is set up so that people like Homer will benefit more often than not. It kind of sucks for Homer, though, since while he's insensitively oblivious in this episode, he's not a jerk, and is nothing but friendly to Grimes, but the fact that Grimes looks down on Homer's oafish stupidity and expects everyone else to as well is what really sets him off on a downward spiral towards his death. Still, the fact that Homer steals the spotlight from Grimes's own funeral as he's lowered into his grave, like damn, what a dark, cruel joke to end on. That's probably why Homer's Enemy is such a fan favorite, dissecting the character of Frank Grimes is fun and fascinating, and I appreciate that the writers had the audacity to go to such a dark ending.

The way I look at it is that Frank Grimes' downfall was the result of a man whose entire understanding of reality was based off of the Just-World Hypothesis being put into a situation that refuses to conform to those expectations. Ever since the earliest episodes, The Simpsons has always kind of built off the idea that every institution in modern society is run by the apathetic and incompetent. So many episodes leading up to Homer's Enemy have featured Homer in roles where he's thrust into positions of power that he's neither qualified for nor wants by outside forces who have no idea what they're doing. In so many respects the plot of the show is built around this idea that, at the societal level, competence doesn't at all translate to success - No one has any idea of what they're doing and the worst person for the job is often appointed to that job. Then you have Frank Grimes, who's a guy who is constantly being randomly dumped on by the universe through absolutely no fault of the decisions he's made. Random misfortune is just thrust on him at random. But the idea that we live in a world where our fates are ultimately out of our control is for a lot of people a prospect that is too unpleasant and existentially horrifying to handle, which is where the Just World Hypothesis falls into this. In simple terms, The Just World Hypothesis amounts to "People get what they deserve" - If you perform the "Correct" actions and make the "Right" choices in life it will lead to success, and this is definitely the guiding principle of Grimes as a character. He works hard and expects to be rewarded for it...And then he comes to Springfield and is confronted by the random absurdity of the reality he inhabits. He meets Homer, a man who is grossly incompetent at not just his job, but most aspects of life in general and, in spite of all of these failings, Homer is much more successful than Grimes. Worse yet, every attempt Grimes makes to get the system, nay the very world itself, to conform to his worldview and punish Homer for his incompetence fails in spectacular fashion. And so Grimes is confronted with an existential crisis, where he's confronted with the hard truth that reality doesn't conform to the order he's tried to impose on it, that life in fact may just be a bunch of random stuff that happens without any coherent system guiding one's actions. And this knowledge destroys him. It was not Homer, or Lenny and Carl, or Mr. Burns or even Grimes himself who killed Grimes, it was a man's inability to grapple with existentialist philosophy.

I never really thought about Lenny and Carl's role in this episode but it really does make a lot of sense

Hey. I have noticed an easter egg I never heard anyone talk of. When Homer first meets Marge in a flashback episode, the walls in the room turn from grey into pink. Homer is still with Marge and the world around him, his house and his car - are all full of pink and purple colors. That refers to the fact that Marge turns Homers life into a fairy tale. Makes it brighter. Maybe you should make a video about some other easter eggs.

Personally, I blame Milhouse. Because no one likes Milhouse. If Frank wasn't making a satire of the satire though, perhaps he would have survived the electrocution. He wouldn't be the first Simpsons character to have suffered a crazy strong shock and not die after all. Perhaps it's like the underwater fire scene from Spongebob - once you call attention to the lack of logic, logic starts up like a kick to the head.

I'm going with Grimes himself. When Homer actually made an attempt to improve himself and take his job seriously, Grimes shot down his attempt and prioritized his hatred.

I think what inevitably killed Frank Grimes was that he was a grounded, season 1 style character in a season 8 Schwatzwelder episode.

Ever since I started reading about Simpsons opinions online, and how meta they seemed to think everything around Season 8-11 was, I can only interpret Frank Grimes’ breakdown in one way. As he’s screaming, the Simpsons writers are gifting/burdening him with the knowledge of his existence. He realises he’s a cartoon character and can’t handle the world he’s been drawn into. When imitating Homer at his console, he says “D’oh! D’oh! D’oh!” Homer didn’t say that once throughout the whole episode.

I’ve always seen it as a meta-episode. It’s fun to analyze and re-interpret scripts to get more out of them. But at the end of the day, it’s a show created by a fun, self-aware writers room who definitely had a kick out of putting a more “realistic” character in their cartoon.

I think Millhouse's comment questioning if that job for Bart is where he'd end up in life, while thinking he was at least "doing better than dad" at an old dingy factory, says a lot too add as a tie in the theme of the episode.

He let the fact Homer didn't need to put the work in, bother him to the point of insanity. If i remember the actual episode, no one is stopping him from progressing and eventually being able to attain the material wealth he perceived homer to have. Or They put a sane, self aware man in a town of willfully ignorant characters to see how long it'd take him to break, For the fun of it.

Society killed him.

“Even if he’s incompetent he still doesn’t fail” Homer must’ve gotten in through ESG because he’s yellow.

Frank did, he killed himself!

All I know is that Frank has been haunting the series since his passing. His grave in particular. I love seeing all of the Easter eggs referencing one of my favorite one-time characters. He was even in hell on the 750th episode.

Another part that's important is grimes has a "grass is alwahs greener" outlook. He doesnt know Homer's life, Homer got his house because grandpa sold his old home Homer won grammy cause he was in a successful band And homer went to space Because he's an average idiot, that's what NASA wanted. He went to space for being the very thinf grimes Hates, an average idiot.

It's the bumblebee-man's fault.

as far as my take on the culprit I think I land somewhere in the middle of your last two theories. I have no doubt you've heard of it too but I remember hearing through the grapevine that a character like Chalmers can see the riduculous nature of the show and world around him, not in a Deadpool way but just as a general "This is a normal dude in a wacky cartoon" sort of way. But the difference between Grimey and our beloved Super Nintendo is that Chalmers grumbles and just tries his best to deal with it or roll with it otherwise. I don't think that's really a deep seeded concept of the character, but the general idea of such an observation makes enough sense. Grimes is just what is likely to happen if Chalmers starts really challenging the ridiculous nature of Springfield and trying to force it to make sense.

The thing that really gets me about this episode is the final funeral scene. Reverend Lovejoy calling him "Grimey" and everyone laughing at Homer feels like the final insult to Frank's miserable life. Not even at his own funeral does he get respect. Frank Grimes may have caused his own downfall, but the world did nothing to prevent it.

I've always considered Grimey to be the author of his own demise. He saw other people were happy and just couldn't allow for that to be the case. He believed that because he was wronged by society, that everyone else should pay, and suffer the way he has. How dare Homer have a good life. How dare other people not experience misfortune like he has. He's the guy who, upon learning that other people have it better than him, doesn't demand better treatment for himself, but demands worse treatment for everyone else. So when his schemes and plans to make Homer suffer don't work, he can't accept that the world doesn't work the way he wants it to, and goes crazy.

If Grimes had gotten to know Homer better he may have thought differently of Homer & realised that despite Homer's good luck with his current position in life, he also had a rough life growing up with many challenges & despite this through his perseverance & love for Marge he managed to turn his life around & maintain an up beat attitude. Grimes' cynical attitude (due to his life), jealousy, misdirected anger & obsession to tear down Homer got him cooked.

One thing i do like is how Frank never takes his issues he has with Homer out on his family as after his big rant when hes at there house he leaves before telling Marge and the kids " It was very nice to meet you all " Showing that whatever beef he has with Homer hes not going to drag his family members with him

Franks beef was really more with Mr Burns. It’s not Homers fault that the systems and structures at the power plant are flawed and would hire someone like him in the first place (likely to cut costs) That’s a management issue. Grimes was powerless to fight against Burns, so Homer was basically the scapegoat for his frustration. Homer was just the working man (or non working man in this case), the lovable oaf that coasted on his teddy bear charm. And Grimes couldn’t deal with the fact that Homer had it so easy comparatively. When Mr Burns’ life is a lot easier than Homers.

me. Sorry

We all did, RealJims, we all killed Frank Grimes

The dog was the mastermind. They hid that by deleting the closeup with the dog's shifty eyes.

I always hated that he had a son. It would’ve been better if he had a twin brother who was the opposite of Frank and had a good life. Since Frank was abandoned it could be because they favored the other son more and thus had everything handed to him. One day he learns about Frank and decides to look him up and find that he’s dead. He goes to visit his grave and is saddened because he never had a brother so he thought it would be nice to meet him. He goes to moe’s to drink and he runs into Homer. They both talk about things and Franks brother brings him up in the conversation and Homer remembers him. Homer says he was good guy, but a little weird. Franks brother would later find out Frank killed himself because of Homer and now plots his revenge against Homer.

I have a coworker whom I constantly think is Homer Simpson to my Frank Grimes. When I watch Homer's Enemy it is a documentary of my workplace.

"The themes are certainly present." *Frank Grimes holding a present* I see what you did there.

Fantastic job! A really wild funny way to look back at this classic episode! The b-plot is also a huge favorite of mine! This episode will definitely always be one of the all time favorites from this show!

Given the experimential nature of an alternate take on Cape Feare in the latest Treehouse of Horror I would love to see an alternate take of Homer's Enemy where Frank lives and see how he connects with his son Jr.

Been hooked on your videos for a couple weeks now, never seemed to come across them in the past. You do such great explaining and never even show one moving part, all screenshots. Subbed.

Amazing, I got into this channel from that "There'll never be another..." Series you had a section in, it's all gone back to the beginning.

great as always! you always manage to find nooks and crannies i don't think about

OMG I love Grimey! Good ol’ Grimey

Wonderful analysis! I remember feeling confused by this episode because I still thought of Homer as the underdog from the earliest era, and it seemed random for Burns to be rewarding him when usually getting a promotion just caused more problems for homer. So that's where the meta on the status quo comes in. Homer gets a lot of comeuppance, but granted, it's nothing that lasts or really changes his mind.

What a fantastic episode! This delves deep into 4 very compelling theories/arguments in one of the best episodes towards the end of the 'classic' era of The Simpsons. It's great seeing how much effort and balance you give to each theory, I was captivated by each one! Please continue doing these deep dives into specific character fates/situations. Thanks for your work, Jims!

This review was more thorough and enjoyable than I had anticipated

Homer's Enemy says a lot about society

The environment is what dug his grave. When you're coming from a lower position in life, you and only you know what the struggle feels like. How much it hurts to have to work extra hard, while everybody else seemingly has everything laid out right in front of them. You and only you know what it's like to be left all by yourself. How much it hurts seeing everyone around you be constantly cheered on and comforted by other people who genuinely care about them, while the most they have for you are quick words of reassurance, while keeping a somewhat distanced stance between the two of you, as if simply saying to you "yeah yeah you'll be fine don't worry now leave me alone." The worst that can happen to you in this case, is to come into a group with someone, who's clearly not really meant to be getting away with as much as they do, all because they appear very likable and charming to everyone. And you being the only one who sees past it. So naturally, if you're in the scenario like Frank, where you come into a new environment, with new people, you'll be picked on for a while since you're the fresh meat aboard, and you'll also have to put in extra work into finding enough time to fit in with the other guys, while also proving yourself to your higher-ups. And while all this weight is already resting on your shoulders, you see the happy-go-lucky guy, getting away with pretty much anything you'd never be able to. Just because everyone likes him so much for some reason, that you just don't understand. It gnaws at the back of your head, and leaves you restless. Especially when getting scolded from this point on. Whenever you're being talked down to, you ask "but what about that other guy? why didn't you say anything to him when he did X or Y?" To which all you're replied with "oh why do you care what other people do, how about you care about you doing your job right next time instead?" What really got me talking about this is the roaring applause Homer receives in the contest. This drives you MAD. Seeing someone be constantly celebrated, almost lifted up to the skies like a god, for even the simplest, seemingly stupidest thing they do. While nobody really talks about your hard work. Your effort and soul you've put in your own work. You can do nothing but to compare the roaring applause to words like "oh that's cool" or "hey nice thing you made" that you've heard from others, if even that. And so, a bug buries itself into your head. One that is REALLY difficult to get rid of. All you can do now, is keep swimming against the current. Keep on running against the wind. Knowing you may never be as beloved as that happy-go-lucky guy is every single day. You can keep on fighting against your fate, until you either die forgotten, or lose your marbles somewhere along the way. If you've reached the end, thank you for reading. This is something I'm pouring out from my own heart, as I've been in this situation many times myself. If you're in a similar boat, what does help tremendously is to stop chasing after that guy. Just accept the bitter truth of you never being able to get up to their level of success, and instead, build yourself up to your own standards. Essentially, give up trying to win over someone else's crowd, and instead, be your own crowd. And one day, you may be able to persuade other people into joining your crowd, and form a circle around yourself, who will have you as their happy-go-lucky guy. This part isn't really something I know from personal experience, but I'll get there one day, or die trying.

I waited a decade for you to cover Homer's Enemy in a more long form format, and the end result did not disappoint. Thank you!

Your channel has been increasing rapidly in quality. This made me download this episode and watch it again just to consider everything here

I know the ending is supposed to be tragic, but part of me wants the ending to be "Hey Grimey, i'll sell you the factory for 10 bucks." Grimes get's land, a business right, and something to live on. Bart get's 10x his money back. Everyone comes out happy. It also adds to the wackiness of springfield, the man who is unlucky in everything starts succeeding when he moves to Springfield because it's just so backwards. That raises a question too, is Springfield the weird cousin town of Shelbyville instead of the other way around?

With my clues I gathered I'm betting it was Bumblebee Man.

It was Smithers, he lost his chance at becoming executive vice president at the start of the episode

Great video, thanks. I have always seen it as more of a meta-episode than a social commentary, but I do think it makes an interesting point about how we'll always relate more to the incompetent with a heart of gold than his hardworking but ultimately mean-spirited rival.

I think the message of this episode should be ''don't let envy and self-pity ruin your life.'' Frank was a highly accomplished man and he got there entirely on his own merits in a world that apparently hated his guts. He broke through every single terrible thing thrown his way and lived to tell about it. But he just could not let his hatred of Homer go and in the end it cost him everything. We can feel sorry for Frank Grimes, but he was not a good person.

Grime’s worldview was a self-defeating one and that’s what led to his monumental declaration. That rugged individualism demonstrated what ultimately happens when incompetent people are given charge over the life of others, and all this while our resident nuclear scientists (lenny and carl) act as a foil to this demonstrating the reality that competency and principle does not always equal success and privilege.

One of my fav videos of yours. Great work!

As soon as you framed the question I shouted "Lenny!" Love the framing of that take. Also, that Swartwelder interview from a few years ago was such a joy. I couldn't believe 20 years after the commentaries (cameo aside) I was finally getting answers straight from the horse's mouth. Bless that man

“Did capitalis- no. Next.”

imagine a alternate timeline where Frank Grimes accept to chill out and have a better life

It is such a testament to how great “Homer’s Enemy” is as an episode that we are still discussing it almost 30 years later.

A fascinating video as always. Nicely done. 👍🏾

Every time you post is a dopamine hit

Obviously Ralph is to blame for frank grimes death

Always a good day when you're uploading!

Excellent video! I think it comes down the age old argument of structure vs agency. Grimes had free will and made choices, but they were driven by the structures that dominated and shaped his life.

I always felt Frank's own demise comes from his lack of acceptance that other people simply have it easier. Rather than take pride in himself and his own accomplishments (which, he very much should), he let his ego justify his negative worldview

Now we just need a Frank Grimes Jr. episode. 😂

I love the slow fade outs over the usual snappy transitions to add to the solemn context.

My man never changed anything about the way he makes his videos and I love it.

Frank Grimes lost all my sympathy after he blew up at Homer for inviting him to his house. Homer did the right thing, trying to put his best foot forward but Grimes had become so bitter he couldn't see that.

Frank Grimes is honestly the only Simpson character I’ve pitied more than anyone else in Simpsons, at least off the top of my head.

A new take on a long discussed episode. Top work 👍

My favourite episode, in my favourite season, with my favourite showrunners. I love rhis episode for all the reasons you stated, theres so much to can dive into with the episode.