Who Shot Mr. Burns?

Template:Infobox The Simpsons season six "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" is the name of a two part episode of The Simpsons (originally aired May 21, 1995) which featured a cliff-hanger ending that prompted many months of public speculation.

This episode is the only one of the series to have a cliff-hanger ending. It is also the only episode to have aired in two parts. The second part of the episode aired as the season premiere of season seven, on September 17, 1995.

In the months following the airing of part one, there was much widespread debate among fans of the series as to who actually shot Mr. Burns. The show had purposely tried to mimic the similar controversy that had resulted when the character JR was shot on the series Dallas (episode titled: A House Divided, known by most as Who Shot JR?). FOX, the television network that ran the series, offered a contest to tie in with the mystery.

Before the second part season opener, Fox aired a special, Springfield's Most Wanted, hosted by John Walsh of America's Most Wanted which featured theories as to who might have shot Mr. Burns.

Contents

1 The mystery 2 Main Suspects 3 Conclusion 4 Alternate endings 5 Clues 6 Memorable Quotes

The mystery

The episode featured Springfield's resident plutocrat, Montgomery Burns angering much of the town in a variety of ways. After Springfield Elementary discovered oil on their property, he established a slant drilling operation to take it. The operation caused the land under the neighbouring Springfield retirement home to collapse, forcing its residents to evacuate. Pollution from the drilling closed down Moe's Tavern. A huge spurt of oil hit and severely damaged the Springfield Retirement Castle.

Template:Infobox The Simpsons season seven The Simpsons family got involved because of an oil leak that badly injured Bart Simpson and his dog, Santa's Little Helper. Lisa became severely disappointed because the school's expansion program (including music teacher Tito Puente) had to be cancelled because Mr. Burns took over the oil (this also angered Groundskeeper Willy because the school would be unable to afford a new mop for him). Finally, Homer became enraged at the fact that Mr. Burns was unable to remember his name.

At the episode's climax Burns unveiled his most dastardly scheme of all, the construction of a giant, movable disk that would permanently block out the sun in Springfield, thus ensuring the residents constant use of electricity to earn massive profits for his nuclear power plant. When Burns' personal aide, Waylon Smithers, objected, Burns promptly fired him, citing a "shocking decrease in the quality and quantity of your toadying."

A city hall meeting was held to discuss Burns' recent actions (most of the attendees being heavily armed), at which Burns appeared in order to unveil his sun-blocking device, and stated that nobody would be able to stop him. As Burns left the city hall, the camera showed him walking into an alley, obscured from view. The following words could be heard:

BURNS: Oh, it's you. What are you so happy about? (pause) I see. Well, I think you'd better drop it. (grunts of a struggle) I said... drop it! (gunshot)

Burns then wandered out, with a bleeding gunshot wound in his stomach, and collapsed onto the town's now-useless sundial, with his arms pointing to "West" and "South." The episode then ended.

Main Suspects

• Principal Seymour Skinner, motive: Burns bankrupted his school
• Groundskeeper Willie, motive: the bankrupting of the school shattered his dreams of a new mop
• Tito Puente, due to the school's budget cutbacks, he was fired from his new job as jazz teacher
• Bartender Moe, motive: Burns's drilling operation caused sufficient pollution to force him to close his bar
• resident drunk Barney Gumble, motive: Burns closed Moe's bar
• Waylon Smithers, motive: fired by Burns from the only job he was ever good at
• Homer Simpson, motive: constantly frustrated by Burns' inability to remember his name

Several others could also be considered suspect, such as

• Abe Simpson, motive: Burns's drilling operation ruined the Retirement Castle
• Bart Simpson, motive: Burns was responsible for putting Santa's Little Helper in a wheelchair
• Lisa Simpson, motive: the firing of Tito Puente mentioned above

Conclusion

In the season premiere the following fall, Burns was rushed to the hospital. One by one, Chief Wiggum visited the main suspects of the shooting, and found them all not guilty. Upon forensic investigation of Burns' suit, Simpson DNA was discovered. The police later searched Homer's car, and discovered the handgun that was used to shoot Burns. Homer was arrested, but made a wild break for it, leading the police to Burns' bedside. Upon confrontation, Burns identified infant Maggie Simpson as his shooter. Burns explains that after he left city hall, he saw Maggie unattended in a parked car. Maggie had a lollipop, which he wanted (he had previously expressed an interest in taking candy from a baby). He instructed Maggie to drop the sucker, then struggled to pry it from her hands. Amid the struggle, his gun fell from his holster, and into Maggie's hands. It discharged, and shot him.

Alternate endings

To keep the ending from being leaked from animators and writers, there were actually several different conclusions created. Most were nothing more than footage of various characters shooting Burns, but there was also a full-length conclusion animated in which Smithers shot Burns and explained his doing so at Burns' bedside after Homer's wild chase. This footage was seen in The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular.

Clues

A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part 1 for viewers who wanted to unravel the mystery. For example, after Mr. Burns says "You all talk big, but who here has the guts to stop me?", the camera pans across the entire crowd. All the people look at Burns and then at each other, as if hoping that someone else will do the deed - all except one. The only person in the whole crowd who keeps her eyes fixed squarely on Burns is Maggie.

Mr. Burns' positioning of his hands on the 'W' and 'S' positions on the sundial was also considered a clue, initially pointing to Waylon Smithers as the murderer. However, Lisa Simpson determined that from Mr. Burns' view, the 'W' was inverted to appear as an 'M', supporting the incrimination of Maggie Simpson. Ironically, Burns disavowed Lisa's observation, declaring that he used his last ounce of strength not to make a clue, but to swallow his gold fillings, which he declared would have been stolen by paramedics with "sticky fingers."

Memorable Quotes

• "Eh...you never know what you're capable of. I never thought I could shoot down a German plane, but last year I proved myself wrong." — Grampa Simpson

• "The town sundial will be useless!" — Smithers, attempting to dissuade Burns from making his sun-blocking device

• "Och! I'll kill that Mr. Burns! And... wound... that Mr. Smithers!" — Willy, after having his dreams shattered

• "Clue! Clue!" — Pigeon on the crime scene, as Lisa investigates