"Mmm...Hug..."

―Homer

"HOMЯ" is the ninth episode of Season 12 (in production order, this is the last episode of the BABF Season 11 episodes).

Synopsis[]

After losing the family's life savings in the stock market, Homer gets a job as a test subject for scientific experiments, one of which reveals the true reason behind his stupidity: a crayon that got stuck in his brain when he was a child. When Homer gets the crayon surgically removed, he becomes a more intelligent man — and soon learns that being smart doesn't equal being happy.

Full Story[]

When the family visits the Totally Sick, Twisted, F***ed-Up Animation Festival, Homer discovers Animotion, a motion capture technology that enables a cartoon character to mimic a human's movements, and tries on an Animotion motion capture suit. He likes it so much that he invests the family's life savings in Animotion.

Animotion goes into "super-duper" bankruptcy. In need of a way to regain the lost money, Homer consults his friends at Moe's Tavern for ideas. Barney suggests that he takes a job as a human guinea pig. Barney tells him that there will be a few biological sacrifices, while unbuttoning his shirt to reveal multiple ears that have grown on his chest. Homer takes a job at a medical testing center. During most of the experiments, the doctors gawk in curiosity at how Homer could be so unintelligent. The doctors view a 3D x-ray of his brain and notice something weird sticking out of his right lobe. After a few minor rotations, it is revealed that the object is a crayon. They ask Homer how this may have happened and Homer says that it probably happened when he was six and shoved an entire 16 pack of crayons up his nose. When he sneezed them out he assumed that it was all of them. The doctors then tell him that this might be the cause of his lifelong stupidity. Removing the crayon would either leave him with greatly increased intelligence or dead. After contemplating the risk, Homer agrees to undergo the surgery.

After the crayon is removed, Homer's IQ goes up from 55 to 105 points, which allows him to form a bond with Lisa.

Homer then writes a report on the nuclear plant's safety, which results in the plant being temporarily shut down, and all employees being layed off. Homer's friends, initially thrilled to have a smarter Homer around, reject him. An effigy of Homer is burned at Moe's Tavern, which he is not allowed in. Homer goes to Lisa asking why he is unhappy even though he's smart. She tries to explain, with the aid of a graph, that as you get smarter, happiness decreases. Homer decides to put a crayon back in his brain. The scientists at the lab say they can't do that but Moe says he is an unlicensed surgeon, and describes the procedure as "the old Crayola oblongata". Homer arrives home his old, dumb self, which disappoints Lisa. However, she finds a letter Homer wrote to her before the surgery, explaining that he now understands what it is like to be smart like her, and how much more he appreciates her because of this. When Homer comes into the living room eating a sandwich, Lisa runs up to hug him. Homer mistakes her for wanting his sandwich and pulls away. He then says, "Oh, you want a hug." As they hug, Homer takes another bite of his sandwich and says, "Mmm... hug."

Citations[]