History Recap / TheSimpsonsS2E22BloodFeud

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Smithers puts a stop to Homer being beaten behind his boss's back.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: While previous episodes had dabbled around with Smithers's characterisation, this one is the first to fully develop his passionate devotion to Burns, along with it conflicting with his moral compass.
** This episode also does a complete 180-degree turn from "Simpson And Delilah" earlier in the season by showing the other side of Smithers' devotion. While Smithers showed a vindictive desire to destroy Homer for threatening his position as Burns' main lackey, here Smithers is overwhelmed with gratitude to Homer for saving Burns' life.

* ManHug: Burns sends Smithers to have [[InsistentTerminology hired goons]] beat up Homer. But Smithers feels this is too harsh, especially since Burns owes his life to Homer on more than one occasion. So when giving the instructions to the goon, he teeters back and forth between letting Homer off and letting him live, to the goon's exasperation. When he asks what Homer did, Smithers bawls out "He saved Mr. Burns's liiiife!!" and collapses sobbing on his chest, holding him tight. The confused mook looks around and does the pat-pat-pat-on-the-shoulder thing.

* PunchClockVillain: Mr. Burns's goon seems to genuinely like Homer, but will still beat him up if ordered to. Luckily for Homer, Smithers calls it off.

-->'''Goon:''' Yeah, nice guy. Play poker with him.

-->'''Goon:''' You got it.

-->Dear Mr. Burns... I'm so glad you enjoyed my son's blood and your card was just great. In case you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic. You stink! You are a senile, buck-toothed old mummy with bony girl-arms, and you smell like an elephant's butt.

---> '''Lisa''': That's ok Bart, nobody really believed it. We were just trying to scare you.

Mr. Burns is in dire need of a blood transfusion, and Bart is the only one who has the same rare blood type as Mr. Burns, so Homer forces Bart to donate under the impression that the family will get a buttload of cash for the generous deed. But when all they get is a "Thank you" card, Homer writes a strongly-worded letter -- which Bart ends up sending after Marge talks Homer out of putting it in the mail.

* BloodTransfusionPlot: Burns has a rare blood type for which Bart is the only available donor. The episode doesn't make it totally clear whether this is because nobody else has the type or because [[BadBoss nobody will donate to Burns]].

-->'''Lisa Simpson:''' [[LampshadeHanging You know his blood type? How romantic]].

* ABNegative: Mr. Burns has the very rare blood type Double-O Negative. Bart is the only other person in Springfield with this blood type.

* SuperhumanTransfusion: {{Downplayed}}: Burns gains new vitality after the transfusion and attributes it to the fact that it's specifically "the blood of a young child." Director David Silverman emphasized the line in question with a closeup as a RedHerring to make viewers think the rest of the plot would be about Burns seeking more of Bart's blood. However, it's never brought up again.

** The Simpson children are watching the aforementioned breakdown. Seeing his father's despair, Bart recognises the full gravity of his blunder and is genuinely regretful and horrified by what he has done.

* AdultFear: Your closest friend, (who happens to be extremely old,) suddenly becomes deathly ill, and there's nothing you can do other than be at his bedside and slowly watch him get worse. It's easy to see why Smithers is clearly on the verge of crying at the beginning of the episode.

* RuleOfSymbolism: When we first see Burns convulsing on the floor, it is still bright outside. But when he gets his grim diagnose, it is suddenly ''darker'' outside.

Episode - 7F22\\
First Aired - 7/11/1991