Sixty years in the future, Lisa tells the story about a massive blackout that happened right before Thanksgiving that Homer was blamed for.
Present day, six days before Thanksgiving. Kent Brockman is reporting the coming of a massive winter storm that he is calling an "Arcticonado". Marge asks Homer if he put up the storm windows like he promised, and after future Lisa exposits about the worthlessness of Homer's promises, the Arcticonado blows the non-storm windows open, sending a flurry of snow and a windswept Ralph Wiggum into the bedroom. Homer says he'll be on it after work. He puts on a Hawaiian shirt, because it's Hawai'i Day at the plant, and he's been appointed the position of "King Kamehameha", and he's assured a day of tropical-themed goofing off awaits. At the breakfast table, the Arcticonado blows open the kitchen windows, and after Marge closes them, the wind still blows through. There's no glass there, but on the upside, Maggie's first Thanksgiving is coming up! But Lisa isn't feeling confident, it's a day that celebrates the slaughter of turkeys after all. But as her present self watches Bart strangle Homer over a contract dispute over the drumsticks, her future self says the worst is yet to come.
The plant workers are having a fun time at Hawai'i Day with Homer mixing the drinks, and Mr. Burns drops in, saying that the workers might be wondering what the occasion is about. A flashback reveals this event is a distraction for the unionized workers so Mr. Burns can hire a bunch of non-unionized scabs to replace them all. After saying some empty pleasantries and nice-sounding lies, the unionized workers are placated, and Burns and Smithers sneak into a door labeled "Top Secret" to greet the new workforce. He sings a song about how the new workers have no health plan, no dental plan, no training, only one bathroom, tons of gratitude, and tons of singing and dancing skills due to them all being graduates of theater programs. As the luau continues, Lenny and Carl convince their "King" to take care of the trash, implying that they suckered Homer into this role because it's just more work. Homer throws a bag of empty cups into the waste disposal shaft, making sure he didn't throw it into the shaft to the reactor core. Mr. Burns wants to make a phone call, and looks for an outlet for Smithers to plug an archaic phone into, but the nearest outlet is already a sparking, hazardous pile of slitters and plugs. Smithers is hesitant to plug the phone, but his warnings are ignored, and a fire is started. The theatrical workers know more about The Firebird than fire safety, so the fire grows. An alarm sounds, a meltdown awaits, and Carl is sure that as the "King", Homer did something wrong. Everyone flees, and the fire is extinguished from the Sea Captain's plane dumping water on the plant. Despite this, the plant is in ruins, everyone is fired, and the blackout begins.
Homer is blamed for the blackout, and with the former unionized plant workers wanting to literally throw him under a bus, Homer runs for home, but along the way, he buys batteries for the flashlights and installs the storm windows. Marge suspects something, because as Future Lisa exposits, "nothing is more alarming than a helpful Homer." Marge believes he's the one behind the blackout, just like how everyone in town believes, as bricks are being thrown through the 742 Evergreen Terrace windows. Homer wants Marge to believe he's innocent, but Homer has screwed up too many times for any stock line to work. The best he can do is elevate Marge's belief into an "I don't know". The kids want hope, and Homer is sure the government will help. But Mayor Quimby says the government can't even help itself. The best that can be done is to propose a distraction in the form of a bloody game that begins with a manhunt with Milhouse as the target.
The turmoil continues at the Simpson household. Lisa is being stressed out, so she picks up a book set in pioneer times. She sees a vision of the main character saying her life was misery, and Lisa decided to make her own book of memories. The next morning comes, and the fridge is empty. Homer has an explanation, but Marge cuts him off after he said "I'm". Even Bart is feeling down in the dumps. Homer can't even drown his sorrows at Moe's, which has undergone a prohibition-era makeover. The only one in town who doesn't hate them is Grampa, who comes with firewood, bellows, wisdom, and a fiddle. Grampa fiddles "Turkey in the Straw" all night long, lifting the family's spirits, but in the middle of the night, Lisa hears a sound other than fiddling. Grampa assures her it's nothing, but a cut outside reveals the sound was the townsfolk putting the whole house onto a house moving truck, ready to rid Springfield of the Simpsons.
The house has been relocated to a mountaintop, and the city celebrates the family's expulsion. Homer is outraged, he knows he's innocent, and he can't even enjoy the solitude because Ned Flanders voluntarily had his house relocated to an adjacent mountaintop so he can still be with his neighborino. The only one who believes in Homer is Ned, but he believes in a lot of things. Marge is still distraught, not sure whether she shouldn't believe in Homer and be furious about him causing the blackout, or whether she should believe he's innocent and feel like a fool for falling for his empty words again. It pains her, but she choses to believe, but faith isn't strong enough, she needs proof. Homer uses this opportunity to finish his explanation for the empty fridge. He didn't eat it all, he stashed the food under the snow just like in Lisa's pioneer book, and Homer has a photo of him burying the turkey. Marge believes, and they embrace. But if Homer didn't cause the blackout, how can they prove it? Lisa has an answer, they find the real culprit, which is obviously Mr. Burns.
Mr. Burns is toasting with Smithers his dodging of justice, but the Simpsons family arrives with an accusation, with the police ready to take him away. The angry mob is now standing against Mr. Burns instead of Homer, and Mayor Quimby is personally giving Mr. Burns his sentence, the harshest punishment any billionaire gets. A simple fine that Mr. Burns will earn back in seconds. But all isn't fine yet, the mob hasn't forgiven Homer because this incident is just a reminder of so many mistakes Homer has made in the past. Marge proposes to share Thanksgiving dinner with the town, in exchange for putting the house back. The deal was accepted, and in the years to come, Homer was never blamed again by other mobs for other blackouts. As future Lisa finishes her narration, Bart has died of boredom with a hologram replacing him at the table, now free from the drumstick contract, but Homer's hologram tries to eat the drumstick pieces that phase through Bart's hologram, and vice-versa.
In The Stinger, Homer is reading a pioneer-era Christmas story to Lisa, and despite Lisa wanting to stop and sleep, Homer is too engrossed in the story to stop, continuing to read out loud as Lisa falls asleep.
Tropes
- Artistic License – Law: The Simpsons get the police to follow them into Mr. Burns' home despite having no evidence of his guilt, meaning the police couldn't possibly have a warrant.
- Bait-and-Switch: Homer goes to the incinerator chute to dispose of the trash, and it's right next to a chute that leads to the reactor core. It seems the scene is set up for Homer to throw the trash into the core and cause the blackout, but for once Homer does the right thing and throws it in the incinerator. Unfortunately, he still gets blamed for the blackout.
- Big Blackout: The plot is all about a massive blackout that lasted for six days.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Bart gives Homer a "Why, you giant—!" before strangling him.
- Cassandra Truth: Nobody really believes Homer didn't cause the blackout. Even Marge has a very hard time believing it, and for good reason.
- Comic-Book Time:
- Grampa references the series' floating timeline by saying he grew up in the "30s or 50s or whatever makes sense now".
- Marge comments that it's the family's first Thanksgiving with Maggie, with whom she was still pregnant at the same time last year.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Mayor Quimby declares that they're going to hunt Milhouse for sport, Milhouse cheers that he's finally the center of attention.
- Continuity Nod:
- The episode is almost a Whole-Plot Reference to The Simpsons Movie and acknowledges that thanks to Homer's frequent misdeeds, the family has dealt with a higher-than-average amount of Torches and Pitchforks in general.
- The power plant employees are seen imagining their respective divinities as they pray, revealing that Carl is still a Buddhist. (Lenny just worships Carl.)
- Couch Gag:
- Tom Turkey flies by the title.
- A hand turkey is cut out, and eats seeds that turn the fingers into Lisa, Marge, Bart and Maggie. It climbs onto the couch, eats a seed, and poops out a Homer-like turd.
- A Degree in Useless: All of Mr. Burns' scabs are theater students, who prove to be less than competent but are gracious to be employed at all, despite the terrible conditions.
- Deus ex Machina:
- For some reason Homer took a picture of himself burying the contents of the fridge, not knowing he would need it.
- The Simpsons somehow convince the police to follow them into Mr. Burns' mansion despite having no evidence of his guilt until he confesses.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Once again, the entire town turns on all the Simpsons instead of just Homer.
- The Dog Bites Back: Homer tricked Bart into handing over his rights to the turkey drumsticks when he was a baby, with a contract signed and notarized by footprint. When present Bart finds out about this, he strangles Homer with a "Why you giant—"
- Easily Forgiven: After the whole mess is resolved, Homer is happy to again be friends with the people who shunned and exiled him. Carl points out they're still a little cheesed at Homer, anyway, due to memories of the stupid things he actually did do.
- Everything Is 3D-Printed in the Future: The future's Thanksgiving dinner is provided by a 3D printer, but it ran out of toner for cranberry sauce.
- Eye Contact as Proof: Homer apparently falls back on this a lot:Homer: Look in my eyes.Marge: You've said that before.Homer: Hold my hand and look in my eyes.Marge: You've said that before.Homer: Hold my hand, look in my eyes and feel my heart. Also, if you could examine my prostate—Marge: All right, all right!
- First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Lisa narrates the story of what she calls "the worst day of [my] life" despite Homer being the main focus of the story and the one who suffers the most.
- Framing Device: The beginning and the ending are set sixty years in the future, and the rest of the episode is future Lisa telling a story.
- Genre Savvy: Lisa comes to the conclusion that Mr. Burns must have been behind the blackout purely on the basis that he's usually the villain.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: While freezing in the dark, Lisa laments the whole town hating them. Bringing in firewood, Abe notes he hates them less than the rest of the town.
- Insane Troll Logic: Marge is convinced of Homer's innocence by evidence that he didn't eat all the food in the fridge, reasoning that if he told the truth about that, then he must be telling the truth about everything.
- Literal Metaphor:
- Homer expresses disbelief that his coworkers would "throw [him] under the bus," inspiring them to do just that. When he tells them that this is a common figure of speech, they concede his point and allow him a brief head start before the bus runs him over.
- With the Internet down, Comic Book Guy is forced to walk around town announcing his opinions about movies instead of using Twitter. He's less than thrilled when Gil decides to "follow" him.
- Bart, apparently, literally dies from boredom while Lisa is telling her story.
- Logo Joke: The shush of the Gracie Films logo is replaced by the gobbling of a turkey.
- Mythology Gag: The family photograph accompanying the news story about the Simpsons being expelled from Springfield is the 90s promotional image used on production scripts to this day.
- Negative Continuity:
- Despite the episode being a sequel to "Holidays of Future Passed", it seems to be incompatible to the episode's other sequel "Days of Future Future" due to Homer dying between 59 and 60 years in the future in this episode and multiple times (including the death of his final clone biological body) in that episode's future of 30 years.
- According to Marge, it's Maggie's first Thanksgiving outside the womb, meaning that "Bart vs. Thanksgiving," "Homer vs. Dignity," and "Homer the Moe" are also out of luck.
- Nice Guy: Ned is the only one in town willing to take Homer at his word. He even asked that the mob move his house right next to the Simpsons'.
- Noodle Incident: Lenny says Homer previously did something that ruined his dream of becoming an orthodontist.
- Not Me This Time: Homer really didn't cause the shutdown at the plant, something even Marge can't bring herself to believe because of his track record. At the episode's end, Carl notes everyone is still a little mad at Homer because of all the bad things he did do in the past.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Among those lashing out at Homer is Marge's mother, who brought a bow and arrow. (The arrow hits Marge's hair by mistake.)
- Outliving One's Offspring: Bart dies of boredom while Lisa is telling the story, and Marge is still alive. Thankfully, he's replaced by a hologram immediately.
- Sadistic Choice: After two nights of restlessness, Marge admits to Homer she's struggling with the choice of being openly frustrated with what her husband allegedly did or believing him and feeling ashamed of herself for ever doubting him.
- The Scapegoat: Homer is immediately presumed at fault when the plant shuts down and the town loses power. The human tendency to do this is lampshaded by Lisa's narration and by Homer himself. The rest of the family is soon dragged in almost immediately after, with their house eventually being forcibly removed by the town as a means to get rid of them for good.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: The hired scabs dance away from the plant when the fire breaks out.
- Sequel Episode: To "Holidays of Future Passed", due to it being another holiday episode set even further in the future, with Zia, Skippy and Jiff present at the table.
- Shared Family Quirks: Maggie's children are sucking on pacifiers despite not being babies, just like several other future versions of Maggie.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is one to It's a Wonderful Life.
- Mayor Quimby proposes to the townsfolk a sort of games, "either Hunger or Squid".
- Smart Ball: This is a rare episode where Homer is firmly grasping it throughout. He disposes the trash in the incinerator like he's supposed to, even when he had the opportunity to toss it into the nuclear reactor core. And to keep the food from spoiling during the blackout, he got inspired by one of Lisa's pioneer books and buried it in the snow.
- Something Only They Would Say: With the power out in Springfield, Marge believes Homer is an intruder and threatens to pepper spray him. She's immediately reassured to hear "Mmm...pepper spray."
- Take That!:
- For causing a city-wide blackout that has led to many problems, Mr. Burns's only punishment is "a fine he can easily pay."
- Mayor Quimby asserts that the government can't do anything about the blackout, saying the government can't help itself let alone the people.
- Tempting Fate: When the first brick is thrown through his window Homer says "Eh, could have been worse". A second one then comes through the window and hits him in the crotch.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- The frame story ends with the elderly Bart dying of boredom because Lisa's narrative took too long...but his Virtual Ghost finally gets to eat a drumstick.
- Abe bringing the family firewood so that they don't freeze in the dark.
- Villain Ball: Mr. Burns admits to the Simpsons that he caused the blackout despite them presenting no evidence, allowing him to be arrested by the cops who were secretly listening.
- Villain Song: Mr. Burns gets one of these about the terrible working conditions he's putting the scabs through.
- Virtual Ghost: The frame story set in the distant future depicts the extended Simpson family's first Thanksgiving after Homer's death, a prospect somewhat lightened by the fact that his hologram is seated at the dinner table chowing down with the rest of them. By the end of the story, Bart has joined him.
