To Cur, with Love

"To Cur, with Love" is the eighth episode of Season 24. (originally going to be the first episode of the season).
==Synopsis==
Homer loses Santa's Little Helper while playing the tablet game, VillageVille. When Santa's Little Helper is found in the kitchen cabinet and Homer admits he doesn't care about him, Grampa tells the story of Homer's first dog, Bongo, and how he ended up missing.
==Full Story==
The retirement home is set on fire after one of Professor Frink's new vehicles goes haywire, so Grandpa moves in with the Simpsons (to the family's disappointment). On the day they pick Grandpa up, Homer throws out his back trying to get Grandpa's belongings due to him not wearing his lifting belt. Because of this, Homer stays at the house. Homer then comes across a tablet game called "VillageVille" and starts to play it. While he plays it, he completely forgets and ignores Santa's Little Helper. When the family comes home, Bart notices the disappearance of Santa's Little Helper, so he and the rest of the family look for their hound.
When the family locates Santa's Little Helper in the kitchen cupboard, Bart and Lisa soon learn that Homer accidentally got the dog inside due to being distracted by VillageVille. The family then shows love to the dog, but Bart then thinks that Homer dislikes Santa's Little Helper when he doesn't show love and when the hound barks at him viciously. While stating he'll give affection to the dog, Homer claims to not be a dog person but weeps bitterly when Grandpa mentions Bongo. The rest of the family is not familiar with Bongo and asks Grandpa to tell them. Grandpa then explains that Bongo was Homer's former dog.
Bongo and Homer were incredibly close since Homer was a baby and was with Homer the time when Grandpa was divorced. When Homer went to a display of Mr. Burns' soon to be Nuclear Plant, the kids are given stuffed toads called Isatoads, Homer tried to give Bongo his Isatoad. Burns becomes insulted as the toys are for kids, Burns grabbed Homer shoulder, which provoked an angry Bongo to bite Burns in retaliation. Homer and Bongo leave and while Abe tried to apologize, but Burns refuses and demands for Bongo to be captured and euthanized but Smithers tells Burns they are at a kids event. To stop his image from getting destroyed Burns calls out Krusty who has no material prepared for the kids except for a monkey. Burns sent the local dog catcher to find Bongo, after Chief Wiggum (who was a dog catcher at the time) nearly captured Homer and Bongo. Knowing it's not safe for the dog, Grandpa chose to give Bongo to his former neighbor Miss Viola, a lesbian woman who moved to the country so she could own as many pets as she wanted and gives Bongo an Itchy and Scratchy Show sweater that was owned by Homer. Grandpa tried explained to Homer about Bongo staying with Viola permanently without making Homer upset, but this only made Homer extremely distraught. When they arrive home, Burns is waiting for them and demands they give him Bongo, but Grandpa taunts Burns that he already gave away Bongo. Abe offers Burns a deal: Abe will take care of Burns' guard hounds and that Burns can break his spirit for a year in order to rectify for the incident, stating that it's much better for Burns to enjoy than killing a dog. Despite claiming that dropping a horse on a church would be something he would enjoy better than killing a dog, Burns reluctantly accepts the deal. Sadly, Grandpa's relationship with Homer never patched up as Homer is still angry at Grampa for giving away Bongo.
After Grampa finished the story, Homer comes downstairs and tells his version of the story: Grandpa hated Bongo and sold him to witches (Miss Viola) so he could be friends with rich dogs and kidnap Santa Claus. Homer then realizes that his story doesn't make any sense so he tells another part of the story that Grandpa didn't know: after a few months, Homer went to rescue Bongo, but found out that Bongo not only had a new name (Hendricks), but also he was happier with Miss Viola then with him as the two were playing. Ever since then, Homer bitterly decided to forget about Bongo, believing that dogs themselves are disloyal and unfaithful in general. To prove Homer wrong, Grandpa gives Homer a Christmas card he received from Miss Viola showing an elderly Bongo sleeping with Homer's Itchy and Scratchy Show sweater. Realizes that Bongo still loves him and how much Grampa sacrificed to ensure Bongo's happiness, Homer tearfully reconciles with Grandpa and promises to be show support for Santa's Little Helper. In the middle of the night, Bart tries to find Santa's Little Helper, but sees the hound sleeping with Homer and Grampa on the couch. Knowing how much they went through, Bart decides to let them have their moment as he heads to bed. Homer dreams of himself with Santa's Little Helper, the younger version of Homer with Bongo, Burns with his hounds, Miss Viola and her many pets, and Krusty with his former gorilla.
Before the closing credits, Burns is shown unhappy due to Mitt Romney losing the president election bid. He and Smithers explain to the viewers about the upcoming fiscal cliff. Burns then explains they should change their welcome to immigrants only to be told by Smithers that he is just digging deeper. Burns then says in Spanish, "Marco Rubio es un pañuelo rosa" only to be told by Smithers that he made matters worse as he said "Marco Rubio is a pink handkerchief," and Burns then finishes the public announcement.
== Citations ==
fr:Nom d'un chien
pl:To Cur, with Love
pt:Para um Vira-Lata, com Amor
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Santa's Little Helper episodes
Category:Grampa Episodes
Category:Mr. Burns Episodes
Category:Flashback episodes
Category:Episodes named after a film or TV Show
Category:Dramatic episodes
Category:Episodes Set in The Past
Category:Episodes with no Opening Sequence
Category:Written by Carolyn Omine
Category:Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Category:Episodes showran by Al Jean
Category:Herman episodes
Category:Sad episodes
Category:Highly Rated Episodes
Category:Episodes Where Homer cries
Category:Coming of age episodes