The Last Traction Hero

"The Last Traction Hero" is the ninth episode of Season 28.
==Synopsis==
An accident places Homer in a cast, and in a position to sue Mr. Burns. This leaves Marge unfulfilled, so she turns to an unexpected source for romance. Meanwhile, Lisa is proclaimed "Bus Monitor" and tries to keep the peace.
==Full Story==
Homer can't locate a parking space at the Nuclear Power Plant, so he plans to park in Mr. Burns' space, as he is on a hunting trip with some friends. Homer then realizes that with Burns out, he can live the wealthy life, so Homer goes around the plant using some of Burns' gadgets and wearing his clothes. However, as he tries playing golf in Burns' office (putting a golf ball into a glass), Burns returns unexpectedly.
Homer gets scared and hits the ball too hard, which bounces around until it presses the trapdoor button, making Homer fall into it. However, the pit below the trapdoor is under renovation, so it wasn't safe for use yet. Homer hits many objects and construction materials on his way down and eventually lands on a cement mixer that is filled with concrete. The accident leaves Homer in an upper-body cast. However, he soon gets bored as he can't move his arms to do any activities.
Meanwhile, on the school bus, Dolph tries to fight Milhouse, but he accidentally hits Nelson. Shortly afterwards, the other bullies start fighting as well. With Otto unable to help, Lisa records the tussle on her cellphone and shows the video to Principal Skinner, who sees that Lisa could solve some of the bus problems (which is mainly over who sits where on the bus), and he promotes her to school bus monitor. On the school bus the next day, Lisa manages to organize the way the kids sit, which makes them silent. She soon has a daydream about how she will keep everyone in order in a PG-13 theme.
In the meantime, at the power plant, Burns finds out that his trapdoor is now illegal as it has to meet with some modern safety standards, meaning that Homer can sue the plant. Fearing this, Burns sends Smithers to see Homer and convince him not to do so. However, his visit has the exact opposite effect, as Smithers reminds Homer to sue Burns.
Smithers becomes friends with Marge when they start talking about sewing patterns, but end up talking about their respective love for Homer/Mr. Burns. Marge starts thinking about kissing Smithers, but Burns calls him. She then goes back to Homer and they then begin to kiss and make love, ripping off each other's clothes. Homer is overjoyed to learn that Marge is getting her emotional needs met by her friendship with Smithers. At Burns' office, Burns gets outraged as Smithers couldn't get Homer's signature.
Later Lisa is starting to take her role as bus monitor too seriously as she now has an outfit and hairstyle, Bart does warn her all the kids hate the new seating arrangements on the bus. However she doesn't care as she has now made other sitting plans, such as for the cafeteria and a team line-up for the playground as well as swingers and pushers on the swings. Bart is fed up with the new arrangements but Lisa just makes him a swing pusher. On the bus, the kids show how much they are fed up with Lisa's plans and they rebel against it. The second they reach a tunnel they go wild and destroy the bus. When the bus arrives at school, it is completely vandalized and on fire. The kids get off laughing while Lisa is saddened and confused as to why her plan didn't work. Milhouse explains that the bus is supposed to be crazy as it’s the point between school and home where they can let out their energy, which makes her a bit happier.
Mr. Burns realizes that Smithers is not going to prevent Homer from suing, and decides to send him to work at the power plant location in Chernobyl as punishment. After seeing how upset Marge is about her friend leaving, Homer realizes that the only way to impede this is if he gives up on the lawsuit, which makes his lawyer crestfallen. To make his lawyer feel better, Homer chooses to create a separate lawsuit by falling down the courthouse steps, but Marge tries to save him and falls as well. They are both run over by a truck and have to wear upper body casts, which brings them a lot closer together.
The episode finishes with Lisa in Miss Hoover's classroom, trying not to be a smarty-pants, but she can't handle it and gives all the correct answers, including the day of Hoover's dental appointment, much to the annoyance of her classmates.
== Citations ==
fr:Une Journée particulière
pl:The Last Traction Hero
pt:Um Ato Heroico
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Marge episodes
Category:Lisa episodes
Category:Mr. Burns Episodes
Category:Work-themed Episodes
Category:Smithers Episodes
Category:Marge Seeks Friends episodes
Category:Episodes named after a film or TV Show
Category:Episodes with a alternative Gracie Films logo
Category:Lisa seeks understanding episodes
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits
Category:Episodes in which Homer almost loses Marge
Category:Poorly-received episodes