Here’s a look at why “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” is one of the greatest and most memorable episodes of The Simpsons.

The premise of “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” starts out with oil being found underneath Springfield Elementary. Principal Skinner is thrilled, but Mr. Burns beats him to it and establishes a drilling operation on site. The school has no legal recourse and that’s just the beginning of the collateral damage Mr. Burns causes.

The fumes from the venture causes Moe’s to close, while the drilling itself destroys the Springfield Retirement Castle and forces Grampa to move in with the Simpsons. Additionally, a burst of oil demolishes Bart’s treehouse and injures Santa’s Little Helper in the process. While this leaves everyone involved upset, that is just a warm up for yet another one of Mr. Burns’ plans.

The plan is to block out the sun to leave the entire town dependent on the power from Burns’ plant. Even Smithers is outraged by this, but when he speaks up Burns promptly fires him. Mr. Burns goes forward with this scheme and earns the hatred of the entire town. This is the mood in Springfield when a gun is heard and Mr. Burns is found laying on the sundial with a gunshot wound. Several people emerge as the prime suspect before what happened is revealed.

Why is it a great episode? Because it allows so many characters on The Simpsons to shine. Essentially the entire town manages to appear in the story, which is significant because the entire town of Springfield is what made the show so unique.

Dividing the episode into two parts is what allows the characters to all have a role in the story. All the characters you love are here and at the top of their game. Mr. Burns, Smithers, Moe, Bart, Homer, Principal Skinner, and Barney Gumble are just some of the characters who have a role in the whodunit two-part episode . Additionally, the episode keeps the viewer involved by using the whodunit aspect and resolves it with a clever twist.

“Who Shot Mr. Burns?” is one of the series’ most unique and memorable episodes and shows The Simpsons at it’s very best.