HOMЯ

"HOMЯ" is the ninth episode of Season 12. It aired on January 7, 2001. The episode was written by Al Jean and directed by Mike B. Anderson.

An x-ray reveals that Homer has a crayon lodged in his brain that has been there since childhood. Upon removal of the crayon, Homer's IQ suddenly jumps to a very high level; he and Lisa form a great new bond, but when his way of life changes drastically he wonders if removing the crayon was a good idea.

Plot
Don't change the animation festival name. It will constitute to vandalism and possible blocking. When the family visits the Sick, Twisted and Totally F***ed up Animation Festival, Homer discovers Animotion, a motion capture technology that enables a cartoon character to mimic a human's movements. He likes it so much that he invests the family's life savings in Animotion. However, just after making the investment, the company goes into "super-duper" bankruptcy. To earn the family's life savings money back, Homer takes a job at a medical testing center. During one experiment, the doctors find a crayon lodged in Homer's brain from when he was a child, which has been the cause of his life-long stupidity.

After the crayon is removed, Homer's IQ goes up from 55 to 105 points, which allows him to form a bond with Lisa. Homer then writes a report on the nuclear plant's safety, which results in the plant being shut down, and the laying off of all employees. Homer's friends, initially thrilled to have a smarter Homer around, quickly reject him, and Homer is even burned in effigy at Moe's Tavern. Lisa tries to explain, with the aid of a graph, that as you get smarter, happiness decreases. Homer decides to put a crayon back in his brain, with the aid of Moe, who says he is an unlicensed surgeon, and describes the procedure as "the old Crayola oblongata". Homer arrives home his old, dumb, self, which initially disappoints Lisa. However, she finds a letter Homer wrote to her before the surgery, explaining that he now understands what it is like to be smart like her, and how much more he appreciates her because of this. Instead of being upset over her father's decision, the episode ends with Lisa embracing him.