Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" (The Simpsons)

Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" is the eighth episode of the tenth season of The Simpsons.

Plot
When Homer refuses to stop the car to let him use the restroom when they are on the road, Grampa Simpson's kidneys blow out. Homer offers to donate one of his kidneys to his father but then chickens out on-going through the transplant.

Why It's Kidney Is In Trouble

 * 1) For an episode about someone having kidney failure, the episode demonstrates the complete lack of actual research that the writers did on the subject (for instance, being forced to hold urine for a long period would likely cause damage to the bladder instead of the kidneys).
 * 2) This episode is the first sign of Homer's Flanderization, in fact, he is at one of his worst here. He causes his father to lose his kidneys because he would not take him to the restroom, and what makes it worse is that he spends nearly half of the episode running away from saving him. While it's true that Homer can be unlikable sometimes, he has never been this cruel.
 * 3) * Homer refuses to take his dad to the restroom all because he wants to get home as soon as possible just so he can catch a TV show. Their TV has a VCR; why couldn't he just record it?
 * 4) * Furthermore, it's one of the earliest episodes that show off the "Jerkass Homer" traits that would become rampant in later seasons until when it became a dead horse topic in later years.
 * 5) The episode is nothing more than just a gigantic torture episode for Abraham Simpson, which is very unsatisfying because even though Abraham wasn't always the greatest father to Homer, he doesn't deserve all this torture that he has to go through.
 * 6) This episode can't decide if it wants to be serious or funny. It tries to have it both ways and fails miserably at making that work.
 * 7) It contains a lot of really boring and unnecessary filler.
 * 8) * Some scenes involve Homer going to great lengths to avoid having his kidney removed, and they can go on for a while.
 * 9) At times, the family acts somewhat out of character too.
 * 10) The ending is not good; while Grandpa Simpson gets one of Homer's kidneys transplanted into him, Homer is not thankful the fact that his father is okay.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Homer does get his comeuppance for his actions by having one of his kidneys transplanted to Abe after he gets crushed by a car at the end of the episode.
 * 2) Though Homer is indeed grossly unlikable, the episode clears that Homer isn't intended to be a sympathetic protagonist in this one.
 * 3) Despite Homer's cruelty in this episode, he is not completely unsympathetic: Homer has always had a rocky relationship with his father as past episodes have touched on, and Homer hates his father. Had it been someone like Marge who needed the transplant, for example, Homer would likely have been willing to go through with it considering that Marge is someone he cares deeply about.
 * 4) * In addition, Homer was less reluctant until Lenny told him that if he went through with the transplant, he would not be able to drink as much alcohol anymore, and people would also always ask him for organ donations.
 * 5) Abe Simpson and Doctor Hibbert are likable characters here.
 * 6) * Despite the family, aside Homer being somewhat out of character, Marge, Bart, Maggie, and Lisa are mostly okay.
 * 7) The beginning at the Wild West-themed event is decent.

Reception
While the episode received mixed reviews from critics and a 7.3/10 rating on IMDb, the episode was met with an overwhelmingly negative reception by fans of The Simpsons because Homer acted extremely neglectful and sociopathic towards his father. Additionally, it was originally the 13th worst episode of the show according to NoHomers.net users; it moved up to the 10th worst in 2006 but was pushed back to the 24th in 2011.

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