The Homer Scene That Went Too Far On The Simpsons

It's a common trope in animated sitcoms at this point that the central father figure tends to screw up...a lot. Homer Simpson of "The Simpsons" is no exception to this rule and, given the show's age, might even be the progenitor of the idea. After all, Homer has done so many horrible things that it's hard to keep count. He lies to his wife, regularly strangles his son, and, in "The Simpsons Movie," even poisoned the entire town's water supply, causing the Environmental Protection Agency to seal the entire town of Springfield in a giant dome.

However, the bright side of Homer is that he always comes to see the error of his ways and takes steps to redeem himself. He may have trapped Springfield in that dome, but he's also the one who saves it from being exploded. Even so, there is one Homer scene from "The Simpsons" that fans agree just went too far. It occurs in the Season 10 Episode, "Homer Simpson In: Kidney Trouble," and boy, is it a doozy.

Homer has always had a complicated relationship with his father, Abe. Many of his abusive tendencies can be traced back to Abe, and it's clear that Homer never entirely got over his trauma, even if he does love his dad. Still, that doesn't excuse leaving the old man for dead. "Kidney Trouble" sees Homer accidentally inducing Abe's kidneys to explode, leading to Grandpa needing a kidney transplant from Homer. At first, Homer runs away, but his guilt motivates him to return and do the old-timer a solid ... until he chickens out again. The only reason Abe doesn't die is that, while running from the hospital, Homer is hit by a car and the doctors perform the kidney transplant while treating him.

To many fans, this is a prime example of "Jerkass Homer," a.k.a. Homer without any redeeming qualities. Some fans on Reddit even pointed to this episode as one of the earliest instances of "Jerkass Homer" in the series.

"[Kidney Trouble] is very similar to 'When Flanders Failed,' except there's no redemption at the end," wrote u/thendansays. "he had no agency in that decision and was happy to let Grampa die. That's pretty jerkass."

On top of all that, "Kidney Trouble" is one of the only "Simpsons" episodes to have its own page on the fan-run "Terrible TV Shows" wiki. And, while Homer has arguably considered worse sins, leaving one's own dad to die out of pure selfishness ranks very highly.