"Homer the Vigilante" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 6, 1994. In the episode, a crime wave caused by an elusive cat burglar plagues Springfield. Lisa is distraught when her saxophone is stolen, and Homer promises to get it back. The police are ineffective, so Homer takes charge of a neighborhood watch. Under his leadership, it becomes a vigilante group which fails to catch the burglar. With the help of Grampa, Homer discovers that the burglar is a charming senior named Molloy. Molloy is arrested, but he outwits the citizens of Springfield and escapes.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jim Reardon. Sam Neill guest starred in the episode as Molloy. "Homer the Vigilante" was selected for release in a 1997 video collection of selected episodes titled: The Simpsons: Crime and Punishment. It features cultural references to films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Dr. Strangelove.
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 12.2, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot
One night, the Simpson family's house is robbed by a cat burglar while the family sleeps; the next morning, the family finds out that several other houses in Springfield have been robbed by the same burglar. The town's residents arm themselves and install security devices to thwart the burglar. A neighborhood watch group is formed and Homer is elected as its leader. The street patrol soon devolves into a vigilante group whose members violate laws instead of catching criminals. When Homer is interviewed on news anchor Kent Brockman's Smartline, the cat burglar calls into the show and reveals he plans to steal the world's largest cubic zirconia from the Springfield museum.
Homer's posse guards the museum, refusing the help of Grampa, who is accompanied by Jasper and Molloy, two of his friends from the Springfield Retirement Castle. After Homer spots a group of teenagers drinking beer, he leaves his post to intervene, but gets drunk with them instead. When the cat burglar subsequently steals the zirconia, Homer is blamed and pelted with fruits and vegetables by the unforgiving townspeople. Later, Grampa deduces that Molloy is the cat burglar and tells his family. Homer captures Molloy at the Retirement Castle, and the surprisingly amiable cat burglar returns the objects he stole. Nevertheless, Chief Wiggum arrests and imprisons Molloy.
At the police station, Molloy asks if Homer and the police officers would like to know where he's hidden all the money he's stolen over the years. When Molloy tells them the stash is hidden under a giant "T" somewhere in Springfield, they rush from the station hoping to find the buried treasure. After checking several possible sites, the crowd returns to get more information from Molloy, who directs them to a large, T-shaped palm tree on the outskirts of town. The residents excavate the site, but find only a box containing a note from Molloy; he lied about the treasure in order to buy himself enough time to escape from his cell. Several citizens continue to dig, hoping that there is a real treasure, but soon find themselves at a loss for ways to get out of the hole they have made.
Production
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jim Reardon. New Zealand actor Sam Neill guest starred in the episode as Molloy, the cat burglar. Executive producer David Mirkin thought Neill, a big The Simpsons fan, was "lovely" to direct. Mirkin also said Neill was "really game" and did "a terrific job" on the episode. Neill considers recording this episode to be a "high-point" of his career. One scene of the episode features Kent Brockman reporting on the burglaries. Mirkin said this was a joke the staff enjoyed doing because it pointed out how negative and mean-spirited news broadcasts can be, and how they are seemingly "always trying to scare everybody" by creating panic and depression.