I love the animation of a red-faced Homer choking on his lies (and ground beef).
Homer, with a mouthful of meat, laughs maniacally at Flanders only to start choking and be saved by Flanders performing the heimlich maneuver. After the two neighbors split a chicken bone and Homer gets the bigger piece, a spiteful Homer secretly wishes for Ned’s store to fail. Homer, first jealous of Flanders barbecue, is now jealous of Ned’s new business venture.
There he learns Flanders plans on opening a general store. Homer decides to attend the barbecue after all. I was ready to jump through the screen myself. I don’t blame Homer for giving in to temptation. Just then, the scent of barbecue flies through Homer’s open window. Homer: What if I died while they were gone? Then they’d be all boo-hoo, why did we leave Homer all alone with no food? And I’d be laughing. While the rest of the family attends the Flanders family festivities, Homer stays home glued to his the couch, angry at his family for leaving him alone while they’re next door eating delicious barbecue. Out of jealousy and spite towards Flanders, a petty Homer declines Ned’s invitation to attend his backyard barbecue. The episode opens, fittingly enough, with a shot of Homer using a lawnmower labeled property of Ned Flanders a clear foreshadowing of events to come. An envious Homer, however, wishes for his goody-two-shoes neighbor to fail. In “When Flanders Failed”, Ned Flanders announces that he’s opening a general store catering to all the left-handed residents of Springfield.
What goes around comes around doesn’t just apply to bad deeds. Pay it forward, folks. Do something good for someone else and it will come back to you. This match can best be summed up in one word: karma.