Was there a reason why the blowfish poison didn't kill Homer?
In Season 2, Episode 11 of The Simpsons, "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", Homer accidentally eats the poison in a blowfish at a sushi restaurant, and as a result he's told he has only a day left to live. But for some reason, he survives with no ill effects from the poison and just falls asleep in his formerly final moments instead of dying.
I know The Simpsons is a comedy and eventually became so goofy that trying to explain plot holes is borderline pointless. But in Season 2 the show was a relatively grounded family comedy, and S2E11 in particular is almost more of a drama.
Was there any reason given in commentaries or interviews as to why Homer didn't die like his doctors and the chef expected?
Best Answer
Homer wasn't actually poisoned. He only believed he was poisoned.
At the sushi restaurant, the master chef tells Homer (emphasis mine):
I shall be blunt. We have reason to believe you've eaten poison.
When he then goes to the hospital, Dr. Hibbert tells him (again, emphasis mine):
If you have consumed blowfish venom, and the chef said it's probable... you have 24 hours to live.
At no point is it stated that Homer actually has ingested blowfish toxin, only that he probably had. Homer therefore believed that he had, but his survival at the end of the episode indicates that he hadn't, and was actually fine the whole time.
The Season 2 DVD box set contains audio commentary on the episode from Matt Groening, but I haven't been able to track down a copy of it in order to confirm whether he explicitly states that Homer was never poisoned. It's the most logical explanation, however, and both The Simpsons Wiki and TV Tropes (obligatory warning: massive time-sink) mention it in their descriptions of the episode.
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