 The writers had wanted an episode where Burns becomes bankrupt and shows what Burns would be like as a person in the real world . The idea with the recycling plant was that Burns did not have any sort of evil plan , he just could not help being himself . Burns really was trying to change and this was reflected in the end when he tried to give Lisa her share of the profits , with Lisa refusing . Burns was drawn without his trademark scowl for this episode . The staff joked about this being a suitable series finale , due to the episode ending with Homer suffering from another heart attack after Lisa tells Homer what 10 % of Burns ' $ 120 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 check really is . 
