History Recap / TheSimpsonsS4E20WhackingDay

* DumbassNoMore: The usually BookDumb Bart has an increased interest in history, and he's the one who discovers that the Whacking Day is a farce. Subverted though, as [[StatusQuoIsGod this is reverted for the next episode.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In order to get all the school's major troublemakers (Bart, Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney) out of the way during Superintendent Chalmers' visit, Seymour fights dirty, luring them into the basement by announcing that they've all won mountain bikes. Their escape plan involves sending Bart through a narrow vent to the grounds outside, [[GoneHorriblyWrong where he spots Willie's unattended tractor and promptly rams it into Chalmers' rear end, causing Chalmers to pass Seymour over as "assistant superintendent" in favor of an obviously flawed rival]]. If Seymour hadn't tried to get rid of Bart, he might have still been an embarrassing addendum to the tour, but he would have been in his classroom with Edna to keep his havoc in check.

* LockedUpAndLeftBehind: Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph, Kearney and Bart get locked in the school's bomb shelter by Skinner while Chalmers is paying a visit. Only Bart is shown getting out. [[SomethingWeForgot At the episode's end]], possibly at least a week later, Skinner realizes the rest are still in there. Luckily, the bomb shelter had plenty of food and water so they're okay.

* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/JohnnyTremain'', possibly the only book that could hold Bart's interest. And while he initially only reads it because of the title character's deformity, the principles of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution start to resonate with him.

* StatusQuoIsGod: Bart returns to Springfield Elementary after Skinner sees his creativity and intelligence in saving the snakes. Ironically, Bart probably would have been better off with Marge continuing to homeschool him. He actually showed more improvement under her tutelage, particularly since she knows how to appeal to him, than he did at Springfield Elementary.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The show opens with "Eye on Springfield", where Kent Brockman teases a feature on the Munchkins from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', before a cut shot to a row of gravestones in the cemetery. [[note]](Perhaps a nod to news magazine-type shows of the era overdoing features on then-surviving cast members of the 1939 film, whose ranks were slowly but surely diminishing even in 1993; the last Munchkin-actor, Jerry Maren, passed away in 2018.)[[/note]]
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Apparently it's not even in New York State, from the way Bart points out that there is no way Jebediah Springfield could have been in the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga and then celebrated the first Whacking Day.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Apparently it's not even in New York State, from the way Bart points out that there is no way Jedediah Springfield could have been in the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga and then celebrated the first Whacking Day.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Bart is kicked out of a Christian school within a few minutes, with the teacher leading the entire class in an angry mob, for singing a rude playground song about [[ToiletHumor how beans are "the musical fruit."]].

* StealthPun: Naturally, the Mafia is all too happy to celebrate Whacking Day.

* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: Possibly the {{trope namer}}. During the march through town, TheMafia's banners read "Legitimate Businessmen's Club". Instead of beating the snakes to death, [[JustShootHim they just shoot them]].

* AccidentalMistake: Mayor Quimby introduces Barry White as "Larry White", and refuses to admit that he made a mistake even after Barry White corrects him.

'''Lisa:''' I learned how many drams in a pennyweight.\\

* BlatantLies: When Marge takes Bart to Olde Springfield Towne on a field trip, he unintentionally gets them kicked out when he points out there's no way Jebediah Springfield could've participated in the first Whacking Day. The Towne's management has them removed by security for this. It's implied the Towne management created this fake exhibit to build public support for Whacking Day.

-->'''Bart''' ''[skeptically]'': Is that story true, Grampa?\\
'''Grampa''': Well, most of it. I did wear a dress for a period in the '40s. Oh, they had designers then!

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Grampa's story about how he had to pose as a German cabaret singer after he got separated from his platoon during a raid in Dusseldorf is impossible, not just because of how cartoonish the flashback was, but because the German cabaret was outlawed in 1935 (long before [=WW2=] officially started), with many involved either fleeing the country or getting put into concentration camps due to their anti-Nazi views (and some of the performers possibly being Jewish). The Dusseldorf air raid that Grampa was said to be a part of happened in 1942. [[RamblingOldManMonologue But since this]] ''[[RamblingOldManMonologue is]]'' [[RamblingOldManMonologue Grampa Simpson we're talking about,]] Bart (knowing his grandfather) is justifiably skeptical of the story.
-->'''Bart''' ''(with a questioning look on his face)'': Is that story true, Grampa?\\