History Recap / TheSimpsonsS4E21MargeInChains

** Homer going to the Kwik-E-Mart to see if Apu can just let go of the charges, only to find him and Sanjay celebrating and Apu pausing long enough to tell Homer that he can't do that because it's company policy to deal with any shoplifters with the full extent of the law (and talking about Marge like she was a criminal as bad as Snake).

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: There's no way a Judge would ever be allowed to try a case where he has such a clear and personal bias against one of the lawyers involved.

* IllnessBlanket: After getting the flu, Bart lies on the sofa under a blanket.

In spite of her initial fears, Marge blends in nicely, making friends with her tough-as-nails cell-mate (who murdered her husband with a monkey-wrench). Things fall apart for everyone else however. The rest of the family somehow turn the house into a disaster (including having an alligator in the toilet) and run through the wardrobe over the course of 10 minutes while the annual bake sale comes up short without her cakes, forcing the town to get a statue of Jimmy Carter instead of one of Abraham Lincoln as it was planned. This becomes enough to send Springfield into a pandemonium.

* {{Jerkass}}: Apu, Sanjay and the majority of on-screen characters who gossip about Marge because she forgot to pay for the bourbon even though it was clearly an accident due to how stressed out she was. Special mention goes to [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Helen Lovejoy]], whose gossip mongering and testimony help get Marge thrown in prison.
* JerkassBall: Apu and Sanjay cheering and celebrating at the idea of getting Marge arrested and jailed.

-->'''Sargent''': Hmm. Must be a school day. Lay down your arms!

* AnythingButThat: Lionel Hutz imagines what life would be like without lawyers, which features people from every race, ethnic background, creed and color dancing under a rainbow while a non-copyright-infringing version of "I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing" plays. [[EvilLawyerJoke It sickens Hutz]].

* InformedAttribute: Downplayed. Hutz implies Judge Snider has it in for him due to (repeatedly) running over his son. While Marge's trial ''is'' a KangarooCourt, is has little to do with Snider's involvement, and most of his grievances with Hutz only stem from his genuine incompetence in court.

* LazilyGenderFlippedName: Bart's Imagine Spot for breaking Marge out of prison involves him dressed as a woman named "Bartina".

* NotSoDifferent: When Nelson tries to taunt Bart about Marge's situation during school.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Lionel Hutz switches out the verdict with a cocktail napkin, if you pay attention when the verdict is being handed to the judge you can actually [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/6smj51/ive_seen_this_episode_dozens_of_times_but_i_just/ see Hutz performing a quick sleight-of-hand and switch the verdicts]]. It happens very quickly and you'll only see it if you know to look for it.

* ContinuityNod: One of the jurors at Marge's trial is Jack Marley, from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E7MargeGetsAJob Marge Gets a Job]]".

At the trial, the Blue-Haired Lawyer is so confident that Marge is guilty that he decides to talk to the jury about Hollywood stars, Helen Lovejoy gleefully railroads her by implying she is a heavy drinker, while Professor Frink links her to the Kennedy assassination. While Hutz starts out well by outfoxing Apu's self-described "photographic memory" and convincing him that Marge could be innocent, his performance soon drops to pathetic depths and gets Marge sentenced to 30 days in prison.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: At the juice loosener ad, Troy [=McClure=] smashes an orange at his face to imply that's the only way to extract juice from it before the loosener was invented. Homer is then seen using that method while watching the ad and being surprised it's not the only way.

* InfectionScene: A Japanese worker at a kitchen appliance factory begs one of his co-workers not to tell the supervisor he has the flu, right before he coughs a visible cloud of green and red germs into a box shipping a juice loosener to Springfield. This leads to an Oskaka flu outbreak in Springfield when the juicers arrive at their destination several weeks later.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: At the juice loosener ad, Troy [=McClure=] smashes an orange at his face to imply that's the only way to extract juice from it before the loosener was invented. Homer is then seen using that method while watching the ad and being surprised it's not the only way.

* SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage: For Apu and Sanjay's brief lines of Indian dialogue, the writers called the Embassy of India in Washington to get them to translate. The Embassy was not "interested or happy" but still did it.

'''Snyder:''' You mean lawyer?\\
'''Hutz:''' Uh, right.

* EvilLawyerJoker: "Could you imagine a world without lawyers?"