History Recap / TheSimpsonsS9E10MiracleOnEvergreenTerrace

* AnAesop:
** Do not open the presents before Christmas.
** When destroying something and it's your fault, do not lie to your parents and cover the stuff you destroyed, tell the truth instead.

* EverybodyHelpsOutDenouement: Played straight at the midpoint of the episode with all of Springfield putting together $15,000 in cash to donate to the Simpsons. Inverted in the actual denouement of the episode, where the entirety of the town [[RidicuousRepossession loots the Simpson home to get back their money's worth]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of probably "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E1SimpsonsRoastingOnAnOpenFire Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]" and the melodramatic Christmas special episodes as a whole. The episode goes to show what would happen if the ever petulant and corrigible population of Springfield outside of The Simpson family engaged in the spirit of Christmas, but never meant it, while much like the first episode of the series, the family's Christmas gets worse as they try to salvage what they can, but escalates it up to eleven, as every one of Springfield's populace begins to harbor materialistic priorities by putting them in personal debt to pay back out of selfish gain, and claims them as thieves and liars when they don't.

* UngratefulTownsfolk: The citizens of Springfield, who treat the Simpson family like dirt throughout the episode all because of a misunderstanding and eventually loot their house.

* UnnervinglyHeartwarming: The episode ends with the rest of Springfield sincerely forgiving the Simpsons and happily wishing them Merry Christmas....due to having robbed their house of their money's worth to call it even. The horrified family find their house completely empty.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Bart accidentally setting the Christmas tree on fire and then lying about it is what sets the whole disaster in motion.

* CassandraTruth: Homer tries to warn his coworkers of a poison leak, but they think he's lying to steal their snacks.

* CrappyHolidays: The Simpsons rarely have a Christmas that goes smoothly, but this is without a doubt their worst one ever. First Bart accidentally sets the tree on fire, destroys it and all the presents, and buries it under the snow to hide what he did from the rest of the family. Then he spins a lie that a robber stole everything. The story gets out on the news, prompting the whole town to come forward to their aid, gifting the family $15,000. They blow it all on a new car that they lose immediately to a frozen lake. Then word gets out that the whole thing was a lie, and Springfield as a whole starts to treat the Simpsons as pariahs. By the end of the episode, the family have lost all their possessions, save for a single washcloth that they fight over.

* CruelTwistEnding: Just when it seems the town has forgiven the Simpsons, we see the actual reason why the Springfieldians are at their house: They're repossessing the Simpsons' belongings.

* ProducePelting: After the Springfieldians realize they've been scammed, they bombard the Simpsons' house with fruit.

* StealingTheHandicappedSpot: Homer parks his car across three handicapped spaces on his way to the Try N' Save to do his Christmas shopping.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Unprovoked, Springfield happily collects $15,000 for the Simpsons under the impression that they tragically lost their tree and all their presents on Christmas morning...''which they really did'', though in an accidental fire and not in a burglary as had been reported. Furthermore, the donors repeatedly encourage the family to splurge the money in an AwesomeButImpractical way when Marge's first impulse is simply to replace the lost items and presumably save the rest, resulting in Homer sinking all of it in a car that explodes on contact with ice water. The town residents that donated are furious when they discover what really became of the tree (at roughly the same time most of the family itself does, Bart having made up the burglary to cover up starting the fire) and, believing themselves the victims of a scam, proceed to loot the Simpsons' house top to bottom to right the balance. In other words, the family suffer an actual loss, are treated to charity they never asked for as a result, and wind up ''far'' worse off than they were before when the givers turn on them en masse, simply because they didn't lose their presents and their tree in an acceptable fashion.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Unprovoked, Springfield happily collects $15,000 for the Simpsons under the impression that they tragically lost their tree and all their presents on Christmas morning...''which they really did'', though in an accidental fire and not in a burglary as had been reported. Furthermore, the donors repeatedly encourage the family to splurge the money in an AwesomeButImpractical way when Marge's first impulse is simply to replace the tree and the presents and presumably save the rest, resulting in Homer sinking all of it in a car that explodes on contact with ice water. The town residents that donated are furious when they discover what really became of the tree (at roughly the same time most of the family itself does, Bart having made up the burglary to cover up starting the fire) and, believing themselves the victims of a scam, proceed to loot the Simpsons' house top to bottom to right the balance. In other words, the family suffer an actual loss, are treated to charity they never asked for as a result, and wind up ''far'' worse off than they were before when the givers turn on them en masse, simply because they didn't lose their presents and their tree in an acceptable fashion.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Unprovoked, Springfield happily collects $15,000 for the Simpsons under the impression that they tragically lost their tree and all their presents on Christmas morning...''which they really did'', though in an accidental fire and not in a burglary as had been reported. Furthermore, the donors repeatedly encourage the family to splurge the money in an AwesomeButImpractical way when Marge's first impulse is simply to replace the tree and the presents and presumably save the rest, resulting in Homer sinking all of it in a car that winds up exploding on contact with ice water. The town residents that donated are furious when they discover what really became of the tree (at roughly the same time most of the family itself does, Bart having made up the burglary to cover up starting the fire) and, believing themselves the victims of a scam, proceed to loot the Simpsons' house top to bottom to right the balance. In other words, the family suffer an actual loss, are treated to charity they never asked for as a result, and wind up ''far'' worse off than they were before when the givers turn on them en masse, simply because they didn't lose their presents and their tree in an acceptable fashion.