Line #19 Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E21TheMonkeySuit


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_8_56.png]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 5/14/2006
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5	'''Production code:''' HABF-14
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7	When Ned Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy manage to force the schools to teach creationism, Lisa faces jail time for teaching evolution. Her only hope lands in Marge, who comes up with a solution to save her daughter.
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9	!!"The Monkey Tropes":
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11	* AWizardDidIt: InUniverse; Lisa had a test in her class with every answer being "God did it". Easy A for everyone!
12	* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations: {{Parodied\|Trope}} with "Film/Grease2: [[RecursiveAdaptation The Musical Based On the Sequel To]] [[Film/{{Grease}} the Movie Based On the Musical".]] [[invoked]]
13	* AmoralAttorney: Wallace Brady, the pro-creationist lawyer, goes for weird manipulative tactics like pretending a baby deer (which he claims is none other than Literature/{{Bambi}} himself) is telling him ScienceIsBad. He ''almost'' succeeds in putting a little girl in jail if not for Marge's own weird manipulative tactic.
14	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Lisa's lawyer asks Ned if he honestly thinks that Homer couldn't be related to an ape, Ned reluctantly admits that he can't.
15	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Parodied in the Hall of Man scene. Ned is horrified by [[FauxHorrific the sight of hominids in a display, indisputable fossil records]] and worst of all -- {{GASP}} -- a ''unisex bathroom''.
16	* BadassBookworm: Marge. She's the one that thinks up the idea of allowing Homer to do his "missing link" act in court for the sake of Lisa's defense.
17	* BatmanGambit: Marge is able to help Lisa win the case by giving her husband a beer without opening it. Homer being Homer in his desperation to open it causes him to start acting like an ape, and Ned being Ned gets so fed up with his neighbor acting like that in a courtroom and calls him a "Monkey Faced Gorilla.".
18	* BlatantLies: The documentary comparing religion and evolution claims to be unbiased, but shows the Theory of Evolution as being written in blood and Darwin as a "cowardly drunk" dancing with Satan.
19	* BookBurning: Implied with the dramatic collection of evolution-based books at school.
20	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Ned when he yells at Homer to shut up and stop acting like a chimpanzee. Usually it's Homer who orders Ned to shut up.
21	* BulletproofVest: Homer tests one with multiple shots to his torso. The vest protects him but a RevealShot shows the damage he caused to the surrounding.
22	* ChewbaccaDefense: In the end, both sides use this. Brady uses a ''baby deer'' (Bambi, apparently) at one point as a "witness" of Lisa's "evil", and Lisa's defense is to have Homer thrash part of the courtroom with his drunken antics and say that Homer acting like a mad ape is clear evidence of evolution.
23	* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Flanders covers his kids' eyes at the Evolution exhibition.
24	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Even after Lisa ultimately triumphed against Ned, she makes it clear to him that there are no hard feelings toward him. Ned, impressed by [[WorthyOpponent her determination]], offers to take her out for ice cream along with his sons.
25	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Grandpa's "Be First White Man In Negro League" entry on his to-do list.
26	* DisproportionateRetribution: Let us mention once again that Lisa Simpson, an eight-year-old-girl, is arrested, put on trial and almost sent to jail because she believes in the Theory of Evolution.
27	* EasilyForgiven: Despite the fact that Ned caused her so much trouble and almost had her sent to jail so religion could be taught at schools in place of science, Lisa doesn't really hold a grudge against him. In turn, Ned offers to take her out for some ice cream with his sons, likely as an apology.
28	* EveryoneHasStandards: Reverend Lovejoy is the very first man to tell Ned that the Bible is not a text that should be taken 100% accurately and that going all the way to taking legal action because he thinks evolution is wrong is overkill.
29	* FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit: Wallace Brady, guest-starred by Creator/LarryHagman, is an overweight southern lawyer in a white suit on Ned's side, who is constantly waving a hand fan by his side. He opposes Lisa and greatly supports creationism, calling evolution a load of "Hollywood hooey", not to mention he's not afraid of manipulating the audience at the courtroom with a cute baby deer (Bambi apparently) by claiming evolution is what allowed humans to kill his mother, with the intent of siding people against Lisa. Brady also sees no problem whatsoever with sending an ''eight-year old girl'' straight to jail if it means teaching religion at schools.
30	* FauxHorrific: Flanders can't stomach the idea of a museum teaching the world that humanity evolved from monkeys. His horrified reactions to the displays in the Hall of Man -- and worse, a ''unisex bathroom'' -- are played with horror music for comedic effect.
31	* FirstKiss: Bart has his first kiss in this episode. (This [[SeriesContinuityError ignores]] his statement in "The Way We Weren't" that he's kissed three girls.)
32	* GracefulLoser: When Lisa tells Ned she respects his beliefs, Ned admits than he wishes the world would "evolve" a few more kids like her.
33	* AGodAmI: Snake Jailbird's implied train of though during his killing spree:
34	-->'''Snake''': You live... ''you die!!'' (rifle burst)... ''you'' live... ''you'' '''die!!''' (rifle burst)
35	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Bart realizes that it's the last day of summer, and there's a lot that he still has to do. After winning a baseball game, doing an otivation at the end of a play, and having his FirstKiss, he visits the museum with his family. There, they mess around in the weapons exhibit, while Flanders goes into the evolution exhibit that starts the main plot.
36	* HollywoodLaw: Flanders and Lovejoy browbeat Skinner into teaching Creationism at school, and later the mayor approves a law that makes it illegal to teach the Theory of Evolution. ''[=McLean=] vs Arkansas Board of Education'' in 1981 established that teaching creationism in schools is against the Constitution, so it should have been easy for Lisa to force the issue.
37	* IgnoreTheFanservice: Marge is not interested when Homer tries to seduce her in bed.
38	* ImmediateSelfContradiction: At the dinner table, Homer claims to always be open to new ideas. Cue him throwing a fit when seeing onions in the peas.
39	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Finding himself at a boring museum exhibit, Bart tells Homer that as his father it's his job to protect him from such things. In response, Homer offers him a drink from his flask.
40	* ImpossiblePickleJar: Homer trying to open the beer bottle at court.
41	* JerkassBall: Flanders wants to enforce creationism after a bad trip at a museum. Even Lovejoy tells him that the Bible should be taken lightly in this regard.
42	* KangarooCourt: Parodied with Kent Brockman reporting from the courthouse while also being part of the Jury.
43	* LaResistance: Lisa's secret gathering with "Viva la Evolution" written on the blackboard.
44	* LatexPerfection: Nelson, twice. The first time, he looks like Milhouse [[PaperThinDisguise poorly disguised as Lisa]]. The [[ChekhovsGag second time]], he's impersonating one of Ned's sons, Todd. Both instances are parodying old spy TV shows such as ''Series/MissionImpossible''.
45	* LimitedAnimation: When Homer picks up and throws his dinner plate, the food remains completely static while his facial expression twitches rapidly.
46	* TheLopsidedArmOfTheLaw: Wiggum enforces the law by ''bringing a SWATTeam to deal with an eight-year-old girl''. Lisa herself lampshades it.
47	-->'''Lisa (while she's being handcuffed)''': There are so many ''worse'' crimes being committed out there, why do you pursue ''me''?! (and to prove her right, Snake starts a killing spree ten seconds later... which Wiggum tries to ignore).
48	** Wiggum does attempt to justify it by saying the police force is so undermanned that they are only able to enforce the three most recent laws and flat out admits it's the worst legal system you can get.
49	* MamaBear: Marge doesn't stand back and allow her daughter to be run over rough-shod by a corrupt law system.
50	* ManipulativeEditing: The "Unbiased Comparison of Evolution and Creationism" video has Literature/TheBible underscored with an EtherealChoir and Darvin's "The Origin of Species" underscored with [[TheNewRockAndRoll Heavy Metal music]].
51	* [[invoked]]MemeticMutation: Referenced when Bart watches a ''Film/MenInBlack''-like movie where the Jay {{expy}} exclaims, "Get outta my face, you raggedy maggots!" This causes Bart to comment, "Oh, so ''that's'' why everyone's been saying that all summer."
52	* MishmashMuseum: Springfield Museum of Natural History has the Women's Weaving Show next to the History of Weapons and an exhibition on Darwin's theories.
53	* NoodleIncident: Homer's summer to-do list includes [[BreadEggsMilkSquick "Find, destroy Atlantis."]]
54	* NuclearOption: Homer being ape-like when trying to open a beer bottle, of course.
55	* OverlyLongGag: The TourGuideGag with the device in the bin goes on for quite some time.
56	* PaperThinDisguise: As part of a plan to help Lisa to escape, Bart brings Milhouse wearing Lisa's clothes and wearing a Lisa wig. Subverted when "Milhouse" takes off his mask, revealing himself to be Nelson.
57	* ParentalNeglect: Apparent by Homer's entry "Fake Interest in Son" on his to-do list.
58	* PersecutedIntellectuals: The whole drama of the episode involves Springfield (once again) doing this to people and Lisa becoming a target just because she believes in evolution.
59	* PoliceAreUseless: Chief Wiggum uses overkill while having Lisa arrested (i.e. bringing in a ''SWAT Team'') and on the meanwhile Snake gets off scot-free with shooting people since they are only able to enforce the last three laws past. He does apologize to her during the case and admits that it's the worst legal system you can get. Snake's shooting is happening right across the street, visible ''right outside the window'', and Wiggum can only say to (try to) JustIgnoreIt.
60	* PoliceBrutality: Lisa, a second-grade student, is threatened ''at gunpoint'' for teaching evolution.
61	* PreacherMan: Ned Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy both enforce creationism, but Flanders (as is typical of him by now) is the one who goes all the way to legal action for the sake of his fundamentalism.
62	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: This episode is heavily inspired by the public debates over teaching "Intelligent Design" in schools in the United States, which had earned some political traction by the mid-2000's. Earlier in 2005, the much-publicised [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_evolution_hearings Kansas evolution hearings]] took place, while shortly after Season 17 started airing the trial of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]] started, all on this issue.
63	* RunForTheBorder: Bart suggests for Lisa to leave for Mexico as she is seemingly losing her trial.
64	* SceneryCensor: We see Marge reading "The Origin of Species" in the shower with the book and [[GodivaHair her hair]] covering her bust.
65	* ShoutOut:
66	** The episode is a reference to the Scopes Trial of 1925, where John Thomas Scopes was charged for teaching evolution at a state-funded school. Theater aficionados will recognize the trial for having previously been the basis for ''Theatre/InheritTheWind'' in 1955; the 1960 film adaptation was used as reference material for the episode.
67	** The baseball coach is a reference to ''Film/TheBadNewsBears''; the summer stock play is ''Film/Grease2''; and the summer blockbuster is basically ''Film/MenInBlack''.
68	** Old spy shows like ''Series/MissionImpossible'' and ''Series/TheSaint'' are referenced, when Nelson randomly shows up in a LatexPerfection disguise followed by a [[IdiosyncraticWipes puzzle piece transition]].
69	* SickeningCrunch: The sound when Bart stretches Milhouse on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_(torture) The Rack]].
70	* SpreeKiller: Snake acts like one of these in his brief appearance, shooting up random passerby from a rooftop.
71	* TourGuideGag: The audio tour for the museum is narrated by Creator/MelanieGriffith, but all she ever says is, "This room's nice", and "This room's nice, too", never once giving a specific detail about anything people are seeing.
72	* WatchingTheSunset: Bart and his summer love do this before sharing a kiss.
73	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
74	** Does anyone know why Snake was shooting people or caught doing so?
75	** Brady, the southern lawyer, pretty much vanishes into thin air mere seconds after Ned's defeat.
76	* WorthyOpponent: Ned calls Lisa a "worthy adversary."
77	* WouldHurtAChild: The Springfield Police Department has no problem treating an eight-year-old girl like a hostile assailant, Wallace Brady has no problem with going full-bore in court to paint said girl as a vile fiend in the hopes that the jury will find her guilty and Ned Flanders, who is the more sympathetic of the bunch to the point he invites Lisa to some ice cream when she wins the case, never seems to have a problem with the fact his own actions have caused all of this and would have sent her to prison had things gone differently.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS17E21TheMonkeySuit