Line #18 Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E7TreehouseOfHorrorII


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monkey_paw.png]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 10/31/1991
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5	'''Production code:''' 8F02
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7	This year's Halloween special comes from candy-induced nightmares: In "Lisa's Dream", Homer's monkey paw souvenir from Morocco makes wishes come true for his family — and misfortune to befall everyone else, in "Bart's Dream", Bart's omnipotence forces everyone in town to be a StepfordSmiler or incur his wrath, and in "Homer's Dream", Mr. Burns builds the perfect plant worker — and [[EpicFail uses Homer's brain to make the robot come to life]].
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9	This was also the first episode (in production order) to be animated by a company outside {{Creator/AKOM}}, specifically [[Creator/SunwooEntertainment Anivision]]. They would go on to be a regular contributor for the series until season 10.
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11	!!Tropes included in this episode:
12	* AcidRefluxNightmare: The FramingDevice is a series of nightmares induced by eating too much Halloween candies.
13	* ActorAllusion: "Bart's Dream" is a redo of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E8ItsAGoodLife It's a Good Life]]". When [[Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie the 1983 movie]] adapted the story, Creator/NancyCartwright had a small role as the tormented family member Ethel.
14	-->'''Creator/DanCastellaneta:''' [[TrappedInTVLand She got trapped in a cartoon...]] just like in real life.
15	* AnnouncerChatter: "The kick is up... It's looking good! The ball is turning into a fat, bald guy! And it's no good! And you know what we say every time something strange happens— it's good that Bart did that! It's very good!"
16	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: A variation as Burns describes his condition after accidentally being crushed by his deactivated robot.
17	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' Every bone shattered... organs leaking vital fluids... a slight headache... loss of appetite... Smithers, I'm going to die.
18	* BaitAndSwitch: "Bart's Dream" has the old PrankCall gag, only Moe shouts out an absurdly long self-insult ("I'm a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and my butt smells and I like to kiss my own butt"), the implication being that Moe knows it's Bart and is just humoring him. Then when the bar starts laughing, he mutters "Wait a minute!", implying he didn't know.
19	* BazaarOfTheBizarre: Homer buys a monkey's paw in a Moroccan bazaar, [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday which seems to vanish afterwards]], but it turns out he just looked in the wrong direction.
20	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "Lisa's Dream". Everything the family wishes for gets twisted around by the Monkey's Paw, except for Maggie. Subverted when Ned gets it and everything seemingly goes right for him.
21	** Maggie's wish - At first, it seems she's requested a gigantic, fancy limo...[[BaitAndSwitch but it turns out it's only there to deliver her real wish: a new pacifier]]. Nothing goes wrong with that one.
22	** Bart's wish - He wants the Simpsons to be rich and famous, which eventually results in the world at large getting sick of them.
23	** Lisa's wish - She asks for world peace, but the universal pacifism and lack of weapons makes it easy for extraterrestrial aliens to conquer Earth.
24	** Homer's wish - He asks for a turkey sandwich, but then it turns out the [[{{ArsonMurderAndJaywalking}} turkey is a little dry]].
25	** Flanders wishes to get rid of the aliens, and they're immediately chased off by Moe with a board and a nail (Kang and Kodos gloat as they leave Earth that [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves humans will eventually design a board with a nail "so big, it will destroy them all"]]). His second wish changes his house into a castle, but the story ends before we can see if there is anything wrong with it.
26	* BenevolentGenie: To Homer's utter frustration, the Monkey's Paw seems to basically grant Flanders's wishes as intended (bar Kang and Kodos's prediction that the boards and nails will eventually destroy the Earth).
27	* BigBrotherIsWatching: How Homer is fired from the nuclear power plant. Interestingly, it's one of the few times in the series when Homer is actually fired for incompetence. Despite being non-canon, this is also the first time he noticed there's a camera in his workplace.
28	--> '''Smithers''': ''(over intercom)'' Attention: Homer Simpson. Attention: Homer Simpson. Wake up, Homer!\
29	'''Homer''': ''(wakes up and pushes random buttons)'' Huh? Wha?\
30	'''Smithers''': You're fired.\
31	'''Homer''': For what?\
32	'''Smithers''': For sleeping on the job.\
33	'''Homer''': How'd you know I was sleeping?\
34	'''Smithers''': We've been monitoring you on the surveillance camera.\
35	'''Homer''': Camera? ''(notices it)'' D'oh!
36	* BizarreDreamRationalization: Homer wakes up from his dream and finds out Mr. Burns' head has been sewn onto his shoulder. Homer tells himself that he's still dreaming but Burns insists otherwise.
37	* BodyHorror: What happens to anyone who doesn't think happy thoughts in Bart's dream.
38	* BrainTheft: Mr. Burns puts Homer's brain in a robot, but the plan backfires as Homer's brain turns the robot into a LazyBum.
39	* BrickJoke: Early on in Bart's dream, American history is rewritten because of Bart, so that America is called "Bonerland". Later on, Bart and Homer go to visit Dr. Marvin Monroe, part of the Bonerland Medical Association.
40	* CatapultNightmare: The end of "Bart's Dream".
41	* CreatingLifeIsBad: Apparently, because it will only eat donuts and sleep on the job.
42	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' Oh, Smithers, I was wrong to play God! Life is precious, not something to be toyed with. [[ImmediateSelfContradiction Now take out that brain and flush it down the toilet!]]
43	* CreditsGag: This is the first "Treehouse Of Horror" episode to use scary nicknames for the cast and crew.
44	* DeathGlare: Bart gives Marge one when she orders him to come with her, forcing her to rephrase the demand as a request.
45	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mr. Burns' plan to steal somebody's brain to power his robot didn't work out because he used ''Homer's'' brain.
46	* DreamEpisode: Most of the episode's running time is the nightmare segments, with only brief linking sections in the waking world.
47	* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Parodied in "Lisa's Dream", Ned wishes that the aliens were gone. Cue Moe (and only Moe) chasing them away.
48	-->'''Kodos:''' He's got a board with a nail in it!
49	* EatTheCamera: Done at the end of Bart's nightmare, when he wakes up screaming (because of Homer ''kissing'' him, among all things.)
50	* EverybodyLives: To date, this is the only Halloween special where no one dies (unless one counts Mr. Burns's head being separated and placed onto Homer's head as a death).
51	* EvilLaugh: Kang and Kodos debut their evil laugh, which goes on for several seconds. They have another at Earth's expense when they flee.
52	* ExactWords: Homer uses the paw to wish for a turkey sandwich, and specifies that he wants no "weird surprises". It turns out the turkey in the sandwich is a little dry, which is a perfectly mundane surprise (but not to Homer, who still considers it a horrid thing).
53	* FaceHeelTurn: After turning out to be GoodAllAlong in their previous appearance, this time, Kang and Kodos are unambiguously evil.
54	* FailedASpotCheck:
55	** Mr. Burns needs a brain for his robot? When he and Smithers first walk into the lab and pass by the GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks in the foreground, there's a living human brain in a specimen dish right there.
56	** In the same segment, Bart and Lisa only realize Homer is missing when Marge informs them he'd been gone for two days.
57	* FauxHorrific:
58	** In "Bart's Dream", Dr. Monroe suggests that Bart is using his omnipotent powers as a way to earn Homer's affection. He encourages the Simpson men to spend quality time together. They do so, become much closer, and say that they love each other. Homer then gently kisses Bart on the head...which causes the ''real'' Bart to wake up screaming in terror.
59	** Homer reacts to eating a turkey sandwich with meat that's a little dry with more fervor and anguish than Earth being enslaved by aliens.
60	* FiveSecondForeshadowing:
61	** As Mr. Burns, having been crushed by his robot, is telling Smithers to grab surgical tools and some ether, we cut to Homer screaming in bed before we learn ''what'' those tools were to be used for.
62	*** Also, here's what is immediately said ''after'' we cut to Homer screaming:
63	---->'''Marge''': Did you have a nightmare?
64	---->'''Homer''': No. Bart bit me.
65	*** We also don't immediately see the right part of Homer's body. But apparently his family did after he got up.
66	* FoodAsBribe: Bart is initially reluctant to let Lisa share his bed when she gets night terrors. She offers him a candy necklace, which he devours before granting her permission.
67	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Lisa's nightmare begins with a dream-like crossfade, and Bart's nightmare as he closes his eyes (seen from his POV). Homer's "nightmare" just has a straight cut to the beginning of the story, foreshadowing the twist ending.
68	* FrightInducedBunkmate: After Lisa's dream in the first segment, she asks to sleep in Bart's bed. He then has his own nightmare in the second segment and the two apply to Homer and Marge.
69	* FullConversionCyborg: Mr. Burns uses Homer's brain to power his robot, which of course acts just like Homer (i.e not interested in doing any work at all).
70	* GoneHorriblyWrong: Mr. Burns comes to this conclusion when the robot powered by Homer's brain fails to live up to his expectations and behaves just like Homer:
71	--> '''Mr Burns''': It wasn't supposed to be this way! It was supposed to be a thing of beauty, not this abomination!
72	-->''(cut to the Homer robot loudly snoring while asleep at its post)''
73	* GlobalIgnorance: In the first segment, Homer confuses Morocco with Monaco.
74	-->'''Homer:''' What a dump! Why would [[Creator/GraceKelly Princess Grace]] live in a place like this?\
75	'''Lisa:''' Dad, that's Monaco.
76	* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: When Mr. Burns and Smithers descend into Burns' laboratory, they pass a worktable in the foreground featuring loads of glassware and a human brain in a dish. As they pass behind them, the audience's views of their bodies become distorted, stretched and squashed when viewed through the liquids.
77	* GraveHumor: Like the first ''Treehouse of Horror'' special, there are some funny gravestones in the intro. One reads "Cajun Cooking" and another reads "Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How".
78	* GraveRobbing: In "Homer's Dream", Mr. Burns and Smithers do this to find a brain for their robot. They find Homer sleeping in an open grave.
79	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' I feel like a kid in a candy store!
80	* HonorAmongThieves: Hinted at when Kang and Kodos retreat from Earth, as Kang waits for Kodos to board the UFO instead of flying off without him.
81	* HowHardCanItBe: Homer's question when Lisa realized a possible job requires to operate an ultrasonic lithotriptor. Lisa shakes her head at Homer's question.
82	* ImplausibleDeniability: Bart, a known RealityWarper who has the whole town cowering before him, turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box.
83	-->'''Marge:''' Bart!
84	-->'''Bart:''' Lisa did it.
85	* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: What Kang and Kodos are convinced humanity will do after being chased off the planet.
86	--> '''Kodos''': Well, Kang, it seems the earthlings won.\
87	'''Kang''': Did they? That board with the nail in it may have defeated us, but the humans won't stop there. They'll make bigger boards and bigger nails. Soon, they will make a board with a nail so big, it will destroy them all! ''(both laugh)''
88	* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: In "Lisa's Dream", after humanity has gotten rid of their weapons, Kang and Kodos conquer Earth with slings and clubs.
89	-->'''Kang:''' Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!
90	* {{Irony}}:
91	--> '''Lisa''': I wish for world peace!\
92	'''Homer''': Lisa, that was very selfish of you!
93	* IrritationNightmare: In this episode's second act, Bart dreams that he can read minds and turn people into anything if they don't think happy thoughts. After Bart turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box, Marge takes him to Dr. Marvin Monroe, who suggests that Homer spend time with him. Homer and Bart form a strong bond, and after Bart turns Homer back to normal, they say they love each other. Cue Bart waking up screaming.
94	* ItsPopularNowItSucks: An in-universe example. Bart wishes for the Simpsons to be rich and famous, resulting in [[RealitySubtext the world getting sick of them]].
95	* JackassGenie: As usual, the Monkey Paw.
96	* {{Jerkass}}:
97	** Jimbo and Kearney threaten to egg Homer's house if he doesn't hand over the candy bowl...then they egg it anyway and smash his pumpkin.
98	** Bart is one in his segment. He forces the school faculty to cater to him and mark his wrong answers as correct (thus ruining the futures of his classmates who actually study), ruins Homer’s football game because his dad wouldn’t let him watch TV and forces Krusty to stay on the air for 346 consecutive hours (almost 15 days).
99	* JumpScare: Bart's CatapultNightmare scream at the end of his dream where he rapidly zooms really close to the screen and then [[EatTheCamera his black mouth overtakes the entire screen]].
100	* LaserGuidedKarma: When Flanders gets the Monkey's paw, which Homer only gave away because he figured it'd screw Ned over the way it had the Simpsons, it works flawlessly for him.
101	* LimitedAnimation: Marge at the window: [[https://frinkiac.com/video/S03E07/84SRs2Tg55AVjhpCJD2M_FP-GSs=.gif "Oh Homer, this is awful."]]
102	* LiteralGenie: When it can't be a JerkassGenie thanks to Homer taking his time wording his final wish, it acts as a literal one. When Homer doesn't want any weird surprises in his turkey sandwich, the paw doesn't give him a 'weird' surprise, but an ordinary one by making the turkey a little dry.
103	* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: Parodied:
104	-->'''Marge:''' Eugh! Homer, where did you get that ugly thing?
105	-->'''Homer:''' From that little shop right over there--''(Points to an empty lot, where sand devils whirl. He gasps in disbelief, then corrects himself.)'' Oh, no, wait, it was right over there.
106	-->'''Shop Vendor:''' ''(waving)'' You'll be sorrrrrrry!
107	* LoserBuysLunch: Near the end of Homer's dream, after Smithers convinces Mr. Burns to return Homer's brain to his body, they share this dialogue:
108	-->'''Homer:''' ''[Sutures being sewed on his head]'' Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
109	-->'''Mr.Burns:''' Quit your complaining.
110	-->'''Smithers:''' Do you know what this means? He is alive.
111	-->'''Mr.Burns:''' Ooh, you're right, Smithers. I guess I owe you a Coke.
112	* MeatgrinderSurgery: Mr. Burns uses an ice-cream scoop to remove Homer's brain. Amazingly it and the attached spinal cord remain intact.
113	-->'''Smithers:''' "Ice-cream scoop"?
114	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' Damnit, Smithers, this isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery!
115	* MoralityPet: In "Homer's Dream", after the experiment is a proven failure, Smithers gets Burns to reverse the procedure on Homer.
116	* MultipleHeadCase: Mr. Burns' head is stitched to Homer's body.
117	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
118	** Nonverbally, this is Lisa's reaction after the aliens invade. We see her moping at the table with Marge comforting her in the background while Bart reads the newspaper.
119	** Mr. Burns gets this reaction when the robot with Homer's brain acts like...well, Homer. Burns says it wasn't meant to be like this and admits that he was wrong to play God.
120	* NotHyperbole: When everyone starts to despise the Simpsons for appearing everywhere:
121	--> '''Homer''': Come to think of it, the guy who sold me this thing said the wishes would bring "grave misfortune". I thought he was just being colorful.
122	* NotSoAboveItAll: Burns using the brain as a coonskin cap and yelling, "Look at me! I'm Davy Crockett!"
123	* OddballInTheSeries: "Treehouse Of Horror II" is the only "Treehouse Of Horror" special where the individual segments don't have onscreen titles. In this episode, the FramingDevice is Lisa, Bart, and Homer have candy-induced nightmares, so the episode guide only refers to the segments as "Lisa's Nightmare", "Bart's Nightmare", and "Homer's Nightmare".
124	* OnlySaneWoman: Marge (as usual) takes this role throughout the episode. In the framing device, she warns everyone not to eat too much candy; in "Lisa's Dream", she's the only person who suggests that the wishing might go wrong; and in "Bart's Dream", she demands that the family attend therapy to sort out their problems.
125	* OnTheNext: Parodied at the end of "Homer's Dream". Homer wants to go to a spaghetti dinner, while Burns insists on attending a reception for the Queen of Holland.
126	-->'''Homer:''' Oh, I hate having two heads!
127	* OrWasItADream: The end of "Homer's Dream", where Homer finds Mr. Burns' head grafted to his shoulder.
128	-->'''Homer:''' I didn't wake up! It's all a dream! It's just a dream!\
129	'''Mr. Burns:''' Oh, that's right. It's all a dream... or is it?! ''[[EvilLaugh (laughs)]]''
130	* OverlyLongGag: Both times Kang and Kodos laugh, their laughter is extended for a very long time.
131	* PoliceAreUseless: Justified in both Lisa's and Bart's dreams. In the former, they can't stop the aliens due to Lisa's wish for world peace. In the latter, since Bart has powers that he uses whenever he is not pleased, all the cops can do is wave "Hi Bart!" when the bus passes them at [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture 88 miles per hour]].
132	* PragmaticAdaptation: Unlike Anthony from "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E8ItsAGoodLife It's a Good Life]]", Bart does ''not'' use his powers to deprive Springfield of electricity during his telepathic dictatorship of the town, because it would be too out of character to Bart to want to live in a world without electrical devices..at least television and video games anyway.
133	* PrankCall: In Bart's dream, he calls Moe and has him yell out the PunnyName of... "[[OverlyLongGag I'm A Stupid Moron With An Ugly Face And A Big Butt And My Butt Smells And I Like To Kiss My Own Butt]]." The end of the scene implies Moe didn't realize it was Bart.
134	* PsychicStatic: Homer attempts this when he tries to kill Bart in "Bart's Dream", using the traditional "think other thoughts" method. The problem? His "other thoughts" are thoughts about ''not'' thinking about killing Bart ("OK, don't think about how you're going to kill him"). Needless to say, it doesn't work.
135	* PunyEarthlings: Subverted for laughs. Kang and Kodos only invade Earth after humanity has voluntarily dissolved its militaries and destroyed all its weapons, leaving them helpless against the aliens' arsenal of wooden clubs and slingshots. The aliens even boast, "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!" They flee the planet when Moe thinks to attack them with a wooden board that has a nail sticking out of it.
136	* PuppyDogEyes: How Smithers gets Mr. Burns to return Homer's brain to his body.
137	* RealityWarper: Bart in "Bart's Dream" -- naturally, as it's a parody of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E8ItsAGoodLife It's a Good Life]]", about a boy named Anthony Fremont who has similar powers.
138	* RecycledAnimation:
139	** The footage of Lisa saying, "Don't forget, Dad: tonight, my class is having an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner." is recycled from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E5HomerDefined Homer Defined]]".
140	** The ColdOpen of Marge warning the viewers and the opening pan through Springfield and through the gates of the cemetery are reused from the previous Treehouse of Horror episode, with new dialogue from Marge for the former.
141	* RiddleForTheAges: Maggie ate just as much candy as her family at the beginning, so it is possible she had a nightmare as well, but we just don't see it.
142	* RidiculousExchangeRates: On their way back from Morocco, Homer is frisked by airport security and is revealed to have smuggled food under his shirt. This leads to:
143	--> '''Airport security''': You must pay a fine!... of two American dollars.\
144	'''Homer''': ''(nonchalant)'' Okay.
145	* RockBeatsLaser: Parodied. The primary weapon for the human uprising against their alien overlords is Moe wielding a board with a nail in it. This makes sense considering the aliens invaded when the entire earth was unarmed after Lisa wished for world peace, and had things like slingshots. After being driven off, the aliens muse that one day the humans will "create bigger boards and bigger nails" until one day "they will create a board with a nail so big it will destroy them all!"
146	-->'''Kang''': Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!
147	* SatiatingSandwich: When Bart and Lisa’s wishes for fame and fortune and world peace [[GoneHorriblyWrong go horribly wrong]], Homer uses the last wish from the monkey paw on something [[TemptingFate he believes can’t possibly backfire]]: a turkey sandwich. He even demonstrates some [[GenreSavvy genre savviness]] by explicitly specifying that the sandwich not be made from zombie turkeys, that he not be turned into a turkey himself, or any other weird surprises. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted, however, when Homer evaluates the conjured sandwich]]...
148	-->'''Homer''': ''[eating]'' Not bad. Nice, hot mustard. Good bread. The turkey's a little dry. ''[gasps]'' The turkey’s a little dry?!? OH FOUL ACCURSED THING!!! WHAT DEMON FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL CREATED THEE???
149	* SelfDeprecation: After Bart wishes for the Simpsons to become rich and famous, a large merchandising campaign starts up, causing the general public to grow tired of them.
150	-->'''Otto:''' ''(listening to a Simpsons album)'' Man, this thing is really getting out of hand.\
151	'''Helen Lovejoy:''' ''(seeing a billboard of Bart advocating mammograms)'' Is there anything they won't do?
152	* SharingABody: Mr. Burns's head is stitched to Homer's body.
153	* ShoutOut:
154	** The gravestones at the start show the tombstones of [[WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} "Bambi's Mom"]], [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]] (which has writing all over it and is being worshipped by hippies, which is how Morrison's grave looks in real life), and Creator/WaltDisney (with icicles and frost all over it, a reference to the urban legend that Disney is cryogenically frozen).
155	** The children in Halloween costumes running past Homer's door are a reference to ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''.
156	** Homer being searched by the Moroccan police at the airport is a reference to the arrest of the drug smuggler in ''Film/MidnightExpress''.
157	** Lisa wishes for world peace, which shows scenes of Argentina and the United Kingdom making up over the Falklands and people dancing in a large peace symbol to the tune of the hippie anthem "Get Together" by The Youngbloods.
158	** Flanders' castle is a reference to the Disneyland castle.
159	** Bart and Lisa watch ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson'' on TV.
160	** Mr. Burns scolds the robot he created with the insult: "Clinking, clattering cacophony of collagenous cogs and camshafts", similar to [[Film/TheWizardOfOz The Wizard of Oz's]] line to the Tin Man: "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!" He also hums "If I Only Had a Brain" while scooping Homer's brain out of his head.
161	** Homer and Mr. Burns's heads sharing the same body reference ''The Thing with Two Heads''.
162	* SkewedPriorities:
163	** Instead of making a wish that would solve the issue of Kang & Kodos conquering Earth, Homer uses the last wish of the Monkey's Paw for a turkey sandwich.
164	** When Smithers asks Mr. Burns to put Homer's brain back in his own body, Mr. Burns whines: "Oh come on, it's ''11:45''!"
165	* SpotTheThread: Homer's segment is the only one that doesn't have a transition to the "dream" portion.
166	* StepfordSmiler: Everyone in Bart's dream, because if they don't think happy thoughts, Bart turns them into something horrific. And it's a good thing that Bart does that, it's a real good thing.
167	* TemptingFate: Marge warns everyone to not eat too much candy or they'll get nightmares. They laugh off the idea that the exact FramingDevice obviously being set up is going to happen.
168	-->'''Bart:''' Oh yeah, everybody in this family's gonna have a bad nightmare tonight.
169	-->'''Lisa:''' Oh yeah, ''[[ThreeShorts three]]'' [[ThreeShorts bad nightmares]].
170	-->'''Homer:''' I'd like to see that!
171	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted in Bart's dream, where Marge not only manages to get the godlike Bart to a therapist, but the therapist successfully identifies the actual cause of Bart's behavior and is able to fix it.
172	* TheyCalledMeMad: "Oh, that fellow at Radio Shack said I was mad. [[IResembleThatRemark Well who's mad now?]] [[EvilLaugh Ah-hahahahahaha]]!"
173	* ThisAintRocketSurgery:
174	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' Dammit, Smithers! This isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery!
175	* TooOldToTrickOrTreat: The opening credits feature Jimbo Jones and Kearney Zzyzwicz trick-or-treating at the Simpson's residence. Homer Simpson asks them if they aren't too old to trick-or-treat and points out that they aren't even wearing costumes.
176	* ThoughtAversionFailure: Homer's attempt at making PsychicStatic so Bart won't read his mind as he sneaks up on him is "okay, don't think of bashing Bart's brains out." Result: Bart [[OffhandBackhand transforms him into a Jack-in-the-box without even looking at him]]. [[EpicFail Good going, Homer.]]
177	* VocalDissonance: When [[CatapultNightmare Bart wakes up screaming]] at the end of his nightmare, his scream sounds more like Lisa's, though this could be attributed to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
178	* WholePlotReference:
179	** Lisa's dream is a reference to ''Literature/TheMonkeysPaw''.
180	** Bart's dream is a plot parody of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E8ItsAGoodLife It's a Good Life]]". Even the narrator's voice spoofs Creator/RodSerling's narration style.
181	** Homer's dream references ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS3E7TreehouseOfHorrorII