Line #19 Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E10TheSpringfieldFiles


1	[[quoteright:207:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_springfield_files_promo.gif]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 1/12/1997 ''(produced in 1996)''
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5	'''Production code:''' 3G01
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7	In this tale narrated by Creator/LeonardNimoy, Homer sees an alien in the woods, and while everyone else writes it off as yet another drunken hallucination (since Homer tested "Boris Yeltsin" drunk on Moe's Breathalyzer), Agents Mulder and Scully from ''The X-Files'' come to Springfield to help Homer solve the case.
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9	This is the first of four episodes across Seasons 8 & 9 produced during the former by Al Jean and Mike Reiss instead of the current showrunner (in this case, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein). Jean would return as showrunner starting in Season 13.
10	--------------------------
11	!!The tropes are out there:
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13	* ActorAllusion: Mulder's FBI badge picture shows him sitting provocatively wearing a black speedo, in reference to both David Duchovny's former role in the erotic drama tv series [[{{Creator/Showtime}} The Red Shoe Diaries]] and the [[Recap/TheXFilesS02E05DuaneBarry X-Files episode]] where Mulder is shown doing laps in a pool while wearing a red speedo.
14	* AffectionateParody: Of ''Series/TheXFiles''. Both Creator/GillianAnderson and Creator/DavidDuchovny SpecialGuest-starred in the roles of their famous characters.
15	* AgentMulder: Homer. Also, [[ShapedLikeItself Agent Mulder]].
16	* AgentScully: Not only ''[[Series/TheXFiles the]]'' Scully makes a guest appearance, but Lisa demonstrates that she is a hard-core skeptic (with a subscription to a skepticism magazine, even).
17	* AlienEpisode: Homer sees an alien, and the quest to be believed starts.
18	* BaitAndSwitchComment:
19	** Homer talks about the CameraSpoofing technique he [[SawItInAMovieOnce learned]] from ''{{Film/Speed}}''.
20	--->'''Homer:''' I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to ''speed'' around the city, keeping its ''speed'' over fifty, and if its ''speed'' dropped, the bus would explode! I think it was called...The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down.
21	** During Rev. Lovejoy's sermon and while all of Springfield has "Alien Mania" due to Homer discovering an alien.
22	--->'''Rev. Lovejoy:''' I remember another gentle visitor from the heavens. He came in peace... and then died... only to come back to life. And his name was: [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T., the extra-terrestrial.]] ''(sniff)'' I love that little guy.
23	* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Parodied in Creator/LeonardNimoy's introduction.
24	* BigNo: Homer shouts it when he hears Bart's ghost story about college costs for Maggie.
25	* BirthdayBuddies: Homer shares his birthday with the family dog, Santa's Little Helper. However due to the AlienEpisode plot that Homer is trying to prove he had an encounter, no one believes his story and instead gives the birthday attention to the dog.
26	* BitingTheHandHumor: When Bart asks what Homer will do if they can't get proof of the alien's existence, Homer says they'll make up something and sell it to [=FOX=] Network. The two laugh at how they buy anything.
27	* BlatantLies: Homer tries to pull this trope to make his actions the night he saw the 'alien' sound better. Scully quickly calls him on it.
28	-->'''Mulder''': All right, Homer. We want you to re-create your every move the night you saw this alien.
29	-->'''Homer''': Well, the evening began at the gentleman's club, where we were discussing [[Creator/LudwigWittgenstein Wittgenstein]] over a game of backgammon.
30	-->'''Scully''': Mr. Simpson, it's a felony to lie to the F.B.I..
31	-->'''Homer''': We were sitting in Barney's car eating packets of mustard. You happy?
32	* BookEnds: The episode opens on Leonard Nimoy sitting in shadow before the camera zooms in on him, and ends by zooming away from the Squeaky-Voiced Teen and fading into shadow.
33	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Leonard Nimoy does this in both his cutaways, then the Squeaky-Voiced Teen does the same at the end.
34	* BrickJoke: After Mulder reveals to Moe that he and Scully are FBI agents, and informs the two men in his back room that they have to return the killer whale in there to Sea World. After Mulder finishes his monologue later, the three men can be seen behind him trying to carry the orca, [[OhCrap then run off after they spot Mulder, still carrying the orca]].
35	* ByNoIMeanYes: Leonard Nimoy begins with, "The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies, and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is no."
36	* CallBack: [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E2CapeFeare Once again]], Moe abandons a criminal scheme because he mistakenly thinks people are onto him.
37	* TheCameo: As well as the multiple aliens from other companies that appear on the line-up, someone who may be the Cigarette Smoking Man is shown to be looking at Homer when Scully tries to give him a polygraph test.
38	* CharacterFilibuster: Parodied, as Mulder gives a long rant about "the truth". He started during daylight hours, but it's night by the time he's finished. And Scully left as he was getting started.
39	** According to the DVD commentary, they just left the microphone on and let Duchovny ramble about whatever he wanted. He went on for ''two hours'' before he ran out of steam.
40	* ChekhovsGunman: Mr. Burns appears early on in the episode, then it's revealed at the end that he is the "alien", after undergoing treatments allowing him to cheat death for another week, which leave him twisted and disoriented, and the green glow comes from his lifetime of working at the power plant.
41	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Homer, not long after being told by the guy selling shirts that the "Homer is a Dope" ones are already sold out, orders two of them. The guy was going to lampshade this in dialogue that wound up being cut.
42	* CompressedVice: The fact that Mr. Burns glows in the dark thanks to decades of exposure to the plant's toxic wastes is never brought up again. For that matter, neither are his weekly treatments.
43	* CouchGag: The family flies into the room wearing jetpacks.
44	* CouldntFindAPen: A non-bloody example, Homer runs away from the alien screaming "Yahhh!". As we watch from above we see him run through a field spelling out the word "Yahhh!" in cursive (including the exclamation mark, which he dots).
45	* CropCircles: Homer runs through a field of crop, screaming "Yahhh!" and creating the pattern Yahhh!, in crop circle fashion.
46	* CrossoverCouple: {{Downplayed}}: Homer drunkenly expresses an attraction to Scully before quickly backpedaling and [[SeductionProofMarriage tearfully begging her not to tell Marge]].
47	* CrowdSong: At the end, the town spontaneously sang [[Theatre/{{Hair}} "Good Morning, Starshine"]] together. Nimoy, Mulder, Scully and [[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]] joined in as well.
48	* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: TheReveal of who the alien is: it's Burns, who undergoes a weekly treatment to stay alive another week and wanders around high from the industrial-sized dose of painkillers he receives as part of it.
49	* DelayedReaction: Exaggerated when Homer is getting his reflexes tested. Scully hits his knee, and Homer responds with an "Ow"...''hours later''.
50	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "The unsolved mysteries of... ''Series/UnsolvedMysteries''!"
51	* EpicFail:
52	** Grampa Simpson ended up lost in the woods while trying to get the morning paper. A few days later, he has his dentures stolen by a tortoise, who then ''bites Grampa with his own teeth'' when he (unsuccessfully) tries to get them back.
53	** When Homer gets his reflexes tested, it takes ''two hours'' for his knee to respond.
54	** Homer is unable to correctly recall [[Film/{{Speed}} a movie's title]] in spite of having repeatedly used the title's only word while describing the plot.
55	--->'''Homer''': I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to ''speed'' around the city, keeping its ''speed'' over fifty, and if its ''speed'' dropped, the bus would explode! I think it was called "The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down."
56	** Homer is given a polygraph test to see if his alien sighting is true. The polygraph machine ''explodes'' when Homer just answers "yes" to Scully asking him if he understands.
57	* EtTuBrute: Homer is upset that even Marge would buy and wear a "Homer is a Dope" shirt. He changes his mind upon seeing how good the job of sewing "Dope" on the shirt was.
58	* FakeCrossOver: With ''Series/TheXFiles''. Unlike the debacle that happened with ''The Critic'', Matt Groening's name was in the credits and he actually was cool with having ''The X-Files'' cross over to his show, since it wasn't a 20-minute advertisement for the show. Whether or not this episode can be considered canon to ''The X-Files'' (albeit taking place much earlier in its timeline) depends on how you interpret a line by Mulder a year earlier, describing a character played by the legendarily odd-looking Michael Berryman as "Homer Simpson's evil twin."
59	* FauxdianSlip: When Homer tries to report seeing the alien to the police, Chief Wiggum responds: "Your story is very compelling, Mr. Jackass, uh, I mean Simpson...
60	* FictionalVideoGame: There are the arcade games ''My Dinner with Andre'', ''Panamanian Strongman'', a game ending in -''"loen"'', and the arcade game ''Creator/KevinCostner's Water World''. (A real ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' game existed for the PC, SNES and Virtual Boy, with one planned for the Genesis, but it was never distributed outside of the Sega Channel).
61	* ForgottenBirthday: A quick joke with Homer:
62	-->'''Homer:''' I can't believe I'm being mocked... by my own family... on my ''birthday''!
63	-->'''Bart:''' It's your birthday?
64	-->'''Homer:''' Yeah, don't you remember? It's the same day as the dog's.
65	-->'''Lisa:''' ''[gasps]'' Oh, Santa's Little Helper! It's your birthday?! We have to do something special! Yes we do!
66	-->'''Homer:''' ''[muttering]'' Lousy lovable dog.
67	* FunWithSubtitles: The typical "location and hour" subtitle of ''Series/TheXFiles'' appears thrice when the FakeCrossover kicks up, but when the time comes to use it for labeling the Simpson home, whoever writes the subtitles adds the "Simpson House" label and then repeats "[[Film/TheShining All Work and No Play make Jack a Dull Boy]]" over and over.
68	* HaveAGayOldTime: In the opening, Mr. Burns casually asks Smithers if he has any gay plans for the night, meaning light-hearted and fancy-free.
69	* HeliumSpeech: Mr. Burns, after his weekly surgical procedures.
70	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Grandpa is bitten by a turtle with his own dentures.
71	* HostilityOnTheSet: InUniverse, another strike for Kent Brockman: after he says, in his [[KentBrockmanNews typical way]] on live television, that the microphone man is going to be fired tomorrow, the microphone man's response is to drop the boom mike on Kent's head.
72	* HumansAreMorons: Discussed.
73	-->'''Lisa:''' Dad, according to ''Junior Skeptic Magazine'', the chances are 175 million to one of another form of life actually coming in contact with ours.\
74	'''Homer:''' So?\
75	'''Lisa:''' It's just that the people who claim they've seen aliens are always [[InsultFriendlyFire pathetic low-lifes with boring jobs]] ''(Lisa notably [[OhCrap widens her eyes for a split second]], [[VerbalBackspace then adds]])'' [[PresentCompanyExcluded Oh, and you, Dad.]] ''(laughs nervously)''
76	* InstantlyProvenWrong: After Homer's videotape of the alien is broadcast, Lisa thinks the town won't be won over by three seconds of videotape. Cue the doorbell ringing and Homer finding half the town on his lawn.
77	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Homer, pretty scared and paranoid, stumbles along the road in the forest and is scared when a vehicle approaches him from behind accompanied by the theme from ''Film/{{Psycho}}''. It turns out it's actually the Springfield Philharmonic Orchestra traveling by bus.
78	* LeitMotif: The "alien" gets the main theme of ''Series/TheXFiles'' as one.
79	* LieDetector: Homer is hooked up a lie detector when investigated by the FBI. Homer is asked if he understood Scully's explanation of how it works, he says "yes", [[ReadingsBlewUpTheScale and the detector violently explodes]].
80	* LowSpeedChase: This happens when Abe tries to catch the turtle that took his teeth. (It’s currently the page image).
81	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Not in the actual episode, but the original script ended with the alien's true identity unrevealed, implying Homer really ''did'' encounter one.
82	* MundaneGhostStory: Bart's "ghost story" about how much college will cost for Maggie (which freaks Homer out). In a deleted scene, the original "ghost story" was about the ingredients to an Oscar Meyer weiner (which still freaks out Homer).
83	* NinjaZombiePirateRobot: Mentioned in Mulder's monologue:
84	-->'''Mulder:''' The Tibetan numerologists of Appalachia!
85	* NoodleIncident: Scully says this is the worst assignment they've ever had, to which Mulder asks if it's really worse than that time with the flesh-eating virus.
86	** What led Moe to steal a killer whale from Sea World? And, more to the point, how the hell did he get it in his back room?
87	** We never see Homer and the barflies in Barney's car eating packets of mustard.
88	* OhCrap:
89	** PlayedForLaughs when Homer sees a billboard that reads "DIE" on his way home from Moe's, which he screams at. He screams again when a gust of wind moves a tree branch out of the way, revealing the billboard actually says "[[FauxHorrific DIET]]".
90	** When Mulder introduces himself and Scully as FBI agents, Marge goes into a panic thinking it's about the pen she took from the post office.
91	** Moe has two. The first is when Mulder introduces himself and Scully to him, and he thinks they're onto him for stealing a killer whale from Sea World. The second is later during the payoff of a BrickJoke while he and the two men are attempting to carry the orca, then they see Mulder and, still carrying the orca, they run for it.
92	** Homer has one when he attempts to talk to the alien and he suddenly realizes he's standing in the campfire. His panic causes the alien to retreat. Luckily, Bart recorded the whole thing.
93	* PartiallyConcealedLabelGag: Homer finds a sign that reads "DIE" while stumbling around Springfield drunk. He screams in horror. The wind then blows a tree out of the way, revealing the sign to say "DIET." Homer screams even louder at this.
94	* PhosphorEssence: {{Subverted}} when the green-glowing space alien who claims to come in peace turns out to be Mr. Burns, who has a SicklyGreenGlow from decades of running a nuclear power plant.
95	* PoliceLineup: Homer is asked to identify the alien he saw from a lineup which consisted of [[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]], Series/{{ALF}}, [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Marvin the Martian]], [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951 Gort]] and Kang (or Kodos) from the various "[[HalloweenEpisode Treehouse of Horror]]" installments.
96	* PsychoStrings: Homer hears the strings from ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' while lost in the woods... but it turns out to be an orchestra driving by on a bus.
97	* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Homer makes a polygraph machine ''[[ExplosiveInstrumentation explode]]'' when Scully [[LaymansTerms explains what it does (it'll tell us if you are saying the truth)]] and than asks him if he understands ([[EpicFail he said "yes"]]).
98	* RecliningVenus: When Agent Mulder flashes his FBI badge, there is a picture of him posing as a Reclining Venus (half-sitting, half-lying) wearing only black underwear. As most male examples, it's played for laughs.
99	* RuleOfThree: The alien appears three times over three Friday nights.
100	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Leonard Nimoy concludes his tale after Homer and Bart confirm the alien's existence and recording it during their stakeout. Upon being informed the episode still has ten minutes left, he’s surprised, and says [[INeedToGoIronMyDog he needs to get something out of his car]]. Cue him running out and the sound of him driving away. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen then appears and says, "[[CaptainObvious I don't think he's coming back,"]] and is forced to take over. Nimoy does appear later when the town is gathering and preparing for the alien's appearance.
101	* ShoutOut:
102	** Leonard Nimoy's role in the episode references his old hosting gig on the late-1970s/early 1980s supernatural documentary series ''Series/InSearchOf...'', counting as an ActorAllusion.
103	** On the line-up of aliens, there is Series/{{Alf}}, [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Marvin The Martian]], [[Franchise/StarWars Chewbacca]][[note]]who also appears at the end[[/note]] and [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951 Gort]] (according to the DVD commentary, all of the characters were used without permission from their creators [with the exception of Kang/Kodos, since they're part of the ''Simpsons'' roster], making it "the most illegal shot in animation." In fact, the worst the staff received was a call from Paul Fusco, creator and performer of ALF, who wasn't brought in to voice his character).
104	** Reverend Lovejoy does a BaitAndSwitchComparison of Jesus and Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial.
105	** When the whole of Springfield gathers on the point where the alien appears, the Springfield Elementary band is practicing the {{Leitmotif}} from ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''. Devil's Tower (a crucial location in the movie) is also featured on the front of Lisa's ''Jr. Skeptic''.
106	** Jimbo Jones holds a sign, "ALIEN DUDE: Need Two Tickets to Music/PearlJam."
107	** VideoGame/DonkeyKong makes an appearance at the Noiseland Arcade, which turns out to be a bust. He ends up throwing a barrel at the Wise Guy, complete with sound effects.
108	** Homer uses the camera trick from ''Film/{{Speed}}'' to skip work.
109	** At one point Homer compares himself to "the man who singlehandedly build a rocket and went to the moon" which is the premise of ''Series/Salvage1'', an old science-fiction TV show that premiered in 1979.
110	** The talking frogs from the Super Bowl ad, Bud, Weis, and Er, appear, only to be eaten by an alligator saying "Coors".
111	** "Watch the skies!" is from ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld''.
112	* SicklyGreenGlow: Mr. Burns's explanation for the glowing, after he was revealed to be the "alien", is that "a lifetime of working in a nuclear power plant has given me a healthy green glow... and left me as impotent as a Nevada boxing commissioner."
113	* SignsOfDisrepair: An already frightened Homer sees a large billboard that says "DIE." He screams. Then the wind shifts, moving a tree branch out of the way and revealing that the word is "DIET." Homer screams louder and flees.
114	* SkewedPriorities: Mulder is more concerned about the rumored alien sighting than the drug and weapon smuggling ring.
115	* SpecialGuest: Creator/LeonardNimoy AsHimself (just like in Season 4's "Marge vs. the Monorail"), Creator/GillianAnderson as Agent Scully and Creator/DavidDuchovny as Agent Mulder.
116	* SpinningClockHands: When Scully performs tests on Homer, she does also the patellar reflex test. It takes one hour till Homer says "oh" and his knee moves a bit. The time is shown with three different shots of the clock.
117	* SpitefulSuicide: Kent reports, as a "lighter" aside in his news, the article of a man who spent several years in a coma. After the man wakes up, he asks if Cher and Sonny still have their show, and when Kent answers that they don't but Cher now has won an award and Sonny is a politician, the man simply says "good night" and dies.
118	* StickyFingers: Everything Homer and Bart use on their stakeout for the alien is labeled with a tag denoting it the property of Ned Flanders.
119	* TakeThat:
120	** Milhouse plays a ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'' video game, which costs 40 quarters ($10) to play, and after you deposit it, it only goes one move before you need another 40 quarters to play, in reference to the film's over-expensive budget and box-office failure.
121	** The highest level of drunkenness in Moe's carnival game-style breath analyzer is "[[VodkaDrunkenski Boris Yeltsin]]".
122	* TimePassesMontage:
123	** First done with Spinning Clock Hands and gradually added Mulder's emptied coffee cups.
124	** When Homer was explaining where he'd been to Scully and Mulder at Moe's. One beer turned into 10 before Scully got frustrated.
125	--->'''Homer:''' ''(drunk)'' And so I says, red M&M, blue M&M, they all [[TooMuchInformation end up the same color in the end!]]
126	** Mulder rambles about the truth and the mysteries of our world: he started when it was a clear blue day, but finished hours later at night.
127	* TongueOnTheFlagpole: Channel 6 News uses a [[FilePhotoGag file photo of Homer]] that shows him with his tongue stuck to a lamppost.
128	* TorchesAndPitchforks: The crowd pulls them out when the alien states that he's bringing them love. After he is revealed to be Mr. Burns, Groundskeeper Willie mistakes him for a monster and eggs them on to kill "it". The crowd still attempts to use them even after Smithers states that the alien is Mr. Burns.
129	* UranusIsShowing: Bart dresses up as an alien and yells, "I am the thing from Uranus!" the morning after Homer first sees the alien.
130	* WeComeInPeaceShootToKill: Parodied when the alien greets the people of Springfield.
131	-->'''Alien:''' I bring you ''love!''\
132	'''Lenny:''' It's bringing love! Don't let it get away!\
133	'''Carl:''' ''(welding a baseball bat)'' Break its legs!
134	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Agents Mulder and Scully's first Springfield scene has a caption describing the place as the Simpsons' home in "Springfield, U.S.A.".
135	* WomenAreWiser: When it comes to believing in the existence of an alien, the family echo the original [[AgentMulder Mulder]]/[[AgentScully Scully]] gender arrangement; Lisa and Marge doubt (with Lisa a more active skeptic attempting to debunk the claim and Marge simply disbelieving), Homer is the true believer, and Bart claims to believe Homer, though it's unclear whether he's telling the truth or simply wants to tag along and see what's really going on.
136	* YouWontFeelAThing: Dr. Nick claims that his scary procedure will not hurt.
137	-->'''Dr. Nick Riviera''': Don't worry. You won't feel a thing [exhibits a swirling mechanical device]... [[CueCardPause till I jam this down your throat!]]

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS8E10TheSpringfieldFiles