Homer befriends Chief Wiggum, only to take the friendship for granted. Meanwhile, Marge thinks Bart is doing drugs.

!!This episode contains examples of:
* AchievementsInIgnorance: Ralph is the greatest Battle Balls player in school, yet he doesn't know how to play the game. It's because he has the best Battle Balls since his grandma lives in Japan and sends him the brand new ones.
* AllForNothing: At the end of the subplot, once Marge learns what Battle Balls are, she finds them cute and likes them. Bart thinks that they're not cool anymore if his mom likes them, and flushes them down the toilet.
* AmbiguousGender: Dylan, the kid who has a party at the beginning of the episode (although it is traditionally a boy's name). Not helped is that the character is [[TheUnseen never seen]] in person.
* BrickJoke: During Homer’s ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere scene, the crook in the cop show declares “You jive, ya hear me? You both jive!”. Later, when the mafia captures him, Wiggum declares “You jive, you hear me? You all jive!”
* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: After ending his friendship with Clancy, Homer watches a cop show, a movie with Creator/EdwardGRobinson and a documentary on pigs.
* ContinuityNod:
** Superintendent Chlamers mentions that Marge has tried various medication to keep Bart under control, including [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E2BrothersLittleHelper ritalin]].
** Homer's criminal record includes "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E9MrPlow Unlicensed Snowplow]]" and "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E13HomerVsLisaAndThe8thCommandment Cable Theft]]".
* ExpyCoexistence: One of the kids who introduces Bart to Battle Balls says that it "makes Franchise/{{Digimon}} look like Franchise/{{Pokemon}}."
* FreezeFrameBonus: Pause when Homer pulls up his criminal record, and his various misdemeanors are visible, including "Impersonating an Otter" and "Barbecuing on Highway Median".
* HollywoodAtheist: When Homer tells Wiggum that he's awesome, he states that faith is for things that don't exist, implying that Homer is an atheist.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Marge [[OutOfContextEavesdropping eavesdrops out of context]] and believes that Bart is doing drugs because of the language he uses, when he's actually playing a Japanese card game with Milhouse.
-->'''Marge''': Well, can you explain what you were doing in the basement with Milhouse?\\
'''Bart''': Getting higher and higher...\\
'''Marge''': ''(horrified gasp)''\\
'''Bart''': ...scores on Battle Ball!
* PoorCommunicationKills:
** The A-plot begins with Homer putting a toffee apple into his pocket, leaving it stuck there when he walks into a bank. With his mouth stuck with the toffee, everyone assumes he's robbing the bank.
** The B-plot begins with Martin observing Bart and Ralph playing Battle Balls, without overhearing any of it.
* RussianReversal: According to Chief Wiggum, Ralph has asked what'll happen if the bed wets ''him''.
* ShoutOut: Battle Balls is one to ''Anime/BakuganBattleBrawlers''. We even see pieces resembling Wilda and Nemus.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: Homer considers going with the robbery when people seem inclined to give him money and a get away.
* TheVoiceless: Lisa has no lines in this episode, making the first story where she does not have a single word, and leaving Homer the only character who has dialogue in every episode.
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