History Recap / TheSimpsonsS17E8TheItalianBob

* EasilyForgiven: Marge is happy to make nice with Bob, who has tried to murder both her son ''and'' her sister, due to her belief that [[InsaneTrollLogic a person with a family can't be evil]].

* {{Retcon}}: Homer at one point says he never went to college, despite going to college in the episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Homer Goes to College]]. Then again, maybe that's why Bob said "stop the presses." Or maybe that's just him not remembering it, which wouldn't be that surprising. In context, he's replying to Sideshow Bob's comment that he ExperimentedInCollege "as one does," so he could simply mean that he never went to college as a young, unmarried man.

* {{Retcon}}: Homer at one point says he never went to college, despite going to college in the episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Homer Goes to College]]. Then again, maybe that's why Bob said "stop the presses." Or maybe that's just him not remembering it, which wouldn't be that surprising.

* ComicBookTime: Between his last encounter with the Simpsons and this episode, Bob got married and had a son who's now the same age as Maggie or older, despite Maggie not having aged a day.

--> '''Lisa''': "Well, some people in Europe have the impression that America has made some stupid choices in the past, oh, five years. So, for the next week, I'm from Canada."

* IdiotBall: Lisa may have accidentally revealed Bob's past to his people, but Bob didn't do himself any favors by getting his SecretKeeper [[InVinoVeritas drunk]] and inexplicably wearing his old prison jumpsuit, much less ''keeping'' it.

* AllPartOfTheShow: When Bob's family disguise themselves as extras to kill the Simpsons in the Colosseum, Lisa tells the audience that it's no act and that they're really trying to kill them. Nobody is convinced. Also a key part of the show that the attempted murders are not part of. Not a show, within a show, within not-a-show, within a show, within a show.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Happens with both Marge ''and'' Lisa. For once, Homer was actually ''willing'' to not mess up, and initially declared he was ready to go home as soon as they picked up Burns' new Ferrari. Marge, for once, was the one asking them to see the sights, and even Homer was genuinely surprised to see her as such.

** Also, the moment Lisa finds out she's old enough to drink wine there, the usually-tight-lipped Lisa cuts loose like an old pair of slacks, and is, ironically, the one responsible for their predicament near the end (when she's usually the one trying to ''solve'' a problem) when she blabs about Bob being a convict to the crowd and accidentally exposed his prison uniform.

* TakeThat: According to an Italian police book, [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]] is wanted for plagiarism and [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad Stan Smith]] for plagiarism of plagiarism.[[note]]On the DVDCommentary of "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)," Creator/SethMacFarlane claimed that the notorious gag of [[spoiler: Quagmire raping Marge and then killing her family]] was his [[DisproportionateRetribution "little shot back"]] for this joke. Make of what what you will.[[/note]]

* ShoutOut: The song Sideshow Bob sings while squashing grapes with his feet is a reference to Nancy Sinatra's song "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'".

* KnockingTheKnockoff: Sideshow Bob loses his position as mayor of Salsiccia after the town finds out he's a wanted killer in the United States. The Italian police officers confirm this by checking their book of American criminals, which includes Peter Griffin ("plagiarismo") and even [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad Stan Smith]] (wanted for [[SelfPlagiarism "plagiarismo di plagiarismo"]]).

* ElNinoIsSpanishForTheNino: When Bob swears a vendetta on the family, Marge looks in an Italian-American dictionary and is shocked that "vendetta" means "vendetta" in English.

* TakeThat: According to an Italian police book, [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]] is wanted for plagiarism and [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDad Stan Smith]] for plagiarism of plagiarism.[[note]]On the DVDCommentary of "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)," Seth [=MacFarlane=] claimed that the notorious gag of [[spoiler: Quagmire raping Marge and then killing her family]] was his [[DisproportionateRetribution "little shot back"]] for this joke. Make of what what you will.[[/note]]

* WhoWritesThisCrap: Krusty says this when his opera act (which he was improvising) starts to go south.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The Simpsons drive past a crashed cheese truck, and dodge all it's Italian cheeses falling their way, with Lisa cautiously listing them all (mozzarella, parmigiano, provolone, etc, all in Italian phrases). Finally, their car gets crashed by a giant mortadella (an Italian sausage). When Homer assures the family that he as the "cheese insurance", Marge points out that it doesn't cover mortadella. Cue BigNO from Homer.