History Recap / TheSimpsonsS29E14FearsOfAClown

* DefensiveFeintTrap: Skinner only pretended to retire to lure Bart out in the open so he could pull a prank on him. Bart is only pretending to repent so he can pull a prank on those he "apologizes" to.

* ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: This episode marks the first time Krusty is seen without his clown face in a non-flashback scene since Season ''1'' ("Krusty Gets Busted"), thereby undoing the RetCon applied after that episode that the clown face is actually his ''real'' face, with his pale skin and red nose being symptoms of his unhealthy lifestyle.

* SelfDeprecation:
** Upon seeing Krusty without a clown face, Homer realizes Krusty looks like him. He also notices that "Maggie looks like Lisa" and Milhouse's parents look like each other.

** Ok Go crashes their set after being frightened by a clown, now concerned that people will have to judge them by their music and not their gimmicks.
* ShoutOut: The subsequent strings of encounters resulting from Bart's pranks references the real life plague of clowns appearing throughout 2016. The 2017 incarnation of Pennywise also appears, referencing the belief the stunts were part of a promotional tactic for the film.

* TheCameo: Damian Kulash and Tim Nordwind of the band Ok Go make one in a fictional music video.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Skinner deflects Bart's shot with a lid, which then bounces off and knocks out his abusive mother Agnes.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart's water-filled balloon prank ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone though he clearly regrets it]]) is this for Marge and the school. After all, the school should never have pulled a prank on Bart in the first place and Marge should have called them out for it and advised Bart not to prank the school back in retaliation. Instead, Marge didn't act until Bart had retaliated and when she did, she totally ignored all of the above, just for the sake of taking a stance against the saying "Boys will be boys" despite knowing this would mean siding against her own son.

* SelfDeprecation: Upon seeing Krusty without a clown face, Homer realizes Krusty looks like him. He also notices that "Maggie looks like Lisa" and Milhouse's parents look like each other.
-->'''Homer:''' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Why is this universe so lazy?]]

* TakeThatUs: Ok Go crashes their set after being frightened by a clown, now concerned that people will have to judge them by their music and not their gimmicks.

* OnlySixFaces: Krusty is seen without his red nose and clown paint, which the Simpson family points out that makes him almost indistinguishable from Homer. (This is reference to the fact that when Krusty was first created,he was supposed to be Homer in make-up).

* OnlySixFaces: Krusty is seen without his red nose and clown paint, which the Simpson family points out that makes him almost indistinguishable from Homer.(This is reference to the fact that when Krusty was first created,he was supposed to be Homer in make-up).

* OnlySixFaces: Krusty is seen without his red nose and clown paint, which the Simpson family points out that makes him almost indistinguishable from Homer.

-->'''Homer:''' Why is this universe so lazy?

* TomHanksSyndrome: Krusty attempts this in dramatic theater in an effort to save his career. Unfortunately, any minor laughter he gets from the audience has him skew back into his routine, which the audience genuinely enjoys but sabotages the "serious actor" effort he was working towards.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart's water-filled balloon prank ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone though he clearly regrets it]]) is this for Marge and the school. After all, the school should never have pulled a prank on Bart in the first place and Marge should have called them out for it and advised Bart not to prank the school back in retaliation. Instead, Marge chose to let it slide and only acted once Bart had retaliated and when she did, she chose to totally ignore all of the above, just for the sake of taking a stance against the saying "Boys will be boys" despite knowing this would mean siding against her own son.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart's water-filled balloon prank ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone though he clearly regrets it]]) is this for Marge and the school. After all, the school should never have pulled a prank on Bart in the first place and Marge should have called them out for it and advised Bart not to prank the school back in retaliation. Instead, Marge chose to let it slide and only acted once Bart had retaliated.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart's water-filled balloon prank ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone though he clearly regrets it]]) is this for Marge and the school. After all, the school should never have pulled a prank on Bart in the first place and Marge should have called them out for it and advised Bart not to prank the school back in retaliation but she didn't act un

* TarAndFeathers: Skinner's prank on Bart is to cover him in honey and birdseed, then get attacked by crows.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Skinner's prank hinges on Bart genuinely believing that he's retiring. It's never confirmed whether if any of the other students were in on the prank or if they were also unaware until Skinner revealed it, though the scene with Martin suggests they weren't in the know either, but went along with it.

* DomesticAbuse: What Homer's fate at the end of the episode is implied to be after sheepishly telling a pissed off Marge that "Boys will be boys."

* ThumbtackOnTheChair: Bart tries to pull this on the psychologist, but he turns the tables on him by asking Marge to take his seat instead.

* CallBack: This is not [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E21TheBartOfWar the only time]] Marge gets annoyed by the "Boys will be boys" saying.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Skinner's prank hinges on Bart genuinely believing that he's retiring. It's never confirmed whether if any of the other students were in on the prank or if they were also unaware until Skinner revealed it, though the scene with Martin suggests they weren't in the know either.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Skinner's prank hinges on Bart genuinely believing that he's retiring. It's never confirmed whether if any of the other students were in on the prank or if they were also unaware until Skinner revealed it.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Bart has second thoughts about his pranks whenever his mother risks being hurt by them.

* FalselyReformedVillain: Bart is only pretending to regret being a prankster to reunite people where he can drop water baloons on them.

* DefensiveFeintTrap: Skinner only pretended to retire to lure Bart out in the open so he could pull a prank on him.

-->'''Homer:''' Why is this universe so lazy?

* FalselyReformedVillain: Bart is only pretending to regret being a prankster to reunite people where he can drop water baloon on them.

* FalselyReformedVillain: Bart is only pretending to regret being a prankster to reunite people where he can drop water baloon on them.