History Recap / TheSimpsonsS8E6AMilhouseDivided

* BrokenAesop: Kirk and Luann Van Houten's divorce leads into an Aesop about Homer needing to respect his wife, which is what Kirk tells Homer after losing his home, his job, and his car. But the way losing Luann caused those was [[DeusAngstMachina utterly contrived]]: he lost his home because he apparently got absolutely nothing in the divorce settlement, he was fired ''[[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity for being single]]'' ([[ArtisticLicenseLaw which is actually discrimination and grounds for Kirk to sue]]), an earlier comment from Luann also heavily implies his employer was [[ObnoxiousInLaws her father]][[note]]which, from Luann's tirade, may have been the reason he wasn't fired sooner, as she suggests that he was bad at his job. If so, his incompetence would be a perfectly valid reason the company could've cited for firing him, but they don't.[[/note]], and his car was stolen by a woman he met on the rebound who claims to be in the music business (which ''was'' his fault, but was more general incompetence as he was dumb enough to hand over his keys to someone he just met while waiting in a bar).

* DivorceIsTemporary: {{Subverted}} when it looks like Kirk is about to [[StatusQuoIsGod win Luann back at the end]], but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome she's not interested]] (though they would play this straight many seasons later). {{Exaggerated}} with Homer, who divorces Marge specifically for the purpose of marrying her again in a romantic gesture.

* ContinuityNod: The previous season's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E16LisaTheIconoclast Lisa the Iconoclast]]" revealed that Jimbo's thug Kearney was [[OlderThanYouLook older than he looked]], apparently being old enough to remember the 1976 bicentennial celebration. This episode reveals he also has a child as well.

* PetTheDog: Despite the fact that Nelson and Kearney constantly pick on Milhouse, they give their sympathy for him after learning about his parents' divorce; they even refused to make fun of it in order to spare his feelings. Nelson explained that his own parents got divorced because of his mom's addiction of cough drops and that he felt that she wasn't acting like a real mother because of it. Kearney also admits that he was married and got a divorce that was tough on his son, but the latter was able to grow out of it, and Kearney assured that Milhouse can do the same.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw:
** You cannot fire someone for being single. In real life, Kirk would have had every right to sue the company into the ground for discrimination against his marital status, although this would depend on [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield where Springfield actually is]] - about half of US states, as well as federal law, don't prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of marital status.
** Homer manages to get a divorce extremely quickly and without Marge knowing. In real life, the only way one would be able to get a divorce without the spouse knowing is if they were unable to be contacted.

* OffModel: Kirk's eyebrows [[https://frinkiac.com/img/S08E06/778543.jpg briefly go from blue to yellow]] when giving Starla his keys.

Their bickering reaches a breaking point while playing ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'', with Luann being unable to guess Kirk's drawing about "dignity." Kirk claims that he doesn't know to draw it because he lost it after marrying her. Luann then tells about the penurious conditions they have been through, and Kirk shoots back that she actually ''loves'' it when he fails. Finally, (after Lisa is brought in to sing to calm things down) Luann demands a divorce, something that takes Kirk back at first, but tries to brush it off by showing (or in this case, drawing) her the door. When the party finishes, Luann drives off before Kirk can get in the car.

* ToiletSeatDivorce: Kirk and Luanne divorce over a game of ''Pictionary'' ... well, sort of. In actuality, they were fighting all night before the game started, and the game just [[RageBreakingPoint unleashed years of frustration on Luanne's part]].

Their bickering reaches a breaking point while playing ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'', with Luann being unable to guess Kirk's drawing about "dignity." Kirk claims that he doesn't know to draw it because he lost it after marrying her. Luann then tells about the penurious conditions they have been through, and Kirk shoots back that she actually ''loves'' it when he fails. Finally, (after Lisa is brought in to sing to calm things down) Luann demands a divorce, something that takes Kirk back at first, but tries to brush it off by showing (or in this case, drawing) her the door. When the party finishes, Kirk is thrown off the family car.

Their bickering reaches breaking point while playing ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'', with Luann being unable to guess Kirk's drawing about "dignity", claiming that he doesn't know to draw it because he lost it after marrying her. Luann then tells about the penurious conditions they have been through and (after Lisa is brought in to sing to calm things down) she demands a divorce, something Kirk is too happy to oblige, showing (or in this case, drawing) her the door. When the party finishes, Kirk is thrown off the family car.

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Zigzagged. The start of the episode seems to be setting up Homer acting boorish and ruining another party, much akin to the same plot in "War of the Simpsons". Instead Homer cleans himself up quickly enough, and the party starts off amicably until the tension between Kirk and Luann rises. The final act of the episode does return to the formula of Marge and Homer's relationship in tension however.
* HollywoodBoardGames: Luann and Kirk van Houten, whose marriage is in its last legs, have been exchanging underhanded insults throughout the Simpsons' dinner party. Luanne has her RageBreakingPoint in the middle of a ''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}'' game. It's triggered by her inability to guess just what the hell that oblong shape her husband has made means. When Kirk points out it's supposed to be a drawing of "dignity", she loses it and accuses him of having lost his dignity since marrying her. Kirk challenges to depict "dignity", which she does so marvelously that some comments it's "worthy of Webster's".

Their bickering reaches breaking point while playing Pictionary, with Luann being unable to guess Kirk's drawing about "dignity", claiming that he doesn't know to draw it because he lost it after marrying her. Luann then tells about the penurious conditions they have been through and (after Lisa is brought in to sing to calm things down) she demands a divorce, something Kirk is too happy to oblige, showing (or in this case, drawing) her the door. When the party finishes, Kirk is thrown off the family car.

* GameNightFight: Kirk and Luann bicker throughout the dinner party, but it all comes to a boil when Luann is unable to guess Kirk's drawing of "dignity" in Pictionary. This leads to a heated argument, leading to both of them getting divorced.

* PlayingPictionary: The Simpson family hosts a dinner party with a game of Pictionary. Maude guesses "cornstarch" from three dots drawn by Ned, while Kirk is unable to draw "dignity," though Luanne is. Homer thinks that Kirk is also unable to draw "a door".

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: You cannot fire someone for being single. In real life, Kirk would have had every right to sue the company into the ground for discrimination against his marital status, although this would depend on [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield where Springfield actually is]] - about half of US states, as well as federal law, don't prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of marital status.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: A number of people thought that ''ComicStrip/LoveIs'' was something Homer made up, or at least totally misunderstood the concept of.

** After his car gets stolen, Kirk tells Homer that he took Luan for granted for so long that that the divorce caught him by surprise, and tells Homer about how one day his wife will be preparing his favorite meal, the next thawing hot dogs over a sink, and Homer says that he has nothing to worry about since he and Marge have a comfortable routine going. The next scene has Homer reading a note from Marge telling him that since he didn't go with her to have dinner with Luan and her new boyfriend, she left him some hot dogs thawing in the sink.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: You cannot fire someone for being single. In real life, Kirk would have had every right to sue the company into the ground for discrimination against his marital status, althought this would depend on [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield where Springfield actually is]] - about half of US states, as well as federal law, don't prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of marital status.

* NonIndictativeName: Otto walks out of "Stoner's Pot Palace", not particularly happy.

* NonIndicativeName: The title refers to Milhouse's parents breaking up, but Milhouse isn't really focused upon throughout the episode.
** In universe example: Otto walks out of "Stoner's Pot Palace", not particularly happy.

* PetTheDog: Despite the fact that Nelson and Kearney constantly pick on Milhouse, they give their sympathy for him after learning about his parents' divorce; they even refused to make fun of it in order to spare Milhouse's feelings. Nelson explained that his parents got divorced because of his mom's addiction of cough drops, and Kearney admits that he was married and got a divorce, but he and his son were able to grow out of it and kindly assured that Milhouse can do the same.

* PetTheDog: Despite the fact that Nelson and Kearney constantly pick on Milhouse, they give their sympathy for him after learning about his parents' divorce; they even refused to make fun of it in order to spare Milhouse's feelings.
Nelson explained that his parents got divorced because of his mom's addiction of cough drops, and Kearney admits that he was married and got a divorce, but he and his son were able to grow out of it and kindly assured that Milhouse can do the same.

* PetTheDog: Nelson and Kearney express sympathy for Milhouse during his parents' divorce.

* OffModel: Kirk's eyebrows [[https://frinkiac.com/img/S08E06/778543.jpg briefly go from blue to yellow]] when giving Starla his keys.

* DivorceIsTemporary: {{Subverted}} when it looks like Kirk is about to [[StatusQuoIsGod win Luann back at the end]], but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome she's not interested]] (though they would play this straight many seasons later). {{Exaggerated}} with Homer, who divorces Marge specifically for the purpose of marrying her again in a romantic gesture.