Line #19 Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E14PostcardsFromTheWedge


1	Bart manipulates Homer's and Marge's different ways of disciplining him — and ends up nearly driving them to divorce.
2	----
3	!! Tropes:
4	* AppleOfDiscord: Bart tears down Homer and Marge's marriage by pitting them against each other and hardly receives [[KarmaHoudini any comeuppance for this]]. Though, Bart did get grounded at the end.
5	* AsianAndNerdy: Homer claims that he wants Bart to get down and work hard on his schoolwork in every subject so that by the time Bart's finished, he'll be Korean.
6	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Homer checks out of the empty women’s restroom at the subway for a moment to find a sofa… after getting a nickel.
7	* BaitAndSwitch: What seems to be a thought balloon with Nelson is actually Nelson burning some books.
8	* BookEnds: The episode starts with "Springfield of Tomorrow" and ends with more of that story being shown.
9	* BreakfastInBed: After Homer and Marge resolve their differences, Marge treats Homer to a romantic breakfast in bed.
10	--> '''Homer:''' Awesome breakfast, Marge. Breakfast in bed is ''so'' much better than breakfast in a chair.
11	* ChekhovsGun: The long-abandoned subway is mentioned in the "Springfield of Tomorrow" film.
12	* ChekhovsSkill: Homer's strangling of Bart. He's gotten so good at it through "[[AbusiveParents practice]]" that he can squeeze the train's emergency kill switch Bart is on to destroy his elementary school.
13	* ComicBookTime: Referenced. Mrs. Krabappel states that her inspiration for being a teacher was watching Film/ToSirWithLove as a little girl. When Nelson mocks her for being old (whereas it would’ve been slightly plausible back when the show began in the 90s), she clarifies that she saw it on video in the 80s.
14	* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
15	** After squeezing his way in an abandoned subway station, Homer finds a nickel and squeezes himself out. He then pays the fare and enters again.
16	** Bart responds to Lisa's calling him a sociopath with "Hey, at least I'm on a path".
17	* DoubleMeaning: Moe's Express, a miniature tavern that Moe set up in the Springfield Mall. While the viewer would interpret the express in the title as meaning fast and speedy, Moe states otherwise.
18	-->'''Moe''': (''to his employees'') By express, I mean that you express your anger and hatred!
19	* FreezeFrameBonus:
20	** When Edna seals the envelope to Homer and Marge, you can see two stamps of Itchy bashing an axe into Scratchy's head.
21	** Pause when the camera pans between Bart's fractions test and the letter he wrote as Lisa and you can read some of his answers. They're completely wrong (for example, for one question he wrote 1/6 + 1/8 = 14/30[[note]]the answer would actually be 14/''48'' (or 7/24 if fully simplified)[[/note]]).
22	* HandsOffParenting: When Homer and Marge grew tired of Bart manipulating them, they opted for this until they learned of his plan to destroy Springfield with the abandoned subway.
23	* HarmlessFreezing: Happens to a boy in "Springfield of Tomorrow" when his parents want privacy.
24	* IdeaBulb: Itchy breaks one and stabs Scratchy with it.
25	* InsaneTrollLogic: Marge worries that Bart might hate school if he's forced to do too much homework. The truth is, he already hates school.
26	* JerkassHasAPoint: Homer has a point Bart needs to finish his schoolwork, even if he tried unnecessarily forcing Bart to do more homework than was mandated.
27	* JerkassRealization: Marge realizes that if she continues fighting Homer, she might end up like her poor, rude, obese and grotesque sisters. Funny enough, she wouldn't have known about it if [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Patty and Selma didn't inspire her to be like them]].
28	* KidHasAPoint: Nelson explains to Bart why he isn’t getting his fix and Lisa at the end.
29	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Homer had a dream where his own ego cost Marge her life. This causes him to head back to Marge and apologize to her.
30	* NoodleIncident: Bart was able to cheat on a rectal thermometer. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, then one rather not asks.
31	* OutOfCharacter: Homer is unusually strict in this episode towards Bart. He almost sadistically wants Bart to do more homework than is required of him, and refuses to let him take even a short break despite him actually doing it.
32	* PushoverParents: Marge, big time. She spoils Bart thoroughly by letting him go play outside and thinks her main duty as his mother is to force Homer to back off.
33	* RemovedFromThePicture: PlayedForLaughs after Homer and Marge make up: Marge says she's going off to paste Homer's heads back into all the family photos, holding up a baggie full of them.
34	* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Lisa figures out it was Bart who wrote the letter their parents think she wrote because only Bart would misspell "Elementary".
35	* ShoutOut:
36	** While Bart does his big load of homework, he watches a parody of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' on TV and comments [[LongRunner how it hasn't run out of]] [[HypocriticalHumor ideas yet]], [[{{Irony}} which is ironic]]. This is a nod to ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'', which was released in the United States on the same day of the episode's airing.
37	** The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon featured in this episode is a parody of ''Series/{{House}}''.
38	** When Bart and Milhouse discover Springfield's subway, Bart says it's like a ''[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' you can go inside, with Milhouse says there's no Fat Controller to tell them what to do.
39	* SkewedPriorities: Homer simply [[DissonantSerenity skims through overdue bills]], but then seeing a letter from Krabappel about Bart being 1 month behind on homework, he flips out.
40	* TookALevelInJerkass: Bart’s plan on destroying the school with the abandoned subway.
41	** Homer wanting Bart to do more work than he is supposed to.
42	* UnexplainedRecovery: After the flagpole falls onto the school roof, the entire school collapses, but next episode shows that the entire school got rebuilt fast.
43	* VictoryIsBoring: Now that Bart was given maximum freedom by his parents, he exploits it for all it's worth... but quickly finds that, with no one to get mad at him, he's unsatisfied by the freedom.
44	* WhatTheHellHero: At one point, Lisa calls Bart a sociopath for his actions.
45	* YouAreGrounded: Bart gets grounded by Homer and Marge at the end of the episode, and is banned from watching television, has the exciting colors taken out of his crayons, and forced to constantly Twitter Homer exactly what he's up to. [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E11MargeBeNotProud Unlike]] [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E22FraudcastNews other]] [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E19WaverlyHills9021Doh times]] where grounding is referenced, this time Bart ''stays'' grounded for the rest of the episode. However, Bart doesn't care as he's happy in getting his parents' attention back; even hugging them for grounding him.
46	* {{Zeerust}}: "Springfield of Tomorrow" (Copyright MCMLVI) is chock-full of it.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS21E14PostcardsFromTheWedge