Line #23 Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E21FlandersLadder


1	When a lightning storm occurs, Bart ends up in another deep coma and ghosts appear before him. Lisa after being humiliated by Bart decides to make his coma-dream worse.
2
3	!!This Episode Contains Examples of:
4	* AccidentalMurder: In his dream, Bart attempts to lay Maude's ghost to rest by luring Homer into an ally where the bullies attack him with t-shirt guns. His only intention is to give Homer a scare, but it winds up killing him.
5	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: After waking up from his coma, the first thing Bart does is ask Lisa if she was responsible for his nightmares. When Lisa responds in affirmative, he excitedly asks her to teach him how to do it.
6	* AdventuresInComaland: Bart dreams that ghosts appear before him, thanks to Lisa's intervention.
7	* AnimationBump: The scenes of Lisa getting tangled in underwear and Bart encountering Maude's ghost are both more fluidly animated than the rest of the episode.
8	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:
9	** Lisa breaks down sobbing on Bart's hospital bed and desperately begs him to come back, even telling him [[PlatonicDeclarationOfLove that she loves him as he seemingly flatlines]].
10	** In his dream, Bart accidentally kills Homer, whose ghost is about to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. Bart begging Homer to stay with him (paralleled by Lisa pleading with the dying Bart to stay with her) contrasts his typical attitude toward [[BlackComedy the possibility of Homer]] [[RunningGag dying an untimely death]] and shows how much it means to him to have his father in his life.
11	* BlackComedyBurst: The closing DeathMontage.
12	* CallBack: Maude Flanders' ghost asks Bart to avenge her, and we see a clip from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E14AloneAgainNaturaDiddily Alone Again, Natura-Diddily]]" (in the original frame ratio) of how she died.
13	* CartwrightCurse: {{Exaggerated}} and PlayedForLaughs in the final montage, where Ned seemingly outlives over ''40'' wives.
14	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Homer in Bart's dream several times:
15	** Upon being menaced in an ally by a t-shirt gun-wielding group in masks.
16	--->'''Nelson:''' Maude Flanders says hello.
17	--->'''Homer:''' ''(cheerful)'' Hello!
18	** As Homer's body is taken to the ambulance, Marge tearfully states that he was as good as dead as soon as they started putting cheese in pizza crust, asking "What's next?! Plugging Swiss cheese with cookie dough? Peanut butter and hot dogs?!" Homer's ghost asks Bart [[BizarreTasteInFood why no one's writing this down]].
19	* ContinuityCavalcade: Bart's dream features many characters who have died over the course of the show, from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E22RoundSpringfield Bleeding Gums Murphy]] to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E13SimpsoncalifragilisticexpialaAnnoyedGruntcious Shary Bobbins]] to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS26E1ClownInTheDumps Rabbi Krustofsky]] to [[RunningGag Dr. Marvin Monroe]] to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E2JazzyAndThePussycats Homer's Vegas wife]] to [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E9IAnnoyedGruntBot a whole succession of Snowballs]].
20	* ContinuityNod:
21	** One of the old VHS tapes is labeled "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie Wedding/Alaska Video]]."
22	** Homer makes an offhand reference to Bart being on some kind of mood-stabilizing medication, evoking a gag in "Homerland."
23	** During the DistantFinale, Bart finished his life as [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E6ItchyAndScratchyTheMovie Chief Justice of Supreme Court]].
24	** Marge is seen married to Ned after Homer's death, recalling their attraction in episodes like "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" and "The Devil Wears Nada."
25	* ConvenientComa: Bart has apparently been in and out of quite a few of these and Hibbert thinks his current one will be no different.
26	* DeadlyDistantFinale: The closing montage showcases how most of the Simpsons cast passed away, several of them executed by other members of said cast.
27	* DirtyOldMan: Abe Simpson was looking at porn when the family lost Internet connection.
28	* DisproportionateRetribution: As revenge for a screamer prank he pulled on her, Lisa whispers into Bart's ear during his coma dream and helps turn it into a living nightmare... not that Bart minds that much.
29	** Wiggum using police brutality to kill Homer all for a sandwich. Which he then chokes on and dies not mere moments after.
30	* DistantFinale: The ending shows how all the Simpsons family passed away, including how Maggie never died after all. In her case, it is implied that she is immortal, but no longer human. Also Ned Flanders apparently never dies, though his scene involves outliving numerous wives and probably everyone else he cared for.
31	* DrivenToSuicide: A broken heart causes Smithers to jump to his death into one of the cooling towers at the age of 50.
32	* EasilyForgiven: Bart is completely nonplussed about learning that Lisa helped inspire his hellish NightmareSequence, and is instead impressed, asking her [[NightmareFetishist "Can you teach me how to do that?"]]
33	* EvilIsPetty: The DeadlyDistantFinale vision of Wiggum has him pull a faked accidental shooting of a man (Homer) and so has him deliberately executed by his men... ''because he wants Homer's sandwich''.
34	%%* FromBadToWorse: The coma dream.
35	* GhostlyAnimals:
36	** Among the ghosts which visit Bart are those of the deceased family cats Snowball II, Snowball III, and Snowball IV/Coltrane.
37	** Also amongst the ghosts are a group of ants, whose UnfinishedBusiness involves utilising a SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass on their former tormentor - Nelson.
38	* GoOutWithASmile: In the closing montage, Marge, dying peacefully of old age by Ned's side.
39	* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: According to Dr. Hibbert, "Bart's had more comas than he's had hot breakfasts."
40	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the DeathMontage, Bart dies seconds after Skinner when his prank causes Skinner to have a heart attack and his wheelchair runs Bart over.
41	* HolyBurnsEvil: {{Subverted}} in Bart's dream. He fills his treehouse with crucifixes and other holy objects in an attempt to ward off a ghost, failing to consider that that ghost is [[ChurchLady Maude Flanders]].
42	-->'''Maude:''' [[{{Unishment}} Oh, this looks just like my first apartment with Ned]]. ''I'm never leaving!''
43	* IgnoredEpiphany: Lisa almost changes her mind about messing with Bart when she sees a sign reading DO NOT TORMENT COMA PATIENTS ("[[HeelRealization You know, that sign should be unnecessary]]") and decides to say something positive to cheer him up. Then she gets a notification alerting her to the continued uptick of views on his viral video.
44	* ISeeDeadPeople: In the coma dream, Bart gains the ability to see the spirits of the dead.
45	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: After the version of Homer in Bart's coma dies and starts ascending into the light, Bart tells him that Marge will marry someone else. Homer casually responds with this trope.
46	* KlingonPromotion: Ralph ends up becoming a vicious king who rules over the land, but is poisoned by his own son at the age of 120, who immediately declares himself the new evil king.
47	* LaserGuidedKarma:
48	** After an 80 year old Bart causes a wheelchair-bound Skinner to die of a heart attack, Bart himself is killed when the wheelchair runs him over.
49	** Chief Wiggum knowingly has Homer gunned down, so he can take his submarine sandwich. He promptly chokes to death on said sandwich.
50	* LongRunnerTechMarchesOn: As young children in 2018, Bart and Lisa now have to have the concept of rewinding a VHS tape explained to them, notwithstanding the fact that they themselves watched videos in the 90s episodes.
51	* MeaningfulEcho: Highlighting the PlotParallel between the dream story and the "real" one, Bart uses the same words as he's pleading with Homer's ghost to stay with him that Lisa uses as she's begging him to wake up.
52	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Lisa reacts this way when Dr. Hibbert tells her that filling Bart's head with nightmares while he's in a coma could give him permanent brain damage and actually kill him.
53	* MythologyGag: When Marge goes over their old VHS tapes and finds one with ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'', Homer briefly lapses into his original voice (and original animation style) from the shorts.
54	* NightmareFetishist: Lisa's first attempt to evoke nightmares for the comatose Bart involves dragons and pools of blood. Bart smiles serenely in his sleep.
55	-->'''Lisa:''' ...Oh, right. You ''like'' that.
56	* NoodleIncident:
57	** Bart's apparently inherited some of Homer's MadeOfIron quality, as Dr. Hibbert notes that he's been briefly comatose many times before with no harm done (which gets more believable with the very next episode, Season 30 premiere "Bart's Not Dead," when it happens ''again)''. This justifies Lisa using the situation as an opportunity to mess with Bart, since he's recovered easily from this type of thing so many times that even Marge is fine with leaving him alone with Lisa for most of the time he's under.
58	** The ending montage has a number of them, including Ned becoming a widower many more times (with the widowed Marge among his eventual wives), Ralph somehow becoming the evil king of Earth, and Maggie attaining immortality.
59	* {{Patricide}}: In his dream, Bart accidentally kills Homer, whose ghost reassures him that "patricide is just a part of life," noting that death expanded his vocabulary.
60	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Bart to the dead Homer in his dream and, simultaneously, [[PlotParallel Lisa to the dying Bart in real life]].
61	* PoliceBrutality: Homer dies when he is gunned down by police, who think that a [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet long bag he is holding contains a gun]]. While this would otherwise be considered an accident, it is brutality because Wiggum admits that he ''knew'' it was a sandwich and didn't tell anyone before they killed Homer so he could steal it... [[LaserGuidedKarma then chokes to death on it.]]
62	* RealAfterAll: Milhouse mentions the sweater Bart was wearing in his dream. [[LampshadeHanging Bart wonders how he knew about it.]]
63	* ScreamerPrank: Features as Lisa's main motivation to get Bart into an even worse state.
64	* SecondLove: The closing montage has Marge finding happiness with Ned after Homer's death.
65	* ShoutOut:
66	** The final scene of the episode is a nod to the final scene of ''Series/SixFeetUnder'', in which the entire Simpsons family pass away in flashforwards, along with Music/{{Sia}}'s "Breathe Me" playing in the background.
67	** Ralph's death spoofs that of King Joffrey Baratheon's in ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
68	* StaggeredZoom: When Bart asks how Milhouse knew about the sweater in his dream.
69	* {{Stellification}}: The episode ends with the revelation of how some of the show's characters die. The last of these clips shows Maggie as a constellation and the reveal that she [[spoiler:never died]].
70	* UnbrokenVigil: In a dark twist on this trope, Homer and Marge are touched when Lisa tells them that she wants to stay by Bart's side all night, unaware that she's doing it so that she can torment him while he sleeps.
71	* TheUnFavorite: Bart, somewhat understandably, in his dream.
72	-->'''Homer:''' I leave this world without a care, knowing I raised two great kids, plus the one who murdered me.
73	* UnwantedRescue: Bart fires a t-shirt cannon at the hole in the sky through which Homer's ghost is [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence about to ascend]], causing the ghost to be knocked down and reinhabit Homer's body. The now-alive Homer is furious because he was finally about to know peace.
74	* VengefulGhost: Maude Flanders, as imagined by Bart. A number of the other ghosts who consult him are vengeful too, such as the ants fried by Nelson's magnifying glass.
75	* XRaySparks: A clever variation. When Bart is struck by lighting, instead of his skeleton we see ''[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the animator's guidelines]]''.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS29E21FlandersLadder