Line #8 YMMV/TheSimpsonsS5E16HomerLovesFlanders


1	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Homer gets conned out of some money by Bart who deceived him into believing he had tickets to a football game. He was instead given a wig coupon, which then leads to an ImagineSpot featuring him wearing a "Marge" wig, imitating her voice and muttering to himself, "I don't need her at all anymore." [[note]]Although in a later episode from that same season, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E22SecretsOfASuccessfulMarriage Secrets of a Successful Marriage]]", we see that, yes, he does need her and would essentially ''die'' if he didn't have her to take care of him since he is unable to properly care for himself.[[/note]]
2	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Mr. Burns tries to build inspiration for his team... by ''breaking Milhouse's leg''. If that wasn't enough, then this is what the poor kid says to his parents in the hospital bed:
3	-->'''Milhouse:''' I hope they win... or [[WouldHurtAChild Mr. Burns said he's coming back]].
4	* HarsherInHindsight:
5	** Homer's "Rappin' Ronnie Reagan" tape consists of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan repeating the word "Well?" over and over. Five months after the episode aired, Reagan went public with his Alzheimer's diagnosis.
6	** Ned having a dream about snapping and going on a shooting spree may have been morbidly funny in 1994, particularly given its similarities to the 1966 University of Texas Clock Tower Shooting (and the movie based off of the incident, ''The Deadly Tower''). The plethora of mass shooting incidents since dilutes possible comedy within - in particular, the Las Vegas Shooting in October 2017, where a gunman fired out of the window of a high-rise hotel onto a country music festival, killing 58 and injuring hundreds.
7	** In this episode, Ned's refusal to just tell Homer that he's being too clingy and needs to back off just comes across as him being too polite for his own good. Given what we later learn in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy Hurricane Neddy]]", however, it's likely that Ned was literally unable to express his frustrations with Homer due to the treatment he was given as a child, with his eventual FreakOut in the church being an early, milder precursor to the spectacular meltdown he had in that episode.
8	** The gag where Homer imagines himself wearing a wig resembling Marge's hair and saying "I don't need her at all anymore!" [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadows]] the season finale "Secrets of a Successful Marriage," which reveals Marge as a LivingEmotionalCrutch to Homer to the extent that he fears he'll ''die'' if they ever split up.
9	** When Homer asks why he's such a loser, Bart replies that [[LoserSonOfLoserDad his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all losers too and Homer is simply the latest loser in a long line]]--"It's genetic, man!"--before [[ExplainExplainOhCrap realizing what this means for him]]. "Lisa the Simpson" in Season 9 would reveal that he's correct in a very literal way: a "Simpson gene" passed on the male chromosome causes men in the Simpson family to lose their intelligence as they age, preordaining each of them to become a failure.
10	** The gag in which Carl and Lenny assume Homer being in a car without a visible driver for him being in an [[AutomatedAutomobiles Automated Automobile]] (and then adding that it's an "[[MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting American]]" automatic car when Flanders crashes it) becomes harsher with the multiple accidents caused by experimental Google and Tesla self-driven cars.
11	* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The episode's story doesn't end with any reason why Homer would go back to hating Ned; instead the SnapBack in future episodes is {{Lampshaded}} with a cut to [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the following week's time slot]], when Homer hates Ned again. Later episodes of the show would see Homer happily spending time with Ned, suspending hostilities to help him when he needs a hand, and generally developing such a warm relationship with him that references to his animosity toward him start to seem more like VitriolicBestBuds banter than anything.
12	* HilariousInHindsight:
13	** Lenny AND Carl mistake Homer hiding the driver Flanders for driving in a "robot car". This aired before self-driving automobiles became marketable. Also, Homer would actually end up using a self-driving car in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS30E5BabyYouCantDriveMyCar "Baby You Cant Drive My Car".]]
14	** Ned's dream of shooting Homer may retroactively recall "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E1TreehouseOfHorrorXV The Ned Zone]]".
15	** Homer notes that for "some reason" Moe's Tavern is always closed on Wednesdays, the implication being that it's because this is when Moe secretly volunteers to read to the homeless. Season 6's "Homer the Great" shows that several of Homer's friends, Moe included, are part of a SecretCircleOfSecrets that meets on Wednesday evenings and Homer's LockedOutOfTheLoop.
16	** The soup kitchen is called the "Helter Shelter", which would later be the title of [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E5HelterShelter a Season 14 episode]].
17	* MemeticMutation:
18	** Homer appearing and disappearing from the hedge.
19	** Homer sitting and smiling in the car with his family and the Flanders, who are all glaring at him.
20	** Homer chasing down the Flanders' car is often used as a meme template of someone trying but failing to escape something unpleasant.
21	** Moe's reading of Literature/LittleWomen [[https://twitter.com/KevMagnet/status/1653931459004997635 became this in 2023]] after [[https://twitter.com/HeatherParryUK/status/1601685403773247489 a number of older fans]] who admitted they had never read the book believed for years that the last line of the book really was "they were no longer little girls. They were [[TitleDrop little women]]". Expect the scene to come up in discussions about any adaptation, particularly the 2019 one.
22	* SignatureScene: Two, actually:
23	** Homer chasing after the Flanderses' car ''ala'' T-1000 from ''Terminator 2''.
24	** Thanks to its memetic quality, Homer emerging in and out of the hedge is this. [[https://www.bigapplecollectibles.com/products/the-simpsons-funko-pop-homer-in-hedges-1252-pre-order?variant=39867953184867¤cy=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwyryUBhBSEiwAGN5OCJMlMrhJg9JsnQJtfuEdJcGaT5Bp1Qs-KbY9qk6o-CZu77U_x-j80hoCW3cQAvD_BwE It now has its own Funko!]]
25	* ParodyDisplacement: Many people believe that the "Rappin' Ronnie Reagan" tape was a fictional thing created for this episode [[OlderThanTheyThink when in reality it was based off of the "Rap Master Ronnie" play by Garry Trudeau.]] Saying that, the episode's version of the tape is more notable than the actual 1980s play.
26	* WatchItForTheMeme: Some watch it solely for the hedge meme.
27	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Italian adaptation inexplicably changes the Rappin' Ronnie Reagan tape to a UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush one. Also, Moe reading ''My Friend Flicka'' is rendered with him reading "The Ugly Duckling".

Context YMMV / TheSimpsonsS5E16HomerLovesFlanders