Tropes present in this episode:
- Berserk Button: Referring to Bart by his full name of "Bartholomew" is ill-advised, as Albert learns the hard way.
- Big Brother Instinct: Inverted, as Albert is actually younger than Laura, but still jumps right in to defend her when Bart harasses her. Then Played With, as Almanzo (who is quite fond of "Beth" but definitely has no romantic inclinations towards her at this stage) steps in to defend her (and, by extension, Albert) from the hulking bully.
- The Bully: New student Bart Slater, Jr, who not only regularly torments his classmates, but also Miss Wilder, to the point where she almost quits until the other students intervene; the boy's father, Bart Sr, also qualifies as such, but in a much more financial fashion.
- The Dog Bites Back: On the day Eliza Jane announces she will be stepping down as Walnut Grove's teacher (citing untenable conditions), her speech is impeded by Bart's playing of the harmonica. Towards the end of her speech, she alludes to her unpleasant situation being exacerbated by "a wealthy fool". When Bart (realizing she's talking about his father) takes umbrage at the comment, Ms. Wilder replies:"How did you know I was talking about your father? Was it the word 'wealthy', or the word 'fool'?"
- Gilligan Cut: After learning that Nels will vote for Bart's expulsion at the schoolboard reunion, Harriet (who insists on sucking up to Bart's rich parents) says that, as president of the schoolboard, she'll replace him for someone who agrees with her. When Nels asks where she'll find someone idiotic enough to take her side, cut to Nellie at the reunion, having taken her father's place.
- Halloween Episode: Although originally aired in January 1980, this episode's Halloween theme and inclusion of "creatures of the night" make this a Halloween rerun favorite.
- Mythology Gag: Not content with tormenting Ms. Wilder, Bart goes to her house and mocks her name with a limerick, which is taken from the Little House book where Eliza Jane shares an incident where colleagues mocked her name with said limerick and her students memorized and repeated it through the town.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After the other children beat the crap out of Bart, he backs down and not only apologizes to Miss Wilder, but also asks her to stay on.
- Recycled Premise: The other children issuing a collective beatdown to Bart is a plot element taken from season 3's "The Bully Boys", where the same thing happens to another class bully.
- To a lesser extent, a teacher being forced to resign because she can't keep her bigger student(s) under control, only to manage it thanks to a collective effort from the schoolchildren is taken from Season 2's "Troublemaker", in which Miss Beadle was fired because she couldn't keep bigger students from causing trouble and starting fights at school, and when she gets her job back, her students get a troublemaking classmate to back down by glaring at him whenever he tries to make trouble in class and making it clear that nobody else is putting up with his actions anymore.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: As part of a scheme to get Bart to stop tormenting Ms. Wilder, Albert uses a wolf-man disguise to convince the bully boy he's a dangerous, super-strong werewolf (using a pier-paper rock), and that the only way to keep him safe is by behaving at school. Unfortunately, Carrie accidentally exposes him.
- Shout-Out: To I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Michael Landon's
breakthrough acting role some 23 years earlier.
