Recap / The Simpsons S10 E7 "Lisa Gets an 'A'"

"Actually, there are four pluses." "No, that's Drambuie."

Original air date: 11/22/1998

Production code: AABF-03

Lisa's A+++ grade she got on a test for the book The Wind in the Willows gives Springfield Elementary the grant money it sorely needs to update the school. The problem: Lisa cheated on the exam after spending her sick days from school playing video games instead of studying. Meanwhile, Homer raises a lobster to eat, but makes it his pet.

Tropes:

• Adopt the Food: Homer buys a small lobster whom he names Pinchy to raise in an attempt to avoid having to pay for a full-grown one (presumably not realizing that such would be more expensive in the long run). He comes to view Pinchy as a pet and spoils him, but accidentally cooks him alive when he gets dirty and he makes him a hot bath.
• The Alcoholic: Hinted with Miss Hoover's habit of spilling liquors on test papers, making the scores look different than they really are. Extra points for the fact that she spilled at least two over the course of a lunch break. The fact that she doesn't correct them until the student points it out drives her apathy further.
• All Animals Are Dogs: Pinchy the lobster whimpers and wags his tail like a timid puppy. Homer is even seen walking him on a dog leash later.
• The Alleged Computer: The Coleco computer that Gil is selling not only looks and acts like a mid-'80s 8-bit in an episode from 1998, and Gil unwillingly ends up mentioning that the computers of this brand rust incredibly fast. He then chides himself for providing Too Much Information right in the middle of his sales pitch.
• Artistic License – Biology: Homer can somehow grow a lobster to full size in a small fish tank that's just had some table salt added to it, which wouldn't be enough for a lobster to survive in. Pinchy also acts like a puppy and tends to squeak and huddle whenever frightened, which real lobsters can't and don't do.
• Artistic License – Medicine: Lisa develops a cold after less than ten seconds in a freezer, which is bad enough to require missing school the next day. Colds come from a virus and have nothing to do with being cold.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment:
  • Miss Hoover when noticing Lisa feels funny after giving her class the tests.
    Miss Hoover: (sympathetic) Aw, don't worry about the test. Just get yourself a nice drink of water. (suddenly stern) Then come back and finish the test.
  • Superintendent Chalmers after Lisa threatens to report Principal Skinner to him for covering up the fact that she cheated.
    Chalmers: Skinner!!! I am outraged that you kept this from me! You were supposed to call as soon as the new scoreboard was in. Tell me, does it play that song "Charge"?
  • Teasing the Where the Hell Is Springfield? question:
    Chalmers: It's not surprising this school was once classified the most dilapidated in all of Missouri. That's why it was shut down and moved here, brick by brick.
• The B Grade: Lisa's immense fear that getting a single bad grade will ruin her chances of getting into her dream University (anyone but Brown) is what drives the whole plot.
• Black Comedy Pet Death: Homer weeping over the death of his beloved pet lobster... while eating him.
  Homer: [In between sobs] Oh God, that's tasty! I wish Pinchy were here to enjoy this!
• Bland-Name Product: An ice cream brand available at the supermarket is Ken and Harry's.
• Boarding School of Horrors: Captain McCallister implies that he runs such an institution when offering to toughen up Pinchy for Homer and Marge.
• Brick Joke: The decoy model◊ that Bart made of himself to get out of class seemingly makes another appearance◊ in the scene of Krabappel teaching with the Oscar Myer periodic table.
• Broken Record: In Lisa's Imagine Spot, when she's told no postsecondary school would accept her but Brown University, Lisa says "No, not Brown, Brown, Brown...", repeating Brown, which leads Miss Hoover to ask, "Lisa, you're saying 'Brown' an awful lot, are you okay?"
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Despite her scrupulous nature, Lisa cheats because she believes that a single bad grade will wreck her future. In a weird way, this trope holds true for the result of that sole incident of cheating, as that one grade wound up bumping up the entire school's GPA and getting them awarded a grant, meaning Lisa has to deal with a barrage of Oblivious Guilt Slinging plus the choice between honesty and what's best for the school and its students (this being Lisa, the latter doesn't stand a chance.)
• Captain Ersatz: Dash Dingo is an obvious parody of Crash Bandicoot.
• Cast as a Mask: An interesting aversion: during the fake ceremony where Lisa confesses, the "Comptroller Atkins" on stage turns out to be Otto in a latex mask, and his fake comptroller voice, while sounding radically different from Otto's normal voice, was still done by Harry Shearer (Otto's regular voice actor). And then the real Comptroller Atkins who shows up for the real ceremony is voiced by Hank Azaria.
• Catch Your Death of Cold: Lisa catches a cold when Homer forces her to look in a freezer for ice cream.
• Chekhov's Gag: The decoy of himself Bart made in shop really only serves to set up his making the fake Lisa puppet to fool Comptroller Atkins; even Skinner himself is involved in it as he was the one who assigned Bart to create the fake Lisa puppet in case the real Lisa would come clean during the fake presentation.
• Compressed Hair: Otto somehow manages to fit his very long curly hair (as well as his hat and headphones) underneath the Comptroller Latex Perfection mask. When he takes it off, all his hair bursts out.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The oblivious rich mother and her rude son Gavin from "Marge Not Be Proud" return for a brief appearance.
  • Once again, Lisa is worried that failing one test will ruin her life.
• Couch Gag: The family sits, and salon hair dryers descend onto their heads and lift up, revealing the family have switched hairdos.
• Courteous Canadian: Comptroller Atkins mentions he's Canadian as a Hand Wave for why he allows Springfield Elementary to keep the money after Lisa bravely admitted she cheated... or rather, the fake Comptroller Atkins says this, and there's no telling if the real Atkins would have taken the money back in the face of such a thing.
• Deadly Dingos: At one point, a video game dingo is seen and his objective is to eat seven crystal babies.
• Death by Irony: Homer stopped Marge from boiling Pinchy. In the end, it's Homer who ended up boiling the lobster by trying to give it a bath.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: While trying to convince Principal Skinner to spend part of the extra funding money on Coleco-brand computers, Gil accidentally mentions that they rust extremely quickly.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Not "evil" exactly, but Bart is genuinely unable to fathom why Lisa would have an issue with getting a good grade through cheating rather than earning it honestly, even trying but simply not able to see the issue.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: At the end, Bart asks what smells so good, after Homer says he put Pinchy in a hot bath to clean him up. Homer is in the middle of asking the same thing, then realizes to his horror that in giving Pinchy a hot bath, he has accidentally killed him.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Lisa worries that a zero on one second-grade test will cost her admission to Harvard University, and the only school that would accept her would be Brown University.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Lisa seemingly reveals to Comptroller Atkins that she cheated to get her A+++, Marge commends her for getting the highest grade in the class (which she pointedly repeats after Lisa tries to correct her). Cue the reveal that Lisa was tricked into thinking she revealed this to Comptroller Atkins, and that the ceremony she had attended was fake (as to get her away from the school before the real Comptroller Atkins showed up, with Bart staying behind to help Skinner and Chalmers deceive Atkins).
• Funny Background Event: Behind Lisa's desk when she's fretting about her test, Ralph is putting a pencil in his nose.
• F--: Inverted Trope. Lisa's test gets an "A+++" (it would have been quadruple, but one of the "plusses" was a stain of Drambuie that Miss Hoover had while grading papers), and with it comes a lot of attention that she absolutely detests.
• Giant Novelty Check: The check Comptroller Atkins (and his faked appearance by Otto) hands the school. Skinner says that he knows a liquor store that will cash that immediately.
• Gratuitous Ninja: Ninja Koalas is one of the enemies of the Dash Dingo game — the weirdness of that makes Lisa decide to quit playing... for a few seconds, at least.
• Gross-Up Close-Up: When Homer tries to show Marge how cute Pinchy is (who he saw as a Disney-esque animal buddy), he suddenly changes into a highly detailed, realistic lobster (though still red when he should be dark green).◊
• High-School Hustler: For this episode, Nelson is one. He uses one of the stalls in the boys' bathroom as an office and he sells test answers in a way that sort of resembles a drug dealer (after he sells Lisa the answer to the Wind in the Willows test, he meets her again and offers her the answers to a fraction test — he'll give her the numerators for free but she will need to buy the denominators).
• Honor Before Reason: Despite the fact that it would benefit everyone in school, Lisa ultimately confesses out of her guilt from cheating and the school using funds that they didn't earn. The school is quick to figure this would happen, though, and works around it. (She does privately change her A+++ to an F at home after the ceremony.)
• Imagine Spot: When Lisa gets an Oh, Crap! upon learning she will have to sit a test she hasn't studied for, she imagines Mr. Toad on the front cover of The Wind in the Willows saying (in an accent like the Dash Dingo baddie's), "Game over, mate."
• Inelegant Blubbering: Homer, after accidentally boiling Pinchy, succumbs to eating (and thoroughly enjoying) him, all the while still bawling traumatized.
• Inner Thoughts, Outsider Puzzlement: Ms. Hoover noticed Lisa is saying "Brown" repeatedly as the latter daydreams that losing a single test will force her to go to Brown University and asks if there's anything wrong.
• It's All About Me: Lisa is willing to admit she cheated on her test so she can feel better about herself, even though this would mean the school wouldn't get a grant it desperately needs. However, Bart, Skinner and Chalmers work around this so they get the grant money anyway. She also seriously thinks that a single bad grade in her record will be enough to disqualify her from Harvard, which is what makes her cheat to begin with.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Overlooking cheating and emotionally blackmailing a guilty young girl to go along with it might be shady but Skinner and Chalmers are absolutely right that the school desperately needs the grant money and that Lisa confessing won't do anything but make her feel better.
• Just One More Level!: Lisa starts playing Dash Dingo and gets hooked, so she pretends that she's still sick so she can keep playing.
• Latex Perfection: The mask that Otto wears when posing as the comptroller. Also, earlier in the episode, Bart shows Lisa a replica of himself he left in the class so he could skip it, saying it's "Mostly latex."
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Lisa and Skinner react with the same surprise the audience probably has when Chalmers appears to casually reveal where the hell Springfield is, before he clarifies that the school, after being declared "the most dilapidated in all of Missouri," was shut down and moved to Springfield "brick by brick." Of course, In-Universe they'd be reacting that way because they already know Springfield isn't in Missouri.
• Lesser of Two Evils: After Lisa tells on Superintendent Chalmers as to how Principal Skinner is lying about her good grades and spending the grant money they haven't yet received, Chalmers asks her to walk with him. He explains to Lisa that Springfield Elementary School is terribly dilapidated, and desperately needs the money. He essentially ask her to make the the choice to keep lying about her grade, so that the school can receive the funding it desperately needs.
• Lethally Stupid: Homer sets a boiling hot bath and leaves the being he placed within it unsupervised for an extended period of time. As awful as it is, it sure is lucky that what got killed was a lobster.
• Loose Lips: As the real ceremony ends, Skinner tells the crowd, "Let's hear it for the real Comptroller!" This catches the Comptroller's attention, but Chalmers shoots Skinner a Death Glare and shoves the Comptroller out the door before any more damage is done.
• Medal of Dishonor: The "accidental" kind. As mentioned under Honor Before Reason, Lisa would prefer to throw the school's welfare to the wolves rather than accept the reward (and the extra funding money that comes with it, which the school directly needs and some of which they have already used to buy things).
• Motor Mouth: Lisa tells Marge rapid-fire what she would like for breakfast while trying to stay home sick despite obviously being well enough to go to school.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Homer has one when he realizes that he has accidentally killed Pinchy by giving him a hot bath. In the last scene, he is sobbing over Pinchy while eating him.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Lisa's first time playing the video game has her quitting because Ninja Koalas kill her character.
• Noodle Incident: Bart destroys Lisa's objections about entering the boys' bathroom by claiming she won't see anything she hasn't seen when Homer boycotted pants.
• Not Helping Your Case: Willie recommends Lisa not cheat on the test and just take the failing grade. After all, he got a zero once, and his life "turned out just fine." Note that Willie says this while unclogging a school toilet with his bare hands.
  Willie: Oh, you've got yourself a partner, do ye?
• Not So Above It All: Lisa is a vegetarian and a fierce advocate of animal rights/welfare, but she complains about Homer cooking Maine cabbages instead of Pinchy because she enjoys the smell of cooked lobster.
• Oh, Crap!: Lisa upon being told she will have to sit a test on The Wind in the Willows, a book she hasn't read.
• Out-of-Character Moment:
  • While it makes sense that Lisa would feel desperate enough to cheat if she didn't know the answers on a test, it does seem unlikely that Lisa wouldn't have already read The Wind in the Willows since she's the kind of person who would read books like that for fun.
  • She also complained about Homer refusing to cook Pinchy the lobster, despite being a vegetarian and a fierce animal lover. Homer even lampshades it by calling her out on it, only for Lisa to admit that she actually enjoyed the smell of cooked lobster.
• Overly Long Gag: Reverend Lovejoy takes forever to say "amen," only stopping when Homer says "Don't make me come up there!"
• Parenthetical Swearing: Lisa has this to say when she realises she can't do the test: "I am in deep blank."
• Playing Sick: Lisa tries to resort to this after she's recovered from her illness. Because of her previous record, Marge lets skip school a couple of extra days without questioning, but later she finds herself succumbing to tonal Immediate Self-Contradiction.
• Red Live Lobster: The subplot involves Homer raising a lobster to eat, but instead makes it his pet. Pinchy, the lobster, is red, even before it ultimately gets boiled. It's subverted somewhat in that Pinchy is a dark shade of red when alive, and he turns a much brighter red when boiled.
• Saved by the Awesome: Subverted. Lisa is lead to believe that this happens when she publicly confesses to cheating for the grade that netted Springfield Elementary a much-needed grant, with Comptroller Atkins commending her for having the courage to be honest and giving the school the grant anyway. In fact, Skinner took her Honor Before Reason tendencies into account and faked the grant ceremony before it happened with Otto impersonating Atkins, thereby getting rid of Lisa before the real Comptroller shows up to award the grant.
• Say My Name: Homer during his Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap! moment, saying "Pinchy?" three times, starting quietly, then rising in volume each time and culminating in a scream of "PINCHY!" when he realises he has accidentally boiled Pinchy in the bath.
• Saying Too Much: When the real Comptroller Atkins hands the check to Skinner and leaves, Skinner says into the microphone: "let's give a hand to the real Comptroller Atkins!" Atkins stops walking and turns obviously thinking "what did he just say?" and Chalmers has to drag him along, giving Skinner a Death Glare.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Lisa. The drama is that she believes this is worth ruining the school.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Every Springfielder but Lisa.
• Shout-Out:
  • Ralph calls Superintendent Chalmers "Super Nintendo Chalmers".
  • The video game Lisa plays while sick is obviously spoofing Crash Bandicoot.
  • One of the ice cream flavors featured in this episode is Milli Vanilla.
  • Nelson calls Lisa "Lady Cheaterley".
  • Nelson offers Lisa a set of test answers where she has to buy the vowels, a reference to Wheel of Fortune.
• Spiritual Antithesis: To "Bart Gets an F". That episode saw Bart trying desperately to avoid getting an F on an upcoming test by intense studying. This sees Lisa trying desperately to avoid getting an F on a test she did not study for by cheating. In this same vein, Bart's F would mean he had to repeat the fourth grade, while Lisa's A+++ meant the school would be (unjustly) using it for grant money. Both episodes end with the grade being changed and then hung on the family fridge (Bart's D- because it meant he passed after all, Lisa changing the A to an F herself, happy with having stood by her principles).
• Sucky School: While Springfield Elementary is never shown favorably, in this episode the school is beyond terrible: the superintendent and principal are even more dishonest and corrupt than their normal selves (albeit at least some of their dishonesty is for a good cause), the building itself is crumbling and previously condemned, the science class uses Oscar Meyer ads in place of a Periodic Table, the school's only computer is decades outdated (and rusting), and the school playground is a deathtrap, with, among other things, a cinder block on a chain in place of a tether ball.
• Take a Third Option: Lisa has to decide whether to accept her award or confess her cheating and lose the school it's badly needed grant. She ultimately confesses. But, it's Skinner and Chalmers (along with Bart, Marge, Homer, and the audience) who have taken the third option: having her confess to Otto in a comptroller mask at a fake ceremony and then sending her out with her parents. The real comptroller then gives the real check to the school at the real ceremony, with Bart staying behind and operating a fake Lisa puppet from the audience.
• Take That!:
  • Marge tells Bart that the Simpsons aren't converting to Catholicism (he wants "Communion wafers and booze" out of it) because "three kids is enough, thank you." The Catholic League at the time spoke out against that line.
  • The Imagine Spot of Lisa being forced to go to Brown University due to her one "zero". Ian Maxtone-Graham, who wrote the story, went to Brown University.
    Skinner: Mmmm, Brown. Heckuva school. Weren't you at Brown, Otto?
    Otto: Yup. Almost got tenure, too.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Homer starts off the whole plot by shoving Lisa into a freezer to look for ice cream flavours, and buying Pinchy at the same time.
  • Marge suggests Lisa play one of Bart's video games, Dash Dingo, while she recovers from her cold. Lisa becomes addicted to the game and ignores the homework Ralph brought her, meaning she is unprepared for a test on said homework when she returns to school, and resorts to cheating to pass the test.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Superintendent Chalmers claims that Springfield Elementary School used to be considered the most dilapidated in Missouri until they brought it to Springfield. Lisa's and Skinner's looks of surprise when Chalmers mentions "Missouri" suggests that Springfield isn't there. Chalmers seals it by explaining that the school was moved brick by brick from its original location in Missouri and placed on Springfield.
• Working Through the Cold: Played with when Marge, realizing that Lisa is just making up excuses to continue playing Bart's video game after her health recovers, drops her off at Springfield Elementary anyway.
  Lisa: But I might infect the other kids.
  Marge: That's a risk I'm willing to take. [Drives away] So long!