Recap / The Simpsons S 23 E 15 Exit Through The Kwik E Mart

Bart becomes a graffiti artist after Homer punishes him for a prank he didn't play. Meanwhile, Apu faces competition against a health-food store.

Tropes:

• Adam Westing: The street artists who guest-star in the episode all turn out to be undercover cops.
  Shepard Fairey: Hey, don't be so surprised. I spent 20 years putting up posters that said "OBEY."
• Artistic License – Animal Care: The cage for the rabbit Bart gets Marge for her birthday is way too small for a rabbit of that size. Indeed, it's far too small for any kind of pet rabbit, small or big.
• Continuity Snarl: Bart becomes a graffiti artist in this episode, even though he already was one, by the name of El Barto. He's apparently still using that name, which makes it possible that the episode simply depicts him stepping up his game by painting more elaborate works of art as opposed to the crude scrawls we saw from him before.
• Cut Phone Lines: Non-villainous example. Homer tries to get a cook celebrity to call Marge on her birthday. They time the call the same moment the show goes live...but time passes and the call doesn't come in, all due to Bart's bunny gift having chewed on the phone line before the show started. This causes the oblivious cook to go from happily celebrating Marge to outright hating her - along with the audience - for not answering the phone.
• Epic Fail: Homer was on track to give Marge the perfect birthday present, for starters he remembered her birthday but also got her a kitchen tool she would love, autographed by a food celebrity she loves and set up a phone call from that celebrity at home. The rabbit Bart gave Marge ended up chewing through the phone cord, which imploded the entire process until Marge is being denounced as a horrible person by that celebrity on live TV.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: "Ode to a Radiant Mom," the sonnet Lisa sews into Marge's apron, with a Lampshade Hanging at the end.
  The sun is bright, and like you, ever glows,
  Beneath your light we grow, your children three,
  And shine we too at school and talent shows,
  Well that, I guess, is really mostly me.
  The sun is warm, as is the sweet embrace
  That lulls the sleeping babe t'ward slumber's still,
  It dries the tears from her cherubic face,
  And ev'ry sort of goo the babe doth spill.
  The sun is hot, and woe to pranking guys,
  Whose mischief-making 'tracts her fiery gaze,
  She, punishing, sends flares into their skies,
  No TV will they watch for many days.
  I stitch this ode for love and not for fame,
  To bring delight to those who freeze the frame.
• I Resemble That Remark!: Nelson criticizing Apu for selling cigarettes to kids as he takes a puff from a cigarette.
• Karma Houdini: Aside from being caught for the graffiti he does over the course of the episode, Bart is also publicly revealed as El Barto, which should mean finally taking the rap for years of vandalism. His parents convince the police to let him off the hook on the basis of his young age and, when they insist on some kind of punishment, suggest putting him in the rabbit cage again for a bit—which, though it's done in public, is hardly the humiliating experience it's intended to be as he spends all his time in the cage signing autographs.
• Loophole Abuse: To keep Lisa from denouncing him as a graffiti artist, Bart had to promise to write "Fur is Murder". He only wrote it once and added a question mark.
• Mystery Meat: The health-food store gets shut down in the end, after it's revealed that their "chicken" is actually monkey meat.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Homer and Bart, usually masters of Convenience Store Gift Shopping, both go above and beyond with particularly thoughtful and meaningful birthday presents for Marge. Homer buys her a state-of-the-art food processor and gets it autographed by the celebrity chef who promoted it, who then offers to sweeten the deal by calling Marge live from her show, while Bart scours pet stores until he finds a rabbit that looks exactly like Marge's beloved childhood pet. Unfortunately, their kindnesses cancel each other out as the rabbit chews through the phone cord and causes the family to miss all the phone calls from the celebrity chef, who then declares her hatred for Marge and whips up her studio audience into a frenzy of wrath against her, so that Marge goes to bed miserable.
• Oblivious to His Own Description: Homer is a fan of (what he doesn't know to be) Bart's street art and has no idea that "Mr. Fatso" is him until he overhears Bart talking to Milhouse about it.
  Homer: Hey Bart, check this out! Look at me, I'm Mr. Fatso! (laughing) It's funny 'cause it's so preposterous.
• Parents as People: While apologizing to Homer, Bart acknowledges that this never occurred to him.
  Bart: Come on, Dad. You made me mad, so I got back at you. How was I to know parents had feelings?
  Homer: Well, we do!
• Repeated Cue, Tardy Response: Homer arranges for Paula Paul to call Marge live during her show to wish her a Happy Birthday. He makes everyone wait while he says "three...two...one!" Nothing happens. He continues to say "one" for hours. Then it turns out that Marge's new pet rabbit (given to her by Bart for her birthday) had chewed through the phone wire, preventing the call from coming through.
• Rule-Abiding Rebel: The episode satirizes a perceived trend toward the cultural sanctioning of street art through iconography such as Shepard Fairey's famous "HOPE" poster in support of Barack Obama and the increasing mainstreaming of artists like Banksy, who directed the popular 2010 street art documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. It's hardly surprising when all the episode's guest stars turn out to be participants in a police sting.
  Shepard Fairey: Bart, we would love to set up a gallery show for your street art.
  Bart: Well, if it's in a gallery, how is it street art?
  Shepard Fairey: Bart! Street art is not about questioning authority!
• Swapped Roles: In an act of desperation, Apu tries to shoot up Swapper Jack's and aims his gun at Snake, who works at the place.
• The Unishment: Homer punishes Bart after his pet rabbit gift ruins Homer's attempts to give Marge a perfect gift by making him stay in the cage he brought the rabbit in. Not only does Bart get used to being in there, he refuses to come out to spite Homer. Later at the end of the episode when he's caught by the police for his graffiti art, he offers to be put back in the rabbit cage as his punishment, and slips away when the police aren't looking.