When director of the Capitol City Philharmonic, Victor Kleskow, scouts Lisa, she must endure his harsh training. Meanwhile, Homer works extra shifts at the plant and Marge, Bart, and Maggie make long daily trips just so Lisa can play.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Apathetic Teacher: When Dewey Largo believes he might be scouted by the Capitol City Philharmonic, we discover that he's very capable of being an excellent music teacher as he quickly gets the school band sounding so good that a confused Homer, attending a recital, thinks they wound up at the wrong school by accident.
- Bait-and-Switch: As Homer and Marge try to figure out how they'll get the money for Lisa to join the philharmonic, Homer asks Marge if she remembers Breaking Bad. He's suggesting that he'll sell his DVD set of the series.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Bart specifically advises the overshadowed siblings of the talented band kids to do this as part of a general scheme of acting out to get attention.
- Expy: Victor Kleskow, of guest voice actor J. K. Simmons' character in Whiplash.
- Halfway Plot Switch: The episode begins with Mr. Largo bemoaning his lack of musical success, until he believes he might be scouted by the Capitol City Philharmonic and helps put on an excellent performance. He discovers that the scout was looking for students, not teachers, and the focus shifts to Lisa's plot line.
- Holy Burns Evil: Parodied: Bart wards off the siblings of the band kids with two crossed clarinets.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mr. Largo's partner Geoffrey looks near identical to the show's earlier depiction of Ian McKellen, complete with a British accent.
- Opening Shout-Out: As Largo starts taking his directing of the school band more seriously, he bothers asking Milhouse what instrument he's playing, to which Milhouse admits that no one's really sure.
- Successful Sibling Syndrome: In the waiting room of the building where Lisa rehearses, Bart meets a large group of zombie-like kids afflicted by this.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Whiplash. J. K. Simmons even plays a character similar to the one he played in the film.
