Recap / The Simpsons S3 E23 "Bart's Friend Falls in Love"

Original air date: 5/7/1992

Production code: 8F22

Bart's friendship with Milhouse is strained when Milhouse falls for a new girl in school. Meanwhile, Marge orders subliminal weight loss cassette tapes for Homer, but ends up getting vocabulary builder tapes that makes Homer Sophisticated as Hell.

Examples

• Accidental Misnaming: Principal Skinner accidentally pronounces Samantha's last name as "Stinky".
• Analogy Backfire: Milhouse mournfully claims that his relationship with Samantha "started out like Romeo and Juliet, but ended in tragedy". The story of "Romeo and Juliet" was a tragedy by definition, it ended with both characters dead.
• And Starring: Pamela Hayden as Milhouse.
• Angrish: Homer concludes the episode's Raiders of the Lost Parody by cursing at Bart this way as he safely makes it onto the school bus.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The "French" used at the convent. The nun's rendition of "Dominique" is complete gibberish (although the tune is accurate).
• Beware the Nice Ones: When Bart confesses that he squealed to Mr. Stanky, the normally meek and mild-mannered Milhouse starts whaling on him.
• Big "NO!": Mr. Stankey does this when he sees his daughter Samantha and Milhouse together, complete with Disturbed Doves flying out of the treehouse.
• Big "WHAT?!": Milhouse after Bart admits that he snitched to Mr. Stankey.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Mr. Stankey's response to Samantha being in a relationship with one of her classmates? Put her in a school for naughty girls, equaling her not being to meet with Milhouse again.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Given by the operator when Marge tries to order the weight-loss tape for Homer.
  Marge: Operator, I'd like to place an order for my husband.
  Operator: Would he like to lose weight, stop smoking, learn the state capitals, or master hostage negotiations?
• Buffy Speak:
  Homer: Marge, where's that metal dealie you use to dig...food?
  Marge: You mean a spoon?
• Characterization Marches On:
  • Considering later episodes show Milhouse being easily terrified from watching G-rated movies, it would seem odd that Luanne would even allow him to watch a movie involving mutants eating humans onscreen after having sex with them.
  • Consistent with what we've seen up to this point, Bart's interest in girls has yet to develop, and Milhouse's infatuation with Samantha (and newfound love of kissing) confuses him. He wouldn't experience a crush of his own until the following season's "New Kid on the Block," but while he remains ten years old thanks to Comic-Book Time, later seasons would evolve him into an outright Kidanova—albeit one who maintains that Girls Have Cooties.
  • During his brief appearance, while still quotable, Ralph is far more eloquent and intelligent than he’d eventually become.
• Chekhov's Gun: Bart uses the Magic 8-Ball that which told him and Milhouse that them they won't be friends at the end of the day, to subdue Milhouse when they fight.
• Clueless Aesop: Parodied with Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You-Know-What, a sex education film hosted by Troy McClure that promises to explain the subject "in a frank and straightforward manner." It ends up being a mixture of incredibly childish imagery, weird euphemisms, out-of-place references to the characters being rabbits, and what is apparently (visible to the characters, but not us) a full-on sex scene.
• Comically Missing the Point: Milhouse's parents walk in on him at Bart's throat. Their reaction?
  Luanne: (gasps) Milhouse is out of bed and full of beans!
  Kirk: Whoa, it's a miracle!
  (they leave)
• Couch Gag: The family sits on the couch and it tips backwards, crashing through the wall.
• Cultural Blending: Samantha ends up at a convent run by "French-Canadian nuns," but the writers don't seem to know anything specific about that culture^note or, more likely, care. The scene does feature references to a few other cultures:
  • The song "Dominique" is originally from Belgium (although it is known in multiple European countries).
  • When Samantha says "They're very nice, except they never let me oot," she exhibits Canadian Raising, a feature of Canadian English phonetics that has nothing to do with Canadian French (and is not seen nearly as often as is suggested in Canadian English).
  • When Milhouse and Samantha kiss, the score briefly quotes "La Marseillaise", the national anthem of France. This song has absolutely no connection to Canada or its Francophone citizens^note It was written three decades after France lost its North American colonies to the British, and its use here is equivalent to using "Rule, Britannia!" to suggest "American-ness". (This is also a reference to the ending of Casablanca.)
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When you consider that the episode came out in 1992, when the AIDS epidemic was still in full swing:
  Bart: Milhouse, we're living in the age of cooties. I can't believe the risk you're running.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Invoked at the end of the sex ed film "Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You-Know-What":
  Troy McClure: Now that you know how it's done... don't do it.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Fans of later seasons may wonder where Milhouse's perennial crush on Lisa is. The answer: not even dreamed of until Season 6, and not implemented as anything more than a one-off gag until Season 8.
• Epic Fail: The vocabulary builder tape obviously isn't meant to make Homer lose weight... but still, he manages to gain 13 pounds in two weeks (the equivalent of almost a pound a day, every day).
• Fake Orgasm: Bart's class watches a sex ed film narrated by Troy McClure and starring bunnies, during which Edna Krabappel casually accuses the female bunny of faking an orgasm.
  Troy McClure: Then came the big day. Fluffy and Fuzzy got married! That night came the honeymoon...
  Kids: Ewwww!
  Mrs. Krabappel: [Puffing a cigarette] She's faking it.
• Food Porn: The food ads Homer watches are narrated by a woman in a seductive voice.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Lisa reads an article that says humans will develop an extra finger in a million years.
  Bart: Five fingers? Ew! Freak show.
• Friend Versus Lover: The main plot of the episode, with Bart feeling sidelined when Milhouse and Samantha do stuff together, then scheming to break the two up.
• Furry Reminder: During the sex ed video, Fluffy Bunny — despite being a stand-in for a human woman — gives birth to 14 children. Only 8 survive.
• Girls Have Cooties: Bart is still at this level of development, which is why he's baffled by Milhouse's infatuation.
• Harmful to Minors: The sex ed film apparently shows the honeymoon in explicit detail.
  Children: EWWWWWWWW!
  Mrs. Krabappel: She's faking it.
• Hypocritical Humor: Just to emphasize the wretchedness of American public schooling in Springfield, Krabappel grants Samantha an introduction to the class, warmly telling her there's no judgement there.... then spills out how her presentation will be graded for grammar and posture.
• Imagine Spot:
  • Lisa has one of Homer's funeral after watching a news report about the dangers of obesity. It ends with Homer's coffin crushing his family and some workers.
  • Marge also has one of Homer as a hostage negotiator. It ends with Homer getting killed after ignoring all demands of the hostage taker.
• Indy Escape: With Homer in place of the boulder.
• Indy Hat Roll: Parodied by Bart.
• Informed Judaism: Fuzzy Bunny and his girlfriend are seen having a Jewish wedding, complete with kippot and tallises and breaking the glass with the foot.
• It's Always Spring: Aside from one throwaway line from Homer near the end, absolutely nothing indicates that the majority of this episode was set in winter.
  Lisa: Dad! Do you know what today is?
  Homer: The vernal equinox?
  Lisa: No, it's two weeks since you got that weight-loss tape.
• Kissing In A Tree: Bart performs a sinister version.
  "Samantha and Milhouse kissing in a tree, about to lose their privacy. He-he-he!"
• Lampshade Hanging: In a news report about obesity:
  Kent Brockman: Americans have grown up with the image of the jolly fat man: Dom De Luise, Alfred Hitchcock, and, of course Santa Claus. But in real life, Santa would be suffering from gall stones, hypertension, impotence, and diabetes.
• Make-Out Kids: Milhouse and Samantha, to the degree that two 10-year-olds reasonably can be.
  Bart: All they do is kiss.
  Marge: How cute! ...They don't open their mouths, do they?
  Bart: No.
  Marge: How cute!
• Mood Whiplash: Skinner interrupting his welcoming Samantha to Springfield Elementary to go off on PTSD flashbacks to his days in 'Nam.
  Skinner: Samantha, I've always been suspicious of transfer students. Other principals unload problem cases that way. Lord knows I do.
  Samantha: I'm a good student.
  Skinner: (darkly) Yeah, sure, and they told me I'd get a big parade when I got back from 'Nam. Instead, they spat on me. I can still feel it searing. (brightly) So, let's just see what the permanent record has to say. No detention, fairly good attendance...oh, I see you beat that bed-wetting problem in the second grade.
  Samantha: (mortified) That's in there?!
  Skinner: (warmly) Don't worry, they'll forget...(darkly again) just like they forgot about me in that tiger cage for 18 agonizing months! Every night I wake up screaming! (brightly) Well, let's meet your classmates!
• Nutritional Nightmare: Homer sees a commercial for the "Good Morning Burger", which consists of a patty that's "eighteen ounces of sizzling ground beef", slathered in creamery butter, and topped with bacon, ham, and a fried egg. Needless to say, Homer's interest in this is what pushes Lisa into trying to get Homer to live healthier.
• Off with His Head!: Itchy cuts off Scratchy and his bride's heads with his sawblade hat in the Itchy & Scratchy episode "I'm Getting Buried in the Morning".
• One-Gender School: Mr. Stankey sends his daughter to one.
• Police Are Useless: The frequent use of this trope in the show gets a lampshade with Samantha stating that her father, who works in home security, moved to Springfield due to its "high crime rate and lackluster police force."
• Puppy Love: The preteen awkwardness of two 10-year-olds attempting a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship is handled with unusual realism for a cartoon, with the Friend Versus Lover tension ramped up by the fact that Bart, Milhouse's peer, has yet to reach a point where any of this appeals to him.
• Raiders of the Lost Parody: Bart steals Homer's change jar from his dresser, Homer wakes up and gives chase, but trips and rolls down the stairs after him for an Indy Escape. This is followed by an Indy Hat Roll with the garage door. As Bart escapes onto the school bus, an underwear-clad Homer screams gibberish from the front lawn in a parody of the natives chasing Indy to the plane.
• Reaction Shot: Bart's class watches a sex-ed film, Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You-Know-What. In it, Fuzzy marries his girlfriend Fluffy, and the film graphically shows what happens on the honeymoon. We only see the reaction of the students, who all shout "EW!", and Mrs. Krabapple, who snarks, "She's faking it."
• Referenced by...: William Shakespeare: After Samantha's father takes her away:
  Milhouse: How could this happen? We started out like Romeo and Juliet, but it ended up in tragedy.
• Relationship Sabotage: Bart does this to Milhouse and Samantha so her father will take her away and he'll have Milhouse to himself. He ends up regretting it.
• Screw Destiny: A bit of foreshadowing after Bart's great escape on the bus to school. While Bart has Homer's jar of change for the show and tell project at school, Milhouse shows him his magic 8 ball he got from the thrift store. For laughs, the two ask questions of their friendship together into the future.... and none sound promising. Later on, when Bart goes to Milhouse to make amends which turns into a fight, Bart ends up grabbing (aside from the other wide varieties of deadly weapons like broken bottles and a knife) said 8 ball, and uses it to wack Milhouse upside the head into sanity, breaking it into pieces.
  Bart: Bet it didn't see that comin'.
  Milhouse: (exasperated) Yeah.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Homer speaks this way as a result of listening to vocabulary-builder tapes.
• Sex Miseducation Class: Bart's class watches a sex ed video called "Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You-Know-What", which shows an anthropomorphic rabbit dating, marrying, and eventually knocking up another one. The movie makes a point of the two staying virgins until the honeymoon, and ends with Troy McClure saying, "And now that you know how it's done, don't do it."
• Sexy Discretion Shot: Mrs. Krabappel shows the class an outdated sex-ed film called "Fuzzy's Bunny's Guide to You-Know-what."
  Troy McClure: Then came the big day... Fluffy and Fuzzy got married! [suggestively] That night... came the honeymoon.
  [cut to the kids' horrified reactions as cheesy porno music plays; in the back of the room, Mrs. Krabappel nonchalantly smokes a cigarette]
  Mrs. Krabappel: She's faking it.
• Shout-Out:
  • The famous opening scene where Bart steals Homer's pennies parodies Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • The final shot is a reference to Casablanca.
  • The magazine Lisa is reading throughout the episode, Eternity, may be a reference to the Science Fiction and parapsychology magazine Omni, published from 1978 to 1995.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Samantha and Milhouse spend a great deal of time together kissing, making Bart feel left out in the process.
• Sleep Learning: Lisa tries to get Homer one of these tapes so he can subconsciously lose weight, but the company was all out, so they send him a vocabulary-builder tape instead.
• Smoking Hot Sex: Parodied. The sex-ed video shows the rabbit couple eating carrots in bed after sex.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Given that Homer's still a vulgar, not too bright Bumbling Dad, he also doesn't take advantage of his newfound perspicacity to say anything that clever or insightful, instead just using ten-dollar words for mundane situations.
  Marge: I don't know if that tape is working. You ate three desserts tonight!
  Homer: Forbearance is the watchword. That triumvirate of Twinkies merely overwhelmed my resolve.
  Marge: Mmm... there's another thing I've been wanting to talk to you about.
  Homer: Tut, tut, gentle Marge — for here in the boudoir, the gourmand metamorphosises into... the voluptuary!
  [He growls like a dog and takes off her nightcap with his teeth]
  Marge: What in God's name are you talking about?
  [Homer kisses her cheek lustfully]
  Marge: ...Oh.
• The Stinger: The show ends with a message from Homer to "increase your wordiness", giving his own definitions of words.
  Satiety: Belt-popping fullness.
  Triumvirate: Three guys giving orders.
  Gourmand: Like a gourmet, only fatter.
  Machiavellian: I don't know.
  Boudoir: Where a French guy does it.
• Stupid Question Bait: Mrs. Krabappel opens the floor to questions after showing the class a sex ed film and, as might be expected, Bart (the third questioner) goes way off-topic (asking how he can create a "half-man, half-monkey-type creature").
• Subliminal Advertising: Homer watches two commercials (one for a burger and one for a candy bar) that both list "rich creamery butter" as their ingredients.
  Lisa: According to Eternity magazine, you can lose weight through subliminal learning. That's where an idea is subtly implanted into your head without you even knowing it.
  Homer: Oh, Lisa, that's a load of rich creamery butter.
• Take Our Word for It: The sex ed film shown to the students features a graphic sex scene, though we don't see it.
  Edna: She's faking it.
• Weaponized Headgear: Itchy does this in the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon the kids are watching.
• Within Arm's Reach: After Bart confesses that he's the reason Samantha's dad won't allow Milhouse to see her anymore, he starts to strangle Bart. Bart then reaches around the floor, choosing from a brick and a broken glass bottle, before bashing the "Lucky 8-ball" on Milhouse's face.
• Word, Schmord!:
  Bart: How would I go about creating a half-man, half-monkey-type creature?
  Mrs. Krabappel: I'm sorry, that would be playing God.
  Bart: God-schmod, I want my monkey man!
• Worth It: When Milhouse visits Samantha at the school for wicked girls, she's initially reluctant about kissing him because of the school's penalty for kissing but eventually decides it's worth it.