YMMV / The Simpsons S3 E16 "Bart the Lover"

• Harsher in Hindsight: Ned's line "You knew I had a temper when you married me" is very much Played for Laughs; his definition of a temperamental action is withholding Bible stories as a punishment. But Season 8's "Hurricane Neddy" would reveal that he's had several decades worth of pent-up rage, suppressed since childhood after therapeutic treatment; he's downright terrifying when he truly reaches his limit.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Mrs. Krabappel's line about not wanting to date Principal Skinner because "...his mommy won't let him out to play," is funnier after watching the season eight episode "Grade School Confidential" (where Skinner and Krabappel do date), but Harsher in Hindsight as of "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" because of their break-up (and harsher still when, prior to Marcia Wallace's death, Mrs. Krabappel married Ned Flanders). On top of that, Agnes was the reason for their breakup.
  • Mrs. Krabappel's line about Groundskeeper Willie being into something sexually deviant ("Yech! I'm not even gonna tell you what that guy's into.") is funnier after watching "Homer Badman," where it's revealed that Groundskeeper Willie is a Peeping Tom who likes to videotape people having sex in their cars (and in "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", he has an upkilt website and in "Bye Bye Nerdie", he put video cameras in the school to assuage his fetish rather than because the school needs extra security measures).
  • The episode's subplot prominently features Ned Flanders. Guess who'd be the last stop on Edna's long romantic road?
  • Early on, the Twirl King presentation opens up by stating yo-yos are not much competition for a video game. A handful of video game characters, such as Bridget in Guilty Gear, Sora in Kingdom Hearts III, and Malin in The King of Fighters, fight with yo-yos.
  • "I don’t want any damn vegetables" and "No Bible stories for you tonight!" This was one year before VeggieTales premiered.
  • When Homer finds out that Bart has been doing yo-yo tricks, he becomes confident that Bart can make a living off of it, and he can live off the income Bart makes. A later episode would have Bart making an income through a hobby he likes (specifically, making novelty t-shirts) and Homer starts living off said income.
  • One of Homer's drunken letters to Marge ended with him saying "Five dollars? Get outta here!" in response to being offered an expensive pretzel. A later episode (which also put focus on Edna's love life in the main plot, along with Bart's meddling of it) had Homer buy a 14 dollar churro (albeit, he was not happy about it).
• Memetic Mutation: Todd innocently telling his parents "I don't want any damn vegetables" is popular with the fandom along with a frame of him saying the line while blinking, giving his face an almost sinister expression.
• She Really Can Act: Marcia Wallace didn't win an Emmy for this episode for nothing.
• Squick: Homer stepping on a nail, which goes right through his entire foot and shoe. The sound effect doesn't help.
• Values Dissonance: When Bart confesses his prank to his family, their only concern is for Edna's hurt feelings—not for the fact that she's unknowingly been sending sexually-charged correspondence and pictures to a 10-year-old male student, which could have legal, professional and personal repercussions far beyond what Bart intended with his prank if it played out in a modern context. It would hardly help her case that she does knowingly vent about her love life to said student, complaining—in some detail—about the shortcomings of the other teachers as potential boyfriends and even innocently calling Bart "the closest thing to a man in [her] life," simply to make the point that her situation is miserable (and to provide Dramatic Irony).
• The Woobie: Edna Krabappel is nothing short of pitiable in this episode. She's clearly very lonely to the point where she offers to do homework for her students just to get them to stay and talk to her and writes a personal ad for a lark but is so desperate that she starts screaming "I NEED A MAN!!" while on hold. All of her dates are unsatisfactory and Bart writing to her with the intent to stand her up was the only thing that really made her happy and feel truly loved. Seeing her crying after "Woodrow" stands her up in The Gilded Truffle is so sad, that it makes Bart realize he crossed the line; soon after, he and his family work together to help her feel loved again and able to be happy once more. In the end, Edna doesn't find her true love but at the very least she's a little less lonely.

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