History Recap / TheSimpsonsS13E8SweetsAndSourMarge

* HeelFaceTurn: Played with. Judge Snyder decides to overturn his previous decision to ban all sugar from Springfield, but that's only because he started to miss sugar himself and not out of how much he hurt others.

* NotSoDifferent: In spite of being a vegetarian and arguing in many episodes that vegetarianism can be a beneficial lifestyle, in this episode we see that Lisa doesn't really eat healthier than Bart or Homer because she also indulges in sugary foods such as fudge-filled toaster pies.

* [[MeddlingParents Helicopter Mom]]: To get Homer, Bart and Lisa to cut down on sugar, Marge enacts a sugar ''ban'' on the town of Springfield.

* [[MeddlingParent Helicopter Mom]]: To get Homer, Bart and Lisa to cut down on sugar, Marge enacts a sugar ''ban'' on the town of Springfield.

* HelicopterMom: To get Homer, Bart and Lisa to cut down on sugar, Marge enacts a sugar ''ban'' on the town of Springfield.

* MoodWhiplash: When Marge wins her case against Motherloving, Homer tells Marge that he's [[SoProudOfYou so proud of her]]. Then Judge Snyder immediately bans sugar from Springfield based on Marge's evidence, prompting Homer to angrily state at her "Get in the car."

* BitingTheHandHumor: While burning most of the sugary sweets and food products in town, the police throw a pile of Butterfingers into the flames. The fire rejects the Butterfingers, causing Chief Wiggum to comment that the fire "doesn't even want them". This gag cost the Simpsons their contract with Butterfingers and has been cut from all American reruns (including syndication)[[note]]most international versions, such as the Brazilian dub, have the scene uncut[[/note]], though the season 13 DVD box set version has the scene intact and Butterfingers' contract with the Simpsons franchise has been renewed in 2013.
** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E10HalfDecentProposal Two episodes later]] the blackboard gag is "I will not bite the hand that feeds me Butterfingers".

* BateAndSwitchComment: After the non-Simpsons abandon them aboard the ''Gone Fission'', Burns angrily yells at Apu: "Stroke, stroke, stroke!" Apu tells Burns he's stroking as fast as he can, to which Burns clarifies that he meant he was actually having a stroke.

* RewatchBonus: Viewers rewatching the episode might notice the "Obey Bad Guy" button in a scene from right after the non-Simpsons aboard the Gone Fission take a life boat.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Whichever one of the sugar smugglers wrote out the contract that didn't say anything about them being paid.

*** The first time the comparison is made, Bart refers to Brockovich as "the prostitute with a heart of gold," obviously confusing Creator/JuliaRoberts' role as Erin with her character in ''Film/PrettyWomen''.

* ShoutOut: Homer refers to Marge throughout the second half of the episode as variations of Film/ErinBrockovich (such as "Erin Chocosnitch").

* InMemoriam: This episode was dedicated to Ron Taylor, the voice of Lisa's saxophone mentor and friend, Bleeding Gums Murphy (whose character died before his actual voice actor did).

* ReversePsychology: Homer tries this on a toucan that steals his map to the sugar rendezvous point. It fails.

** One of the sweets burned in the fire is a promotional chocolate statuette of JohnnyDepp from ''Film/{{Chocolat}}''.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Lisa doesn't initially believe that getting sugar back is worth Homer and Bart risking their lives. Until Marge announces she steamed limes for dessert, and Lisa shoves them out the door, saying "Godspeed.".

* ReversePsychology: Homer tries this on a seagull that steals his map to the sugar rendezvous point. It fails.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Lisa doesn't initially believe that getting sugar back is worth Homer and Bart risking their lives. Until Marge announces she steamed limes for dessert, and Lisa shoves them out the door.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The entire episode plays with the idea of sugar being equatable to a drug, especially during the scene where Homer, Mr. Burns, Apu, and Count Fudgula smuggle sugar into Springfield. The scene that best hammers this in is when Disco Stu sucks up lines of sugar through a straw in a manner akin to snorting cocaine (which is funny, considering a recent report that states that sugar addiction is similar to cocaine addiction).

* ShoutOut: Homer refers to Marge throughout the second half of the episode as variations of ErinBrockovich (such as "Erin Chocosnitch").

* WhoWritesThisCrap: Homer doesn't pay the sugar dealer because he claims it wasn't part of the deal. The guy double checks the contract, finds out it really wasn't, and demands to know which of his subordinates actually wrote it.