Production code: FABF-15
Homer becomes a pie-wielding local superhero.
Tropes used in this episode:
- Acrofatic: Homer performs some surprisingly agile maneuvers for a man of his weight during his time as Pie-Man. Special mention goes to one scene where he disconnects a building platform and swings from it to another building in the span of a few seconds.
- Bait-and-Switch: The Rich Texan appears to be sorry for bullying Lisa, telling her to dry her tears... with a "Last Place" ribbon.
- Blackmail: Mr. Burns finds out the identity of Pie-Man and makes him his own personal pawn by throwing pies in the faces of people he doesn't like in order to keep the superhero's real name from getting out.
- Blatant Lies: Homer disguised as Pie-Man tries to convince Lisa he isn't her father but he killed him. It doesn't work.
- The Bully: The Rich Texan becomes one "Boys of Bummer"-style towards Lisa, and even gives her a "Last Place" ribbon, all out of a sadist glee to watch a little girl cry.
- Call-Back: Once again, someone is misled into thinking a peninsula is an island.
- Cassandra Truth: Nobody believed in Homer when he confessed to being Pie-Man. Except Marge, who bluntly states it was obviously him and that "you'd have to be an idiot not to see it from the start."
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The normally slow-witted dope Homer turns out to be a surprisingly capable hero, effortlessly performing acrobatic feats and even rescuing Marge at one point.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Parodied. Pie-Man's "base" is just the Simpsons' basement adorned with make-shift "superhero" gadgets and Christmas lights.
- Everyone Has Standards: While they ultimately do nothing and let it play out until Homer stops him, no one who watches Rich Texan's bullying of Lisa are thrilled about it happening and look on in concern. Appropriately, they laugh at him upon Homer throwing that pie into his face.
- Everybody Knew Already: While most of Springfield is authentically fooled by Homer's Pie-Man identity, his entire family knows it's him. Paper-Thin Disguise aside, they were getting all of Pie-Man's mail.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: As Homer enters his work station, Burns comes in and says Homer is late, bald, and stupid and docks Homer that day's pay. Homer wants to throw a pie in Burns' face then sees a photo of Lisa on his work console and remembers his promise to her. Next to the picture of Lisa is a picture of Bart aiming his slingshot at whoever took the picture, and this, along with Mr. Burns selling the showering employees' clothes, makes Homer reconsider his promise.
- Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: In this case, it's gone showering, clothes stolen. While the power plant employees are showering, Mr. Burns has sold their clothes again. Needless to say, like every other jerkass in town before him, it earns him a pie in the face.Pie-Man: I've run out of pie-related puns!
- Halfway Plot Switch: This happens during the first act as per standard for The Simpsons episodes of the era, twice. It seemingly starts with a Charlie and the Chocolate Parody plot where Homer is destined to find a Golden Ticket in a package of Farmer Billy's Bacon to win a visit to the factory said bacon is made. But he ends up getting a Silver ticket that gets him to be a judge in a placement competition at the Springfield County Fair. As if that weren't enough, when the Rich Texan humiliates Lisa in said contest, Homer decides to hide his face with a pie pan and throw a Pie in the Face at the Rich Texan, finally getting the main plot underway.
- Humiliation Conga: Not only did Pie-Man give Comic Book Guy a well-deserved pie to the face, but it also made him a laughingstock and blew his chance of having tea (and possibly scoring a date) with Nichelle Nichols.
- Hypocritical Humour:
- When Mr. Burns warned Homer of the probability of community service, Homer fearfully complained that he didn't want to help people, even though that's pretty much what he's been doing as Pie-Man.
- Back in "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", upon seeing the incredibly large number of messages on the answering machine, Chief Wiggum exasperatedly says "Can’t anybody in this town take the law into their own hands?" In this episode, he resents Pie-Man for doing just that.
- Kid Sidekick: Bart decides to become this to "Pie Man" at the end of the episode, dubbing himself "The Cupcake Kid."
- Kill on Sight: The Springfield Police isn't half-assing it with their Police Brutality. The moment Homer as Pie-Man pops up to try to pie the Mayor for bulldozing an orphanage, Wiggum orders his officers to open fire and hunt Homer down with this exact order.
- Kick the Dog:
- The Rich Texan Guy humiliates Lisa by ruining her entry in a contest, gives her a "Last Place" ribbon, and doesn't even apologize.
- Quimby, ever the Mayor Pain, orders the razing of an orphanage to build a Botox clinic.
- Wiggum orders the mobilization of the entire police force in a brutal manhunt to find a man that is only embarrassing people (who actually kind of deserve it), which is even pointed out by Lou that is excessive, but Wiggum won't hear it.
- Burns orders Homer to pie the Dalai Lama, just because he doesn't like the other man talking about peace and enlightenment.
- Lack of Empathy: The Rich Texan shows no remorse for driving Lisa to tears.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Rich Texan gets a Pie in the Face by Homer, the father of the girl he cruelly insulted.
- The Lopsided Arm of the Law: As Pie-Man's exploits increase, the Springfield Police Department feels undermined (even if it's somewhat nonsensical, because as Lou points out, Pie-Man is targeting Jerkasses, not crime), and so goes after the vigilante with spotlights, chopper support, multiple men in full SWAT gear, snipers... and a "shoot on sight" order.
- Lost Food Grievance: Discussed as Apu's reasoning for not believing that Homer is the Pie-Man, since he believes that Homer, being the Big Eater he is, would never willingly let a pie go to waste by throwing it into someone else's face.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Subverted with Marge: she's smitten with Pie-Man and even enjoys a kiss with him after insisting she's married, but she knows perfectly well who he is.
- Major Injury Underreaction: During the Costume-Test Montage, Homer sews his finger into his cape and merely nods.
- Non-Powered Costumed Hero: Being Homer, Pie-Man is, of course, powerless, with his signature move being the Pie in the Face gag. It doesn't stop his legend from superseding him as by the time he reveals his secret identity people are convinced that Pie-Man can fly, spit acid, and control animals and don't believe him.
- Noodle Incident:
- Homer did assault someone before and is warned by Chief Wiggum that he'll go to jail if he tries it again.
- Nichelle Nichols once told William Shatner “I’m not dating a man with pie on his face”.
- Papa Wolf: Homer (as Pie-Man) makes the Rich Texan pay for humiliating Lisa by throwing a pie in his face, and that is after remembering that he is on thin ice with the police after assaulting someone else.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Homer as Pie-Man, especially in his initial disguise, which consists of little more than a pie tin covering his face, an apron and a cape. While most of Springfield is fooled, it's Subverted with Homer's family, who all eventually reveal that they know he's Pie-Man and have just been playing along.Marge: I know one person who believes you were the Pie-Man, Homie: me. I've known it all along.Homer: Was it the kiss?Marge: No. It was clearly you in that suit. You'd have to be an idiot not to see it from the start.
- Pie in the Face: Pie-Man's method of handling evil-doers.
- Pungeon Master: Homer, but eventually he runs out of pie-related puns.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Lou points out to Wiggum that the response he has ready for Pie-Man is excessive since he's not engaging in vigilante activity and just embarrassing people who deserve a little humiliation.
- Religion is Magic: The Dalai Lama demonstrates the ability to fly.
- Restrained Revenge: Homer's revenge on Rich Texan was this, as he initially planned to beat him up for humiliating Lisa, before remembering that Chief Wiggum will imprison him if he commits assault one more time, hence the Pie in the Face Homer dished out instead of a knuckle sandwich.
- The Reveal: Parodied at the start when the family is watching "Promiscuous Idiots Island", a reality Show Within a Show on Fox. The host makes the big reveal to the two female contestants that entered to date a billionaire on a private island... that the island is really a peninsula part of the main land. The ladies still get upset over it, in typical Reality Show fashion.
- Sequel Hook: The episode ends with Pie-Man vowing to return and continue protecting the innocent, now joined by his young ward: the Cupcake Kid.
- Shout-Out: Marge and Homer as Pie-Man share a kiss while he's upside down.
- Shrouded in Myth: When Homer exposes himself as Pie-Man, all of the other Springfieldians go on to argue that they had directly seen or heard about Pie-Man, saying wildly diverging descriptions (none of which fit Homer). Lisa simply says that Pie-Man has ascended to become a "symbol", and Homer exposing himself can't kill that.
- The Sociopath: The Rich Texan was totally willing to sadistically drive an innocent child to tears.
- Superhero Episode: Spoofing multiple superhero tropes, a memetic scene from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and placing Burns as a Lex Luthor stand-in on the third act.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: A Running Gag of the episode is Homer blurting out that he's Pie-Man, only to deny it immediately afterwards.
- Take That!: More potshots at the Fox network.Announcer: Welcome back to Promiscuous Idiots Island on Fox, the home of promiscuous idiots.
- Less than a minute later:
Bart: What do those women expect? When you sign a contract with Fox, you know you're gonna be betrayed and humiliated. - Would Hurt a Child: The Rich Texan has no problems driving a little girl to tears out of sadism.
