Lurleen Lumpkin returns and stays with The Simpsons (despite that Marge really hates her from the events that happened in "Colonel Homer") so she can revive her dead career and search for her long-lost father.
Tropes:
- The Bus Came Back: After 16 seasons (and recovering from being an alcoholic), Lurleen Lumpkin comes back.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Marge. After forgiving Lurleen, she threatens her with serious bodily harm if she comes near her husband again.Marge: If you ever come near Homer again, I'll strangle you with your own hair extensions!
- Dream Intro: The episode opens with Homer murdering Abe in a scene parodying The Sopranos. It turns out he's fallen asleep while driving Lisa to the mayor's office to deliver Girl Scout cookies.
- Easily Forgiven: Lurleen happily forgives Roy for leaving although he admits that he forgave himself pretty much as soon as he did it. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
- Friendly Enemy: Maggie calls up her unibrowed nemesis Gerald on her toy phone so that he can hear Lurleen's sad song.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When The Dixie Chicks learned of the theft, they joined with Lurleen in beating up Royce with their instruments.
- Jerkass: Royce. Not only does he abandon Lurleen yet again, but he also steals her new song "My Daddy's Back," re-wrote the lyrics and gave it to the Dixie Chicks as "America's Back," telling them that he had written the song. On a minor note, he wears a Confederate belt buckle which is a controversial symbol since it's associated with southern nationalists.
- Merit Badges for Everything: Mayor Quimby tries to fib his way out of paying for the cookies he ordered, to which Lisa points out her "Skepticism" patch.
- Parental Neglect: Royce abandoned Lurleen when she was four years old. He didn't reappear in her life until thirty years later, when Marge Simpson tracked him down. They had a joyous father-daughter reunion, which inspired Lurleen to write a song called "My Daddy's Back". All too soon, however, Royce reverted to type and abandoned Lurleen again.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: Royce Lumpkin stole his own daughter's new song.
- Reverse Psychology: Parodied when Homer complains that unlike Roy, he wouldn't be be Easily Forgiven by his family if he left for thirty years, to which Bart calls his bluff by showing he's packed him a bag.Homer: It might be cold outside.Bart: No problem. I bought you a hat.Homer: Oh, I see. It's reverse psychology. Well, in that case, I'm not going, and I'm not staying. And I'll cut my steak with a spoon, then take a walk on the ceiling.
- Sequel Episode: To "Colonel Homer".
- Serial Spouse: Lurleen has been married three times, all to men that look and act just like Homer. At the end of the episode, she falls for yet another man who resembled Homer.
- Shout-Out:
- Lisa's line in "Daddy's Back" was "Keep it down, I'm reading Harry Potter."
- Also, when receiving a Full-Name Ultimatum, Royce Lumpkin was called "Royce Boss Hogg Lumpkin".
- Lurleen once starred a clip with Kermit and Miss Piggy.
- The opening of the episode where Homer kills Grampa is a homage to Christopher Moltisanti's death in The Sopranos.
- Suicide as Comedy: Frustrated as he compares his life to Roy's, Homer asks Bart to get him his "suicide axe," which Bart cheerfully does. Marge merely responds with, "No suicide axe!"Homer: (aside to Bart) Later.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: Chief Wiggum does one...off a roof. His reason for doing so: "I just wanted to be extraordinary!"
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Royce is from the south and wears a belt buckle depicting the Confederate flag.
