When Reverend Lovejoy reveals that his license to wed couples expired years ago (meaning that Homer and Marge's second wedding was invalid, and they've been legally divorced this whole time), Homer and Marge set up a third wedding to correct the mistake, but Marge's Bridezilla attitude and Homer's disappearance complicate things.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: The Parson says he remembers when Helen Lovejoy used to be called Harold.
- Ambiguously Jewish: The Parson says he remembers when Helen's surname used to be Schwartzbaum.
- Bridezilla: Marge. Homer points it out.Homer: Marge, I think you should take a break from the wedding planning. You're becoming a Bridezilla.Marge: Bridezilla? A combination of "bride" and "Godzilla"?
- Bastard Bastard: Discussed when Bart asks if Homer and Marge not being legally married makes him a "bastard." Lisa clarifies that while he's not a literal bastard since his parents were married at the time of his birth, he is a bastard "in the sense someone calls you one when they're angry." This becomes a Brick Joke when Homer responds to Bart's latest wisecrack at his expense with "Why, you little bastard!"
- Comically Missing the Point: Bart believes he won't exist if his parents don't get married.
- Consulting a Convicted Killer: Bart and Lisa unwittingly do this when they accuse Sideshow Bob of kidnapping Homer. Bob has an airtight alibi thanks to Krusty, but the kids' trip isn't wasted as Bob gives them advice that's the key to solving the mystery.
- Continuity Nod:
- Howard's Flowers makes its first appearance since "Some Enchanted Evening", the very first episode produced for the series.
- Bart's fears that if Sideshow Bob prevents his parents from marrying, he'll never be born is the same one Homer had when he saw Marge and Artie Ziff dancing together at the latter's fake prom.
- Continuity Snarl: The photos used to illustrate the events of A Milhouse Divided don't match up with the episode. For instance, it shows Homer revealing the divorce by holding the document up to Marge while in bed. In the episode, he told her about it at the second wedding.
- Girly Scream: Ned Flanders does a really high-pitched one when he learns the Parson is coming to Springfield.
- Fangirl: Ned is a huge one of the Parson, he stalks him while talking to Reverend Lovejoy.
- From Bad to Worse: Homer's situation in a nutshell—Marge gets obsessive with planning the wedding to the point where her Bridezilla act occurs resulting in her snapping at Homer more then once, and then he's kidnapped by Patty and Selma and forced into seclusion until Marge leaves him for good.
- Heel Realization: After Homer disappears, Marge believes that what really happened is that Homer ran away because she was being hostile to everybody during the wedding arrangements and breaks down crying.
- It's All About Me: Marge is at her most selfish in this episode during the wedding planning process. When Homer disappears, she (quite understandably) assumes that he ran away because of her treatment of him.
- Jerkass:
- Selma and Patty really cross the line this time by kidnapping Homer just so Marge will think he left her. It's only when Bart and Lisa blackmail them to expose what happened that they do something resembling right.
- Marge goes full Bridezilla when planning the wedding.
- Jerkass Ball: Marge isn't usually the type of person to get upset over wedding plans.
- Karma Houdini: Outside of being blackmailed into paying for the proper wedding, Patty and Selma face no comeuppance for their kidnapping and torturing Homer. Granted, the twins admitted that they had to empty their 401k plans in order to pay for Homer and Marge's wedding and will no doubt have to deal with that in the long run.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Patty and Selma get a moment of this when they hear Homer's wedding vows, which he kept on his pocket and tearfully reads thinking that he will be locked in the bathroom forever. We don't see what may have resulted of this because immediately afterwards Bart and Lisa arrive and blackmail them. As mentioned above, Marge also gets this reaction when she finds out that Homer disappeared and assumes it is because of her treatment of him.
- Not Me This Time: When a clue with the initials "SB" was found, Bart and Lisa at first assumed Homer was abducted by Sideshow Bob. Homer was actually abducted by Patty and Selma Bouvier. Bob is actually flattered that the kids thought it was him.
- "Not Really Married" Plot: The whole plot happens because it is discovered that Reverend Lovejoy was not officially working as a reverend during that specific time when Homer divorced and remarried Marge in "A Milhouse Divided" (due to a snafu in paying the church a monthly operating fee), and thus the marriage was not official.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Patty and Selma are this trope on overdrive. They kidnap Homer on the day of his wedding, lock him up, put him through a Saw-esque scenario, and (until Homer professed his love for Marge), seemed to have no intention of letting him go. Neither Patty or Selma were this extreme in the past. They mainly took advantage of a scenario to try to convince Marge to divorce Homer, but in this episode they're willing to lock him up and leave him to die so that Marge will forget about him.
- Precision F-Strike: A discussion of Bart's legitimacy in light of Homer and Marge being legally unmarried (as Lisa explains to him, he's not a literal "bastard" because they were married at the time of his birth) offers an opening for Homer to finally complete one of his catchphrases when the cue comes up.Homer: Why, you little bastard!
- Sequel Episode: As mentioned above, the whole situation of the episode is a sequel to "A Milhouse Divided".
- Shout-Out:
- To Saw when Homer finds himself locked in a dirty bathroom. Thankfully there's no gore involved and the most torture Homer gets is having to lick a lollipop made of hot sauce to get to a key (which was really an even hotter sauce).
- The Parson's appearance and mannerisms are a clear homage to Bing Crosby's character Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley in the 1944 film Going My Way (as well as the lesser known 1945 standalone sequel The Bells of St. Mary's).
- Bart's assumption under Comically Missing the Point is one to Back to the Future.
- Stab the Salad: Sideshow Bob is first seen apparently stabbing someone in the face while laughing maniacally. Turns out, he was actually using the knife to aerate a clay sculpture of Krusty he was making.
- Villains Out Shopping: Bart and Lisa find a keychain with the intials "SB," causing them to think Sideshow Bob abducted Homer. However, Bob has an airtight alibi as he was with Krusty the whole day and watched House of Sand and Fog. They then slept in the same bed to share warmth and watched House Of Sand And Fog again with the commentary. According to Bob, the director (Vadim Perelman, for anyone curious) was an ass.
