Bart falls for a girl named Nikki in the other fourth grade class and she proves to be a Tsundere, which initiates a new school policy of "no touching." Meanwhile, Michelle Obama encourages Lisa to be smart and Nelson teaches a blind boy how to be a bully.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Always Identical Twins: Sherri and Terri express dislike of the other fourth grade class because their twins are one boy and one girl.
- And This Is for...: Nelson punches a blind boy for mocking him (before realizing he's blind).
- Birds of a Feather: Bart and Nikki initially get along thanks to their similar interests while being professional skaters.
- Didn't Think This Through: Skinner organizes an anti-kissing play for the school to watch with him and Willie as the leads. They realize too late that they have to actually kiss each other to get their message across regardless if all the children laugh at them for doing so.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Nelson was initially ready to bully his desk mate, until he realizes the kid is blind. He then announces he is under his protection from any bullying or harassment.
- After Marge asks Abe why he didn't tell Bart to club Nikki on the head and drag her into a cave which is second base, Abe points out that Bart is too young to do that.
- First Kiss: Bart steals a kiss from Nikki while they are sitting on top of the slide and Nikki panics because it was her first kiss.
- Fun with Acronyms: First Lady Of The United States One.
- Girl of the Week: Naturally, Nikki is out of the picture from this episode on despite the fact that she and Bart attend the same school.
- Guest Star: Sarah Silverman as Nikki and Angela Bassett as Michelle Obama.
- Kiss of Life: When Bart falls off the school rooftop and is found unconscious, Nikki administers CPR saving Bart's life.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: After Bart thanks Nikki for saving his life, she asks him if they could pretend that never happened so other people won't go around thinking she likes him.
- Loophole Abuse: To avoid violating the school's no-touch policy when Bart needed a mouth-to-mouth, Principal Skinner tried to roll him outside the school's area with a pool skimmer.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Bart decides to be up front with his feelings, while Nikki switches hard from reciprocating to disgust. He's constantly flustered trying to figure her out, but she shows just enough affection to keep him hooked.
- Remember the New Guy?: There was no indication the school had more than one fourth grade class, and all the characters seen are unique to this episode.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After Bart fell off the building, Seymour uses a skimmer to move him to the curb, then Nikki says that she knows CPR, but Seymour forbade her from doing so, and she had no choice but to use her skateboard to dodge the principal in order to save Bart.
- Shout-Out:
- The Itchy and Scratchy movie Homer and Bart watch is an extended parody of the experimental film Koyaanisqatsi.
- Bart reads a parody of The Very Hungry Caterpillar called The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar.
Bart: Damn, that caterpillar can eat. [turns page] Damn! [turns page] DAMN!- Among the montage of various kisses from famous movies is a Xenomorph's inner-mouth kissing Ridley, which was one of movie spoofs used in the opening of The Critic.
- The kissing montage, and the music accompanying it, is an homage to Cinema Paradiso.
- So Proud of You: Nelson is proud of Kevin for tricking him into thinking his blindness was cured along with being given the "ha-ha" treatment.
- This Is My Side: Nikki uses a fruit-roll up to divide her desk with Bart.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Grampa gives Bart outdated advice on how to win a girl's heart, leading Bart to be accused of sexual harassment, and the school is forced to instate a "no-touching" policy so it doesn't get sued by the girl's parents.
