Ned Flanders begins dating Mrs. Krabappel after saving her from a prank gone bad — until Flanders realizes that Mrs. Krabappel has left a trail of tears behind her from the men she dated before (including Aerosmith drummer, Joey Kramer).
Tropes:
- Audience Participation: Homer and Marge Break the Fourth Wall at the end of the episode dressed like they are at an award show and in front of a curtain, inviting the audience to go to thesimpsons.com and vote on if Ned and Edna should stay together, promising to reveal the answer in the next season premiere.
- Bowdlerise:Channel 4's broadcast of the episode features the following edits:
- The scene where Edna slaps Bart is shortened to show only the first slap and not the second, more deliberate slap.
- At the end of the episode where Homer and Marge instruct the audience to determine the fate of Ned and Edna's relationship, the parts where Marge promotes thesimpsons.com are removed, along with the part where Homer claims the audience's credit card information will be stolen.
- Continuity Nod:
- Skinner, Comic Book Guy, Joey Kramer of Aerosmith and Moe are included among the people in the bar that tell Ned how Edna has been with almost all of them.
- In Ned's Imagine Spot, Patty's face appears in place of Edna's and tells him that they experimented. Patty was previously shown to be attracted to Edna in "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh".
- Everyone Has Standards:
- The teachers and staff members, as well as the students, were shocked and appalled when Edna slapped Bart twice.Skinner: Edna, we can tolerate mild alcoholism, leaving melted cheese in the microwave, even selling A’s for cigarettes. But in laying a hand to a student, you have crossed the line.
- Miss Hoover is an Apathetic Teacher who couldn't care less if her students learn anything or not, and she also openly bullies a student with a learning disability in front of the whole class, but even she thinks that hitting a student is going too far.
- The teachers and staff members, as well as the students, were shocked and appalled when Edna slapped Bart twice.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: Edna and Ned have a getting closer and falling in love montage. Kids at school read about them in the paper with pictures of their dates, or they are watching a movie together, walking and holding hands (while a river parts so they can walk on the dry bottom) and Edna is reading a story to his sons. It ends with Edna doodling lovey-dovey stuff.
- Falling into His Arms: The "catch" in question is how Edna meets Ned, who appears in the nick of time as she falls three stories while attempting to break out of the Teacher Holding Facility.
- Flippant Forgiveness: Homer convinces Ned that Edna's previous sexual encounters should not break Ned and Edna up when they were such a perfect couple. Ned invites Edna over to his place to apologize for freaking out, and then announces his forgiveness. They come down to a Make Up or Break Up and...that's the end of the season. The viewers vote for which happens. The viewers voted that they should stay together.
- Least Rhymable Word: Ned has a business card touting his claim of being able to find rhymes for any word. He's able to back this up in his conversation with Edna until she compliments his choice of color for the card's font—orange.
- Loophole Abuse: Ned told Edna that he and Maude had a Doctor named Stork help with the births of Rod and Todd so technically they'd be able to tell the kids a "stork" brought them to the world without it being a lie.
- Love Doodles: Edna falls in love with widowed Ned Flanders. At the end of their Falling-in-Love Montage, she's seen drawing little doodles of Ned's ripped nody, an angel with Ned's head and writing 'Neddy' or 'Cupid Flanders' and similar stuff all over her sheet of paper.
- My Card: Ned's, which he presents to Edna upon meeting her, reads "If you got the time I've got the rhyme!"
- Out of Focus: Lisa only appears at the beginning of the episode and is never seen again after that.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: In-Universe, "Nedna," apparently coined by the Daily Fourth Gradian.
- Rage Breaking Point: Bart's prank at the start of the episode finally drives Edna to the point of slapping him in public. She pauses for a moment.....and then does it again.
- Really Gets Around: Ned finds out that Edna has been with nearly every single male character in the show (and in an Imagine Spot, Patty as an experiment).
- What the Hell, Hero?: Homer has this reaction towards the men at Moe's tavern after they tell Ned how Edna has been with every single one of them, causing Ned to question his relationship with her.
- Wicked Stepmother: Bart planned to trick Ned's sons into thinking Mrs. Krabappel would be an evil stepmother to them like the one Cinderella had. They are happy to tell him they already do the chores and start fixing his clothes.
