Homer loses Santa's Little Helper because he's too busy playing Village Ville (a Bland-Name Product of Castle Ville). When Santa's Little Helper is found in the kitchen cabinet and Homer admits he doesn't care about him, Grampa tells the story of Homer's first dog, Bongo, and how he ended up missing.
Examples:
- Big "NO!": The Simpsons let out two of these when they watch the news report of the Retirement Castle on fire.
[The Simpsons are watching the news report]
Simpsons: No!
[Grampa runs up to the camera]
Grampa: I'm okay! I'll just go live with my son.
Simpsons: No!
Simpsons: No!
[Grampa runs up to the camera]
Grampa: I'm okay! I'll just go live with my son.
Simpsons: No!
- Call-Back: Waylon Smithers Sr. from "The Blunder Years" appears in the flashback sequence.
- Compressed Vice: Despite plenty of past evidence to the contrary, the Simpsons realize that Homer doesn't really like the dog and has avoided bonding with him up to this point.
- Crying Wolf: In the flashback, young Homer is saved from having to take a test in school by Bongo pulling the fire alarm, along with when Homer is having a dental checkup. The next shot after the dentist fire alarm activation is Homer's school on fire, with Homer and Bongo watching from a safe distance as everyone else is still presumably inside the school, thinking it was another false alarm from Bongo.
- Fire Alarm Distraction: Bongo (Homer's old dog) saves Homer from having to take a test by pulling a fire alarm, then doing the same again when Homer has to take a dental check-up. The next shot after this is Homer's school on fire, with everyone presumably inside still thinking that it was another false alarm.
- It Will Never Catch On: Back when he was a kid, Homer suggested inventing cup holders and his Dad scoffed at the idea.
- Major Injury Underreaction: The flashback shows how Herman lost his arm and he doesn't have much of a reaction.
- Metronomic Man Mashing: A flashback shows Krusty receiving this treatment from a gorilla.
- Origins Episode: The flashback sequences explain the backstories of several Springfield citizens. Lampshaded by Bart, who has a checklist on how many peoples' origins were told.
- Recycled Premise: This episode is similar to American Dad!'s "Stan's Best Friend", except much more heartwarming and much less horrific.
- Shout-Out: Homer's childhood dog was named "Bongo," the name of a character from Life in Hell and of Matt Groening's comics imprint.
- Squick: In-Universe. Homer's virtual villagers see him putting his hand inside his pants and sound disgusted. He argues there's nothing wrong with it (to him) and it's the same hand he uses to tap on them. One of the villagers pukes in a barrel.
- Stepford Smiler: Implied to be the case with Dr. Hibbert given the title of his memoir being Crying on the Inside.
- Undying Loyalty: Grampa proves that Bongo never stopped loving Homer by showing him a picture of an older Bongo sleeping on the Itchy & Scratchy sweater he gave to him.
- Unreliable Narrator: After Abe is done telling his story, an angry Homer tries to tell them the "true" version of the story. It's far darker, but much more nonsensical, than Abe's version. Only the part when he snuck out to see Bongo with his aunt is true.
Homer: Now granted, I was just a kid, but I say... Grampa always hated Bongo, and loved money, so he sold Bongo to a wicked farm witch just so he could hang out with a bunch of rich dogs and kidnapped Santa so I'd never get the toy I actually wanted. And then... [descends into gibberish]
