Bart does battle with his bully of a new fourth grade teacher (voiced by Willem Dafoe). Said battle, plus Homer forgetting to book a Labor Day campsite one year in advance, leads the family to attend a Burning Man parody called "Blazing Guy".
Tropes:
- Bowdlerise: An interesting variation that also doubles as
Edited for Syndication. When Lassen is being interviewed by Skinner and he brings up a scar he got, there are two versions of the scene - one where he grabs a letter opener on Skinner's desk and uses it to cut his right cheek open, and a version where he simply removes a plaster on his cheek (which appears between scenes) to reveal the scar underneath (although the sound effects remain unchanged, and you can still hear the sound of the blood dripping onto Skinner's desk if you listen carefully enough). Disney+ uses the 'cheek cutting' version whilst some networks like Sky Showcase use the 'plaster' version. This is played straight on Channel 4's broadcast - since they only got the 'cheek cutting' version, the scene awkwardly cuts from Lassen's line about 'duct-taping children to the wall' to Skinner hiring him. - Break the Haughty: Lassen does this to Nelson and then Bart, though that doesn't stop the latter from finding ways to get back at him (and finally succeeding).
- Bring My Brown Pants: When Bart shows him the prank he has planned for the teacher, Milhouse says "It's good, but it doesn't make me pee my pants." Then the teacher comes in and Milhouse wets his pants.
- Call-Back: The Coyote Spirit Advisor from "El Viaje Misterioso De Nuestro Jomer" appears in one of Marge's hallucinations.
- Creator Cameo: The guy with the flaming sousaphone at Blazing Guy is long-timenote animation director David Silverman, who routinely attends the real Burning Man under the name "Tubatron."
- Continuity Nod: Mr. Lassen calls Nelson "Smellson", causing him to break down and say that he hoped nobody would've thought of that. However, in "New Kids on the Blecch", Nelson finds the name amusing when it's used in a MAD Magazine article. L.T. Smash protests that he could've come up with it.
- Dartboard of Hate: Sideshow Bob has one of Bart in his cell.
- The Dreaded: Mr. Lassen, considering Superintendent Chalmers said "God have mercy" when he saw which teacher was coming to Springfield Elementary.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Milhouse interrupts Lisa's history report with a reference to The Shining. She isn't amused.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The new teacher nicknames Nelson "Smellson".Nelson: I prayed no one would ever think of that!
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Chalmers is horrified when he learned that Mr. Lassen will be teaching Bart’s fourth class at Springfield Elementary School. And later fires him after learning he tried to burn one of his students, something that the school board isn't usually allowed to do.
- Nelson is appalled at Lassen forcing Bart to touch an electric orb (which dial is set to "agonizing")."Even I think this is too far."
- "Here's Johnny!" Homage: when Jack Lassen sees the insult Bart wrote on the chalkboard, he punches the board hard enough to knock a hole in the wall between his class and Lisa's. Afterwards, Millhouse peeks through the hole and shouts "Here's Millie!".
- Kick the Dog: Mr. Lassen kicks a cat as he walks by it.
- Logging onto the Fourth Wall: A Product Placement joke, where Milhouse talks about the production of The Hobbit, is followed by on-screen text that reads "NEW ZEALAND (THE MILHOUSE OF AUSTRALIA) www.nzfilmhere.nz). As of July 2021, visiting this URL redirects you to the Simpsons page on the FOX website.
- Malicious Misnaming: Nelson's Embarrassing Nickname mentioned above.
- Mushroom Samba: Marge after taking some "tea" at Blazing Guy.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Lassen and Sideshow Bob try to form an alliance against Bart but it fails because Bob refuses the idea of sharing the role of killing Bart.
- Pun-Based Title: To the Led Zeppelin song "Dazed And Confused" from Led Zeppelin I
- Revenge: Bart gets this on how his new teacher humiliated him in front of his peers, and does this by humiliating him at Blazing Guy by putting fire retardant on the statue.
- Sad Trombone: Played on the aforementioned flaming sousaphone.
- Sadist Teacher: Bart's new teacher Mr. Lassen, who would harm to torture students. A trait even the other teachers and staff members wouldn’t cross.
- Series Continuity Error: Superintendent Chalmers claims that "they" (meaning either Springfield Elementary or the school district) have never fired a teacher before Jack Lassen, although they've fired at least two: Edna Krabappel (before hiring her back) and her replacement Zachary Vaughn in the episode "Bart Gets a Z."
- Shameful Strip: Inverted, as when Lassen fails to put the Blazing guy on fire, others participants bring shame on him by putting his clothes back on him.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a reference to the Led Zeppelin song "Dazed And Confused".
- While trying to book a place for his family's camping trip, Homer asks for the place with the killer who wears a hockey mask.
- "Heeeerrrrrrrreeeeeeeee's MILLIE!"
- The Sociopath: Lassen is described as one of the "sociopathic child-haters" by Chalmers. The fact that he doesn't do anything to prove him wrong is an Understatement.
- Traumatic Haircut: One of Lassen's punishments that he inflicts upon Bart.
- Villain Team-Up: Subverted in the ending. Apparently, Lassen and Sideshow Bob don't make a good team at all if they can't take turns gutting Bart.
- Would Hurt a Child: Lassen has no problem trying to burn Bart to a crisp after he ruined his ceremony. He was also willing to team up with Sideshow Bob to kill him near the end of the episode.
