As Lisa writes her college application essay for Harvard, she recalls past disappointing birthdays that helped shape her.
Tropes:
- Always Someone Better: Lisa's first roommate at Harvard turns out to be better than her, and that also counts the many times her parents forgot her birthday, much to Lisa's chagrin.
- Ambiguously Bi: Though Lisa fantasizes about meeting a wealthy hunk while first considering a Harvard application, she sounds pleasantly surprised at the possibility of being "more than friends" with her roommate.
- Artistic License – Biology: Lisa claims rhinos are extinct at the time she's an adult, alluding to rhinos being endangered. In reality, the southern white rhinoceros, the south-western black rhinoceros, and the Indian rhinoceros would still be extant at her time, as they are not as rare as the other rhino species due to their populations thankfully increasing in recent years (although they are still threatened).
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Back when Lisa became seven years old, her first-grade teacher told the class it's the birthday of someone whose parents pretended to have forgotten it. She was talking about one of Lisa's classmates.
- Bowdlerise: When this episode was premiered on UK terrestrial television by Channel 4 in late 2021, the entire scene featuring Leon Kompowsky was removed, following the broadcast of the documentary Leaving Neverland in 2019.
- Brick Joke: Lisa shares a birthday with her classmate Hubert Wong, and is denied a chocolate cupcake by their teacher for unintentionally spoiling the mood. After recounting this, she says that Luigi is the only one who consistently remembers her birthday. He pops up saying it's easy because they share it, along with Hubert Wong, who also shows up to give Lisa a chocolate cupcake.
- Continuity Nod:
- To "Stark Raving Dad": For Lisa's 14th birthday, Bart sings an updated version of the birthday song he sung back then and even brings the fake Michael Jackson who wrote it with him.
- Moments earlier, she was complaining about how her family forgot her birthday twice. The above-mentioned episode was about the second time.
- To "Flaming Moe's": When Flanders convinces Homer to quit drinking, Homer imagines a hell with Moe as the devil offering him a Flaming Moe.
- To "Fland Canyon": 7-year old Lisa is shown hungrily eating bacon for breakfast, which the former episode established was one of her favorite foods before she became a vegetarian.
- The ending has Marge and Homer perform an updated version of "Those Were the Days" on the piano as they did in "Lisa's Sax."
- To "Stark Raving Dad": For Lisa's 14th birthday, Bart sings an updated version of the birthday song he sung back then and even brings the fake Michael Jackson who wrote it with him.
- Daddy's Girl: Lisa and Homer get along really well in this episode with him being the first to remember her birthday and he considers her the best thing he created.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Some women at Harvard use Bart to piss off their parents and make sure they pay tuition.
- The Dog Bites Back: When a Homer strangles an older Bart, he retaliates by strangling him back.
- Dumbass Has a Point: During Homer's abridged 12 step program to quit drinking, he admits he's powerless as step 1. Step 2 is admitting there is a power greater than himself, which Homer points out is everything since he's powerless.
- Experimented in College: Lisa ends up bonding well with her college roommate, happy to finally have a best friend. She then notices the girl appearing very interested in her, which she seems to contemplate.
- Extinct in the Future: Rhinos, according to Lisa.
- Flashback/Flash Forward: Both in the same episode.
- Forgotten Birthday: A theme in Lisa's life (and in her college essay): on Lisa's seventh birthday even Marge forgot because a pre-pacifier Maggie had kept her up all night, and the events of her eighth birthday were similar. Subverted on subsequent birthdays, when it seems her family worked extra hard to make it up to her for those two occasions.
- Future Loser: After a break from such portrayals in "Barthood," this episode reverts Bart to his typical adult characterization as this; however, while urging Lisa to make their parents proud, he indicates that he fully intends to do the same himself and simply expects Lisa to be the first, rather than the only, one of them to succeed.
- Hilarious in Flashback: On her seventh birthday Lisa dons her Iconic Outfit, deciding it's a special occasion so she'll just wear it once.
- Imagine Spot: After giving up drinking, Homer imagines a Devil Moe trying to lure him back.
- Kick the Dog:
- Lisa's 1st grade teacher sends her to Principal Skinner's office because she's upset that no one remembered her birthday. She also prevents Hubert Wong from giving her a cupcake because it's his birthday too.
- Bart saying they didn't have to visit Grandpa anymore when he's in hospital on a ventilator.
- Multiple-Choice Future: Despite its resonance with the lower-keyed "Barthood" over previous future episodes with heavy sci-fi elements, this episode still follows the other future episodes in having a completely independent continuity; for instance, Lisa attends Harvard instead of Yale, and while in "Barthood" Abe has passed away by the time Bart is in his mid-teens, here he's still alive when Lisa goes to college.
- Negative Continuity: In "Future Drama", Lisa goes to Yale instead of Harvard.
- Noodle Incident: 20-year-old Bart claims he already has two kids.
- Pet the Dog:
- Luigi brings Lisa a birthday pizza because they share the same birthday. Hubert Wong also brings her a birthday cupcake.
- Bart reassures Lisa that she belongs in Harvard and that she'll make Homer & Marge proud.
- The Cameo: Norman Lear appears at the very end of the episode, telling Homer, Marge, and Lisa “Very nice, see you in court.” after giving their latest rendition of “Those Were The Days”.
- The Teetotaler: Homer gives up drinking when Marge threatens to leave him. Lisa specifies he never drinks again.
- The Un-Favourite: Homer doesn't say one nice thing about Bart in this episode, openly calling him a disappointment for being a twenty-year-old who still lives with his parents while his sister is applying for Harvard, and not using his right to vote.
