Artie Ziff is getting married and his new bride looks like Marge. Meanwhile, Lisa gets braces (again) and realizes the misogynistic implications of her artificial smile.
This episode has examples of:
- Answer Cut: Lisa questions why she's the only one who needs braces (again). This is followed by a close-up of her mouth as she plays her saxophone, the teeth clearly being bent against the mouthpiece.
- The Bus Came Back: Artie Ziff makes his first canon speaking appearance since "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner".
- Continuity Nod: As Lisa points out, she has already gotten braces in "Last Exit to Springfield".
- The Dead Rise to Advertise: Artie Ziff's holographic invitation includes a performance by a hologram of Tupac Shakur, who begs to "just let me die in peace."
- End of an Age: This is the final episode directed by Mark Kirkland, who had consistently worked on the series since Season 2.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: The reveal that Artie's bride is an exact lookalike of Marge becomes so disturbing that the rhino from the bachelor party walks out of the wedding, which gets lampshaded by Homer.Homer: Even the rhino is leaving.
- Give Away the Bride: Artie asks Homer to give away the bride because the father was unavailable (one of the clues that the bride wasn't what she seemed). He takes it way too seriously and weeps about giving away her "baby".
- Hand Wave:
- When Lisa points out that she had already had braces in the past, Marge says that the person they thought was her old dentist was actually a rogue periodontist passing as an orthodontist, in order to justify Lisa needing braces again.
- When Artie questions where the robot Marges got wings, since he didn't build it for them, one says, "Life finds a way!"
- Hidden Depths: Artie is shown to be an expert in robotics, as he builds a line of robot Marges.
- Incest Subtext: With Lisa stuck in permanent smile mode, Bart walked by in the library and instinctually flirted with her before he realized it was her. He starts spitting to get the taste out, but it was just confirmation for Lisa that her forced smile does have a weird impact on everyone. To cheer her up Bart promises to always view her as hideous.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The old man who had originally put down Lisa for not smiling enough returns near the end to belittle her more. In response, one of the Marge Robots sprouts wings and carries him off, presumably to do something awful to him.
- Perpetual Smiler: Lisa literally can't stop smiling because the braces on her upper teeth are pushing her lips up. She then transitions to a Perpetual Frowner when the bottom row is equipped.
- Real Fake Wedding: Artie's wedding was meant to be a ruse to get Marge to confess her love for him. Naturally, it failed.
- Robot Me: Artie's robot clones of Marge. Yes, that's plural.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Marge persuades Artie to use the Marge-bots for good, he takes up constructing buildings and when interviewed for TV, he's asked what he will do now. Artie says he's going to make one the robots his bride. They all grow wings and fly away despite Artie not building them with wings.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the Marge robots is a Marge version of Bender.
- Stalker with a Crush: Artie is just as obsessed with Marge as ever, and is now resorting to making robots in her likeness in order to fill the void in his life.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Artie's wedding invitation is riddled with this.Artie Ziff: "Hello, Simpsons. It's me, Artie Ziff! In pre-recorded form! So you can't talk to me!"Homer: "I can't?"Ziff: "No, you can't! Pause for laughs...and thank you!"
- Truth in Television: As Lisa finds out the hard way, most people actually are more receptive when you reflect a positive disposition (i.e: smile) and it can influence how you deliver your message.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Downplayed, but the Marge-bots have no respect for their creator Artie. They all go into power saving mode when he wants to get intimate, except for toaster head Marge who shoots toast at him.
