- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
- A moment in the literal sense: Homer's line "I'm the first non-Brazilian person to travel through time!" It's never explained, and has engendered much debate among Simpsons fans over the years. Some interpret it as a reference to writer/mystic Carlos Castaneda, but he was born in Peru and emigrated to the US. Word of God has it that the line was originally "non-fictional" instead, but nobody seems to know exactly how or why it was changed. It's generally assumed to be a Non Sequitur.
- When Maggie whacks Groundskeeper Willie in the back with the axe and says in James Earl Jones' voice "This is indeed a disturbing universe".
- Crosses the Line Twice:
- Groundskeeper Willie dying is turned into a Running Gag through the special.Willie: [on his third death] Ach, I'm bad at this.
- Skinner "joking" about having just eaten Uter. In fact, "Nightmare Cafeteria" in general derives a lot of its appeal from this trope—the teachers committing cannibalism is scary, the teachers committing cannibalism while staying 100% in character and treating it as just an extension of their existing disregard for the student body is hilarious.
- Groundskeeper Willie dying is turned into a Running Gag through the special.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Already one in usual episodes, but Groundskeeper Willie is responsible for some of this episode's very best moments. You can tell the writers also appreciated his role in this one, given he gets to close out the episode alongside the show's titular family. It's no wonder he got a more central role the next year in "Treehouse of Horror VI".
- Franchise Original Sin: "Time and Punishment" is arguably the earliest example (depending on if you count "King Homer" or not) of a Treehouse segment that mostly avoids any kind of horror story or parody, instead focusing on broader Time Travel zaniness. It's less noticeable here because it's bookended by two genuinely creepy segments and it did still include a few unsettling moments like the lobotomy scene. However, future Treehouses would often focus on broader parodies of non-horror movies, taking away from the whole appeal of them being a Halloween Episode.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- In "Time and Punishment," one of the methods Alternate Ned uses to keep the citizens under his control is by having them wear clothes similar to his and his family's. One example is having Marge wear the same sweater and skirt that Maude usually wears. It was a good visual gag back then, but in the later episode "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", Ned has such trouble moving on from Maude that he secretly styles his then-girlfriend's hair to look like hers.
- The opening credits show Moe being hanged and then popping his eyes open. Years later, Moe's suicidal thoughts would come to light — he would also attempt to hang himself (or at least allude to doing so) a few times.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Turns out Ned Flanders surveilling society straight wasn't that far of a possibility.
- Groundskeeper Willie trying and failing to save the Simpson children gets funnier the next year as the "Treehouse Of Horror VI" segment "Nightmare On Evergreen Terrace" has Willie swearing vengeance against Springfield's adults and their children for their failure to save him.
- "Nightmare Cafeteria" sees Principal Skinner, realizing he doesn't have anything for lunch, hastily killing off Springfield Elementary's students to make lunch for the staff. Sounds like a twisted precursor to the memetic "Steamed Hams" segment from "22 Short Films About Springfield". And yes, there are
some videos mashing up the two segments.
- Nausea Fuel: The very end segment is rather nauseating. The whole family get turned inside out by a fog (after Bart wakes up from his dream of being cannibalized by the staff at Springfield Elementary) and begans singing and dancing about it. To add insult to injury, Santa's Little Helper comes out and grabs Bart by his intestines carrying him off, immediately after they sing that, "the family dog is eyeing Bart's intestine."
- One-Scene Wonder: Alternate-Timeline Maggie (voiced by James Earl Jones) at the end of Time and Punishment."This is indeed a disturbing universe..."
- Signature Scene: The "Give me the bat, Marge!" scene in The Shinning is widely considered one of the most iconic scenes in the Treehouse of Horror episodes.
