Trilogy of Error/References
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Cultural references[edit]
- The plot of this episode is based on the film Run Lola Run. The music that plays while Lisa is running is a direct reference to the film.
- The innovative story telling style shown in this episode was also used in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. The seventh episode of the seventh season ("Blackout") involved the same series of events being seen from several different view points. The character of Thelonius is voiced by Frankie Muniz, who played the titular Malcolm.
- The 1999 film "Go" is another example of this type of story-telling, and elements from this film were even used in this episode such as when Rainier Wolfcastle smashed Marge's car with golf clubs due to their ramming into his car by accident, which was based on when Jack Nicholson's character performs a very similar action to what Rainier Wolfcastle did.
- Ned reads a modified book of Harry Potter where Harry and his friends go to Hell for practicing witchcraft, which is a reference to how many individuals in organized religion dislike the Harry Potter series for their magic theme because of magic often being associated with the occult and Satanism.
- In French class, the teacher says "La grenouille mange le pamplemousse" which means: "The frog eats the grapefruit." It is an insult to call a French person a frog, or a grapefruit.
- Fort Fragg is a parody of Fort Bragg.
- When Doctor Nick asks Captain McCallister if he wants a "lengthening or a widening", it is a reference to male enhancement surgery.
- Whenever Lisa sprints, the techno music from Run Lola Run plays.
- Rainier Wolfcastle's car (which Marge calls McBain after the TV character name he plays) is a Ferrari F40.
- Thelonius quotes to Lisa I.M. Pei referring to Ieoh Ming Pei one of the most famous architects of the twentieth century.
- When Thelonius tells Lisa his name, she replies "as in Monk?" it's a reference to the great jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.
- Lisa and Thelonius spin to the sound of The Turtles's song "Happy Together" (1967).
Continuity[edit]
- When Lisa is looking at the bus, Milhouse can be seen sitting on it, even though he is with Bart.
- In Bart's segment, Bart counts two of his keys as the same one (the key to Milhouse's house and Lisa's bike).
- In the scene where Lisa runs up the stairs with Linguo, there are no pictures on the wall.
- When Clancy says "my bad", there is static on the radio. In Bart's scene, the wire is thrown on the floor after Clancy is heard.
