The Simpsons (animation)/Recap/S09/E08 Lisa the Skeptic

When construction for a new mall threatens an area where a bunch of fossils were found, Lisa manages to convince Principal Skinner to schedule a school archaeological dig to find missing fossils. The field trip seems to have been futile, until Lisa finds a statue of a man with wings. Ned calls the skeleton an angel and the town shows up to argue over whose property the angel skeleton belongs.

Homer steals the angel skeleton and soon offers money for people to see the angel. Lisa doesn't seem convinced that the angel's real and takes a small chipping from the skeleton to Dr. Gould. The tests remain unconclusive, and the people of Springfield become enraged at science. The angel disappears, and Lisa gets brought to court for stealing the skeleton. The court gets adjourned when they find the angel on top of the hill, with words carved in predicting the apocalypse. The people of Springfield gather at the angel at sundown. The whole thing turns out to be an elaborate publicity stunt for the new mall, and the people of Springfield welcome the new mall once they find out the world is not going to end.

"Moe: Go home, science girl! Lisa: I am home. Moe: Good, stay there."
 * Affectionate Parody: Springfield's Dumbest Criminal parodies America's Dumbest Criminals.
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: Lisa is arguing against the authenticity of an angel skeleton and states that one who believes in angels might as well believe in such things as unicorns and leprechauns, to which Kent Brockman replies "Everybody knows leprechauns are extinct!" She even tries to prove scientifically that the angel is a fraud but the test come back as inconclusive. This episode comes off as downright bizarre given that it was in an era where Lisa still regularly displayed Christian beliefs. Added to that, angels are generally depicted as immortal, supernatural beings, and yet none of the believers in the town slightly doubt that one could die and leave behind a skeleton. She's right in the end. When she asks the scientist why his test didn't prove it was a fake, he admits he never did the test.
 * Artistic License Religion: Lisa, the skeptic, is the only person to suspect the skeleton is fake. All of the other people in town, including Reverend Lovejoy, criticize her for her lack of faith. Except that, according to Christian tradition, angels do not have physical bodies and cannot die. Therefore even those who believe in angels, especially the preacher, should have called it out as a fake from the beginning.
 * Eskimos Aren't Real: Moe Wiggum says, "Yes, everybody's heard of angels, but who's heard of a neanderthal!"
 * House Amnesia:

""Science, what's science ever done for us. TV off." (TV switches off with his voice signal.)"
 * Hypocritical Humor: Moe indulges in this form of humor as a leader of the anti-science movement.

""Oh, I'm paralised, I just hope medical science can cure me!""
 * Also,

"Lisa: Wait a second... you planted a phony skeleton for me to find! This was all a big hoax! Businessman: Heh heh heh, not a hoax; a publicity stunt!"
 * If Jesus, Then Aliens: Lisa's careful balance between sweet little girl and intellectual genius was broken severely. Lisa is as a condescending and atheistically unbelieving skeptic, despite the fact that she was always portrayed as being somewhat religious before then (and after, to the point where when she lost her religion she was not satisfied until she found another). To her credit, we are talking about not believing in angel fossils here. And she was right, they weren't angel fossils at all.
 * Insistent Terminology:

"Mr. Burns: Fiddle-faddle, everyone knows our mutants have flippers. Oh! I've said too much. Smithers, use the amnesia ray."
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: Implied.

"Lisa: Well, there you go. I hope you all learned a valuable-- Angel: Silence! Prepare for the end...the end of high prices! Behold, the grand opening of the Heavenly Hills Mall."
 * Planning for The Future Before The End: Edna suggests he and Skinner have sex one last time before the end. Skinner agrees, but asks her to give him a bit so he can finish filling out the tardy slips. If the world was ending, who cares about tardy slips?
 * Inventional Wisdom: Given by a robot. "Why? Why was I programmed to feel pain?"
 * Science Is Wrong: The basis for the episode.
 * Shout-Out: Hutz has only a sandwich and apple in his briefcase.
 * Silence, You Fool: The so-called angel when it reveals that it's not predicting the apocalypse but instead an opening for the Heavenly Hills shopping mall in Springfield: