This episode featured an in-episode Chalkboard gag, where Bart writes "I will not shirk my responsibilities.", only to do just that, when pulling the fire alarm in the middle of his punishment and escaping, while Marge writes the rest.
This is the last episode to air in Russi Taylor's lifetime.
Cultural References
The title of this episode is a pun on the song "Crystal Blue Persuasion", which plays during the episode.
A large sum of this episode's plot is a parody on "Breaking Bad", with Marge making tons of money off the unethical business of selling alternate medicinal crystals, rather than the referenced show's crystal meth.
Homer mistakes Ann Coulter, a political commentator, who stands for government tax reduction, for Marge Simpson.
Grandpa reminisces about how he raised the generation that lost Vietnam. This is a reference to how America's Baby Boomers lost to Vietnam in The Vietnam War in 1975.
One of the signs in the display window of Fao Quartz read "Today's Special: Yoni Eggs and Ham", a pun on the comedic Dr. Seuss book, "Green Eggs and Ham".
Bart puts crystals in his mouth to make them look like fangs and says "I vant to suck your money!", a reference to the non-existent quote from the movie, Dracula, "I vant to suck your blood!".
Caring for Crystals is written by Billy Crystal and William Kristol, two completely unrelated people with no experience in writing books or anything pertaining to actual crystals.
Lindsey tells Marge to act less like American talk show host Oprah Winfrey and more like Indian movie actress Priyanka Chopra.
Homer once rolled around in a pile of Monopoly money. Monopoly is a board game that has fake money.
The wolf eating the purple roadrunner is a reference to the Looney Tunes cartoons about Wile E. Coyote chasing Road Runner.
Marge misuses the term "Namaste", as a way of saying "goodbye", when it's actually a Hindu greeting.
Gil Gunderson had a mall kiosk titled "Gil's Last Stand", which was torn down and destroyed. This is a reference to Custer's Last Stand, a historical incident, where General Custer went out to fight The Battle of Little Bighorn and tragically failed.
Bart hid The Gettysburg Address in a poster of Abraham Lincoln and Milhouse hid Multiplication Table in Isaac Newton's wig. Abraham Lincoln is the one who wrote and announced The Gettysburg Address and Isaac Newton was known for being a mathematician.
Homer's book club reads books such as "A Confederacy of Dunces", "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy".
Bart carves "El Barto" into the glass, where Marge can clearly see him. Everyone in Springfield is supposed to be oblivious to the fact that Bart is really "El Barto".
