In this episode, Lisa is selected for a youth orchestra where she undergoes harsh training while her family makes sacrifices to support her.
Actor J. K. Simmons makes his fifth guest appearance in the series as Victor Kleskow in homage to his abusive instructor role in the 2014 film Whiplash.
The next night the concert is a success with the children playing "Troika" from Lieutenant Kije, but Largo is sad when instead of poaching him, Kleskow chooses to take Lisa Simpson for his youth orchestra.
Once they arrive at Capital City, Lisa finds it difficult to work with Kleskow, as he reveals his menacing personality and how just small mistakes make him angry.
Lisa wins the first chair for saxophone in a competition, but her smile turns into a frown when she notices the toll her new music lessons and associated travel times are taking on her family.
Meanwhile, Homer is seemingly sleep-deprived and starts hallucinating during his shift at the nuclear power plant - dancing and drinking with the bartender Lloyd from The Shining.
To avoid more problems for her and her family, Lisa intentionally fails her audition for the upper-level orchestra, ending her saxophone career.
So the conflict here means Lisa and her family each have to come to terms with a seemingly insoluble problem, all while staying true to each character, and not short-changing anyone in the necessary resolution.