I like this episode a lot, partly because of how nicely they handled the emotional aspects of Bart. It doesn't hurt that the secondary stories are good as well. Lisa deals with her rise in popularity as a result of doing badly on a test, and the corresponding drop when she turns out to be as smart as ever. Nelson takes a blind student under his wing.
The satire is a little weaker than usual, but broad bans on student touching are a little difficult to be too harsh with.
There's an appearance by Michelle Obama (although her voice is don't by Angela Bassett) which plays well. It's short, and it doesn't wear thin, or seem mean-spirited, like their handling of Bill Clinton (which they recognize in the commentaries. They felt like it was easy to make fun of Clinton, but when they tried to do it with Bush, it just felt bad, since it just reminded them of how bad things were.)
The conflict within Bart is what sells the episode though. His girl is absurdly unpredictable, and he recognizes that. But, having kissed her, he can't get over her that easily.
There's also a montage, set to the theme from Cinema Paradiso, which is just beautiful. I think that music would make me tear up regardless of what is set against it though.
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