This episode was WAY better than the previous episode, and I definitely feel as though this episode SHOULD have been the season 33 premiere instead. It's very fitting, especially with the message it conveys. Also, thank god it wasn't as bad as I was expecting (by that, I mean as bad as The Good, the Bart and the Loki).
Also, to be fair to Abe, I would have fallen for this exact scam too. I mean, in two separate instances (in the episodes Bart Star and Peeping Mom), Bart was indeed arrested and in both cases they were left on a cliffhanger, and I would have gotten the impression that they were going to continue with the storylines of either episodes.