Buster’s Second Chance: Buster turns back the clock to see what life would be like if he were a genius.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod:
- We see the flashback of Arthur and Buster meeting from "Team Trouble", reanimated and playing out exactly as it did in that episode.
- Arthur introduced his friends to Love Ducks in "That's a Baby Show!"
- It's a Wonderful Plot: Buster laments that his “whole life could be different”, if he had gotten into the genius school. He goes back in time to pass the test, and when he returns to present in the altered timeline, he is a science-fair winner and takes advanced classes. But when he finds Arthur, he finds out that they never became friends in the timeline, as Buster leaving for his new school before meeting Arthur in the sandbox meant that Arthur became friends with Binky instead, and became the leader of the Tough Customers.
- Metaphorgotten: Brain gives a thank-you speech by saying, "I stand on the shoulders of giants." When Buster is in the same position during his dream, he says, "I did it by... standing on giant brains."
- Point of Divergence:
- Buster flunked a preschool intelligence test in the past. In his dream, he not only passes, but pulls off a magic trick while doing it. This leads to him becoming a genius in the present day.
- Buster and Arthur met playing in the sandbox in preschool. But in the new reality, since Buster got into the genius school, he left the park to go there before he and Arthur could meet. Binky got to him first, and Arthur stood up to him and impressed him. When Buster finally finds Arthur, he finds out that Arthur is now the leader of the Tough Customers, a rude bully who hides his “uncool” interests.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: In Buster's dream, he and all the other genius kids wear glasses.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Arthur in the new reality. Since he became friends with Binky before meeting Buster, he went on to become the leader of the Tough Customers. He acts rude and arrogant, but is revealed to secretly be very lonely, and is still interested in the things that he loved in the original world, like checkers and the Love Ducks show, but he keeps them a secret as they are considered “uncool”.
- Technobabble: Buster's Professor Timekeeper comic contains a bunch of complicated terms about time travel. Reading out loud, Buster simply says "big word, big word" until it's over.
Arthur and the Whole Truth: Arthur finds out Buster has been lying to protect his feelings.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: After Arthur gets a bad grade on an assignment Buster said was good, Francine argues that Buster never disagrees with him. Arthur begins to protest, and Francine asks him to name one instance. Arthur thinks for a while, but can't come up with an answer.
- Brain Bleach: After seeing Arthur's Impossibly Tacky Clothes, Buster goes off to take a shower to "wash the image of that shirt off his eyeballs".
- Broken Base: In-universe. Arthur and Buster disagree over the ending of a Scare-Your-Pants-Off book. Arthur thought it was lame that there turned out to not be a ghost in the end, but Buster is sufficiently scared.Arthur: I thought it was disappointing.
Buster: I thought it was great. - Brutal Honesty: The general theme of the episode.
- Downplayed. Arthur doesn't want Buster to try to spare his feelings. Buster isn't necessarily being mean, but this leads to him realizing how much of their friendship has been faked, when they disagree on video games and books they used to supposedly like.
- Discussed in the Cold Open. Arthur says that he wishes his parents would be more honest with him. D.W. promises not to spare his feelings, running around and nagging him for his dirty pajamas, not brushing his teeth, and his loud snoring. Arthur admits that "sometimes the truth can be a real pain".
- Damned by Faint Praise: Arthur doesn't think his caveman diorama is any good. Buster says that it's "very creative". Arthur ends up getting a C+ on it, and Francine says he was lucky to get that. Later, Arthur admits that his submission was terrible.
- Hulk Speak: During a flashback to caveman times, cave Arthur and Buster speak while dropping some articles from their sentences.Cave Arthur: Look! Me make spear! Is good?
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Exploited. Arthur has a shirt from his uncle Fred, which is neon green and pink. Arthur shows it off in the ice cream shop, and everyone reacts in horror, with Brain attempting to shield his eyes. When Buster tries to say that he likes the shirt, Arthur is able to tell that he's lying, since nobody likes it.
- Jerkass Realization: After Arthur's piano recital, Buster says it was amazing... but he made a small mistake. Arthur gets upset at him and says that he's just being mean. During the drive home, D.W. points out that Arthur did play the wrong note. Arthur reflects and realizes that it wasn't Buster's fault, so he goes to apologize.
- Shown Their Work: Buster correctly identifies Smilodon as a "saber-toothed cat", rather than a "saber-toothed tiger".
- Stealth Insult: Complimenting Arthur's piano performance, Francine says that if he played baseball that well, their team might actually win a few games.
- Unconventional Food Usage: For his diorama project, Buster sculpts a Smilodon out of marzipan, with the intent being that he can eat it after he shows it to Mr. Ratburn. At the end of the episode, he makes Arthur a piano with marzipan.
