It's Parents' Open House Night at school, and all the kids are worried that their parents will embarrass them.
"Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto"
- Acquaintance Denial: Binky's parents give him an embarrassing Affectionate Nickname in front of his friends. Binky denies knowing who they are.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: A very understandable fear that all the kids in Ratburn's class have, especially for Sue Ellen.
- Asleep in Class: Francine's teacher gives a boring slideshow and speaks in a slow voice. Francine's dad, who's visiting for the day, actually falls asleep and has to be woken up.
- Cerebus Retcon: In "Sue Ellen Moves In", the kids thinking Sue Ellen is an alien is a lighthearted Apophenia Plot. She's excited to tell the class items from places where she's lived, and doesn't seem offended by Buster's comments. Here, she takes Arthur and Buster's confusion as a sign that everyone will think she and her parents are weird, and tries to have them act "normal". This is a sobering indication of how badly the Parent Teacher Conference is putting pressure on her.
- Continuity Nod: Arthur brings up the time he and Buster thought Sue Ellen was an alien when she first came to town. This was the plot of "Sue Ellen Moves In". There's even flashbacks from the episode.
- A Day in the Limelight: The episode is about Sue Ellen trying to make her parents more relatable and less eccentric for the parent-teacher meeting, only to learn that it's better that they be themselves.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Binky won't even share what his parents' embarrassing thing is at first. Later, he reveals that it's embarrassing nicknames like "Little Muffin Man" and "Binky Winkums". When Buster notices, Binky rapidly denies that they're his parents.
- Gone Horribly Right: Sue Ellen over-thought that if she brought her parents to the parent-teacher meeting as they were, her mother's exotic clothing would be the laughingstock and her father's know-how would encourage Ratburn to make his teaching material harder. So she convinces her mother to wear a plain black dress and act normal while also insisting her father tone down his intelligence. It works effectively at keeping them under the radar, nothing wrong. The real problem is, Sue Ellen never found her parents embarrassing to begin with, and she's not comfortable with how her plan has reduced them to boring, unhappy versions of themselves. Thankfully, they all decide things are much better when her parents are themselves.
- Orphaned Punchline: There's a flashback to Arthur's dad telling a really bad joke to Muffy's dad, but all we hear is the punchline: "And then the waiter said, 'Look at that S-car-go!'" He tries to explain the joke, to Arthur's embarrassment. Muffy's dad responds that he knows what escargot is, he just doesn't understand the joke.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Brain heard that Mr. Ratburn gave the parents a quiz last year, and so begins teaching his parents math and geography because he doesn't want to be smarter than them. Then Mr. Ratburn decides not to do the quiz and instead get to know the parents of his students.
- Waking Non Sequitur: When Francine's dad wakes up after falling asleep in class, he exclaims, "44! Is that right?", despite the fact that the class is just watching a slideshow and he wasn't asked anything.
- Writing Lines: Francine imagines her dad writing "I will not sleep in class" on a blackboard as punishment for falling asleep during a lesson.
Buster steals a toy from a convenience store and hides it in Arthur's backpack. When he starts feeling guilty, he and Arthur have to return it unnoticed.
"Nerves of Steal"
- Accidental Theft: Arthur inadvertently steals the CyberToy due to Buster sticking it in his backpack while he's not looking.
- Aesop Amnesia: Much like the previous episode, Buster seems to have forgotten his previous experience with stealing.
- Ambiguous Ending: While we know what happens with Buster, we don't know what Arthur's punishment was, or if he even got one.
- Bad Liar: Buster when he and Arthur are returning the CyberToy to the store. He even slips up and accidentally says "Lawbreakers" instead of "Jawbreakers".
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: Buster's guilt over stealing isn't helped when Francine reads Crime and Punishment, and she and Binky yell about stealing bases during a baseball game.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After Arthur's parents are called, they point out that Arthur should have gone to them when he found out what Buster did rather than try to cover up the theft.Mrs. Read: You should have come to us when you found out what Buster did.
Mr. Read: Even if you didn't take the toy, can't you see how covering it up made it worse? - Denied Food as Punishment: The other part of Buster's punishment for stealing the CyberToy, besides being grounded for a month's worth of weekends, is to have no dessert for the same amount of time.
- Disappointed in You: Mr. and Mrs. Read tell Arthur that they're disappointed in both him and Buster for what they did: For Buster, his act of stealing the toy and for Arthur, his act of helping Buster cover up the situation (even though he didn't take the toy). Arthur says that he's much disappointed in himself and Buster as well.Mrs. Read: We're disappointed in you, Arthur. You and Buster.
Arthur: I'm disappointed in us too. - Downer Ending: Quite possibly the most infamous example in the show's run. It ends with Arthur and Buster in trouble for stealing the CyberToy, even though Arthur wasn't responsible (something his parents seem to be aware of to some extent), and Buster grounded for a month. That said, we never do know whether Arthur's punishment was as severe, or if he even got one at all.
- Easily Forgiven: Arthur forgives Buster quite easily for causing him to commit unintentional theft. Likewise, Arthur's parents aren't nearly as harsh on him as Bitzi is to Buster when the truth comes out.
- How We Got Here: The episode starts with Buster watching Brain fly his model airplane and when Brain asks, tells him why he can't go out.
- In Medias Res: The episode opens with Brain noticing Buster cooped up on a nice day, and asking him why that is. Buster begins his story, which segues into the episode.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Buster gets grounded at the end when his mom finds out he stole a Cybertoy at the drugstore without her consent.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed. While Buster gets grounded for a month's worth of weekends with no desserts for stealing the CyberToy, he faces no legal repercussions for it like he feared he would, since the drug store owner chooses to call his and Arthur's parents about the incident rather than the police. Arthur also doesn't face any legal repercussions for his part in covering up the crime, with the only consequence shown being a scolding from his parents.
- No Sympathy: After Buster tells Brain his story, we get this response:Brain: Well, I'm glad I got mine for my birthday. See you in school tomorrow!
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know Buster really messed up if Bitzi is mad enough to punish him quite harshly.
- Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Buster feels that bad he and Arthur don’t have CyberToys when their friends and other kids do. He decides to steal from a drugstore and sneak it out by putting it in Arthur's backpack, only to regret it and feel guilty not long after.
- Shout-Out: The CyberToys are based on Transformers, with many of the designs invoking a cross between Beast Wars and Battle Beasts.
- Temporarily a Villain: Buster, usually portrayed as a decent kid and a good friend to Arthur, becomes an outright criminal for this episode when he makes Arthur an unwitting accomplice to theft by hiding a toy from the drug store in his backpack.
- Unwitting Pawn: Buster makes Arthur unknowingly steal the CyberToy for him by stashing it in the latter's backpack.
- Was It Really Worth It?: Arthur asks Buster if wanting a CyberToy was worth stealing it in the first place. By the end of the episode, Buster sadly comes to the conclusion that stealing the toy was worth more trouble than if he had waited to get it. Even the Brain unwittingly makes a point that he got his a short while ago for his birthday, better late than never.
- You Are Grounded!: Buster's punishment as revealed at the end, being grounded to his room for a month's worth of weekends and no dessert.
