Louise goes to great lengths to recover her Burobu cards which were confiscated by Ms. LaBonz. Meanwhile, Bob attends a funeral where he's not very welcome.
Mission Trope-possible:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: As it turns out, Harry intended to invite Bob to his funeral, and had long forgiven him for the pickle incident. He also leaves a parting message for Bob: "Love you, buddy."
- Bland-Name Product: Subverted. One would think that Burobu was meant to be this to Pokémon with its similar theme song and accompanying card game, but the first thing Tina says reveals that the franchise exists in their world, meaning Burobu is just a knockoff property and happens to be popular with the kids at Wagstaff.Tina: So Burobu is like Pokemon, but just, everybody's a slug?
Louise: Uh, yeah.
Gene: Finally. - Brick Joke: Teddy suggests that Bob sing "Danny Boy" at the funeral but replace every instance of "pipes" with "pickles". Bob initially refuses, but at the very end of the funeral he does just that.
- Calvinball: The teachers have no idea how to play Burobu; and make up a drinking game with random rules, when Louise points this out, Rudy claims nobody knows the rules of Burobu.
- Captain Obvious: The Burobu theme song begins with, "There's only one way to win this fight: beat the other guy. The one rule to climbing the highest heights is to climb up really high."
- Comically Inappropriate Funeral Urn: Harry's ashes were put in an actual pickle jar because it's implied Mort ran out of urns, which disturbs Linda.
- Continuity Nod: Frond isn't invited to Martini Tuesdays because he doesn't drink. In "The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover", it's shown that he's so inexperienced with alcohol that a small glass leaves him throwing up in the bathroom.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The entirety of the A-plot wouldn't have happened had Louise gone with her original plan of trading the cards after school. Instead, she gets impatient and tries to do it during study period, leading to her getting caught and the cards confiscated.
- A Day in the Limelight: While she's made plenty of appearances, this is arguably Ms. LaBonz's largest role in the series thus far, as she's the main antagonist of the episode and the second half of the episode largely takes place at her house.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Quite a bit of it from Bob and Harry's falling out and the funeralgoers' reaction to it.
- Everything started when Bob complained to Harry that his pickles were sweeter than usual. Harry responded by pelting him with pickles.
- While Harry's reaction is in line with the trope, the attendees at Harry's funeral actually believe Bob's reaction counts more—he threw one pickle at Harry and it was only after Harry threw several, but everyone acts as though he crossed the line. They even act like Harry was justified in throwing a pickle but Bob wasn't.
- The attendees completely ostracizing Bob, to the point that one of Harry's friends singles him out in the middle of giving a eulogy, counts as well—they completely overreact to a situation it's later shown Harry himself had long moved on from.
- The Drag-Along: Rudy makes it clear numerous times that he's not comfortable going along with Louise's attempts to get their cards back.Rudy: (Hyperventilating after hearing they'll be sneaking into the Teachers' Lounge) I need to sit down. Where's my inhaler? Where's my inhaler?
Louise: It's right...You're holding it. - Drinking Game: LaBonz makes up one involving the confiscated Burobu cards. Much to Louise's fury, the teachers don't know the rules.
- Everyone Has Standards: Linda sounds quietly horrified when sees Harry's ashes were put in an actual pickle jar.Linda: Did he ask for that or did you just run out of urns?Mort: I like to think it's what he would've wanted.
- Exiled to the Couch: Gene remarks this after Louise declares him and Tina dead to her, even though the Belcher kids all have separate rooms.
- Expy Coexistence: Turns out that Pokémon exists alongside Burobu. (And looking closely, as a game it seems to be a greatly simplified amalgamation of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!.)
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Frond isn't invited to the staff's Martini Tuesdays. To be fair, he doesn't drink and looks down on people who do, so it's not like it's without good reason.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Bob has been asked to do the eulogy for Harry the pickle seller, even though they had a falling out due to a pickle-throwing incident. After Bob delivers a surprisingly touching eulogy and apologizes, Harry's lawyer tosses a pickle at Bob and says he's even, as per Harry's wishes.
- Got Volunteered: When Louise is unable to reach the cards while hanging from a tree, she makes Tina do it cause she's got "freakishly long arms".
- Has a Type: Ms. LaBonz has a thing for firemen.
- Hates Reading: Mr. Ambrose (who, keep in mind, is a librarian) considers looking at books a waste of time.
- Hypocrite: Ms. LaBonz is militant about Burobu cards in school and confiscates them when any students bring them to school... so that she and the other teachers can play with them on Martini Tuesdays.
- Kick the Dog: Louise was willing to trick Rudy into trading cards that she knew were fake.
- "Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop: The final attempt to retrieve the Burobu cards ends with Tina dropping down into LaBonz's backyard using a hose.
- Neutrality Backlash: While mad at Tina, Louise told Gene to choose a sister. Gene declared he didn't want to pick sides, so Louise declared he was dead to her as well.Gene: (To Tina) Looks like we're sleeping on the couch.
- Nobody Likes a Tattletale: Louise and Rudy swap Burobu cards during a study session; Ms. LaBonz then comes into the room in and asks Tina where all the fourth graders are, Tina tries not to tell her but eventually spills the beans. Ms. LaBonz then confiscates the fourth graders' cards and Louise spends most of the episode mad at Tina for ratting her and the other card players out.
- No Sympathy: All of the vegetable dealers at Harry's funeral treat Bob like garbage, believing Harry was completely justified in tossing pickle slices at Bob after he said the last batch "was too sweet."
- Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: When Louise gets Rudy to come along on her mission to steal back their cards; he bemoans that "this is everything they've warned me about in that after-school special, Peers of a Clown..."
- Person as Verb: When Tina and Gene go over to LaBonz to try and convince her to return the cards, she first assumes they're going to Clueless her and set her up with another teacher.
- Produce Pelting: The "pickle incident", where Harry threw multiple small pickles at Bob because he said they were too sweet, leading Bob to throw a single, much larger one back at him that knocked off his glasses.
- Punny Name: The name "Burobu" is the Japanese pronunciation of "blob", which is fitting considering the direct comparison to Pokémon and because all the creatures are various types of slugs in a blob-like art style.
- Sadist Teacher: Confiscating contraband cards is one thing, but LaBonz intending to use them to pick up her neighbor's dog droppings is crossing a line or two. Even Tina is a bit disturbed.
- Self-Serving Memory: Tina's explanation of why she sold out Louise includes an embellished flashback with Ms. LaBonz repeatedly slapping her.Tina: Okay, that might be slightly exaggerated.
- Shoddy Knockoff Product: Louise brought some fake Borubu cards to trade for real ones. Everyone points out that they look blurry and smell like gasoline (probably from an inappropriate adhesive). The one Louise gave to Ruby even had a Minion on it.
- Shout-Out:
- To Mission: Impossible: Along with the episode title, both Louise and Tina lower themselves by a rope (actually a hose) to retrieve the cards, as Ethan Hunt famously did in the first movie.
- To Lethal Weapon: Murtaugh's Character Catchphrase "I'm getting too old for this shit" is referenced twice; first by the Store Next Door ("I'm Getting Too Old For This Schvitz: Saunas for the Elderly") and then by the first Burger of the Day (the "I'm Getting Too Old For This Shishito Burger").
- To The Godfather: Linda scolds Tina for telling on Louise, saying that "You never go against the family!", to which Bob responds "Easy, Don Corleone."
- The second Burger of the Day is the Don't Dream it's Okra Burger.
- Rudy points out that one of the counterfeit Burobu cards has a Minion on it.
- Spiteful Will: Harry's will actually stipulated that Bob get a pickle thrown in the face at his funeral. Downplayed; Harry had long forgiven Bob for the initial pickle incident and was merely doing this as a more lighthearted form of payback.
- The Stool Pigeon: Tina tells on Louise when LaBonz confronts her after the fourth graders disappeared. Louise spends the rest of the day mad at her for her betrayal, until Tina makes up for it by taking the blame and also getting the cards back.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Ms. LaBonz at one point tells her students that she's going outside "to NOT smoke several cigarettes."
- Truth in Television: Fake trading cards like that definitely exist, and there is a niche market for them (as proxies, replicas, etc.), but Louise went with a really cheap seller if they're that blurry.
- We Need a Distraction: Louise needs to distract the teachers so she can get the cards. Fortunately, she catches Mr. Frond spying on them and encourages him to make a scene by dancing to "Groove is in the Heart".
- You Bastard!: Louise says this about the teachers when she sees they intend to use her Burobu cards in a Drinking Game.
