- "A half-baked idea is okay as long as it's still in the oven."
Airdate: August 21, 2013
Tired and Hungry, Lifty and Shifty try to rob The Mole's bread truck which leads to disastrous results.
"Buns of Steal" contain examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Lifty and Shifty's heist predictably leads to their deaths. However, they deserve it after accidentally killing several innocent tree friends.
- The Caper: Lifty and Shifty try to steal all the bread from the Mole's truck.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Lifty accidentally rivets one of his feet and Shifty rivets the other one in attempt to help him, then he is split in half when his body gets dragged along a wooden fence.
- Groin Attack: Lifty's death.
- Hope Spot: Near the end of the episode, Shifty escapes from the vans unharmed and finally gets his hand on a bun. Right as he is about to eat the bun, Lifty's veins snap in two which slices the top half of Shifty's head clean off.
- Karmic Death: Lifty and Shifty, as with any episode they happen to star in.
- Off with His Head!: Cuddles' death. Shifty's death too, though with him, it's more a case of "Off With Half His Head".
- Pun-Based Title: To: "Buns of Steel" a series of exercising videos released in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Running Gag:
- Lifty and Shifty accidentally killing people outside their van.
- While the Mole has been shown driving before, almost every episode this season that happens to have the Mole in it involves him driving.
- Sole Survivor: The Mole is the only character who survives.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Giggles, Sniffles, Lifty, Cuddles, and Shifty all die.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The Mole survives.
- True Companions: Inverted, with Lifty's body now all chopped up, the two trucks begin to separate, and Lifty's body begins to stretch out until his head remains on a thin wire of veins. Shifty then slowly walks on his dead brother's veins as if he were on a tightrope to reach the bread truck. When Shifty encounters his dead brother's head, he kicks it away without any regret, and proceeds to walk.
- Villain Episode: The episode centers on Lifty and Shifty.
- Villain Protagonist: Lifty and Shifty.
