All students of Third Street School are going on a Class Trip to MISOOE (Museum of Industry, Science, Oceanography, Oddities, and Energy), and Miss Grotke's class is riding on what will be the final voyage of Bertha's beloved Old Smokey. But when Old Smokey breaks down, the gang must repair it.
Tropes:
- Class Trip: The Class is headed to the MISOOE when the Bus breaks down by an abandoned farm. The rest of the episode is spent with Miss Grotke helping Bertha with her grief while the kids trick out the bus. The Class never actually make it to wherever they were going, but the episode ends on the road with TJ riding a recliner on the roof of the bus.
- Expy: MISOOE of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
- Franken-vehicle: The kids' school bus, nicknamed "Old Smokey", breaks down near an abandoned farm while taking the kids on a field trip. The kids gather parts from the farm machinery and use them to fix Old Smokey's engine and give her some other enhancements such as replacing her back wheels with a set of tracks. The driver, Bertha, previously upset about the thought of Old Smokey getting scrapped, triumphantly radios her depot and declares "You can't wreck my baby now, she's a collector's item!"
- Pet the Dog: As much as Miss Finster likes to strike fear in children's minds when it comes to discipline, she happily supervises the students' field trip to MISOOE on the account that it helps them learn about the fields of knowledge covered in the museum. She even lampshades this by admitting that it was worth mapping out routes, scheduling bus drives and filling out forms for weeks to ensure everything goes to plan.
- Hidden Depths: Spinelli is adept at repairing cars.
- Shout-Out: As Bertha laments that they're retiring Old Smokey, Miss Grotke asks, "The Bear?"note
- Take a Third Option: The kids miss out on going to the museum, since it's such a long trip home and they have to wait for hours for another ride. But Miss Grotke and Bertha are grateful to the kids for repairing Old Smokey so they have a ride home and the bus isn't retired yet. T.J. also concludes that this was a good field trip regardless and he's having fun.
- This Is No Time to Panic: As soon as Miss Grotke is told that a new bus won't come for another four hours, all the kids panic about being stranded. Miss Grotke tries to calm them down.
- Wrench Wench: Spinelli and Gretchen, the former whose brother Joey apparently majored in auto repair in prison.
