Kids Are from Earth, Parents Are from Pluto
It's Parents' Open House Night at school, and all the kids are worried that their parents will embarrass them.
This episode includes examples of:
- Acquaintance Denial: Binky's parents call him the Affectionate Nickname they have for him in front of his friends and Binky is so embarrassed that he denies knowing who they are.
- All for Nothing: 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.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: All the kids are afraid of their parents embarrassing them at the Parents' Open House like they’ve done in years past.
- 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.
- Be Yourself: After making her parents act “normal” the whole night, Sue Ellen finally realizes how miserable it’s making all of them and how much better she likes her parents when they’re just being themselves.
- Boring Vacation Slideshow: Francine is dreading parents’ night because last year her dad fell asleep while the aptly named Mrs. Drone showed one of these.
- 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.
- Costume-Test Montage: Sue Ellen helps her mom pick out something to wear to the Open House, saying no to all her colorful, multicultural outfits and encouraging her to go with a conservative black dress.
- 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 calling him embarrassing nicknames like "Little Muffin Man" and "Binky Winkums". When Buster notices, Binky rapidly denies that they're his parents.
- Embarrassment Plot: This episode focuses on the kids trying to keep their parents from embarrassing them more than they already have at the Parents' Open House.
- Facepalm: Arthur does this in response to his dad’s lame joke at the previous year’s ice cream social.
- 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.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: After Sue Ellen confronts Buster about thinking she and her parents were aliens when they first moved in, the scene transitions via a UFO flying across the screen.
- Instant Wristwatch: When Brain is helping his parents study for Mr. Ratburn’s pop quiz, his mom asks to be excused to do the laundry and a watch appears on Brain’s wrist for him to check.
- Loud Gulp: Sue Ellen gulps nervously when Mr. Ratburn invites the parents to tell the class about themselves.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Mr. Frensky falls asleep during the Armstrongs’ incredibly boring introduction. When he wakes up, he yells out “44!”
- Necktie Headband: Mr. Read is seen with one at the end of the episode as he’s dancing with Sue Ellen’s parents.
- Orphaned Punchline: There's a flashback to Arthur's dad telling a really bad joke to the Crosswires, 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.
- Painful Confession: Buster shoplifts the newest action figure from a small store. He soon feels guilty about it and confides in Arthur about it. He also believes that the security camera caught him in the act, so when he tries to return the toy unnoticed, his guilt upon seeing the camera and the clerk's attention on him lead him to tearfully confess his crime to the clerk. Though the clerk explains that the camera was offline the entire time, he calls Buster's mom about her son's crime.
- Parents as People: The kids’ parents aren’t really doing anything too embarrassing or bad, they’re just acting like normal, albeit flawed, human beings that have gotten a (probably rare) opportunity to interact with people their own age. This is justified of course, because it’s hard for kids to understand this until they become adults themselves and begin to relate to their parents more.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title is a reference to the 1992 relationship book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, Ph.D.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Binky tries to not-so-subtly ask Brain if his parents ever call him embarrassing nicknames like “Little Muffin Man” and “Binky Winkums”. When Brain tells him his parents don’t call him anything like that, Binky instantly says that his parents don’t either.
- 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 having to write "I will not sleep in class" on a blackboard as punishment for falling asleep during a lesson.
Nerves of Steal
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.
This episode includes examples of:
- 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.
- 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.
- Continuity Nod:
- Once again Arthur is the only kid not impressed with a new toy fad.
- Brain's model biplane that was seen in "What Is That Thing?" reappears.
- "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.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Arthur realizes how to get the CyberToy out of the house without his mother noticing when it walks into the trash can in his room.
- Expressive Ears: Buster’s ears flop over in shame when he gets in trouble for stealing.
- Felony Misdemeanor: An Imagine Spot Buster has involves him becoming a fugitive, having his "Wanted!" Poster plastered all over town, and going on trial all because he stole a toy.
- Five-Finger Discount: Buster wants a CyberToy so badly that he steals one by putting it in Arthur's backpack.
- Freudian Slip:
- Buster makes one when he goes to Arthur’s house to confess what he did: “I need to talk to you in your cell - I mean, room! Now!”
- He does it again at the drugstore when he and Arthur are trying to return the toy and the owner asks them if they need anything: “Just these lawbreakers - I mean, jawbreakers!”
- 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.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: When Buster has an Imagine Spot about being chased by the cops for stealing, the scene changes by cop cars driving across the screen.
- 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.
- Institutional Apparel: Buster is wearing a black and white striped outfit when he imagines himself going to jail for stealing.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Buster gets grounded at the end when his mom finds out he stole a CyberToy at the drugstore without her consent.
- Lost Food Grievance: In the Cold Open, D.W. launches an all-out investigation when one of the 20 brownies she and her grandma made gets eaten.
- Loud Gulp: Buster gulps nervously when he realizes the toy store has a security camera.
- 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.
- Malaproper: When signing the apology note for the drugstore, Buster accidentally puts “unanimous” instead of “anonymous”.
- No Sympathy: After Buster tells Brain his story, he gets 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 bad that 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.
- Pun-Based Title: A play on the phrase “nerves of steel”.
- 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.
- What the Hell, Hero?:Arthur: Great. A stolen toy I’m not even supposed to have is right here in my room. Thanks a lot, Buster.
- 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.
