Arch-Enemies team up as Louise defends Mr. Frond on charges of yogurt theft in school court, and Bob joins Jimmy Pesto in getting even with a guy who scammed them both out of free meals.
A Few Gurt Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Bob and Jimmy's elaborate scheme to get even with the impersonator who conned them both out of free meals fails because Bob failed to read the fine print on the agency's website that said that all cancellations must be announced a hour in advance and he already paid in advance.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Louise puts together a series of disparate clues and offhand comments to (correctly) accuse Judge Conklin of eating Mr. Ambrose's yogurt. Not too shabby for a nine-year-old kid who was barely paying attention for half the trial.
- Both Sides Have a Point: During the mock trial, Louise points out that now Mr. Frond knows how she feels whenever he accuses her of doing something she didn’t do. While Mr. Frond admits it feels horrible of being accused of something he didn’t do, he pointed out that there are some times that Louise does deserve to get in trouble for something she had done. Even Louise admits that’s true.
- Broken Pedestal: Zeke tearfully remarks that he looked up to Judge Conklin after the latter confesses to eating the yogurt. He gets over it.
- Chekhov's Gun: When he first comes in, Judge Conklin has a wet spot on his robe from the water fountain. This later becomes an important piece of evidence.
- Courtroom Episode: The kids take part in the school's mock trial, which then becomes real when Mr. Frond gets involved.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mr. Ambrose asks if Wagstaff has the death penalty after accusing Mr. Frond of stealing his yogurt.
- Enemy Mine: The foundation of the A and B plots: Louise defends Mr. Frond in a school court, and Bob and Jimmy Pesto team up to get back at a scammer.
- Forbidden Fruit: When told that jurors couldn't discuss the case among themselves, Tina starts doing just that with Jimmy Junior in a misguided attempt at getting his attention. She even mentions this trope by name.
- Force Feeding: Jimmy Pesto's idea of payback at the food scammer is to shave his head and feed him his own hair. Bob understandably turns that down.
- Foregone Conclusion: Discussed; Louise points out that since the mock trials are based on fairy tales everyone already knows the plot of, it's impossible to get a fair trial for the defendants since everyone knows they're guilty (her point is proven through the Snow White trial, and it's mentioned their next mock trial is The Three Little Pigs, which likely would've gone similarly). Mr. Conklin actually agrees to preside over Ambrose v. Frond because he thinks it'd be more interesting to try a case where the truth isn't immediately obvious (well, not to anyone besides himself).
- Graceful Loser: After being found guilty, Judge Conklin pays for the yogurt and willingly wears the sign saying "I'm a dirty yogurt thief" on his neck, stating it'll make a good conversation starter for his date.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Mr. Ambrose is pretty right when he claims Mr. Frond is Hated by All.
- Jury Duty: Tina is part of the school court jury. When Jimmy Junior becomes a juror, she starts flirting with him, to his annoyance.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Realizing that Judge Conklin had been wasting everyone's time for the past two days just to teach Louise a lesson, Ms. Jacobson asks the kids to not tell their parents what they've been doing.
- Lost Food Grievance: The main plot comes about when Mr. Ambrose accuses Mr. Frond of eating his yogurt.
- Never the Obvious Suspect: The yogurt thief turns out to be Judge Conklin.
- Not So Above It All: Bob is genuinely surprised that Louise didn't leave Frond out to dry, and notes that he would've.
- Obviously Evil: Louise points out that there's no point in trying to defend the Evil Queen because she's so obviously guilty and the word "evil" is literally a part of her name. She actually tries to get a mistrial on the grounds that there is no possible way the queen could ever get a fair hearing.
- Only Sane Woman: Ms. Jacobson asks why Judge Conklin didn't just confess to eating the yogurt from the beginning. He claims it was because he was used to there being some kind of free food for guest speakers and thought the yogurt was the school's attempt at it.
- Pet the Dog:
- Louise at first puts no effort in defending Mr. Frond, but then she starts feeling sorry for him and decides to try and prove he's innocent, because "everyone deserves a fair trial, even a broken down, chewed up, spat out guidance counselor like Mr. Frond."
Mr. Frond: That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me!- Arguably, the entire episode is a Pet the Dog moment on Mr. Frond's end as he's timid and without any of his usual ego. He even gives Louise a sincere thank you at the end.
- Picky Eater: Mort's mother refuses to eat something that doesn't have shrimp on it.
- Plea Bargain: Louise, who really doesn't want to defend Frond, repeatedly tries to get Frond to agree to one of these. Frond, who knows he's innocent, isn't having it.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Both Louise and Frond react this way when they realize the former has to defend the latter.
- The Reveal: Judge Conklin is the yogurt thief.
- Saying Too Much: Judge Conklin mentions the carpet in the teacher's lounge, implying he's been there, which is what first gets Louise suspicious of him (she previously established the culprit was in the teacher's lounge).
- Shout-Out:
- In the opening, the exterminator van reads "A Fume with a View".
- The food scammer is a celebrity impersonator who specializes in Austin Powers and Borat. Mario and Luigi are also mentioned.
- Appropriately enough, Mr. Branca starts paraphrasing Colonel Jessup when Louise is cross-examining him.
Mr. Branca: You want me out there finding your spoons! You need me out there finding your spoons! - Sibling Rivalry: Downplayed (since it's just for this episode), but Gene and Louise are on opposite sides of the trial (Gene as the prosecutor, Louise as the defense attorney). After the first day of the trial ends, Gene and Louise even take the rivalry to the Belcher home.
- Simple Country Lawyer: Gene adopts this persona while serving as the prosecutor in the class trial. He's told to stop because the thick accent and folksy sayings are confusing the jury, even though Conklin likes it.
- Spotting the Thread: Louise keys on it immediately when Judge Conklin makes a comment about the carpet in the teacher's lounge, since it means he must have been in the room at some point. From there, it doesn't take her long to put all the pieces together.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When Judge Conklin is asked why he didn't just confess to eating the yogurt from the very beginning, he says that he thought it was going to be a good learning opportunity as opposed to the fairy-tale trials where everyone already knows the guilty party in advance.
- Trickster Mentor: Judge Conklin, or so he says. When asked why he didn't fess up sooner, he says that, besides wanting to preside over a mock trial that didn't have a Foregone Conclusion, he had seen potential in Louise and wanted to see if she could successfully catch him and defend Mr. Frond.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To A Few Good Men, complete with Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title.
