"I am most unsatisfied."
Now loading recap page for Operation: G.R.O.W-U.P.:
Getting
Really
Old
Will
Upset
Plans
Really
Old
Will
Upset
Plans
(First 2-part episode)
Original air date: 3/7/2003
Mission Report:
Disappointed with their constant failures to defeat the Kids Next Door, the Father of the Delightful Children From Down The Lane gives his brood access to his most powerful weapon. Piloting the Really, Really, Incredibly Destructive Machine, the DCFDTL launch an unprecedented assault on the KND Treehouse. Swatting their best weapons and defenses aside, the Delightful Children pull out an old tool to give Numbuh 1 the worst defeat of all- Transmission interrupted
Transmission restored
Things do not look good for the Kids Next Door. Their Treehouse has been destroyed by the Delightful Children, and even worse, their leader Numbuh 1 has been turned into an adult! "Mr. Uno" leaves the team as he's no longer a kid, leaving the rest in a slump. They decide that the only way to get their leader back is to infiltrate the Mansion Down The Lane and steal the age-changer back. But without their equipment, do they stand a chance agains the DCFDTL, or worse, their terrifying Father?
Now loading tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: After turning into an adult, Numbuh 1 leaves the KND and becomes a bitter ice-cream man. But he returns at the end to rescue his friends from the DCFDTL and Father.
- Book Ends: The Beginning of the Operation; "Okay, Delightful Children, if you ever want your butts kicked, you know where to find the Kids Next Door!" then, the End; "Okay, Delightful Children, if you or your Father want your butts kicked, you know where to find us."
- After originally Tempting Fate below, Numbuh 1 at the end delivers a Meaningful Echo about how they won't be growing up for a long time, so they should just go ahead with rebuilding the Treehouse as much as they can.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When the rest of Sector V decide to steal the age-ray back from the Delightful Children, Numbuh 5 declares, "Kids Next Door, battle stations!"
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: "Bravo, Mr. Uno. You now have my full attention!"
- Call-Back: The 'Flashing Numbers" screen used in "No P in the Ool" is used when the team rallies against Father.
- Continuity Porn:
- The Treehouse Defense Grid from Q.U.I.E.T., Hippy Hop the robot bunny from T.U.R.N.I.P., Numbuh 2's fly suit from T.H.E-F.L.Y. and (worst of all), the age-changer from C.A.B.L.E-T.V. are used in this episode.
- Continuity Nod:
- Nigel as an ice cream vendor can only sell ice cream to responsible adults, something that was established in Operation I.S.C.R.E.A.M..
- Numbuh 4 mentioning his dislike of pianos (from P.I.A.N.O.) once more.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The DCFDTL In their RRIDM; They basically destroy the Kids Next Door with no real effort.
- Dumbass Has a Point:
- Numbuh 3 calls out Numbuh 5's unwillingness and hypocrisy to help Nigel after he turns into an old crank. When Numbuh 5 is ready to argue back, she just stops in her tracks and attempts to change the argument.
- When Numbuh 5 tries warning them that they might risk being turned into adults themselves, Numbuh 4's response is "No one's a kid forever." This is the thing that finally convinces her.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Despite Numbuh 1 growing older than the age of thirteen, the D.O.H.D.O.H.S. don't show up and he doesn't have his memory wiped, nor is he forcibly decommissioned. Granted, he is forcibly turned older instead of aging naturally, so the KND computer system would not have been updated in time for a decommissioning squad to be dispatched before Numbuh 1 was turned back to normal.
- H.I.P.P.I.E.-H.O.P. gets destroyed as usual during the battle with the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, but Numbuh 3's parachute does activate in time, unlike most other times. The only time this happens in any other media is in the Codename: Kids Next Door special issue of Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War.
- Grumpy Old Man: Not only does Numbuh 1 get older, but he also becomes grumpier and angrier than usual.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: The Delightful Children turning Numbuh One into an adult ends up costing them the cigar (initially) thanks to them having to obey adults no matter what.
- Insult Backfire: Father when he insult the DCFDTL towards Numbuh One.Father: I was certain my children could take care of such a... MINOR annoyance. But they ARE a disappointment.
Numbuh One: That must run in the family! - Life Isn't Fair: Adult Numbuh One orders the DCFDTL to give him the Age-ifier Ray, pulling on their "Delightful" strings that being children and him now being an adult, they have to obey him now. The DCFDTL protest, "No fair!" but still surrender the Ray Gun to him. Numbuh One's response is this... only for Father to cut his victory short.
- Knight of Cerebus: Father appears in the darkest episode yet.
- Meaningful Echo: "We're not growing up for a long, long time."
- Never Say "Die": The terms "destroy" and "disappear to nothing" are used as euphemisms for "kill" in the episode.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: It's a good thing Father raised his children to always obey adults, otherwise Numbuh 1 wouldn't have been able to get them to just hand over the age-control device without a fight. Moreso since the Delightful Children turned him into an adult to begin with.
- Nightmare Face: Father attempting to confront Nigel in the ice cream truck is accompanied by him having a mouth and sharp teeth with a close-up of his face, which is notable since it's the only time we see it with his suit on.
- Oh, Crap!:DCFDTL: [smiling] Father.
KND: Father?! - O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Father happens to be so intimidating that one of his outbursts has the DCFDTL stuttering out of sync for a fleeting moment.
- Orcus on His Throne: Father lampshades this."I should've destroyed you and your impertinent friends a long time ago. I was sending my children to take care of such a minor annoyance."
- Politeness Judo: How Adult!Numbuh 1 gets the age changer from the Delightfuls- he just asks for it, since the Delightful Children are goody-goodies who'll do anything adults tell them to.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Question is, do you have what it takes to play with the big boys?!"
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Numbuh 5 delivers one to Nigel."Y'know, you used to be cool because the team meant more to you than anything, including yourself. But now, you just a selfish old crank. It's not your age that's changed, Mr. Uno; it's you."
- Sarcastic Clapping: Father does this while mocking "Mr. Uno" for getting a group of children to hand over the age changer.
- Tempting Fate: While they complain about the KND's rule about decommissioning kids 13 or older, Numbuh 1 assures his teammates that they won't be growing up for a long time. Cue the DCFDTL in their RRIDM, and thus engages the battle that will lead up to Numbuh 1 being turned into a grown-up by the age-changing device.
- When the DCFDTL complain about how unfair it is they have to hand over the aging remote to an aged Numbuh 1, he wryly asks them "Who says life is fair?". A slow clap from somewhere prompts the DCFDTL to ominously give the answer to his question: "Father."
- Trash the Set: The treehouse is destroyed halfway through the episode. The credits show Sector V eventually restoring it.
- Victory Is Boring: What the DCFDTL find out after they accomplish in disbanding Sector V and having nothing to do.
- Villain Respect: Subverted. Father keeps congratulating Adult Numbuh 1, but his voice is tinged with Sarcasm Mode.
- Weaksauce Weakness:
- When grown up Numbuh 1 demands the DCFDTL give him the aging remote, they ask why they would ever do that. Numbuh 1 says because he is an adult, and good children like them have to obey adults. They gripe about it, but they comply nonetheless.
- Father himself is weak to the cold as a foil to his fire powers. While he's at first able to fight off being attacked by ice cream, Adult Numbuh One eventually bathes him in enough of it to render him paralyzed.
- Wham Shot: The Delightful Children finish off their victory against Sector V by using the Agifying Cigar they found in "Operation C.A.B.L.E.T.V.", something even Numbuh One didn't see coming. This doubles as a narrative one as the series was strictly episodic until this one.
- What You Are in the Dark: After the fight ends, Numbuh 2 recovers the age remote, hands it to the adult Numbuh 1, and asks what they should to do with it. Numbuh 1 initially points it at the helpless DCFDTL, claiming that he knows exactly what to do with it, seemingly about to do to them what they did to him. As the DCFDTL quiver in fear, he presses the button, a flash of light blinds everyone… but when it fades, it reveals that he’d instead turned the age ray on himself to restore his true age, and he quickly crushes it under his foot so it can’t be used again.
- You Have Failed Me: After the DCFDTL are defeated by the KND in the opening, they are confronted by Father over their constant failures, and he gives them one more chance to destroy the KND.Father: At first, those Kids Next Door were a minor nuisance. That's why I entrusted you with their destruction. But because of your failures, they constantly interfere with my schemes to have adults rule the world! That angers me. I will no longer tolerate failure. Destroy the Kids Next Door, or else!
