Recap / Codename Kids Next Door S 2 E 13 Operation END

"Who are you?"

Now loading Recap for Operation: E.N.D.:

Everyone
Nearly
Decommissioned

Writing Operatives: Mo Willems & Mr. Warburton

Storyboard Operative: Matt Peters, Kim Arndt, Abigail Nesbitt, & Jesse Schmal

Date of Mission: June 4, 2004

Mission Report:

Number 86 arrives at the KND treehouse and captures Numbuh 2, 3, 4, and 5 for decommissioning. Numbuh 1, having previously eluded Number 86, immediately sets out to determine who's ordering the wrongful decommissioning of scores of KND operatives.

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• Bait-and-Switch: When Numbuh 86 orders the decommissioning process to begin, computer screens flicker to life with static, making it seem as if they're going to play some subliminal message that will extract Sector V's memory. Instead, toilet plungers break out of them and latch onto their faces.
• Brick Joke: The episode ends with Cree finally arriving at the Moon Base after trying to reach it all season.
• Broken Pedestal: Numbuh 274 went from being the KND's greatest operative to its greatest traitor.
• Cerebus Syndrome: While never quite losing its comedic tilt, this episode is darker than most, touching on conspiracy, betrayal, and the Grey-and-Gray Morality of the Kids Next Door's decommissioning practice. Adding to that, the true antagonist of the episode, Chad, becomes a significantly darker than usual villain from here on out, and every subsequent appearance he has after this episode is treated seriously.
• Chekhov's Gun: The letters Numbuh 1 was using as weapons. His last remaining one (which Chad was worried about and Tommy points out) turned out to be an invitation to Chad's thirteenth birthday party.
• Continuous Decompression: Averted. Numbuh 1 and Tommy crash their rocket through a window on the KND Moon Base, but there's no rapid suction of air afterwards.
• Contrived Coincidence: Numbuh 1's last piece of weaponized mail turns out to be an invite to Chad's birthday party, something that Tommy is quick to note. That was incredibly lucky, as without it, he wouldn't have been able to solve the conspiracy.
• Cool Big Bro: It's mentioned that Hoagie, despite his past annoyance with Tommy, had been teaching him the ins and outs of 2x4 technology. It's how Numbuh 1 knew to ask him for help getting to the Moonbase.
• Crazy-Prepared: Played for laughs after the Moonbase is detached. Numbuh 1 says there has to be some kind of contingency plan for this, so Numbuh 86 immediately orders the implementation of Plan M-11. Unfortunately, the plan simply calls for running around in a blind panic, forcing Numbuh 1 to take the lead.
• Crush Blush: Numbuh 4 when Numbuh 3 wishes him good luck.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Numbuh 3 innocently talking about fishing the moon back is what gives Numbuh 5 the idea to save the day.
• Face–Heel Turn: The episode ends with Chad embracing his change in age and allying himself with Cree.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Right before the conspiracy is revealed, Chad tells Numbuh 1 there's nothing he can do, seconds after he was trying to hack into the computer after he discovers Sector Q is on "the list". ^note Which is later revealed to be the list of invites to his party, not the list to be decommissioned.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There are two major hints about who is responsible for the conspiracy: the first is when Chad inexplicably shows up to help his friend and then hesitatingly asks about the letter Nigel is using as a weapon, almost worryingly. The second is when Nigel takes a brief look at said letter before he crashes into the Moon Base with Tommy, after Tommy asks him if he could attend the birthday party the letter is inviting him to with him.
  • In this episode, Tommy says he wants to be Numbuh T. In "Operation: G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S.", he does become Numbuh T.
  • After Numbuh 274 is defeated, Numbuh 86 reveals to Sector V she knows a way to recommission them. This eventually becomes a plot point in The Movie, Operation: Z.E.R.O., which takes place between Seasons 5 and 6.
  • Chad detaches the Moonbase to send it towards the sun, which is what Cree planned on doing all season, and tells her how unsuccessful that would be if she tried once she arrives upon his detainment, making her give up on the attempt. "Operation: T.R.E.A.T.Y." reveals him to be a Fake Defector and he did both of them to prevent her from doing the same thing.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In the face of Numbuh 86 panicking, Numbuh 1 tries this to get her to focus. It fails.
• Hope Spot: Numbuh 1 and Tommy crash right into the Decommissioning Chamber, disabling the equipment during the process. To his horror, Numbuh 1 finds they were too late, as his friends no longer recognize him.
• Improbable Weapon User: Numbuh 1 resorts to using letters to fight off Numbuh 86 and her team. The paper cuts really do hurt, though.
• It's Been Done: When Cree shows up to enact her plan to detach the Moonbase, she arrives in Numbuh 274's cell, who lamely tells her, "I tried that. It didn't work." Whereupon she gives up and leaves with him.
• It's Personal: Numbuh 86 says that all the grief she suffered at the lake has made this mission personal. After seeing his beloved treehouse taken away, Numbuh 1 says she just made him mad.
• I Want My Mommy!: When Chad detaches the Moonbase and sends it towards the sun, Numbuh 86 orders her subordinates to execute plan M-11: panic. They start running around screaming for their mothers.
• Memory Wipe Exploitation: Numbuh 86 takes a moment to admit that she has a small crush on Numbuh 4 just before having all of Sector V's memories wiped.
• Lawful Stupid: Numbuh 86. She forcefully decommissions Sector V, despite how they obviously aren't thirteen yet. Numbuh 1's argument is particularly damning, as he points out that they've been going to school together since kindergarten and she should know how old they are. When Sector V also points out how they aren't thirteen yet, she says she doesn't care what they say; as long as the computer says to decommission them, they're getting decommissioned.
• No OSHA Compliance: Numbuh 1, needing a ship to get to the moon base, recruits Tommy for the job. Unfortunately, the short timeframe he gave him meant that Tommy didn't have the chance to do things such as install a braking system or test for possible malfunctions. Naturally, the ship winds up crashing into the moonbase instead of landing safely.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: Numbuh 274 was said to be the greatest Kids Next Door operative in history. His betrayal cuts all who know him deeply.
• Pass the Popcorn: When Numbuh 1 is delivering The Summation of 274's plot, the memory-wiped Numbuhs 2-5 have no idea what he's talking about, but Numbuh 2 is enjoying the spectacle nonetheless and shushes 4 for interrupting him right when his story is "getting good".
• Retcon: A subtle one. In "Operation: C.H.A.D.", it was clear that Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 274, while having met before, did not have a close relationship. In this episode, they do — Numbuh 1 calls 274 "old friend", not only suggesting years of friendship, but also a level of familiarity that was not showcased in Chad's first appearance. The show would stick with the change, as Nigel and Chad's past together would be pivotal to the penultimate episode of its last season.
• Revealing Cover Up: Chad tries to divert Nigel's attention away from him by offering to help him with solving the conspiracy. However, his plans fail because there would be no reason for anyone in the KND to want to decommission Sector V before their thirteenth birthdays, being the organization's best team — until Nigel sees his mail, thanks to a little prodding from Tommy, and realizes that Chad doesn't want anyone to know he's turning thirteen soon.
  Numbuh 1: Numbuh 274 knew that he'd be decommissioned if anyone found out about his 13th birthday. He hacked into the mainframe and falsified his age months ago, but forgot his parents planned to throw a party until after they mailed the invitations. The only way to ensure that no one learned the truth was to erase the memories of everyone on the mailing list. And the only way to do that was by decommissioning them. It was just a simple matter of using the computer to up our ages, and then let Numbuh 86's troops do the dirty work for him.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Offscreen, Mega Mom & Destructo Dad sent invitations for Chad's thirteenth birthday party. This leads to Chad being ousted out and makes his Face–Heel Turn.
• The Smart Guy: Numbuh 1 assures Numbuh 2 that he is more than smart enough to pull off the needed calculations required for the plan to work.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • Numbuh 274 had changed his birth information in the KND database months ago to keep everyone else from discovering he was turning 13. Unfortunately for him, his parents (Mega Mom & Destructo Dad) ignored his request to not have a birthday party and sent invitations to his friends in Sector V; thus why he put them up for decommissioning.
  • Tommy also is one, as not only does he provide Numbuh 1 with a means to get to the Moonbase, but also is the one to notice that Numbuh 1's last envelope is a party invitation, allowing Nigel to piece together the truth.
• Stealth Insult: When reassuring Numbuh 2 that he's smart enough to do his part of the plan, Numbuh 1 quietly says that's why he's in the control room and not the one currently sitting on the pole, prompting Numbuh 4 (the one actually sitting on the pole) to exclaim:
  Numbuh 4: HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!
• Unwitting Pawn: Numbuh 86 and her team are used as this by Chad. After he realized his parents mailed the invitations to his thirteenth birthday party, he hacked the KND system and falsified Sector V's ages to 13 so she and her team would capture them and decommission them for him, knowing they wouldn't question it despite Numbuh 86 knowing Sector V is nowhere near 13 due to her Blind Obedience to the rules. Naturally, once Numbuh 1 reveals this to them they are pissed and immediately turn on Chad for using them.
• Villainous Breakdown: When his treachery comes to light, Chad loses it, screaming at everyone in the room about how he had been running the KND for five years, and that he won't let all that he's worked for and accomplished be ruined by "a bunch of snot-nosed brats!" As Numbuh 1 points out, he sounds just like a teenager.
  Chad: You don't understand! An organization this big doesn't run by itself, you know! I've been running this show for five years! Five. Years! I can't let all I've worked for, all that I've accomplished be ruined by a bunch of snot-nosed brats!
  Numbuh 1: Listen to yourself! You sound just like a teenager.
• Weirdness Censor: Numbuh 1's dad completely ignores all the strangeness of being chased by KND operatives, believing them to be bizarre-looking fish.
• Wham Episode: Numbuh 274, Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, betrays the organization and sends the Moon Base hurtling into the sun. While he’s ultimately stopped, he manages to escape with Cree and joins the teenagers, also starting a rivalry with Numbuh 1 that spans the rest of the series.
• Wham Line: One of the greatest betrayals in the history of the Kids Next Door is revealed.
  Numbuh 86: (eyes wide in disbelief) This is an invitation to Numbuh 274's... (gasp) thirteenth birthday party.
  Chad: I TOLD MY PARENTS I DIDN'T WANT A STUPID PARTY!!!
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Numbuh One honors his deal with Tommy and recruits him to the KND. But much to Tommy's chagrin, he can't officially join until he completes basic training at the academy, which is in the coldest part of Antarctica.