Now loading Recap for Operation: P.O.O.L.:
Prevent
Opposite
Operative's
Larceny
Opposite
Operative's
Larceny
Numbuh 4's new pool is actually a portal to an Alternate Universe of the KND world where their counterparts known as the DNK (Destructively Nefarious Kids) are evil. The kids do all the adults job whereas the adults sit around and play video games. While swimming in the pool, Lizzie is captured by an evil opposite of herself, Eizzil Enived (Lizzie's name backwards), and Nigel follows the captor back to her home universe. Unfortunately, it seems the invasion hasn't been stopped just yet...
This episode includes examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Negative Numbuh 86 and a few other DNK members start laughing when Positive Sector V mock Negative Numbuh Four and his goatee.
- Negative Numbuh 2 makes a pun about Negative Numbuh 4's cow-ardice and goat-ee that has everyone but Numbuh 2 laughing, as he doesn't find it humorous.
- Ambiguously Christian: A Bible can be seen in the Little Traitor Dudes' home upon entering, but considering it's an alternate universe it's unknown what their actual faith could be.
- Aside Comment: After Negative Numbuh 86 tearfully admits that she wants to pretend to be a pretty princess rather than an imposing soldier, Numbuh 2 leans over to Numbuh 3 to whisper that she's definitely Numbuh 86's opposite.
- Bait-and-Switch: The first half ends with Numbuh 1 and Lizzie emerging from the pool and gasping for breath, making it look like everything worked out... and then "Numbuh 1" smiles and reveals his missing tooth.
- Bait-and-Switch Silhouette: The negaverse counterpart to the Delightful Children From Down the Lane, the Little Traitor Dudes For Children's Defense introduce Numbuh 1 and Lizzie to their "Daddy" who initially appears to be a Sinister Silhouette like Father, only for him to step out of shadows and reveal that his appearance is that of an ordinary man.
- Beard of Evil: Negative Numbuh 4 invokes and lampshades this trope.
- Brick Joke:
- At the beginning, Numbuh 4 complains that he'd rather go to the beach since he'd at least be able to get buried in the sand. The Stinger during the credits shows that they filled the pool with sand to cover the portal, and Numbuh 4 is happily buried up to his neck in sand.
- Numbuh 1 and Lizzie wonder if Negative Numbuh 2 is a great comedian. Negative Numbuh 2 only cracks one joke, but it makes everybody laugh (well, everyone except Positive Numbuh 2, that is).
- Card-Carrying Villain: All the counterparts, but Negative Numbuh 4 especially as The Napoleon-like Evil Genius proudest of his villainy.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Negative Numbuh 4 subjects the positive KND to this For the Evulz upon capture. Of course, being a children's show, viewers have a Scream Discretion Shot as we hear the KND yelling in torment before we see them in the aftermath in tattered clothes and groaning in pain.
- Continuity Nod: In The Stinger, Numbuh 4 sings his "buried in the sand" song from "Operation: B.E.A.C.H.".
- Cowardice Callout: When Negative Numbuh Four brags to Numbuh Four that he's his exact opposite by calling him stupid, he counters by saying that if what he says is true, it means that he's a coward.
- Cowardly Lion: In spite of his fears, Numbuh 4 finds it in himself to learn to swim to save his friends. The Stinger shows that he still prefers being buried in sand over swimming, however.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Numbuh 4 is shown to have beaten the utter crud out of the negaverse counterparts of his friends and Eizzil.
- Decoy Protagonist: Despite the first part of the episode focusing on Numbuh 1 and Lizzie's escape from the Negative World, it's Numbuh 4 who actually gets to beat his own negative counterpart and save the day.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: When Eizzil beats Negative Numbuh 4 back into the negaverse, she declares "get out of my friend's world", implying that Numbuh 4 beating her and the other members of the DNK up caused her to warm up to him.
- Defiant Captive: Apart from briefly asking "Why are you doing this?", the KND and Lizzie refuse to break and even crack jokes at Negative Numbuh 4's expense. While he's torturing them.
- Dirty Coward: Negative Numbuh 1, taking pleasure in bullying Numbuh 4 (someone smaller than him) with his fear of swimming up until Numbuhs 2, 3 and 5 tell him to quit it. Eizzil also has shades of this, backing down whenever someone more assertive than Negative Numbuh 1 talks back at her. Ultimately, Negative Numbuh 4 is the biggest coward of them all. He relies on bodyguards and striking fear into others in order to maintain his tyrannical rule.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The leader of the DNK threatens Eizzil alone with banishment to the broccoli mines, despite that Negative Numbuh 1 was just as responsible for letting the real Numbuh 1 and Lizzie escape.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Numbuhs 2, 3, and 5 admonish Negative Numbuh 1 for trying to push Numbuh 4 into the pool.
- Empathic Environment: The negaverse is overcast and dark until Negative Numbuh 4 is oust from power.
- Everyone Has Standards: The KND may not be big on being respectful, but even they don't see any humor in bullying Numbuh 4 by pushing him towards the pool.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Negative Numbuh 4 cannot understand why anyone wouldn't want to fight their friends for the honor of joining his ranks.
- Evil Doppelgänger:
- The DNK are this to the KND, and their members have opposite personalities. To contrast, the LTDFCD and "Daddy" are the Good Counterparts to the DCFDTL and Father.
- Eizzil hates Negative Numbuh 1 (though she comes to like him after he grows a spine).
- Negative Numbuh 1 is very wimpy.
- Negative Numbuh 2 is actually funny.
- Negative Numbuh 3 is a cruel girl.
- Negative Numbuh 4 is smart and a Miles Gloriosus.
- Negative Numbuh 5 is an uncool geek with buckteeth and glasses.
- Negative Numbuh 86 is timid and wants to act traditionally feminine.
- The DCFDTL are represented in the negaverse by the "Little Traitor Dudes For Children's Defense" (LTDFCD), as a Surfer Dude themed La Résistance who live with their kind and caring (if cowardly) father in a trailer.
- The DNK are this to the KND, and their members have opposite personalities. To contrast, the LTDFCD and "Daddy" are the Good Counterparts to the DCFDTL and Father.
- Eye-Dentity Giveaway: The Negative doppelgangers can be discerned from their original versions by looking into their eyes.
- Face Your Fears: Numbuh 4 overcomes his fear of the water and teaches himself to swim in order to get to the negaverse and defeat his evil self.
- Fisher King: The Negative world is under constant cloud cover for the majority of the episode. Once Negative Numbuh 4 is defeated, they finally part to reveal the sun.
- Flunky Boss: Negative Numbuh 4 turns out to be this. As Numbuh 4 tells him, he doesn't need anyone to pick his fights for him so Negative Numbuh 4 must be the opposite.
- For the Evulz: Negative Numbuh 4's reason for torturing positive Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 5, and Lizzie.
- Foreshadowing:
- The LTDFCD have "traitor" in their name, implying that they were former DNK operatives who defected. Operation: Z.E.R.O. reveals that the Delightful Children are brainwashed KND operatives.
- Daddy inexplicably looks like a human while Father is a Sinister Silhouette. Operation: Z.E.R.O. would reveal Father wears a bodysuit and looks exactly like his mirror-world counterpart.
- Negative Numbuh 1 slips and asks Numbuh 4 if he can go to his treehouse before correcting himself.
- The Negative members of Sector V are shown floating up into the negaverse after Numbuh 4 beats the crap out of them, but Eizzel is suspiciously absent. When Negative Numbuh 4 attempts to flee to the Positive universe in order to restart his conquest, Eizzil is waiting for him and kicks him so hard back through the portal that he flies onto the concrete.
- Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Played with; the heroes can tell friend from foe by looking in their eyes. Both Numbuh One and Four are able to immediately tell they weren't talking to their Love Interest and reveal that, when looking into Eizzil and negative Numbuh Three's eyes, there is no kindness like in their positive counterparts. But, thanks to the artwork style the audience themselves can't tell the difference. In the ending scene, Nigel comments to Eizzil how her eyes have now changed (after her Heel–Face Turn) and look much kinder.
- Heel–Face Turn: The entire DNK, barring Negative Numbuh 4.
- Horrible Housing: The LTDFCD live in a tiny trailer with old food boxes littering the shelves. It's a dark inversion of the Big Fancy House their villainous counterparts live in.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Or rather identical counterpart ID tag. Except for Lizzie and Eizzil, there's always some trait that marks the main cast apart from their counterparts.
- Positive Numbuh 1 has heavy chains on until Negative Numbuh 1 loses a tooth.
- All the positive KND members get minor Clothing Damage (thanks to the Cold-Blooded Torture) that their counterparts lack.
- Negative Numbuh 5 has glasses and a dorky smile.
- Negative Numbuh 4 has a Beard of Evil that he's very proud of.
- Negative Numbuh 2 and Negative Numbuh 86 have a negative sign next to the numbers on their helmets.
- Ignored Epiphany: Numbuh 4 finds Negative Numbuh 1 and Eizzil's actions suspicious, but gets distracted thinking about pizza before he comes to a conclusion.
- "Just Joking" Justification: When Sector V admonishes Negative Numbuh 1 for trying to push Wally into the pool, he tries to brush it off by saying he was only joking.
- Logo Joke: The scene transitions in this episode have the KND logo replaced with a logo for the Destructively Nefarious Kids.
- Machiavelli Was Wrong: As soon as Negative Numbuh 4 is exposed as a coward, his soldiers abandon him because they're tired of living in fear.
- Mining for Cookies: Being sent to the Broccoli Mines is considered the harshest punishment the negaverse has to offer.
- Mirror Universe: The premise of the episode.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Numbuh 4's Curb-Stomp Battle with Negative Sector V. All we see is him sucker punching Negative Numbuh 3, his Pre-Asskicking One-Liner to Negative Numbuh 1, the screams from his victims and them emerging beaten from the portal later.
- One-Man Army: Four single-handedly beats the entire Negative Sector V to a pulp.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 4 both realise Eizzil and Negative Numbuh 3 aren't their positive counterparts because their eyes give them away as callous Jerkasses.
- Portal Pool: Opened by the DNK into Numbuh 4's pool.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
- After sucker punching Negative Numbuh 3, Negative Numbuh 1 weakly attempts to defend himself and his teammate, only for Numbuh 4 to grab him and deliver this:
Numbuh 4: Well, what are ya waiting for, princess? Let's dance.- Eizzil delivers one before kicking Negative Numbuh 4 back into the negaverse, having come over to Numbuh 4's side in the time since he fought off the rest of Negative Sector V.
Eizzil: Get off my friend's world! - Red Eyes, Take Warning: Negative Number 4 has red outlining his eyes rather than black.
- Rousing Speech: Negative Numbuh 86 gives one to Negative Numbuh 4's troops to inspire them to stop taking his orders.
- Ship Tease:
- Numbuh 4 near-instantly figures out that Negative Numbuh 3 is an imposter by looking at her eyes. Rather tellingly, this is exactly how Numbuh 1 was able to deduce that Eizzil wasn't Lizzie. While Numbuh 4 claims that "It's called being a friend", it doesn't explain why he failed to identify Eizzil and Negative Numbuh 1 this way right away.
- In the end, Numbuh 3 tells Numbuh 4 she's proud of him for learning to swim and hugs him, to which he smiles and hugs her back. They take a moment to laugh together before jumping through the portal to go back home.
- Sdrawkcab Name:
- Eizzil.
- Even the acronyms for the evil Kids Next Door and good Delightful Children From Down The Lane have their acronyms backward as the Destructively Nefarious Kids and the Little Traitor Dudes For Children's Defense respectively.
- The Stinger: Numbuh 4 having a pool party on his own terms: by having said-pool filled with sand so he can be buried in it up to his neck.
- Smart Ball: Numbuh 4 has this moment when confronting his Negative self:
- Spot the Impostor: Pulled off twice: Numbuh 1 was able to determine Eizzil wasn't Lizzie when he followed them into the Negaverse, then when Numbuh 4 meets up with the negative counterparts of Numbuhs 2, 3 and 5, he determined just that with Negative Numbuh 3.
- Status Quo Is God: Played with. Numbuh 4 has learned to swim by going through the portal, and Numbuh 3 even lauds him for this. However, just because he can swim doesn't mean he wants to. All the same, he prefers to transfer the swimming pool into a sandpit pool.
- Surfer Dude: The Little Traitor Dudes For Children's Defense are dressed in swimwear and have Californian accents.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After spending the whole episode and presumably much of his reign sending everyone who displeases him to the Brocolli Mines, Negative Numbuh 4 is forced to work them after the rest of his troops abandon him.
- Toilet Humor: When the pool bubbles around Numbuh 2, 3 and 5 think he farted in it.
- Too Dumb to Live: Numbuh 4 sees "Lizzie" and "Numbuh 1" acting suspicious. His thought process? "2 + 2 = Pizza".Numbuh 4: Makes sense to me!
- Traitor Shot: Negative Numbuh 1 reveals his true identity when coming out of the pool when he shows off his tooth gap.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Numbuh 4 has to deal with learning to swim in order to use the Portal Pool.
- Would Hit a Girl: Well, he would if they're an impostor from the DNK masquerading as his real friends. Numbuh Four punches Negative Numbuh Three right in the face with no hesitation.
