Recap / Codename: Kids Next Door S 5 E 13 "Operation: I.T."

"Tag! You're it!"

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Indecisive
Time

In the KND, in order to choose someone to be Soopreme Leaduh who isn't turning 13, there is a large scale game of tag. Whoever's "IT" is the next Soopreme Leaduh, so Numbuh 362 sets up the game after she decides to resign after being tired of the job. But when Numbuh 2 accidentally tags Father, he becomes Soopreme Leaduh. Now, it's up to Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362 to stop him before he wipes out the entire KND.

Tropes that appear in this episode:

• 0% Approval Rating:
  • For obvious reasons, nobody is very happy when Father becomes "it."
  • Only slightly behind him is Numbuh 13, given he's an utter fuckup. Several agents dogpile him when he becomes "it" just to be sure he isn't put in charge of the KND.
• Artistic License – Geography: Several operatives manage to travel to various countries to avoid being "it", all within the span of a few hours^note  The game begins at roughly 5:00 AM and goes until noon.
• Asleep for Days: Eating all that broccoli knocks Rachel out for a week.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • Numbuh 1 points out that Numbuh 362 volunteered for the job, after Chad betrayed the KND.
  • One of the things that Numbuh 362 says she hates about the big job is how she never gets to go on missions anymore. In the end, only she and Nigel are in a position to take down Father, and she admits she is way out of practice when it comes to field work.
  • Numbuh 1 briefly discusses this when first talking to Rachel about the big job. He says he always thought he'd want to be in charge of the whole organization someday, but hearing her talk about the difficulties has made him aware of his own limits and not want it anymore than anyone else does. He makes sure to tag someone else and avoids the rest of the game.
• Bookends: The episode begins and ends with Numbuh 362 being hit with a frisbee.
• Call-Back:
  • To the Season 3 Finale. Tommy's induction of Father and the DCFDTL into the KND was what allowed him to stop their plan of turning all KND operatives into animals; unfortunately, it's also the reason why both are eligible for being Soopreme Leaduh. Naturally, everyone is glaring at Numbuh 2 for his brother's mistake.
  • To Operation E.N.D., Numbuh 86 instantly summons her D.O.H.D.O.H. squadron to decommission Father who's way too old to be a KND operative.
  • The Delightful Children operate the Really Really Incredibly Destructive Machine and use it to apprehend Numbuhs 1 and 362.
  • In The Stinger, Numbuh 4 has his old man beard while still hiding under the box.
• The Chains of Commanding: Why Rachel gave up the job — she basically has to play adult to thousands of kids and got sick of it. It's not even a secret that the job is terrible, as virtually everybody tries as hard as they possibly can to avoid being 'it'.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Numbuh 362/Rachel McKenzie.
• Dog Pile of Doom: After Numbuh 13 is made "it" and proclaims his elation at being the next Soopreme Leaduh, swathes of other operatives in the vicinity throw themselves at him just to make sure that doesn't happen.
• Enemy Mine: During the second game of tag, the Delightful Children end up helping Numbuhs 1 and 362 learn Father's hiding spot. Even goodie goodie brats like them hate broccoli.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even the Delightful Children from Down the Lane despise broccoli, and whatever Grandfather did to Father to make him eat it as a child has left him with a crippling phobia that still plagues him into his adulthood.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Nobody wants to be Soopreme Leaduh — except for Numbuh 13, at which point loads of operatives are perfectly willing to be "it" as long as he isn't.
  Random KND Operative: Anyone but him!
  • Part of the way that Father gets the KND on his side involves sympathizing with them about how awful broccoli is.
• Exact Words: During his speech, Father promised to give the Kids Next Door what's good for them. And to the wicked man, that "good" comes in the form of a toxic green vegetable.
• Facepalm: Father is tricked into tagging Rachel, but she immediately freaks and tags the Delightful Children, who in turn tag Father because they don't want the job any more than anyone else does. Numbuh 1 can only do this in response to what he just saw.
• Fight Off the Kryptonite: Rachel was able to eat her way through an entire wall of broccoli and was still standing strong enough to threaten to force feed some to Father.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When trying to encourage Numbuh 362, Numbuh 1 mentions that thanks to her, there's been a 60% reduction in the world's broccoli supply. Guess what Father's plan is?
  • Father's phobia of broccoli was apparently the result of a traumatic experience caused by his own father trying forcefeed it to him. As bad a rap this vegetable gets in this series, Father is the one who reacts the worst to it — making a person wonder what his father did to him to make him eat it, or rather: what kind of a man was his father to be willing to traumatize him to make him eat it? We find out in Operation: Z.E.R.O..
• Godzilla Threshold: The only way to get to Father and save the KND is for Numbuh 362 to eat her way through a wall of broccoli.
• Got Volunteered: Revealed how being Soopreme Leaduh works. The job is so awful and headache inducing that no one in the KND (except Numbuh 13) wants the job. Even Numbuh 86, who gives out orders like candy, completely breaks down in panic when she's the first one to be it. That being said, it's said that there have been operatives that volunteer for the job, as Numbuh 1 says that Numbuh 362 wanted the job following Chad's defection.
• Heroic RRoD: Rachel passes out almost as soon as she gets her title back from having to eat her way through a wall of broccoli. According to Nigel, she was out for a full week.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Father tags Rachel just to emphasize how in control he is but doing so starts a new game of tag that ultimately leads to her retaking the Soopreme Leaduh title.
• Honor Before Reason: Father makes a new rule that forbids Numbuh 86 from decommissioning him since the KND are dedicated to adhering to their rules. When Numbuh 86 tries to defy and decommission him anyway, Numbuh 362 forces her to stand down in order to respect the rules, though 362 states that a true leader would not forgo tradition.
• Kids Hate Vegetables: Especially broccoli. Simply being near the stuff causes kids to become weak and barely able to move. Father freely admits that adults hate broccoli, too, and simply tell kids to eat it so that they don't have to. He himself turns out to have a massive broccoli-related trauma, as his own father literally forced him to eat it.
• Loophole Abuse: Since only the sitting Soopreme Leaduh can declare a game of tag, Numbuhs 1 and 362 try to trick Father into saying the magic word in other ways (such as asking about a clothing tag or asking what a name tag is called). Father does get tricked into starting a new game when the Delightful Children ask him to describe how he pulled this off, only to get tagged back almost immediately. Nevertheless, Numbuh 1 points out the game is on and that they have time to make him tag someone else.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!":
  • The entire KND go running for the hills as soon as the game begins, when 362 tags 86.
  • As soon as Numbuh 13 gets tagged, everyone in the vicinity immediately dogpiled him since they're afraid of having him become Soopreme Leader.
  • Various operatives the second that broccoli starts growing in their treehouses.
• Mirthless Laughter: The Delightful Children in response to Father's real broccoli plan, being an early indication that even they hate the stuff.
• Mundane Made Awesome: The event to decide the new Soopreme Leader is a no-holds-barred game of tag.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Numbuh 362 has refused to go back to her old sector's treehouse, feeling she can't face her old teammates or anyone else for declaring the game of tag that led to Father taking over the KND.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • At the last minute of the game, Numbuh 2 runs into a room and tags someone without checking to see who it is, letting Father take over.
  • Tommy's actions against Father from "Operation G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S." become this, since although he managed to turn the tables on Father in that episode by putting his booger into the Code Module to turn him into an animal, he still technically made Father an operative for the Kids Next Door and therefore eligible to become Soopreme Leaduh. This is emphasized when the footage recapping and explaining this event shows "Dummy Head!" over Tommy.
  • When Father tags Numbuh 362, she freaks out due to not wanting to lead the KND anymore and tags the DCFDTL, who also freak out and tag Father back, meaning he'll still be leader unless they force him to tag them again before noon.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Delightful Children egging Father on to start Evil Gloating and Father agreeing to do so is what leads to Numbuh 362 reclaiming her title as Supreme Leader.
• Noodle Incident: According to Numbuh 362, Knightbrace is up to something in Poughkeepsie.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: All members of Sector V individually became It over the course of the episode. However, only Numbuhs 4 and 2 were seen getting tagged (near the beginning and then at the end of the first game, respectively). It was never revealed how other KND agents got the drop on Numbuhs 1, 3 and 5.
• Only One Finds It Fun: While everyone dreads the position of Soopreme Leader of the KND, Numbuh 13 actually seems to want it. Though the other KND operatives dread that even more.
• Plot Hole: In the credits, Numbuh 4 is still hiding in a box believing that the game of tag is still going on. Yet he appears in the second act fully aware that the game was over. Though it might be the second game of tag instigated by Father that did this.
• Rage Breaking Point: Amid all the stress of a routine day, it's getting hit in the head with a frisbee after explicitly saying to play somewhere else that causes Numbuh 362 to snap and decide to declare a game of tag.
• Reluctant Ruler: Numbuh 362, who wants to step down as leader and let someone else take the baton.
• Rightful Queen Returns: Numbuh 362 decides to return to her role as Soopreme Leaduh at the end of the episode, much to everyone's joy.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Since he's Soopreme Leaduh, Father is able to stop Numbuh 86 from decommissioning him by instituting a rule that you can't decommission the Soopreme Leaduh, though it is said that even Supreme Leaders are not exempt from the age limit of 13 to be in the KND. Note that Numbuh 86 didn't care and was going to do it anyway until Numbuh 362 forced her to step down.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The second that Numbuh 86 is tagged, literally every single kid in the stands clears out.
• Sealed Good in a Can: After telling the various operatives to go back to their treehouses for a good night's sleep, Father explains his real plan to the Delightful Children. He uploads a virus into the treehouse root system that will cause massive quantities of broccoli to grow inside every single treehouse across the planet, effectively sealing off all the doors and windows. The only way out is to chow down, which he knows none of the kids would want to do. Numbuhs 1 and 362 only narrowly escape this fate.
• Ship Tease: Rachel and Nigel. He is the one to talk about why she wanted to give up her job as Soopreme Leaduh, and both address each other by their real name, indicating strong familiarity. The last act even has them act like a Battle Couple as they take down Father's clones. It was this episode that really got the following for this ship going, and it would eventually eclipse Nigel's other major ship following with Numbuh 5/Abigail Lincoln.
• Something We Forgot: Numbuh 4 hiding in a cardboard box for the duration of the game(s). Sector V actually left him there on purpose for weeks just for laughs, except for Numbuh 1, who told them to bring him in already.
• Supporting Protagonist: Numbuh 1's role in the episode as, while he is still actively involved in stopping Father, he's mainly there to provide backup and support towards Numbuh 362, the episode's true protagonist.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Being Soopreme Leaduh is not how it's cracked up to be. Instead of going on missions, Numbuh 362 has to do paperwork while keeping up with the demands and complaints from a planet full of kids with short attention spans. It's no wonder nobody wants the job.
  • And within that same span while almost nobody wants the Soopreme Leaduh position when Numbuh 13, the only one really excited about it is tagged as it, everyone dogpiles on him to ensure he’s not it for long. No one wants to have someone who’s not only a living Walking Disaster Area as leader but someone who’s so blindingly arrogant and stupid.
• Time Zones Do Not Exist: The game is said to end at noon, and operatives are seen getting tagged in various countries within a 7 hour period from 5:00 AM to noon.
• Troubled Fetal Position: Father, after Rachel threatens to make him eat broccoli.
• Unbroken Vigil: It's implied that Numbuh 1 stayed at the passed out Numbuh 362's side for the entire week she's out.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The operatives playing frisbee on the bridge get this ball rolling by inadvertently causing Numbuh 362 to snap. Numbuh 362 also feels this way about herself, as it was her desire to quit that ultimately led to Father taking over.
• Villainous Breakdown: Father loses all composure in the face of Rachel demanding he tag her or else she'll force feed him broccoli. He desperately pleads for her to stop and is left a whimpering mess after finally tagging her.
  Father: [in the fetal position] Daddy, don't make me eat the ugly broccoli! Please, Daddy!
• Weaksauce Weakness: Broccoli. Just being in close proximity with it renders kids completely immobile — Rachel eating an entire meal's worth left her all but comatose for a week. Ironically, it's also this for Father, as he's absolutely terrified by the thought of eating so much as one stalk of it.
• Wham Shot: At the end of the first act, Numbuh 2 rushes to tag someone who's hiding on the moonbase before the game ends. When he finally tags them, he reacts in complete shock.
  Father: Looks like I'm it.
• What You Are in the Dark: Numbuh 1 has a polite conversation with with Numbuh 362, trying to convince her to become the leader again. When it fails, she offers to shake his hand, only for him to reveal he was it all along.