Candies
Are
Really
Altering
Many
Extraordinary
Lives
Are
Really
Altering
Many
Extraordinary
Lives
Heinrich uses a ritual involving sacred golden caramels to take away the qualities the Sector V operatives value the most. We finally learn what happened in Guatemala.
This episode contains examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Numbuh 5 tells Heinrich that she kept his last caramel so she could find a way to break the curse, he takes it from her in a blind fury, but Numbuh 5 soon tells Heinrich that he has to willingly give away his last caramel so it'll release his trapped quality, but he refuses due to his greedy, candy-hoarding nature, and demands to know:Heinrich: WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?!
Numbuh 5: Because… you’re more important to me than candy. - Beauty to Beast: For Henrietta, falling victim to the caramel curse meant losing her femininity and transforming from a beautiful girl into an ugly boy.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: The caramel curse of Guatemala does this to all its victims, capturing their best qualities in caramel and leaving opposite versions of themselves. Sector V is a prime example.
- Numbuh 1's best quality is leadership skills. Without it, he's a nervous wreck and an outright scaredy-cat.
- Numbuh 2 is known for being an intelligent inventor. Deprived of that, he's but a drooling simpleton.
- Numbuh 3 has her sweet disposition. When that's taken away, she's left as this sour, sullen goth.
- Numbuh 4 is defined by his courage and rowdiness. His opposite is a sniveling cry-baby who wears pink.
- As for Numbuh 5, she's usually cool and skillful. The curse reduces her to an uncoordinated, awkward nerd.
- Big "WHAT?!": Numbuh Four gives one at the end after Numbuh One explains that Heinrich and Henrietta are the same person.
- Chekhov's Gag: The nickname "Heiny" and Heinrich's hatred of it take on a whole new meaning since "Heiny" could also be a shortened version of "Henrietta."
- Cruel to Be Kind: Numbuh 5 never told Heinrich about the cure or that she stole the last caramel because she knew it wouldn't help him. If he found out she had the caramel, he'd have done anything to eat it, which would've made the curse permanent.
- Curse Escape Clause: The caramel curse can be broken if the victim shares a piece of their candy with someone else. Eating all the caramels themself, however, makes the curse permanent.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After five years cursed by the caramels of Guatemala, a single act of sharing has freed Henrietta, who intends to make amends for all the trouble she has caused. Best of all, she and Numbuh 5 leave on good terms, their friendship renewed after all this time.
- Easily Forgiven: Everyone to Heinrich. Kinda justified, considering how long Numbuh 5 had the secret to curing the curse and that she waited until there was absolutely no other option before revealing it. Plus there's the fact that only sector V knows who Henrietta really is, so presumably as long as they don't inform the KND where one ex-prisoner went, said prisoner can easily avoid being sent back to jail.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: When Heinrich tastes a caramel from one of the Mexican KND operatives, fire shoots out of his mouth because it's so spicy.
- Foreshadowing: A couple. First, Heinrich's caramel is obscured, and second, he describes his old self before the caramel curse as "beautiful".
- Goofy Buckteeth: Exaggerated. When Sector V gets cursed by Heinrich into giving up the quality they value most, Numbuhs 1, 4, and 5 all get large buckteeth they don't normally have when they lose their leadership, courage, and coolness respectively, making them all weak nerds.
- Idiot Ball: Knowing Heinrich and how vindictive he could be (especially regarding Guatemala), you'd think Numbuh 5 would've been on her guard even more than usual at the beginning of the episode. Instead, with very little hesitation she falls for his ruse to trick her into walking into the sugar ritual circle and gets herself cursed. We even learn later that Numbuh 5 knew the correct way to break the caramel curse all along and thus should have found Heinrich's supposed attempt to do so more than a little suspicious.
- Literal Split Personality: A variant, as, instead of forming a clone, the separated aspect gets turned into caramel.
- Meaningful Echo: Y'know how several of Heinrich's stories have him meet his downfall because he ignores Numbuh 5's advice to share his candy? Turns out that's the secret to breaking the caramel's curse.
- Proud Beauty: Henrietta, whose prized quality is femininity. While gazing at his last caramel (inside which is an image of his former self), Heinrich breaks down in tears over how beautiful he once was as a girl.
- Revenge: This episode sees Heinrich finally put into motion his ultimate scheme of vengeance against Numbuh 5.
- Second Law of Gender-Bending: Averted completely and entirely. Deconstructed if one believes that Henrietta's adoption of a male name and persona increased her psychological issues.
- Sexophone: Can be heard as the camera tilts upward for The Reveal of Henrietta (right after Numbuh 2 asks Numbuh 5 who her "fox" of a friend is).
- Shout-Out: Numbuh 5 becomes a walking Jerry Lewis impression once her coolness is taken away.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: When leaving to visit the other treehouses in the caramelization chain, Heinrich bids Sector V farewell by saying "Parting is such sweet sorrow", a line from Romeo and Juliet (with the appropriate word 'sweet' emphasized).
- Took a Level in Kindness: With a fresh new start on life, Henrietta decides to use this as an opportunity to go and make amends for the crimes she committed while she was "Heinrich".
- Trans Tribulations:: Though not by choice, it's clear that Heinrich prefers being female and turned to crime because "he" became bitter with life and sees no option to accept what was magically forced on "him".
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: All of Sector V, sans Numbuh 5, when they learn who Henrietta really is.
- Wham Episode: Heinrich is actually a girl cursed to be an ugly boy.
