Line #20 TearJerker/CodenameKidsNextDoor


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stay_young_codename_kids_next_door_18179248_500_341.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Just so you know, this is the series finale.]]
3	''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' may be a kid's show, but it can still be sad!
4
5	** ''TearJerker/OperationZero''
6
7	'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
8	----
9	* "Operation: O.O.M.P.P.A.H" Numbuh 1's father takes him on a fishing trip to bond. After a day of boredom and annoyance, Numbuh 1 snaps at his father and the camera pans up show his face (notable, as prior to this, it had been [[TheFaceless obscured]], so showing it swiftly shifts the mood) and he just looks heartbroken.
10	-->'''Monty Uno:''' I'm sorry, Nigel. I just wanted to be your friend.
11	** Then there's Nigel's reaction to his father's response. You can tell that he realized how horrible and ungrateful he must have sounded. It gets even worse when his father is kidnapped and he never got a chance to apologize. Just imagine the guilt he was feeling.
12	* "Operation G.H.O.S.T." opens with the funeral of Chubbo, one of the KND's hamsters. Numbuh 3 is so heartbroken, and anyone who's lost a pet can relate.
13	--> "Goodbye, Chubbo. I love you."
14	* "Operation S.P.A.C.E", Mushi delivers a rather heartwarming speech about her sister when seeing Numbuh 5 and Cree fighting. Both look at each other for a moment.
15	-->'''Numbuh 5:''' W-What happened to us, Cree?\
16	'''Cree:''' I-I-I... I-I don't know. I got older... Things change...\
17	'''Numbuh 5:''' You know, when you were in the Kids Next Door, I wanted to be just like you. You were the best, and I was ''so proud'' to be your sister.
18	** Granted Numbuh 5 was just tricking Cree and Mushi did it on purpose, but it still hits home to anyone who feels strained from their siblings despite having been close when they were kids.
19	** Somehow, Cree's insistence that she was going to do the same and Abigail was just faster sounds as if it's a lie and she was being ''sincere'' when lamenting that she isn't close to her sister anymore.
20	* Surprisingly, "Operation: A.F.L.O.A.T." manages to become a tad upsetting as it takes a turn towards ''Film/{{Jaws}}''-level territory as Sector V winds up being picked off one by one (except Number 4, who drowned in the asparagus sea), with it being played as seriously as possible given that the Jaws equivalent is a great white asparagus monster. And this is despite Stickybeard saving the day in the end.
21	* "Operation: F.O.U.N.T.A.I.N.". It's pretty sad when they begin to contemplate what will happen to Leona when 300 years of suppressed aging will catch up to her. Even after they save her, and she double crosses them, and they save her again, as 1-4 year olds. Waving goodbye to her fountain, watching it crumble to the ground. Her finding a different one and laughing made up for it, a little.
22	-->'''Baby!Numbah Four:''' I thought we came here to save Weona.
23	-->'''Baby!Numbah Five:''' Change of plans! She's an adult ''and'' a jerk!
24	** Also that near the end it seemed Leona was going to pass away from old age.
25	** The earlier scene: Throughout the episode, Numbuh Four showed frustration over trying to help Leona from the Delightful Children since they don't know her at all. Numbuh Five, sick of Numbuh Four's attitude, tells him in a ''rare'' sense of fury and anger, that the last time she didn't help a kid from the Delightful Children, they did [[NoodleIncident something to him]] [[ThisIsUnforgivable that she could never forgive]], which [[MyGreatestFailure lead to her stepping down as Sector V's leader]]. When Numbuh Four asks what the Delightful Children did that was so bad, Numbuh One quietly says, [[WhamLine "They made me bald."]]
26	* "Operation: S.L.U.M.B.E.R.", where Numbuh 86 has to invent a super-secret, girls-only mission to get people to come to her slumber party.
27	-->'''Numbuh 86:''' I know it's unusual, but my mom is forcing me to throw a slumber party and... I had to invite someone.\
28	'''Numbuh Three:''' Why didn't you invite some of your own friends?\
29	''(Numbuh 86 hangs her head)''\
30	'''Numbuh Three:''' Oh.
31	** It makes the moment at the end, where Numbuh Three insists that she's 86's friend, all the more heartwarming.
32	** This episode is rather hard on Numbuh 86. She always puts up a rude and aggressive front, but with TheReveal that she's secretly lonely and wishes she had friends (but doesn't know how to make them), [[SourOutsideSadInside that has to hurt.]] She's genuinely heartbroken when Numbuh 12, who she thought was her friend, betrays her and the KND. When Numbuh 3 tries to reassure her by saying "We're your friends!" everyone else present [[TheFriendNobodyLikes just whistles, coughs, or looks away,]] even Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 23, who had enjoyed her company at the slumber party. To really rub it in, the episode ends with everyone but Numbuh 3 laughing at her EmbarrassingFirstName--it's more depressing than funny.
33	* Operation K.A.S.T.L.E.: King Sandy torturing Rainbow Monkeys...and giving Numbuh 3 a ScarpiaUltimatum where he'll dip Rainbow Monkeys in nacho sauce if she doesn't agree to marry him.
34	* A milder case, Operation C.L.U.E.S. has Mr. Sanban [[OcularGushers beginning to cry]] because he just wants his kids to get along.
35	--> '''Mr. Sanban:''' I just wanted my babies to be nice to each other! Is that so bad?! Is that so... ''wrong?!'' InelegantBlubbering
36	* "Operation: M.A.T.A.D.O.R.": Numbuh Four is having fun in his time as a "bully fighter", playing matador to caffeinated adults who act like bulls. The heavy stuff comes when at the championship, his next adult to fight is his father (whose face is shown for the first time).
37	-->'''Numbuh Four:''' Alright, you caffeinated creep, let’s get this show on the… (''gasps when he sees who it is'') ''DAD?!'' (''tears up'') Dad… how could they do this to you?!
38	** Also, when he learns the dark side to the fights: adults are lured, captured and thrown into pens and [[ForceFeeding force-fed enough caffeine to make them confused, angry and crazy enough to charge at anything, even their own kids]]. Numbuh Four's Dad got roped into the whole mess because he believed he was going to a seminar... on ''being a better dad''. OUCH.
39	* Vin Moosk's HeroicSacrifice at the end of "Operation: K.N.O.T.":
40	-->'''Numbuh Two:''' Who was that guy?\
41	'''Numbuh One:''' ...A comrade.
42	* In Operation S.N.O.W.I.N.G, Numbuh 1 ends up sick when it happens to be a snow day. The first time he’s seen in the episode is him sadly looking out the window and whining about how unfair it is. The fact he sounds close to crying just makes it all the more upsetting.
43	** Later on in the same episode, President Jimmy reveals to [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling his secretary]] Anna that Lizzie is his "true beloved." Up until that point, it was clear that she thought her romantic feelings for him were reciprocated, and her devastated expression as he [[ObliviousToLove unknowingly shatters her dreams]] is heartbreaking. At least they do get together by the end.
44	* In earlier episodes, the whole process of [[LaserGuidedAmnesia decommissioning]] is glossed over. Then in the opening of "Operation: M.A.U.R.I.C.E.", we're introduced to an operative, Numbuh Nine, who's a good friend of Sector V. It's his thirteenth birthday and he's willingly going to be decommissioned. The combination of his speech, his screams while getting his memories wiped and walking out as a sullen teenager with no memories is pretty damn depressing even if it was all an act. And the Crowning Music of Sadness makes things even ''more'' emotional.
45	-->'''Maurice:''' So let me just thank each and every one of you... for the best years of my life!
46	** Decommissioning itself is a gloomy process. Imagine losing most of your memories from your childhood. Imagine forgetting your crushes and your best friends, and acting like they never existed.
47	** It's also rather sad to see a flashback of Cree working with the Kids Next Door and seeing what a loyal member she was, before she became a teenager.
48	** Numbuh Five's BigShutUp to Numbuh Three when the latter bugs the former about what she wants for her upcoming birthday, the boys are stunned at what she said and Numbuh Three is on the verge of tears--Numbuh Five ''does'' immediately regret it as she realizes how hurtful that was and apologizes to her.
49	** Numbuh Five's GrowingUpSucks speech from that episode.
50	---> '''Numbuh Five:''' [[HeroicBSOD I give up]].
51	---> '''Cree:''' Say ''again''?
52	--->'''Numbuh Five:''' ''I give up!'' I mean what's the point? My sister's a teen! The greatest Kids Next Door operative I ever knew is a teen! And I'll be a teen soon enough. I mean just look at me, I'm practically a teen now! ''(voice breaking)'' I can't keep fighting it. I just... I give up.
53	* Numbuh 362 explaining to Numbuh 1 why she wants to give up being Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door. As she puts it, all she gets to do is file paperwork and keep millions of kids under control while said kids get to go on super fun missions and hang out in giant treehouses.
54	** [[Main/FridgeHorror Fridge Horror]] also sets in when you realise what Rachel had mentioned might have been implied to be one of the catalysts for Chad's/Numbuh 274's supposed FaceHeelTurn.
55	** Later in the episode, after Father is tagged, Numbuh 1 comes to talk to Numbuh 362 again, who has been crying over what she indirectly caused.
56	* Anyone else feel bad for the Chief Safety Bot in Operation S.A.F.E.T.Y.? WellIntentionedExtremist, yes, but it only wanted to make a world safe for kids. When it realized it had in fact hurt a child (thus paradoxically violating its programming), it realized that, since it was in fact a threat, it must neutralize itself. [[VillainsDyingGrace After spiraling out of control, it pauses and says only "please get home safely" before it wraps everyone in bubble wrap and proceeds to blow up the space station, destroying itself and sending everyone back to earth unharmed.]]
57	** Right before that, we have Numbuh 4 freaking out and crying upon seeing his baby brother Joey injured. Joey actually faked it using ketchup, but it can still strike a chord for some.
58	* Lizzie's breakup with Nigel is unexpectedly serious. She recognizes that Nigel's duty to the Kids Next Door will never give her the boyfriend she wants and decides that breaking it off would be for the best. Might not drive someone to tears but it is a well-handled moment of drama that can inspire some empathy from the viewer. Worse, knowing what we know later about Lizzie, the whole thing might be a cruel charade.
59	** And at the very end, Numbuh 362 attempts to comfort Nigel by subtly asking him out, but he turns her down. Rachel is understanding, but you can clearly see the sadness and disappointment on her face as she leaves.
60	* In Operation C.A.R.A.M.E.L, we learn why Heinrich holds ill will towards Numbuh 5. 5 years, 5 months, and 5 days earlier an incident happened that gave Heinrich delicious caramel unknowingly at the cost of what he valued most. Turns out he used to be a female and she had lost what she had valued most, her beauty. Assuming Heinrich is 10 like Numbuh 5, this means Heinrich lost what he had valued most when he was only 4 or 5. At such a young age losing something that important to you would do severe psychological damage.
61	* "Operation: T.R.E.A.T.Y." has Chad and Nigel's mentor and pupil relationship. After seeing the sweet flashback at the beginning, seeing Nigel's forlorn expression as he remembers their friendship, and how the two attempt to kill each other in the second half of the episode, makes one want to weep for their deteriorated relationship.
62	** For the entire episode, the two are at each other's throats. While Chad's reason for his belligerence isn't exactly clear until the finale, Nigel's reason is obvious: he wants to understand why one of his closest friends, a boy who had been mentor and ally to him, betrayed him and the KND -- a question Chad ''refuses'' to answer until his life is literally hanging in the balance. What doesn't help is that it seems Chad didn't care about all the people he hurt with his actions. Even learning the truth changes nothing in the end. While Chad wasn't a traitor, all of his genuine negative qualities have eroded whatever was left of Nigel's ideal image of him (especially since said qualities were the reason he (Chad) tried to ''kill'' him), and their relationship truly is unsalvageable. Nigel can only lament that he’ll never see him again.
63	** As Chad admits to being a FakeDefector and reveals what he had been doing while pretending to be a villain, he bitterly states that, in spite of learning his "betrayal" back in "Operation E.N.D." and wondering why he would turn on the KND, Nigel never once realized he had been faking it by helping him and Sector V in the sidelines, a revelation that briefly makes Nigel perplexed and unable to dispute. While Chad saying that is more due to jealously over Nigel being chosen over him as the Earth representative of the Galactic Kids Next Door, he's also angry that Nigel automatically accepted him as a traitor without ever giving him the benefit of the doubt despite the close friendship they had and admiration Nigel had for him.
64	* The supposed death of the Delightful Children From Down The Lane in "Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." is still quite tragic especially when you remember that they were once KND operatives of Sector Z operatives who were permanently brainwashed. The worst part is that they’re ''completely conscious'' in their Delightfulized state. There was no helping them, and putting them out of their misery was the only mercy that can be afforded to them. If they did die, at least the kids of Sector Z are finally free of their suffering.
65	* Then there’s the ending of "Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." Adding extra weight to it? It's the audience's goodbye as well. It's been a great six season run, and seeing it come to an end is just heartbreaking.
66	-->'''Numbuh One:''' Just promise me one thing -- that you'll never grow up! Even if you're a hundred-years-old and don't remember a thing about our times together, you'll still be a kid at heart, okay?
67	** The [[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/18100000/Stay-Young-codename-kids-next-door-18179248-2334-1594.jpg last image]] from the series is enough to make anyone bawl.
68	** In a blog post, Tom Warburton describes how he eventually came to write the farewells scene, and basically wrote himself to tears, saying goodbye to the Kids Next Door like they were his own children.
69	*** The farewell between Nigel and Abby deserves special mention.
70	---->'''Numbuh 5:''' Look at you. Best operative on the planet. And to think I had to convince you not to quit this morning.\
71	'''Numbuh 1:''' If wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in the Kids Next Door in the first place.\
72	'''Numbuh 5:''' Oh please, they would've found you eventually. I mean, these guys did... (''gives him a serious look'') Look, are you ''sure'' you wanna do this? You don't ''have'' to go!\
73	'''Numbuh 1:''' You know I can't pass this up, Abby. You're only a kid once, right? (''takes off his sunglasses and holds them out to her'') So this means ''you're'' in charge of Sector V again.\
74	'''Numbuh 5:''' (''backing away nervously'') No no no, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!\
75	'''Numbuh 1:''' (''walking towards her'') I'm not giving you a choice this time. Who else is gonna take care of the guys?
76	---->'''Numbuh 5:''' But...\
77	'''Numbuh 1:''' Abby, we both know [[OnlySaneMan you're the only one on this team with any real common sense]]. While I'm screaming that we're being invaded by tiny kid-eating leeches falling from the sky, you're the one telling me it's only snowing. You were a way better leader than I ever was. (''places the sunglasses in her hands'') So ''lead'' Sector V.\
78	'''Numbuh 5:''' (''tears up'') But… it won't ''be'' Sector V... without ''you''.\
79	'''Numbuh 1:''' (''also tearing up'') It was before, and it will be after.
80	* The ''Galactic: Kids Next Door'' teaser is full of this and NightmareFuel: Numbuh 1 is about to unleash ''something'' on Earth, which he says is infested with adults while Chad pleads with him not to, protesting that their families and friends are down there.
81	** Nigel is willing to put everyone he loves, including Sector V, in massive danger if it means getting rid of the virus that is adults. The fact that Chad of all people is pleading with Nigel not to do it says so much. We have watched one of our childhood heroes fall. Think about how Nigel's parents will feel if they ever get recommissioned. Think about how heartbroken the rest of Sector V is going to feel.
82	** After the arguments between the various aliens is silenced by whomever is in charge, they say it’s his decision to make, one that is not to be made lightly. After a moment of hesitation, he makes a salute while stoically shedding a single tear and proceeding to activate the device.
83	** The only thing that makes Nigel pause and hesitate in the GKND teaser is Chad telling him that Abby would ''never'' let him do what he’s doing. Nigel looks like he’s [[HopeSpot going to change his mind for a split second,]] before the aliens in the GKND [[IgnoredEpiphany come in and ruin everything.]] The fact that he didn't even pause when Chad first mentioned Sector V's names says that he’s already resigned to what’s going to happen to them if he makes this choice.
84	** At the end, the watcher hears this from Abby; “Nigel Uno... ''what have you done''?”. It’s clear that she’s heartbroken. And we haven't even seen the reactions of Wally, Kuki, or Hoagie yet.

Context TearJerker / CodenameKidsNextDoor