Recap / Codename Kids Next Door S 4 E 7 B Operation MATADOR

Now loading Recap for Operation: M.A.T.A.D.O.R.:

Misbehaving
Agent
Teases
Adults
During
Organized
Recreation

Numbuh 4 must think of the morality of his new hobby, Bully-Fighting, a bullfighting-esque practice where adults doped up on coffee act like bulls.

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Tropes:

• Connected All Along: Implied. One can assume that Soccer Mom wouldn't have any soccer students to forcefully train and bully if their dads weren't being used in Bully Fights by Ernie.
• Dirty Coward: Ernest. Like a typical bully, he relies on threats that he can't back up: he tries to play an "or else" card on Numbuh 4, only to be reduced to stammering when his bluff is called; and when Numbuh 4 dares Ernest to deal with him personally, he sneers that he doesn't have to before siccing the audience on Wally.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Played with. While the Bully Fights are made funny with Looney Tunes antics, Sector V and Numbuh 4's differing view on Bully Fights reflects the controversy of real life bull fights.
• Everyone Has Standards: Sector V may fight adults, but that doesn't mean they purposefully force-feed them caffeine to act like angry Spanish bulls. As Numbuh 1 makes clear, there's a difference between fighting evil adults looking to harm and exploit kids and fighting innocent adults for fun. Later, Numbuh 4 reveals to have standards too when he learns one of the adults he has to bully fight is his own dad.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Using the caffeinated fathers to start a stampede, Numbuh 4 uses them against the bullies in order to not only escape, but also take out Soccer Mom.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Numbuh 4 attempts this when the latest “bull” he has to fight, his own father, charges at him. It finally takes a slap to the face to snap him out of it.
  Numbuh 4: Dad, it’s me! It’s...it’s your son, Dad!
• Implausible Deniability: When asked by Numbuh 1 his whereabouts earlier that day, Numbuh 4 replies he was nowhere important. This while still wearing his matador uniform, as Numbuh 5 points out.
• Irony: Numbuh 4's dad and the other fathers went to a fake seminar in hopes it would teach them to be better fathers. Instead, it was a trap to make them into metaphorical bulls for the bully fights, force-feeding them caffeine to the point they would blindly and mindlessly charge anyone, even the very sons and daughters they loved.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: If adults (at least men in this episode) have too much caffeine, they behave more like bulls. They'll slaver, get down on all fours and become aggressive, charging at anything that moves.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Once his dad explains the full lengths Ernie and his cronies go to obtain adults to use in the Bully Fights, Numbuh Four can only stare down in shame.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The dads in the bully fights are captured because they attended what they thought was a seminar on how to be a better dad.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Mr. Beetles for the first time in the series is fully aware of what is happening and is rightfully scared about his situation.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Adults who are hopped up on caffeine for bully fights sometimes obtain red eyes.
• The Reveal: This is the first time in the series that one of Numbuh 4's parents has their face shown clearly.
• Solid Cartoon Facial Stubble: Sydney gets this once snapping out of his caffeine rage.
• The Stinger: Numbuh 4 and his dad playing matador, having a splendid time. ...Before running for their lives from Ernest and his mob of bullies.
• Tears of Remorse: Numbuh 4 sheds these after his dad explains how he and the other fathers ended up acting as bulls in the bully fights.
• Unseen No More: This is the first time we see Sydney Beetles' face.
• Wham Shot: The Reveal of the latest caffeinated adult Numbuh 4 has to fight is this both in and out of universe; in-universe in the fact that it’s Numbuh 4’s Dad, and out of universe due to the fact that this is the first time the audience sees his face.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Numbuh 4 returns from a bully fight, Sector V makes it known how outraged and disappointed they are for his involvement in bully fights.