Recap / Kim Possible S 1 E 17 The Twin Factor

Dr. Drakken and Shego steal something from a lab, a device which Drakken ominously remarks will get him the "obedience" he wants. Meanwhile, Kim's twin brothers Jim and Tim have been increasingly annoying towards her, posting an embarrassing picture of her all over Middleton. When she's called on to investigate Drakken's theft, Kim learns her parents are leaving for a marriage retreat/fishing trip and she must watch the boys; she resolves the problem by bringing them along on the mission.

It turns out that the stolen device is Dr. Cyrus Bortle's latest invention — the "neuro compliance chip" which is capable of "total mind control". A cutaway reveals that Drakken has already used the chip on Shego, replacing her usual insolence with cheery subservience. After scanning Bortle's lab and finding a leaf from a plant in Peru, Kim and co. head there, and she leaves Ron to watch the Tweebs while she deals with Drakken in his new waterfall-based lair. However, Drakken manages to surprise Kim as she approaches his lair, tagging her with another chip.

Learning their sister is now under Drakken's control, the Tweebs let Ron be captured and follow him back to the villain's lair. Using their silicon phase disruptor which they'd been working on throughout the episode, the twins disable the chips, causing an angry Shego to chase her boss out of the lair. Kim comes to appreciate her brothers' help. Back in Middleton, the Possibles return with their marriage stronger than ever (and a whole mess of trout) and find the boys sleeping peacefully on the couch... due to Kim having used the chips on them.

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This episode provides examples of:

• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Bortle gives Jim one when the boys talk about building a silicon phase disruptor, since he doesn't take them seriously when they claim to have built a smaller, portable version.
• And I Must Scream: Once Shego is freed of the mind control chip, she harshly criticizes one little flaw, especially when he used it on her all episode:
  Shego: Okay, doc, for future reference. The chip made me obey every command, but I was aware of exactly what was happening!
  Drakken: (timidly) The whole time?
  Shego: DODGEBALL AND DODOS?!
  Drakken: Uh-oh. (Starts running)
  Shego: (Gives chase) DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT LISTENING TO YOU IS LIKE?! IT IS SO BORING!
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Jim and Tim, to Kim. They pull stunts like disconnecting a vital hose during a plane flight to find out what it did, nearly causing a crash. On the other hand, they ultimately save the day by shorting out the mind control chips.
• Aside Glance: Drakken appears to give one when he says, "Oh, I'm acting silly."
• The Bore: When Shego is released from the mind control chip, she rages at Drakken for forcing her to listen to his long-winded stories, apparently more angry about being bored silly than about the mind control per se.
• Cain and Abel: Implied when Kim's ride-of-the-day discusses his twin brother.
  Mr. Geminini: He'll get out in five years with good behavior.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Ron doesn't understand the proper meaning of "business".
    Ron: "Business?" Like what, banking?
    Kim: Ron, "business"; as in there won't be any (air quotes) rest stops.
    Ron: Kim, the boys are ten, they don't need to take a nap. I don't think rest will be an issue. (Rufus whispers in his ear) Oh, right. Uh, be right back. (sprints back into the house)
  • When the mind-controlled Kim states that "Dr. Drakken has ordered the capture of Ron Stoppable", Ron's just happy that for once Drakken actually managed to remember his name.
  • Drakken meets the Tweebs and immediately jumps to the conclusion… “Clones!”
• Creepy Monotone: A variation — Kim and Shego talk in oddly chipper tones while under mind control.
• A Day in the Limelight: This is the first episode to really focus on Kim's brothers, and introduces their signature "Hick-a-bick-a-boo?" "hoo-sha" Character Catchphrase.
• Description Cut:
  Ron: At least they don't speak their own weirdo language.
  (cut to the Tweebs in their room)
  Jim: Hick-a-bick-a-boo?
  Tim: Hoo-sha.
  • After learning about the chips:
  Kim: Yet another Take Over the World thing.
  Ron: That, or he's going to force people to listen to stories about his twisted childhood.
  (Cut to Drakken's lair — Shego is wearing a mind control chip and listening to Drakken.)
  Drakken: Then, in fourth grade, I developed a ray that controlled rubber products.
• Evil Costume Switch: After being mind-controlled, Kim dresses in a copy of Shego's supervillain outfit. The oddity is mentioned but never explained.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: The Tweebs do this, prompting Ron to comment it's freaking him out.
• Foreshadowing/Call-Back: At one point, Ron argues with Kim while the Tweebs watch TV; if you look at the right moment, the TV is playing an ad for Pop Pop Porter's corn dogs (as featured in "All the News" and "Animal Attraction").
• Got Volunteered: Played with — when Kim heads for Drakken's lair and tells Ron to watch the Tweebs, he complains that he got the more dangerous of the two jobs.
• GPS Evidence: A bit of leaf from Bortle's lab pins down the location of Drakken's lair to a particular Peruvian waterfall.
• Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: The silicon phrase disruptor doesn't work when it's completed at the end of the episode. Ron suggests it's because the power cell was put in backwards. He's right.
• Happiness in Slavery: The neuro compliance chips cause those affected to speak in a chipper, happy voice, although it's unknown if that's a normal side-effect, or Drakken programmed it that way.
• Heroic Willpower: A closer look at Kim's deliberate movements and facial expression when she's spun on Ron's back and kicks Shego implies that she briefly broke free of the mind control when Ron was in danger.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • When Kim finds out about the mind control chips, she describes the idea as "ferociously unethical". At the end of the episode, she's using them on the Tweebs to get them to go to sleep.
  • Kim’s annoyance towards her 10-year-old brothers becomes this when her parents reveal Kim was as bad, if not worse, when she was 10. Apparently, no babysitter wanted to deal with her.
• Mind-Control Device: The neuro compliance chip.
• Midair Repair: During the flight to Drakken's lair, Kim reconnects a fluid hose that Jim and Tim disconnected to see what it was.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • After the group find Drakken's lair, Kim heads off by herself to stop him. However, when she comes back...
    Ron: Kim? Why are you dressed like Shego?
    Kim: (cheerily monotone) That is not important.
    Ron: Ooookay, then where's the chip?
    Jim/Tim: On her forehead!
    (Kim comes into the sunlight and they see that she's being mind controlled)
    Ron, Jim & Tim: GAH!
    Kim: Dr. Drakken will see you now.
  • Drakken has one when he meets the Tweebs for the first time and thinks they are clones.
• Snipe Hunt: At one point, Drakken amuses himself by telling Shego to go find a dodo bird. This almost bites him in the butt when he doesn't notice Kim approaching the lair until she's almost there:
  Drakken: Kim Possible! How did she get so close? Why didn't you tell me?
  Shego: I was looking for a dodo bird.
• The Punishment Is the Crime: After the mind control chips are fried, Kim decides not to bother capturing Drakken, since he'll be punished "ten times worse" when Shego catches up to him.
• This Banana is Armed: When the Tweebs announce that they have a silicon phase disruptor, Drakken seems nervous for a moment before figuring that the boys are just bluffing—Drakken assumes that a real silicon phase disrupter would have to be the size of a refrigerator (like the one seen earlier in Dr. Bortle's lab). However, Kim's brothers were able to build a smaller version of it (one that can fit in someone's hand so that it's easier to carry around), which they use to remotely fry the mind control chips.
• With My Hands Tied: Ron managed to briefly evade Kim and Shego with his hands tied, then maneuvers so that one of Shego's attacks takes off the ropes.
• You and What Army?: Drakken's reaction to one of the Tweebs. When the other promptly attacks, he thinks they're a Clone Army.