Ron needs an extracurricular activity for his college application, and chooses cheerleading, much to Kim's displeasure. However, she finds he's created a mascot character, the Middleton Mad Dog, and is torn between letting him try out or supporting the cheer squad, who thinks the idea is stupid. Despite a story from her dad about Drew Lipsky, an old college friend of his that dropped out after he was laughed at by the group for his robot dates idea, Kim decides to side with the squad, straining her friendship with Ron in the process.
Meanwhile, one of Mr. Possible's old friends, Dr. Bob Chen, has been mysteriously abducted. Kim is called on to help his partner, Professor Ramesh, but due to her and Ron's fight, he arrives late and she is easily overpowered by a trio of robots known as "Bebes", who abduct the professor. Finding out that Kim's dad is their next target (from a picture found at the scene), Ron disguises himself as Mr. Possible and allows himself to be captured, learning the Bebes were created by Drakken, who is in fact, the aforementioned Drew Lipsky out for revenge on his college pals.
Learning what happened from her dad, Kim and he travel to the Middleton Motor Lodge and learn the truth of Drakken's origin. Meanwhile, the Bebes, realizing Drakken isn't perfect, turn against him; Kim proves unable to defeat them until Mr. Possible has Wade send a sonic signal through the Kimmunicator, disrupting their Hive Mind and allowing Kim to destroy them and capture Drakken. Later, after Kim overhears her dad and friends acknowledging that their teasing made Drakken into what he is, she agrees to let Ron try his Mad Dog routine. During a basketball game, Ron wins over the crowd, much to Kim's surprise.
This episode provides examples of:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: After Drakken declares that the Bebes are perfect and that their purpose is to obey him, they question why they should obey him if they're perfect and he clearly isn't.
- Alas, Poor Villain: James pities Drew at the end of the episode, saying that things could have been different if his former friends hadn't laughed at him.
- Ain't No Rule: As Kim notes, there's no rule that says that Ron can't try out for cheer squad.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The Bebes manage to break their programming by asking why they continue to follow Dr. Drakken if he made them to be perfect.
- Borrowed Catchphrase:
- Dr. Possible uses Kim’s usual “Please and thank you” when asking Wade for help in the climax. A Sitch in Time reveals he was the one who taught Kim to “Always say 'please and thank you'”.
- Rufus briefly wears a Kim mask Ron made and says, “What’s the sitch?”
- Brutal Honesty: When Ron asks for feedback on his Mad Dog mascot suit, Bonnie makes it coldly clear she thinks the crowd is going to laugh at him. Not with him, at him.
- "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: When Ron mocks Drakken for not realizing the obvious connection between his old schoolmate (Mr.) Dr. Possible and his current nemesis Kim Possible, Drakken gets defensive and starts insisting that "Possible" is actually a common surname. He even goes looking for a phone book to prove his point (only to learn there's only one Possible family in Middleton), which ends up distracting him as Kim arrives.
- Comically Missing the Point: Played straight then subverted when Ron sees a photo of Mr. Possible in college with the other two scientists who've been abducted.Ron: Oh, this is terrible.
Rufus: Uh huh, uh huh, duh.
Ron: I mean, can you believe he actually wore his jacket that way, with the sleeves pushed up? Totally 80's.
Rufus: No, no, no! (points at each scientist in the photo. After a moment, Ron finally puts the pieces together)
Ron: Kim's dad could be the next target! - Didn't See That Coming: Both of Kim's parents express surprise that a guy they knew in college became a supervillain and their daughter's Arch-Enemy. Drakken's doubly surprised, despite how the last name should've been a real giveaway.
- Fake Static: After Ron gets upset over Kim blowing off his attempt to become a mascot, he does this as an excuse to not talk to her. Unfortunately, he made the sound as breaks between each word.Kim: Ron, quit being a (extremely long Fake Static) baby!
- Flawed Prototype: Drakken's original Bebes.
- Foreshadowing:
- During the sequence where the Bebes capture Dr. Possible, one may notice that his eyes aren't the usual black and are instead the same brown as Ron.
- Professor Ramesh notes that Drakken should take up cloning, which he does, albeit with not much more success.
- Friendship Moment: Overhearing James and the others talking about what prompted Drew's descent into villainy, Kim worries about repeating the same mistakes and agrees to let Ron perform his mascot routine in front of a crowd.
- Gone Horribly Right: Dr. Drakken designed the Bebes to be prefect. Unfortunately for him, they betray him because he "isn't perfect".
- Improvised Weapon: Kim fights the Bebes with a microphone stand at one point, though it doesn't do much good.
- Internal Reveal: While the audience quickly realized who Drew Lipsky was in Mr. Possible's flashback from his voice, the characters didn't make the connection until the final act.
- Ironic Echo: Ron says his life is so over after his talk in the opening scene. When he decides to join the cheer squad, it cuts to Kim at dinner and she tells her family her life is so over.
- It Will Never Catch On: Kim and Bonnie are adamant that Ron’s mascot idea is stupid. Turns out they were very wrong.
- Kidnapped Scientist: Professor Ramesh, Professor Bob Chen and almost (Mr.) Dr. Possible, thanks to Ron impersonating him.
- Killer Robot: The Bebes, natch.
- Latex Perfection: Ron gets a Movie Makeup Magic Kit that he can make perfect masks with. He uses one to impersonate Kim's dad, causing the Bebes to kidnap him instead.
- Machiavelli Was Wrong: Bonnie derisively thinks the crowd will laugh at Ron's mascot suit. On the contrary, the episode ends with the crowd loving it!
- My God, What Have I Done?: Chen and Ramesh both show looks of regret when Drakken rants about how he felt betrayed by his "posse", realizing that their youthful mocking caused their old friend Drew Lipsky to become a Mad Scientist bent on taking over the world. At the end, James admits that Drakken's story could have been different if all three of them hadn't laughed at him.
- My Greatest Failure: James, Chen and Ramesh are shown to regret their part in causing Drew's Face–Heel Turn.
- No Sympathy: According to James, the rest of the posse laughed at Drakken's robot date idea for days. Even when Drakken managed to build the Bebes to perfection to kidnap the scientists, they still mocked him when the Bebes turned against Drakken because of his own imcompetence.Chen: (seeing the Bebes turning against Drakken) It's college all over again. That man cannot build a robot!
Ramesh: He should take up cloning. - Noodle Incident: Kim apparently once stopped a high speed police chase caused by a guy with a broken brake light.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: For all his hammy antics, Drakken says he was genuinely hurt to be betrayed by his posse and that it still stings to this day. It's part of what makes the others feel regretful about the whole thing.
- Reunion Revenge: Dr. Drakken plans to avenge himself on the classmates who laughed at him in college.
- Robot Girl: Again, the Bebes.
- Shout-Out: One of the masks that Ron made is of Disney's Beast.
- Start of Darkness: Tasked with recruiting dance dates for his friends to a science department mixer, Drew Lipsky instead built primitive fembots. His friends laughed at him (Kim's dad admits that they kept it up for days), embittering him into dropping out of college and eventually becoming the evil mad scientist Dr. Drakken, determined to Take Over the World and thereby prove that he is not someone to be mocked.
- Super-Speed: The Bebes can move too quickly for the eye to see. Fortunately, they can apparently only manage short bursts before stopping.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Despite what the cheerleaders expected, the students embrace Ron's mascot idea and cheer him on.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: When Kim was fretting over Ron wanting to become a cheerleader, her mother tried to calm her by saying he'd wear a different outfit than her. However, Kim doubted that.
- With Friends Like These...: How Drakken feels about being ridiculed by his posse. The others are rather regretful to see the results of said mockery.
