After discovering the world of Actuaries, Ron becomes increasingly concerned with the probability of hazards. Meanwhile, Drakken plans to usher in a new Ice Age while at the same time, start a successful cupcake franchise with a familiar face.
This episode provides examples of:
- Admiring the Abomination: Downplayed. Kim and Wade are both aghast to learn that Drakken is the mastermind behind "Hank's Gourmet Cupcakes":Wade: What a shame.
Kim: Yeah, they are yummy. - An Aesop: Mr. Stoppable gives an important one to Ron:Mr. Stoppable: Ronald? I should have told you what you learn when you spend your whole life calculating hazards.
Ron: What?
Mr. Stoppable: Some things are worth the risk. - Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: When Hank mentions his plan to take advantage of a coming gourmet cupcake phase, Drakken was initially against it, not wanting to risk his reputation as a supervillain. He changed his mind when Hank had him try one of the cupcakes and Shego mentioned that it would good place to use the Atmos-Freezer.
- Badass Normal: Kim's obviously always been this—after Mr. Stoppable claims that Ron had made some miscalculations, and after correcting them, it turns out that Ron himself is in greater danger from missions (in fact, it's apparently a miracle that he survived past 10th-grade). Because of her extraordinary abilities, Kim (by contrast) has about as much trouble on missions as the average kid would have doing something like skateboarding to school.
- Call-Back:
- When Drakken briefly gets upset that the cupcake business he and Hank started has Hank's name instead of his, Hank explains that the focus group associated Drakken's name with shampoo, referencing the mind-control scheme from "Rappin' Drakken."
- Upon seeing Drakken's Ice Age plot, Ron comments that he already did a scheme involving weather, which happened in "Job Unfair."
- Cowardly Lion: Kim practically swoons over Ron coming to rescue her and Wade, even as he is dodging Shego's attacks and shrieking in terror, because she knows just how high a mountain of fear he had to overcome.Wade: On the upside, Ron is surviving way longer than I thought he would.
Kim: Isn't it romantic? - Crippling Overspecialization: After being restructured, the henchmen are drilled in a more corporate manner, becoming more efficient overall as they all occupied different positions in "Drakken & Co". This backfired when Drakken tries to have Kim and Wade killed by lowering them in chocolate, as the henchman operating the controls informs him that it's not in his skillset, requiring Drakken to send him to get the "Assistant Manager for Climactic Action". This delays the execution long enough for Ron to infiltrate Drakken's henchmen and trick them into quitting.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Double Subverted. Drakken's cupcake enterprise is going so well that he considers leaving evil for good (or at least leaving supervillainy and switching over to mundane corporate villainy). Unfortunately Kim shows up and foils his evil plan before he can actually abandon it, and soon after that a low-carb fad diet hits and people stop buying cupcakes, bankrupting his company too.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Ron may be obsessed with statistics to an unhealthy degree, but he is correct that his father's power strip is wired up in a very dangerous configuration.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: One of the Middleton High Reader Boards is titled "Geography Club Meeting at 98° 35' W 39° 50' N" which is the geographic center of the United States.
- Genre Savvy: In-Universe, lampshaded by Wade:Wade: Isn't this where you're supposed to say, "you'll never get away with this!"?
Kim: (nervously) Only when I'm absolutely sure he won't. - Guest-Star Party Member: Wade comes on as Ron’s replacement during his 10-Minute Retirement. He proves about as adept as Monique did during her stint back in season two.
- Guile Hero: Ron Dressing as the Enemy then using his obsession with statistics to trick Drakken's goons into quitting. It actually works.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Wade accidentally zapping Kim gets the two of them easily captured.
- Paranoia Gambit: Instead of trying to overcome Drakken's mooks with brute force, Ron disguises himself as one of them and whispers in their ear about how hazardous their jobs are, causing them all to resign and walk out of the lair before Drakken can finish Kim off.
- Puddle-Covering Chivalry: When Kim and some of the cheer squad were walking towards a puddle, Ron took off his shirt so they wouldn't slip.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once Ron reminds the Mooks exactly how dangerous their jobs are, they cash in their new retirement packages and resign mid-climax.
- Short-Distance Phone Call: Drakken and Hank have a cupcake conference call...while being only about three feet from each other, much to Shego's chagrin.Shego: Please tell me there's someone else on that conference call.
- Skewed Priorities: Shego becomes annoyed when Drakken starts focusing more on his successful cupcake franchise than his atmos-freezer plot.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Drakken's opening rant is that his henchmen were too lazy to steal the MacGuffin device.Drakken: And why not? "The door was locked." OF COURSE THE DOOR WAS LOCKED! Super-secret labs aren't known for their open door policies!
- Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to Hank's trust exercises (and his incentive plan), Drakken's henchmen become a lot more competent and effective, enough to actually give Kim some trouble.
- Trust-Building Blunder: When Drakken got involved in Hank's team-building exercises, the henchman who was supposed to catch him gets distracted when Shego yells about the Org chart.
