Killing is easy. High school is hard.
Nick Green is a top agent for the US government - effective, clever and deadly. He’s also got a paper on Crime and Punishment due Tuesday, a biology quiz this afternoon and thirty pages on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire to read tonight…because Nick is sixteen years old. He likes school, but only when it’s over for the day. There are the girls, of course - especially Amanda, a wickedly cool rocker chick who dates Derek, the captain of school’s championship swim team. Nick wants her anyway.A Web Series Comedy that first was on Facebook and then was picked up by Crackle, having two seasons in 2011 and 2013. It starred Jackson Rathbone, Aimee Teegarden, Johnny Pemberton, Rebecca Mader, Clancy Brown, Jonathan McDaniel, and Greg Germann. Directed by Thor Freudenthal and McGee. Written by Heath Corson & Richie Keen, and produced by Heath Corson, Richie Keen, Mary Viola, Andy Shapiro, Peter Murrieta, Jackson Rathbone, Bill O’Dowd, Jim Henrie, and Philip Von Alvensleben.
The web series are six episodes and about 8 to 10 minutes long. Season 2 have 4 episodes and have a running time of 21 minutes. They can all be found on Crackle.com
Tropes in this series include:
- Anti-Hero: Nick firmly believes he is doing the right thing and the the people he kills are really bad people who do really bad things. But it had been shown that he was a cold blooded killer.
- Bullying a Dragon: One scene shows Jerk Jock Derek giving Nick a swirly. It also showed that Nick came very close to killing him with his own shoe laces. Later on in the season though, Nick reveals to Derek that he is far outmatched by subduing him before the guy could even throw a punch.
- In Season 2 however, it seemed that word got around about his fighting skills since none of the other students wants to wrestle him in gym class.
- The Cast Show Off: Aimee Teegarden got to sing on the show, and the Season 1 DVD had her music video as one of the extras.
- Child Soldier: According to Nick, the government is stretched so thin that they decided to start the Department of Education Pilot Program (DEPP) that trains teenagers to be spies. Nick was recruited back in the 7th grade.
- Failed a Spot Check: Nick didn't notice a dying target take a picture of him with a camera phone and he forgotten his damaged homework that had his name written on it when he got away from Boris. This comes to bite him when both parties finds him at his school and try to kill him in revenge.
- Fake-Out Make-Out: In the beginning of Season 2, Nick invokes the trope with Dakota to shake off a tail. It may have started Dakota's romantic feelings for him.
- Idiot Ball:
- Nick didn't make sure that his targets were killed, as a dying man takes his photo and it led a bunch of thugs to his school. Also, he didn't realize that Boris would look at his shredded homework that had his name on it.
- Also Amanda can have this. As she sees it, Nick is a liar and unreliable. So she tells him an extremely big secret concerning her sister. And then, she ostracizes him, not considering that it might not be a good idea to piss off the guy who knows a secret that wasn't yours to tell to begin with.
- It Gets Easier: Pretty much personified by Nick who by the time the series begins is already so used to killing he actually considers schoolwork to be the more difficult of the two.
- Just a Kid: Somewhat invoked by Marcus, who disapproved of Nick's killing.
- Mood Whiplash: At times it's a teen comedy, at other times a violent spy series.
- Parental Neglect: Implied. We only see Nick's parents once and they're too brain dead from a America's Top Model marathon to notice that their son had come home looking like he just been in a fight.
- Resignations Not Accepted: Nick is an One-Man Army Superspy, but his double life gets in the way of his schoolwork and love life. When he tries to leave DEPP, they send in another operative to kill and replace him.
- Shirtless Scene: In Season 2, Nick gets one. Two girls take a picture without his notice and it gained him instant popularity.
- The Reveal: Nick's narration and exposition dump to the audience is actually his his interrogation Dakota, who he defeated and has tied-up in his bedroom. In Season 2, its revealed that the head of DEPP is corrupt and is killing other agents. Also that Nick had narrated the events of Season 2 to Amanda.
- Teen Superspy: Nick and the 63 other agents of DEPP.
- Two-Teacher School: The faculty seem to have Vice Principle Ockenhocker, Mrs. Tuball, Coach Mabe, and Ms. Walker. And two of them are actually Nick's handlers.
- Underestimating Badassery: Nick uses this a lot to get an advantage over his opponents who think they're dealing with an average teenager.
