Codename: Kids Next Door has always subverted the establishment, and its series finale was no exception. Since winning a CN viewer's poll in 2001, KND has been flipping our world into one where kids battle evil adults, where boogers are DNA identification samples and tree houses are branch offices of a global secret organization.

When fun is literally serious business, the giggle-triggering wackiness hides some seriously meaty themes. Memory-sucking decommissioning at age thirteen adds a looming poignancy to the whole concept of growing up. Parents and siblings are variously innocent bystanders, allies, and (gasp! shock!) enemies. Sometimes they're all three at once. Concluding such a beloved series is hard enough without the twisty conspiracies. The preceding episodes manage to tidy up via the mysterious splinter cell arc, in which Numbuh One (aka Nigel Uno) is prepared for a mission so secret even he doesn't know about it. His skills tested, his personal ties cut, soon all Nigel has left is Sector V — his team and his missions. Will the finale reveal a terrible fate or a terrific finish?

Of course KND wouldn't go out in any conventional way.

The first shock of "Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S" (It's Now The Extra Really Very Interesting End Wrap-up Story) is the sight of real live adults. Suddenly adulthood isn't some cartoonish condition; it's here, and it's happened to Numbuhs Two, Three, Four, and Five. With the Cartoon Network logo clinging to the corner, the frequent inter-cuts of these re-commissioned adults is unspeakably jarring. When they begin to recount their last days with Numbuh One, even the perennial objective to win the creepy Delightful Children From Down the Lane's birthday cake is tinged with despair.

Maybe I'm just sad it's leaving. The show is mostly a madcap scavenger hunt with past characters and locations, each more gleefully bizarre than the last. Nevertheless much of it is set in a Rainbow Monkeys potty training amusement park. Yes, with ginormous flushing action. It must be a surreal reflection of Nigel's state of mind. His team's annual special mission has turned into a free-for-all, and they're being outdone at their own game by a snotty bunch of... kids.

And yet. As the hour emerges from its gentle hero cycle to tumble into a brave, bittersweet future, the overall effect is that of subversion. Father — the Delightful Children's flaming-insane, super-villainous parent — is suddenly just a cherry of terror on this ice cream sundae of suspense. (No, really. I have nightmares of Father.) After a while, my notes on the narrative and production values give way to the nagging thought that these people are messing with us.

With me. An adult.

Now that just may be really cool.

All in all, "I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." doesn't follow the expected plan for a series finale. No cheating, but no tag-backs either. It's a finality that doesn't dwell on endings. Why not? The operations live on through reruns and DVDs. Even the prize of the hoarded birthday cake turns out not to be the object of the game at all. KND says goodbye on its own terms: with heart and soul, with true friends and true family, and with a sly, sad 'just one more game' wave. It rewards long-time fans, and it's a jam-spattered invitation to see the rest. I'll raise an apple crumble to that.