A Twist of Ed

"A Twist of Ed" is the 12th episode of Season 4 and the 89th episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, the Eds have become fed up with the Kankers pouncing on them with their love, so they wish to find a way to get them out of their hair for good. After seeing Rolf breaks a large rock with a smaller one, Edd gets inspiration and tells his friends that they should try and use reverse psychology to beat the Kankers at their own game.

Plot
Edd is polishing the wooden lawn tables and chairs in his backyard when he comes across a suspicious item: a lipstick case. Edd is initially confused, but soon realizes who owns it, and is at that moment attacted by the girl and romantically mauled. As he's doing this, Ed is searching for a spoon for his bowl of Chunky Puffs, and Ed finds May in his cupboard. Ed soon suffers the same fate as Edd, unfortunately, leaving Eddy the only one not to have been mauled by the Kankers. This is largely due to his late hours of awakening, however; when he gets up and takes a shower, he finds Lee in his shower and suffers the same horror his friends did.

The Eds each individually make their way to the Retro Van as a means of escaping the Kankers. Once inside, they find each other and recognize the familiar lipstick stains. Upon figuring out what happened, Edd suggests that they mount an offensive and find some way to rid themselves of their tormentors. Eddy, fed up and angry, puts the whole brunt of finding a solution on Double D, much to his chagrin. Things get worse for him when his impatient friends start loudly exhorting him to think, not giving him any peace and quiet in which he might find a solution. Eventually, fed up, he leaves the van, and his friends follow.

Edd then proceeds to wander about the cul-de-sac, looking for ideas. He soon finds Rolf, who is breaking up large rocks with smaller ones. An idea starts to bloom in his mind, and he follows Rolf down the lane. Rolf is about to bring his rock down on another rock when Ed appears in front of him. Rolf stops before he hits Ed, and Ed asks what Rolf is doing. Rolf proceeds to explain that he is using smaller rocks to break bigger rocks, and that only a rock will break a rock. Ed doesn't understand this at all, but this gives Edd the inspiration he needs. Edd quickly thanks Rolf, grabs Ed, and heads off to tell Eddy what he's figured out. Eddy, like Ed, has no idea what Edd means, even when Edd points out that he's talking about reverse psychology. To demonstrate how reverse psychology works, Edd tells Ed not to eat a mound of dirt. Ed at first is able to obey this simple suggestion, but finds himself on the ground soon enough, chowing down on the dirt. Despite Edd's obvious demonstration of how this works, Eddy still doesn't get it, so Edd comes up with a new way to show what he means.

His process involves finding the Kankers and setting Ed out upon them. While the Kankers are fighting over a hair clip, Edd lowers Ed from a tree in which he and Eddy are hiding, with instructions to not approach and woo the Kankers. Ed makes his way over to them, under the spell of reverse psychology, and gets their attention. The Kankers initially circle him, sharklike, making Eddy fear for his friend; however, Ed then compliments May. He then proceeds to dance with Lee and Marie before offering them a hatful of melted chocolate and candy. By this time, the Kankers are somewhat scared of Ed's odd behavior; when Ed suggests they "pitch some woo", however, it's the final straw. The Kankers then proceed to hightail it back home and away from the weirdness in the woods. Eddy and Edd, meanwhile, lower themselves from their hiding spot, and Eddy congratulates Ed on his performance. He becomes scared, however, when Edd says that their work isn't done; in order to get rid of the Kankers forever, they'll need to enter the lion's den. Eddy refuses when he hears this, but Edd uses reverse psychology on Ed in order to get Ed to bring Eddy with them.

When the Kankers get home, they lock the door, still weirded out by what happened in the woods. Suddenly, Edd pops up in front of them, with a platter of freshly laundered socks. Ed then comes out of the kitchen with some pancakes for them. Freaked out, the girls run upstairs to their room only to find Edd inside it, having labeled everything. Properly afraid, they run downstairs in order to call the cops, only to be greeted by Ed when Lee picks up the phone. Their next solution is to leave the trailer entirely and hide in the great outdoors, but when they open the door, Edd is outside plucking the petals off of a daisy. Seeing this, they run away only to face Eddy. At this point, they're so worked up that they don't notice Eddy's fear, and run away from him as well, right into a closet. When they get in the closet, however, they find Ed hiding there. The Kankers run out, looking for any hiding place at all, and find Edd blocking their way. They then back into a corner and cower their, afraid of their suddenly stalker-like boyfriends.

Edd knows, however, that to seal the deal Eddy will have to make them fear him as well. To this end, he places a bouquet of flowers in Eddy's hands and pushes him forward. Eddy faces the Kankers nervously, and a drop of sweat rolls down his face and plops onto the floor. Lee spots this and points it out to her sisters, who grin devilishly. The trio of girls then pretend to be scared and trot upstairs to their room. None of the Eds notice this playacting, however, thinking that the girls are really still afraid of them.

Eddy then confidently leads his friends upstairs and bursts into the Kankers' room. He and his friends are looking for the sisters when the door suddenly slams behind them. They turn around just in time to see Lee lock it and drop a key down her shirt, sarcastically saying that the situation is horrible. This surprises Edd. He then sees May drag Ed into the closet, and Edd begins to worry. He checks his Reverse Psychology Manual only for Marie to pop up between the pages while he's flipping through it. At this point, Edd realize the tables have turned, and the Eds scream as the Kankers revert to their usual shenanigans of kissing their unwilling "boyfriends".

Memorable Quotes

 * Ed: [sitting home alone in front of a bowl of Chunky Puffs] "Spoon, please!" [getting up to get a spoon and pulling out a spatula, an egg beater, May, and soon a spoon out of his kitchen drawer] "Thank you, spoon!"

Ed: "Not I, Double D!" [pointing at Eddy] "Talk to mister stink wad!" Eddy: "Hey! I had a Kanker hairball stuck in my shower!" Edd: "Calm down, Eddy! I'm sure if we put our two and a half heads together we–" [gets interrupted by Eddy] Eddy: "YOU THINK OF SOMETHING, SMART GUY!" [Edd shushes Eddy and heads to the waterbed in the back to think.]
 * Edd: [pinches his own nose smelling a stench] "Good golly almighty! What is that horrible odor?" [looking at Ed] "Ed?"


 * Eddy: [thinking Edd has a plan to stop the Kankers] "You're onto something, aren'tcha? Oh wait! I know! Don't tell me! We hit 'em with a rock! And-" [pausing] "That's stupid! I could have thought of that!"

Rolf: [to Ed] "Hello, bundt-cake for brain Ed-Boy. Rolf is using this small rock to crush this bigger rock." Ed: [confused] "Bundt-cake crushes rock?" Rolf: "No. Only rock will break rock." Edd: "By George, that's the answer!" Ed: [while holding a slice of pizza in his hand] "Pizza slice breaks rock?" Rolf: "Ed-Boy! No pizza; ROCK!" [Ed pulls out a half-eaten pretzel from his jacket] Ed: "Half-eaten pretzel bagel breaks rock?" Rolf: [exceedingly frustrated and about to hit Ed in the head with the rock] "MUST ROLF BEAT SOME SENSE INTO THAT OVERCOOKED NOODLE THAT YOU CALL A HEAD?!" Edd: [stopping Rolf and shaking his hand] "ROLF! Thank you for being an unlikely source of inspiration." Ed: [grabbing rock and throwing it] "I'm a noodlehead and you're not!" [The rock lands on Rolf's head and crushes Rolf.] Rolf: "Rolf too yearns the simple life as a noodlehead."
 * Ed: [gets in front of Rolf about to smash the rock] "What is with the rock, Rolf?"

Eddy: "You spent all this time thinking and that's what you came up with?!" Edd: "It's just an analogy, Eddy. Rock breaks rock, fight fire with fire." [sighs and pulls out his Reverse Psychology book from the inside of his shirt] "We use reverse psychology!" Eddy: "Oh! I get ya! We hit 'em with a book!" [Eddy laughs at the internal image.] "Oh, that's a good one." Edd: "Perhaps a demonstration would help clarify things." [using reverse psychology] "Ed, listen carefully now." [while pointing at the pile of dirt and using reverse psychology] "Do not eat that dirt." [A few seconds later, Ed is on the ground, eating the dirt.] Eddy: "What an idiot. I thought you said NOT to eat the dirt." Edd: "That's reverse psychology, Eddy! In order to defeat our enemy, we must become our enemy."
 * Edd: "Eddy! I've formulated a remedy to our Kanker dilemma! Because only a rock can break a rock!"

Lee: "Slow down, Casanova, we ain't cooked ya dinner yet!"
 * Ed: "Let's mambo!" [Ed tapes Lee and Marie's hand to his back and holds the other two hands.]

Eddy: "No way! I'll wait for the movie!" Edd: [using reverse psychology] "Ed, please don't get Eddy." [Ed starts moving his legs and chases Eddy around the creek, laughing all the way.] Eddy: "Leave me alone! I don't wanna! Go away!"
 * Edd: "In order to ensure ourselves a Kanker-free future the three of us must strike while the iron is hot."

May: "What just happened there?" Lee: "Mom was right. Throw a man a bone and he'll mess up the carpet."
 * [The Kankers arrive at their trailer and lock the door.]

Ed: [phone receiver on his head] "Dial ME for love!" [Ed puckers his lips towards the Kankers.]
 * Lee: "That's it, I'm calling the cops!"

[Eddy sweats nervously.] Edd: [pushing him forward] "Go on, Eddy. Show no mercy. Make them never bother us again!" Eddy: [sweating uncontrollably] "So... Yeah... Um..." ''[Eddy's sweat drips onto the floor. The Kankers see and realize what's going on.]'' Lee: [faking fear] "Oh, you scare us." May: "You're so gross." Marie: "Eeek." [The Kankers dance upstairs.] Eddy: [thinking they have won] "Ha! They can't take the old Eddy charm. Can't blame 'em, though. I'm too much for even myself." Ed: "You're Eddy! Babe magnet to the, um…babes!"
 * Edd: "I haven't had this much fun since father let me disassemble his shaver!" [giving Eddy a bouquet of flowers] "Here, Eddy, it's your turn."

[The Kankers start to kiss the Eds.] The Eds: "WE'RE TOO YOUNG! AAAAAAH!"
 * Edd: "This can't be! They turned the tables on us, Eddy! It's a reverse reverse psychology!"

Trivia/Goofs

 * This is the last episode to be aired in 2003.
 * Pop culture reference: After Eddy pulls Lee out of the shower drain, the screen immediately focuses on the outside of the steamy shower. Eddy's hand can be seen rubbing down the glass door, an obvious reference to the movie Titanic.
 * Rolf calls Ed "buntcake-for-brain Ed boy," keeping up with his tradition of giving the Eds clever nicknames.
 * Edd's Reverse Psychology Manual is by Kent Webb, a storyboard artist at AKA Cartoon.
 * When Ed shouts "Let's mambo!", notice the animation mistake on Marie.
 * Running Gags:
 * Ed and Edd scaring the Kankers through reverse psychology.
 * Eddy deciphering Edd's plans wrong (figuring they should hit the Kankers with some item).
 * This episode contains the first time in an actual episode that Edd has given socks to show his "love." Until now, that had only been stated on the Cartoon Network Site, a quiz book (mostly made of info from the site), and one comic ("Secret Ed-mirer"). Edd gives another sock to show his love to May in Ed, Edd n Eddy's Hanky Panky Hullabaloo.
 * This episodes features the third and final appearance of the Retro Van. It previously appeared in "Dawn of the Eds" and "Dueling Eds".
 * This is Ed's third attempt at standing up to the Kankers. The first time was in "Dawn of the Eds" and the second time was in "Momma's Little Ed". What is different here is that Ed won against the Kankers in the latter two episodes, but he lost to them in this episode.
 * 15th time Kevin doesn't appear.
 * 9th time Jonny doesn't appear.
 * 21st time Nazz doesn't appear.
 * 6th time Jimmy is absent
 * 12th time Sarah is absent.
 * Rolf only appears for a small bit of time in this episode.
 * Just after Ed threw the rock on Rolf's head, the Eds are still in the current location and somehow, Rolf disappears from the scene.
 * Before Ed is "dancing" with Marie and Lee, he shouts "Let's mambo!" but he is actually doing a tango.
 * When Lee jumped out of Eddy's shower drain, she was wearing the same bathing suit she wore in "Home Cooked Eds."
 * The plot of this episode is similar to the Shakespeare play "Much Ado About Nothing." In this play, two of the main characters, Benedick and Beatrice constantly argue with witty insults, but in the end fall in love with each other. The reverse ending happens here: The Eds use reverse psychology on the Kankers, saying they love them, then the plan backfires and they are slaves to whatever fate the Kankers have in store for them.
 * When Edd heads over to the lipstick dispenser to investigate, his goggles from the last scene disappeared.
 * When the Kankers head up into their rooms to hide, May's mouth did not move when she said "let's hide in our room."
 * Edd's Reverse Psychology Manual reappears in "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Hanky Panky Hullabaloo" where it was seen in the pile of garbage from Ed's locker.
 * In "Dawn of the Eds," the horn of the Retro Van plays La Cucaracha. In this episode, it is just regular honking. The same unspecialized honk appears in "Dueling Eds."
 * When Ed has pancakes and squirts ketchup on them, Marie's hair is reversed so that it's covering her left eye instead of her right.