Ups and Downs

**Ups and Downs** is the 1st episode of season 2 of Numberjacks, uploaded onto CBeebies on October 26, 2009, uploaded onto YouTube on September 7, 2015 and withdrawn from BBC iPlayer on September 28, 2015. The livestream was uploaded on September 12, 2015.

## Plot

Five is in the gym, teaching Two how to stamp himself with the Jump Pad right way up and upside down, while One watches. As it turns out, he's a natural, and then One has a try. She does the right way up flip successfully but gets dizzy, so Five wonders if she's too young for the upside down one, and then the alarm sounds.

Agent 18, who is standing on her head, reports that things are going wrong, including her. Four is selected to be launched, so Three eagerly volunteers to sub for screen monitor. She enthusiastically checks the room and finds only Jasper, so Four is launched, but the landing numbers are upside-down. He lands upside down on a door number.

Agent 37 then finds a boy whose toy car is upside-down and a girl whose paintbrush is. Then, another agent reports a man having trouble getting dressed. His pants are upside-down, and Three wonders if he can't see without his glasses. He puts them on, but they turn upside-down too. He puts his hat on, and it also turns upside-down.

The Numberjacks find the link in the problems (things are being turned upside-down), while One watches, and then Four hears Spooky Spoon singing. She and Four exchange insults, and she admits that she's the culprit. The man, who, as it turns out, is a hotel bellboy, goes out still with his upside-down garments to help a guest.

Spooky Spoon flies into the hotel and then Five imagines a bicycle, a tree, and a bathroom going upside-down.

In the hotel dining room, Spooky makes the dishes turn upside-down. The Numberjacks make brain gain to turn everything right way up, but unfortunately Spooky Spoon has turned Four upside-down, rendering him unable to control it. The other Numberjacks try to find a substitute, someone who *can* work upside-down.

Agent 18 wonders if Eight could work upside-down, since he's about the same shape upside-down. So, Eight is contacted while Spooky turns the waitress's broom, the table, and the bellboy upside-down. Eight does get turned upside-down, but they send the brain gain anyway. However, it doesn't work.

The agents speculate that maybe the problem is that Five is running the brain gain machine and she doesn't look the same both ways up. So, they put One into the brain gain machine. Finally, everything and everyone gets turned right way up and Spooky gets sent away.

Four and Eight come back and they recap the mission. In the gym, One actually does the upside-down flip on the Jump Pad, while Eight, Four, Zero, and Six queue to jump. Three points out that One and Eight look the same both ways up and wonders if they're the only ones. Five asks the viewers if there is another Numberjack who looks the same both ways up, or an object that does.

## Characters

### Numberjacks

* Zero
* One
* Two
* Three
* Four
* Five
* Six
* Seven (on diamond screen and in main image (see above)).
* Eight
* Nine (on diamond screen and in main image (see above))

### Agents

* 18 (Debut appearance in Numberjacks)
* 37 (Debut appearance in Numberjacks)
* 58 (Debut appearance in Numberjacks)

### Meanies

* Spooky Spoon

*Ups and Downs* was filmed by Three and Eight.

## Continuity

The events of a hole prank are the main catalyst for the events of *Ups and Downs*.

*Ups and Downs* was uploaded the exact day as his stream being hijacked by the Spooky Spoon was uploaded onto Three's gaming channel.

## Reception

*Ups and Downs* received positive feedback from viewers.

Many viewers sided with Four due to the Spooky Spoon's ungrateful behaviour, maybe because Eight told his fourth enemy about Three escaping from the Shape Japer's cave and causing Four to be kicked out of the sofa yet again, crossing the line for both of them.

Some viewers sided with the Spooky Spoon, primarily because it was a satisfactory revenge video for Three manipulating the meanies in order to get back for them, as seen in *All About the Gym*.

Many of the viewers who sided with Four were also angry at Zero for agreeing with the Spooky Spoon. Those who sided with the Spooky Spoon praised Zero for going against Four for once.

## Trivia

* Ups and Downs was believed to be the first Numberjacks video where Zero does not take Four's side at all, and also the first time that he supports the Spooky Spoon's decisions. It was later revealed he was just upset during that moment and immediately started fighting to get Four back in the sofa.
* *Ups and Downs* is the third time a Numberjack gets kicked out of the sofa. The first time was in *Forward Thinking* and the second time was in *The Container Drainer*.
	+ This is the only time of the three times where a meanie's motive to kick a Numberjack out of the sofa was for a reason other than a Numberjack sorting something belonging to them.
		- In this case it was because of *Seaside Adventure*, unlike the first and second times were for making things go backwards instead of forwards and emptying containers respectively.
* The livestream of this video is one second less than the run-time of *Sphere Today, Gone Tomorrow*'s livestream.
* When the Spooky Spoon forces Zahra to turn the tray upside down, she seems to do it extremely quickly with just one flip, although the plates may have been damaged prior to the incident, thus making them easy to break.
* It was revealed several months later in *A Record in the Charts* that Zahra removed the metal pins from the hinges and replaced them with wooden dowels on the nationalisation that she does not trust Four.
* *Ups and Downs* is the first time where the five main live-action characters all appear together in the same Numberjacks video.
* At the 9:09-9:14 mark after the Brain Gain machine fizzes, the song *Ramblin' Man* by The Allman Brothers Band is heard playing on the restaurant's radio, and at the 9:54-10:12 mark (with the camera facing the radio at the 9:54-10:02 mark), the song is shown on the radio.
* *Ups and Downs* is the first time Eight films a Numberjacks video.
* Investigation by several users reveals that the Spooky Spoon committed a crime: illegal eviction under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-11-1.
	+ The Spooky Spoon could be charged because she kicked Four out without filling a legal eviction or having an officer present.
	+ It is also illegal to bar a Numberjack from retrieving his/her possessions.
* *Ups and Downs* is also the first time in two months that a Numberjack screams hysterically, throws a tantrum, outbursts, and cries ever since the making of tricky sixes and *Square Dancing*.
* Despite Four telling Eight that his exile from the sofa would likely be longer than Three's exile from the sofa, Four was let back in during the events of *Agent Missions*, only two months ago, whereas Three's exile lasted for an approximate month.
* Ups and Downs was uploaded the same day as a "meanie hijacking a stream" video was uploaded onto YouTube.
* This episode was uploaded to YouTube on the day *Measured Response* was withdrawn from BBC iPlayer.

## Watch Episode

 File:NUMBERJACKS - Ups And Downs - S2E1   File:NUMBERJACKS - Ups And Downs - S2E1   File:NUMBERJACKS - Ups And Downs - S2E1