Milo Thatch
Guys I thought of a new idea, to explore… guys?
- Pronouns
- He/him
- MarioWiki
- The Shadow Prince
The title is self-explanatory; I started watching Danny Phantom in May 2021 and have liked it so far, so plan to show my opinions on its episodes here as some, of course, are better than others. I plan to use my old seven-point rating scale for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic in 2015 and 2016 as I feel it describes the episodes' quality best; in more detail than a five-point scale. I also plan to post all my reviews in the OP so users don't have to scroll to a certain page for middle reviews. There might be more-than-double posting here sometimes but that at least usually will be to give a notice that a new episode has my review up here.
Brown- I hate this episode as it is unwatchable trash.
Red- A pretty bad episode that I dislike, but don't hate.
Orange- A bit weak, but with okay parts.
Yellow- This episode is decent; it has good aspects but with flaws.
Green- Pretty good, with some flaws every now and then.
Blue- An episode that is great, better than good but not amazing.
Purple- This episode is absolutely amazing, and a must-see.
Season 1
7/10 Mystery Meat- An alright, decent starter episode as Danny and Tucker are established as likable characters, as Danny already comes across well as normal but not generic and Tucker is a likable extrovert, and Jazz is already shown well as a perfectionist but still caring sister instead of a comedically bad sister, which is a relief, and Danny's parents are refreshing to be shown as at least better than Timmy Turner's parents. The food gags and battles with the lunch lady are fairly funny. However, Sam ends up being unsympathetic and totally unlikable switching the food menu to what it is in this episode, and gets off to a very rocky start here despite me at least not minding her as much so far later on in the show. As is often the case for good cartoons, the starter episode is neither the best or the worst episode of the show.
7/10 One of a Kind- I enjoyed this episode for the most part as it has some improvements over Mystery Meat. Its alternating between the different subplots makes for better pacing, some of the humor lands more here, especially the picture Sam takes of Danny and Tucker, and Sam is not as unsympathetic as in Mystery Meat. It does have the standout flaw making it closer between the two of that it doesn't go into more detail about which characteristic Danny found about Sampson that made it unique, which I'll go into more detail with a spoiler box.
6/10 Parental Bonding- This episode had fun parts but was alright at best. There are some funny moments like Danny constantly going in and out of his dad. However, much of this episode is too generic. There's too much average love triangle cliches, and they feel done far from the first time here. For example it introduced Paulina who feels like little else but a device to make Danny out-of-character and unlikable for cheap unrequited love humor, which hasn't changed much up to the point I've watched the show as of writing this. How the amulet came to be and the ghost girl's backstory aren't shown close to as well as they should have been either. Tucker is still likable and Sam's writing is at least okay, but it's a too by-the-books for me to care for the most.
5/10 Attack of the Killer Garage Sale- This episode has plenty of the positives and negatives of Parental Bonding. Danny becomes a self-absorbed jerk again, only for reasons related to Paulina of course. There are also some awkwardly written parts here, like Danny standing around instead of trying to do something when Technus gives a monologue, and Tucker and Sam suddenly becoming idiots who do not realize it is off that everything in Sam's house is glowing. Again a lot of the episode feels like Parental Bonding, except that Danny is more motivated by selfishness. There are still good moments, like Danny's apology, some of Technus' technology, and Dash's nickname for Danny, but those are not quite enough to save this episode from the very mediocre stretches it has.
8/10 Splitting Images-* This was an episode that some people in the fandom don't like, but I thought was at least fairly good. It is the most thought-provoking episode to its point in terms of this order, as it covers the "is the hero really heroic?" plot fairly well. Sidney Poindexter is an unlikable but interesting, but sad to think about villain considering the implications of what time in his life he passed away. It's aggravating that he doesn't listen to Danny's explanation of what Dash did to him that warranted punishment, but it does make sense considering the implications of Poindexter's death that I mentioned; maybe bullies still had an element of truth about Poindexter that they stated to try to rationalize driving him to suicide, or pranking him into getting killed themselves, but that was still no excuse for destroying his life. Even though Poindexter not listening to Danny's side of the story wasn't okay either, of course. But one thing is still crucially important as to why I defend the episode: Danny shouldn't have involved other people who didn't deserve it in his pranks against Dash. Paulina didn't deserve to have Dash be possessed into throwing his lunch at her, at least not at that point, and when Danny intentionally caused frogs to go all over the school so others had to hunt the frogs down that took a lot of time and energy for other people. The episode does a mostly good job calling Danny out on when his pranks hurt others aside from Dash, and it's good that Danny admits he became the person he hated. Other good parts include good humor about Poindexter being clueless about the 2000s world and everyone else saving Danny from getting a worse punishment than he ends up actually getting. The weakest part of the episode is the ending, as it would have been better if
So it's not a great episode as it could have given Danny's side of the story a lot more justice, but it's still a good one with an interesting, thought-provoking plot and the first sad to think about, albeit very annoying villain.
*My opinion on this has changed to a six but it's a really hard to measure episode
4/10 What You Want- This episode has some problems as it's probably in the bottom three of this season. Its biggest problem is that it wants to cover Danny being a show-off and having to apologize to Tucker for it, but most of the time Danny shows off because he has to to stop Desiree right then, and even the one part of the episode he's very arrogant in he's not a show-off in it exactly. This episode would have worked better if Danny had to apologize for being a cold or badgering friend instead, or if Tucker had come up with ideas that were better than Danny's that Danny doesn't listen to with the same moral about Danny showing off as it would make more sense then. The one time Tucker does the latter is the flying car scene, but it leads to an awkward watch because you're supposed to see Tucker as in the right effectively through the moral for blowing up at him for how he stops the car from 9/11ing the tower. Tucker does come up with another idea in this scene, but Danny wanting to control the wheel actually makes a lot of sense in this scene as he is under Desiree's spell and could end up steering, and also accelerating the car towards the tower. While not awful as no one is extremely out of character it should have either changed itself with one of the two things I mentioned so it would feel less like Danny was hit with Informed Wrongness here.
9/10 Bitter Reunions- This episode was a lot of fun, and I liked it a lot. It is the first episode showing that the show will have somewhat of a storyline arc, and Danny gets some good fleshing out too. The best part of the episode is Vlad Masters, though, as he has every trait already here of a great villain: a creepy backstory with some originality added to its less original premise, an intelligent, sinister personality, and cool but frightening powers. Seeing him beat Danny the way he does as you've never seen Danny lose that harshly, and the truce they make is really suspenseful and great for the show as a whole, as everything feels in the balance. This is definitely the best episode up to its point in the show.
8/10 Prisoners of Love- This was a good episode, that deals with a more sophisticated matter, that being divorce, in a way that helps the Fenton family grow. The most interesting part of the episode, but also partly its weakness, is that that parts in the real world with Maddie and Jack Fenton are actually better than the ghost world parts. In the ghost world there are still good aspects like Walkker's obsession with rules being interesting here, more in the other Season 1 episode he's in, but it would have been better if all of the ghosts Danny teams with got a chance to shine, not just Skulker and the Lunch Lady. But the real life parts are where this really stands out, as these scenes have a slower pace and less common feel for a cartoon that really works. I like Alicia, and she makes a good contrast to Maddie with her likable but sarcastic personality, and how she uses the latter adjective for it to help Jack deal with his fears, and the super rural guys have funny moments as well as her. How the twist at the end about Maddie saying "divorce" is executed is funny even though it's a bit predictable. Jazz being that scared of being wrong is also entertaining here. Again this episode is good, but would have been better especially if the ghost parts didn't have the major flaw I mentioned.
10/10 My Brother's Keeper- This episode was awesome, and the best episode of Season 1, as it handles depression really tastefully. Tara Strong's performance as Penelope Spectra is amazing as she drips evil in the voice of the most evil villain the show has to offer. There are so many good morals here, from not trusting the school authorities to not patronizing those with depression to not caring what others say, and that an element of truth doesn't always mean something is entirely true. Jazz's and Danny's arcs are excellently done and lead to an extremely satisfying ending. This is one of the episodes that you have to see to understand why it's great.
8/10 Shades of Gray- This was a good episode that I liked more than I expected to, and is one of the least flawed episodes of Season 1. The jokes are funny, like some related to the ghost dogs, who in their puppy form remind me of the Polterpup from Luigi's Mansion. Everyone is in character and well-written too, and unlike another episode this season, I felt sympathy for Valerie's situation. The only nitpick here is the black family being the poor one seems a bit stereotypical even though to be fair Valerie's family was okay in terms of money before. But aside from that, everything works well.
7/10 Fanning the Flames- A decent episode but I didn't like it as much as most other people did. The character development about what Sam and Danny start to figure out about their friendship is good. The joke aren't bad like usual like Mr. Lancer constantly having to try to stop the students from flooding Ember. But her song's actually the weakest part of the episode for me; while there's some personal bias there as I like to hear full villain songs, even for what it is it was just decent but nothing I found special.
7/10 Teacher of the Year- This was on the slightly to fairly good end, with an occasional great aspect. I loved seeing Mr. Lancer be more stern, yet not a bully, with Danny about making him pass a test. Danny is also well-written and learns a good lesson about hard work. This episode has a good twist about how instead of having to manage schoolwork and avoid playing too many video games, Danny has to juggle both his schoolwork and his video games. There are two bad moments, though, when Tucker is uncharacteristically stupid about giving Technus critical information and when Jack smashes Danny's phone beyond repair but you're supposed to see it as funny when on a personal level it isn't. There's also a twist about Sam that's predictable, although I didn't see it coming, so there's that I guess.
8/10 13- This was easily far from an unlucky episode to watch. Johnny 13 and Shadow are two cool new characters to watch, with Johnny's cool persona and not being totally evil like some of the other ghosts, having partly unselfish intentions but going about it selfishly, and Shadow's cool powers and dark, spooky colors make them both a ton of fun. Tucker's character arc about learning from Sam to be himself and be more confident is amazingly done as well and he becomes more competently handling things unlike in What You Want. The action scenes are a lot of fun here. Danny is in character and likable but the plot about him trying to protect Jazz from Johnny is easily the weakest and only weak part of the episode, as sometimes it feels like Danny is portrayed as a brat for not wanting Jazz to fall for Johnny, and Jazz is a bit clueless here when usually she's pretty smart.
6/10 Public Enemies- This episode has some good parts including its good action sequences, Wulf being a cute character and it being satisfying to see Danny, Tucker, and Sam helping them, and them being in character although not at their most interesting. However, this episode is way too fast-paced with Walkker wanting to take over the world, Jack wanting to set up a group based on dealing with ghosts, and the aforementioned Wulf subplot being jammed into one but each of these don't get enough development. Even the good action sequences feel like the swallow up it having much great storytelling. The mayor feels like just your average mayor stereotype, although
is hysterically funny.
1/10 Fright Night- When I finished Public Enemies I was hoping for the next episode to be more based on having a good story. While this episode looks like it is going to at first, it has serious problems to the point of being not even mediocre but outright bad. In this episode Danny is completely out of character, having no problem going into the ghost world to steal Fright Knight's sword even with the danger it could cause everyone, when beforehand while he's shown to have reckless and impatient moments he isn't completely idiotic, and beforehand does no work to come up with something creative for the project he's facing off against Dash on, like he learned nothing about the moral of at least making an attempt in Teacher of the Year. Dash actually is interesting in this episode considering how much work he puts into his ghost exhibit, the problem being that the bully is much more likable and consistently well-written than who you're supposed to side with because the latter is ridiculously badly written. Fright Knight has a cool voice, but ends up coming across as just an average evil knight, and personally I would have preferred if his sword showing the characters' greatest fears weren't played for humor either. The ending and Mr. Lancer's characterization especially in it are horrible too, as
9/10 Maternal Instinct- This episode more than made up for the last two episodes being disappointing. Danny is in character again and one sees him make clever strategies for thwarting Vlad, and Maddie gets some great expansion as you see her intelligent, useful side. Danny and Vlad's veiled banter is very funny and also adds to the suspense of the episode as one sees the dislike they have for each other, but not Maddie, although you see her opinion on Vlad in this episode too. Danny having to sometimes go behind Maddie's back to thwart Vlad shows his smart side, as well as adds a great side moral about kids being able to accomplish more on than their own than parents would expect. Even at home, Jazz and Jack are likable and a lot of fun to watch. This is a very funny, satisfying, heartwarming, and authentic episode, and a fairly suspenseful one, and I highly recommend it as it's that good in the characters aspect.
8/10 Lucky In Love- This was a fun episode as it was good seeing Johnny 13 and Shadow back again so soon. Kitty is more interesting in this episode than in 13 in terms of her motivations, and her possessing Paulina leads to some hilarious moments as well. Almost all of the jokes are funny in this episode in general too. I loved how Danny ended up teaming up with Johnny at the end. The only weak points of the episode is that it could be deeper, but it is so much fun that it doesn't really matter, and that Tucker dating Star isn't that funny.
4/10 Life Lessons- This episode is an interesting case as while it's the final episode in my bottom three for Season 1, it actually does have really interesting moments like the flour bag plot and Valerie and Danny teaming up against Skulker. The biggest things that ruin the episode however are Valerie and the moral. Valerie is a complete jerk to Danny here as in the beginning she tries to bully him into doing almost all of the work in their group project, without ever apologizing once to him. The way Danny has to apologize for every part of getting mad at Valerie makes it feel like the episode dismisses Danny's valid concerns to Valerie that she was being lazy, so the moral effectively becomes "don't tell your teammates that they're being lazy because it could make them feel bad". So any good parts of the episode still aren't enough to save it.
5/10 The Million Dollar Ghost- There really is not much strong either way in this episode. Danny really is likable here and supportive to his dad, and Jack's big moment at the end is really satisfying. There's an occasional chuckle here and there, and it's not a line-crossingly bad episode. Other than that there really is not much to talk about. Vlad feels dumbed down here, not close to as interesting as in Bitter Reunions or Maternal Instinct, and there is one mistake he makes trying to trap Danny and Jack that feels really uncharacteristically stupid for him. The episode still could be funnier too; the team hunting Danny down isn't really funny or interesting and Scaredy Cat doesn't stand out at all. Definitely one of Season 1's weaker episodes.
5/10 Control Freaks- This episode more than with Million Dollar Ghost has some aspects that are really, really good, and some that really, really aren't. Freakshow is a good villain as his anti-comedic and cold clown personality add more suspense to the episode. Red-Eyed Danny's more meanly efficient behavior as interesting contrast to normal Danny is acted well by David Kaufman. It is easy to root for Tucker and Sam try to bring Danny back to normal as both of them are likable here. However, the three things that keep it from being good outright are that I can't stand Sam's parents and they don't have to apologize for how they act here or go through an arc, how Danny permanently gets out of his hypnosis from Freakshow is horribly done, and one running gag ends up being mean-spirited and not funny at all at the end, that being
Season 2
6/10 Reign Storm- While a bit better than the last three episodes, that still could be saying much more. Vlad is back in character and menacing again instead of boring, and each of the other returning characters are in character except for Sam who is unreasonable about being snippy with Danny just for dealing with Dash. The utilization of the returning ghosts is really good and much better than in Prisoners of Love, despite this being some ways weaker in almost every other aspect. The fight scene at the end where Danny needs to watch his power level is a lot of fun. This episode is entertaining to a good enough extent and moments of heart, albeit every now and then, are there. I felt mixed about Valerie and Danny starting to go out in this episode; Valerie is written better in this episode than Life Lessons except for being a sucker towards Vlad with likable moments, but still not enough to fully regain respect from that episode at least as of right now, and make me not feel like Danny deserves a better girl (but again Sam isn't written great either here). The two other major flaws aside from Sam chastising Danny for dealing with Dash are
and on the topic of Pariah Dark, him. He is a generic and boring villain with no interesting characteristics whatsoever, and easily the worst villain of the show without any question. While still a (mostly) entertaining episode it is still much too uneven to be anywhere near a great one.
7/10 Doctor's Disorders- This was a fun episode with it being one of the funnier, maybe even funniest episodes of the show. The ghost disease is creative with a lot of highly entertaining uses. Though I wish Penelope Spectra was utilized better, as she is underused and there is one scene where she feels uncharacteristically naive towards how Danny could thwart her. That being
Any of the other characters are well-utilized and funny, though. It's not the deepest or most flawless episode of the show but still a good time.
7/10 Identity Crisis- This was a good enough episode. I like the arc for Danny I found to be about not sacrificing oneself in unnecessary ways. I also like Sam here; she is supportive about trying to make sure Danny is true to himself. Technus has a better role here than Spectra did in the last episode as he shows up more and has some of the episode's funny jokes. David Kaufman hamming it up as Super Danny is hilarious and I loved every second of Super Danny. The episode does have flaws, though. The humor is still a bit more hit and miss than Doctor's Disorders, despite having better villain utilization as I mentioned and slightly more depth. One joke about sniffing Tucker's hat isn't funny, and occasionally Fun Danny does become a bit much, despite not quite being the worst as some of his interactions with Super Danny are good. The ending is satisfying, but I won't spoil it.
6/10 Pirate Radio- This episode wasn't bad, though it falls a bit short of being one of the better episodes of the show. Youngblood is a fun villain in terms of his childlike antagonistic personality being funny, and his running gag is good. I like his parrot too. Although it still is not one of the show's funniest episodes, being more clever than funny most of the time. For example the gags about Tucker and Sam wanting to party without Danny's permission aren't as funny as they could be. But as mentioned it is clever; I like how they unravel the secret of the hypnotic music for example. Ember's back and could be more interesting, but she was never one of my favorite Danny Phantom characters. Seeing Danny being really confident and charismatic when rallying the other kids is extremely satisfying. Danny's army fighting Youngblood's forces on the ship is a lot of fun too. The worst part of the episode is the ending, though. Danny gets grounded for helping save everyone from Youngblood, which while not quite as bad as the ending of Fright Night because it could have been avoided if Danny admitted he was a ghost, is still unsatisfying and unsatisfactory as he's grounded for throwing the party too when Tucker and Sam did that, especially since you don't see them fess up to Danny's parents about it either.
3/10 The Fenton Menace- Ooh boy, this episode. I didn't like it at all, and it manages to be worse than two out of three of the episodes in by bottom three for Season 1. Might as well start with the good, because there's… a lot in the opposite category.
Jazz's speech at the beginning of the episode makes it seem like it could be thought-provoking and having a bigger thought-provoking feel when the episode itself actually doesn't go the direction of either characteristic. Mostly each of the characters except for Jazz, and at the end Danny, are in character and not horribly written (Tucker, Sam, Mr. Lancer, Jack, and Maddie, and Youngblood despite his running gag being extremely annoying) and it still takes until the third act for Danny's characterization to drop noticeably. The bathroom scene has two really funny jokes, one being what Jazz says that triggers Danny to go into the bathroom, and the second being Mr. Lancer's comment when Danny is fighting Youngblood in the bathroom. There's also one actually really good line from Sam towards Jazz about not being bossy I won't spoil (the episode looks like it's actually going to be good at the beginning, if only it actually was!) The very end isn't as distasteful as the very end of Fright Night, as there is a decent action scene, and then you do see Jazz say she respects Danny, and this episode is also not as bad as that episode because at least neither of the out-of-character characters put the life of an entire town in danger.
Now for the bad. Probably the biggest problem is that I really do not care for Jazz in this episode. Basically all she does here is gaslight Danny about him seeing invisible Youngblood when he makes a move to try to fight him, insisting that Danny was just seeing things and was delusional, despite having already learned before that sometimes Danny sees things that other members of the family don't see. Even considering Jazz's tendency to think she is more right than others, how she acts in this episode is really off and I perceived it as out of character; the subtlety of her conflicts in Prisoners of Love and My Brother's Keeper that still don't turn her into a brat, which is refreshing for a fictional older sister, are nowhere to be found here as all she is here is a one-dimensional annoying older sister stereotype. Her constantly insisting she knew why Danny is seeing Youngblood is like she learned nothing about not always being right from Prisoners of Love. Another problem that's consistently obnoxious about this episode is the markedly more mean-spirited and less funny feel of the episode and its humor. Now one could argue this kind of blends in with the Jazz writing problem, as there's one extremely constant and thus constantly annoying running gag about Youngblood pranking Danny when invisible that's executed in a way that feels cruel instead of funny each time, but especially because Danny gets all the intensity of it, as it sets off Jazz needling Danny about thinking he didn't see anything more. But even then aside from the bathroom scene at the beginning being really funny even the… good might be a strong word, but better jokes in the episode feel through the motions for the show. For example Tucker's alibi machine has some tolerable humor unlike the mean-spirited humor Danny gets, but even then it feels similar to the "spray was useful after all" shenanigans in Doctor's Disorders, and still is just partly fart jokes. Next, back to the sibling conflict feeling inauthentic and not subtle. By the climax especially it feels like it's just "siblings being jerks to each other" humor back and forth between Danny and Jazz, like the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode Oh, Brother except not funny, but there's one scene especially, that being how Danny forces Jazz to be able to see Youngblood, that really is too nasty and too mean-spirited for Danny, even considering what Jazz puts him through in this episode. Of course instead of doing something funny humiliating Jazz to bring out the child in her it has to have been
and the episode tries to portray him as in the right for it without him having to apologize to Jazz. Really, the episode about lives down to its name as both the Fenton siblings are not well-written by the end. Even with the handful of redeeming qualities it does have which shouldn't be ignored, as they're a bit more than Fright Night's, The Fenton Menace is mostly a menacingly frustrating episode, as it just doesn't have the heart, charm, or wit that made most of the other episodes of the show up to this point work, or at least was a redeeming quality to most of the worse ones.
8/10 The Fright Before Christmas- This was a pretty good episode. All of the rhyming was inventive and funny, and integrated well into the plot. Ghost Writer is a really interesting, colorful (and not colorful) villain with his introverted, calculated prankster personality, and the episode does a good job not letting him off the hook just because he was wronged by Danny. On the topic of Danny, he learns a good lesson about learning to tolerate what brings other people cheer even though he dislikes it. Yet on the other side, there's one really great scene with Jazz where she says she doesn't blame Danny for hating Christmas with his parents, feeling for me like having the three-dimensionality she didn't have in the previous episode. The villains are also integrated well into this episode and about each of them show their characterization in a shining way.
The episode's two weak points, while this section is longer it actually doesn't mean they overshadow the positives, just that they're complicated, are that I don't think Danny owed his family an apology for being silently grumpy because of Christmas, though this is not as bad as in Life Lessons as it's portrayed more as guilt here instead of the main part of hating Christmas he needed to apologize for, which was being intolerant of others' cheer in the form of taking back apologizing for destroying Ghost Writer's book after finding out it was Christmas. This is the second weak point; Danny comes across as pretty bossy for being unapologetic for destroying the book. Like I know it's not out of malice considering you were sorry until you found out it was about Christmas, and you think you're doing the Ghost Writer a favor because you see Christmas as evil, but even then your writing seems a bit weak here. But at least Danny has to apologize this time unlike with last episode, and I still link it to his arc about learning not to be bossy sometimes. Because of this, I still don't see this episode overall as a misstep in Danny's characterization, and his writing in the rest of the episode is really good.
8/10 Micro-Management- I liked this episode a lot. The theme of gaining strength even without powers is really well-done as it's great to see Dash, and also Danny work to stop Skulker even with only normal abilities, with great character building for both of them. Danny is written amazingly here; he's confident just like usual, but he also is patient with Dash about what to do next, and even Dash is likable and funny. The humor in terms of how they navigate around when so small is really funny too. I also enjoyed the subplot with how Sam gets Tucker in shape, her handling of that was cool. Even the ending being slightly
is still satisfying as you still see the improvements Danny and Tucker have made. The only two weaker parts are its occasional similarities to Honey, I Shrunk The Kids though it still has plenty to stand on its own, and that it would have been cool to see Dash maybe spout some occasional extreme intelligence (like he did in Fright Night as the only good part of that episode), but aside from those there really is nothing wrong with this episode. I would definitely recommend it.
5/10 Memory Blank- This episode was aggressively okay, with a flaw for every good thing about it. Sam's characterization here is amazing, with her having the perfect combination of competence in tough situations, being a good friend, and growth of learning weird is okay. Desiree is still fun in this episode, and any of the other characters here are in character with two exceptions, but they're pretty marked. I really didn't care for Danny in this episode, as he comes across as uncharacteristically stupid about instantly blaming Sam for the ghosts appearing especially considering he does it so constantly, and is unappreciative about any good thing Sam does. The only exception to this is him realizing his mistake right after Sam says she wished she never met him, but that is far from enough. I also find Tucker to be annoying in this episode, especially since he thinks Sam intentionally caused the ghosts too. The humor isn't all bad as there aren't exactly any unfunny moments like there were in The Fenton Menace, with some good jokes surrounding Paulina, actually, as well as
but it still could be more standout. The alternate world is not done as interestingly as in the next episode I watched, The Ultimate Enemy, as it feels just like the normal world of the show, with the only exceptions being
Overall, this was inoffensive but not memorable, making it easily one of Danny Phantom's weaker episodes.
10/10 The Ultimate Enemy- An amazing episode. Its darker tone works perfectly as you see how horrible Danny becomes when fate punishes him for cheating. Jazz finding out Danny plans to cheat has some frightening resonance with other instances similar, like finding out family members are becoming addicted, and one really feels for her. Dark Danny is an amazing mix of competence, remorselessness, both physical and emotional sadism, and a sheer lack of empathy that make it exhilarating to root against him, and the crown jewel of this episode. Although, Clockwork's confident, outside-the-box attitude to gradually saving Danny make him a great character too, and the entire plot of proving to the Observants that they saw things too narrowly is amazing. Every second of Danny and Jazz doing everything they can in their power to work against the clock and thwart Dark Danny leads to incredible suspense. Future Vlad is an astonishing contrast to normal Vlad as he actually feels remorse for his actions in that future, and even ends up not being one of the notable antagonists. Especially the fact that not even Vlad was evil enough to want what happened, even in the present right after the incident, ups the feeling of dread. Yet the ending has an amazing heart and feeling of victory, and really does feel like it wraps up the show up to its point.
This episode is not perfect. It would have been better in my opinion if
Danny cheating on the test more directly led to his loved ones' deaths, like
I wish we got to see more of the future world than just it being a post-apocalyptic world, though it does show the town was at the beginning before Dark Danny destroyed it. And I guess the moral is similar to what the stated one of Fright Night's is, but we don't talk about that episode and its moral would have been better to be about not stealing anyway. But it still is a truly good episode that I would absolutely recommend.
6/10 Secret Weapons- Neither on the marked lower end of the show or as good as it could have been, Secret Weapons has a lot to be fond of about it but has one critical flaw that stops it from being one of the better episodes. Danny's writing is excellent here, showing a three-dimensional mixture of good heart, confidence, and his usual blunt nature. Jazz is much better written in this episode than in the season's first episode centered around her and she comes across as legitimately well-intentioned instead of a one-dimensional stereotype. Her conflict about wanting to help but it having hindering effects had some personal resonance as I've been in her situation before, and it, mostly, makes her easy enough to sympathize with. This episode understands the line about making most of her actions annoying to Danny but funny to the viewer where The Fenton Menace failed to, as the comedy of her failing to fight ghosts and her nicknames for the ghosts are funny. It also is quite an an enjoyable experience with some suspense to see her snoop on Vlad and uncover his power-hungry plan, and while it is done a smidgen similar to Maddie's shtick in Maternal Instinct, the spying aspect gives it enough to stand on its own, showing a competent and rootable side to Jazz. It would have been better if one saw Jazz's pain due to Danny snapping at her somewhere in this montage, however so it didn't seem like it vanished. Tucker and Sam are also fun in this episode, with Tucker having a fun running gag of thinking Danny being trapped in the thermos was funny and regretting it and Sam getting another moment of being kind but firm towards Jazz. Vlad is true to character here as well, maintaining his tactical (except at managing being perverted towards Maddie) nature and being an intimidating large ham to watch but still having funny moments (such as his "absolutely" remark). On topic, the episode in general is very funny, such as the checkers fakeout joke with Jack and Maddie and Danny's reaction to Jazz's overconfidence about hunting three ghosts in the car. The slower moments, like Danny being informed Jazz went missing and the ending, as well as the good continuity from The Ultimate Enemy, really give the viewer a feeling of being immersed in the episode, and the episode a feeling of being immersed in the show. The fight scene between Danny and Jazz also has some fun physical combat moves and some technically impressive angles. That being said, this episode has two problems, and I'll get to the smaller first, that being I don't see how it was that hard to get Danny out of the Fenton Thermos to the point of him being trapped in there that long. Or did Jazz just forget to or not care? That part isn't explained well. But the much worse crack in an episode that would have otherwise been great is how the episode handles Danny apologizing to Jazz for erupting at her earlier on, for hacking into his computer. He is entirely unassertive here and does not include telling Jazz to not do it again or asking her to apologize, and Jazz causes him to by saying "this is for humiliating me in front of the entire school!" Where while Danny still went too far even considering Jazz's actions, it comes across as Jazz not realizing the extent to which she misfired. While this is not as ruining towards the episode as with Life Lessons, because Jazz realizes she made a mistake at the end of the episode, this really dampens the episode like rain. A matter that is too bad because it would have been one of my favorite episodes of the show otherwise.
7/10 Flirting With Disaster- This is another episode where some parts of it really work and a couple other parts of it really don't. Valerie regains respect lost in Life Lessons, being hardworking and well-intentioned, and funny occasionally. Her conflict of wanting to feel trusted is easy to sympathize with. Both of the fight scenes are enjoyable, though the first is much better because Technus has much more of a presence with foreboding dialogue and it feels more... I'm not sure if gritty is the right word, but real because one sees all the positions and attacks the possessed suit tries at. The second fight scene is fun but weaker because there is not as much in it and it cuts back in forth between the space area and the (still fun) attacks Technus tries on everyone. MOST of the jokes are funny, with Tucker getting some funny commentary on Danny's and Valerie's crushes on each other, and how Technus draws Danny and Valerie together is fun as well. On that topic, I love how Technus is written in this episode. He is much more tactical and smart, and more sinister than in previous episodes, with intimidating dialogue and a smart strategy about using Danny's and Valerie's emotions to benefit his plan. He certainly learned some about being smarter about his evil plans from Identity Crisis, even not announcing them to other characters when necessary. The episode has good pacing and a feeling of buildup, and not much of it feels like filler. How Danny's and Valerie's parents initiate talking to them about their crushes on each other is good-hearted and makes for a funny running gag between the two conversations. The scene where
is noticeably mature for a kids' show as well; Valerie has actually unselfishly intended reasons for doing what she did, and it is powerful to see such an emotional low point for Danny. However, there are two weak points making this episode almost as uneven as the last one. The first is that Danny and Valerie should have had more lines of dialogue together. Aside from the online chat at the beginning and the Neil Armstrong joke, they have about no lines of actually talking to each other. The dialogue where they talk about their romance to other characters is well-done, to be fair, but if they actually talked more it would feel more immersive. The episode does try at the "puppy love" explanation for this but it still does not feel as fleshed out as it should. The second is the ending, where (I'm going to spoil this whole thing)
While Secret Weapons is marginally weaker because its one flaw is more definitive towards the episode's entire conflict, these two flaws mean this episode could have been so much better, and is similar to Teacher of the Year where one character's writing really is the highlight of it and brings it up a lot, but it still has a couple critical weak parts otherwise.
9/10 Beauty Marked- Despite its premise not seeming interesting when I heard about it (partly because admittedly I misheard it as Sam being mean to Danny to get him to sign up), this ended up becoming one of my favorite episodes of Danny Phantom.
That the least interesting antagonist of Season 1, Dora, becomes one of the show's most interesting characters is delightful. I like her dramatic diva personality, and her interactions with Sam all around. As her obsessive-compulsive desire to follow the rules on beauty tradition contrasts harshly with Sam's individualistic nature, such as the funny moments in the preparation for the beauty contest. Her snips at other characters are quite funny, as well, such as toward Tucker at the beginning. She ends up being a redeemed antagonist and it is really genuinely done, giving her both an understandable motive why she did wrong and making it satisfying to see her do right, when some cartoons don't execute that well. Her dragon role in the fight scene is also epic, where one sees her give her big speech.
Sam is at her unquestionable best out of the entire series so far in this episode. Her desire to enter the beauty contest solely to one-up what she sees as bad tradition is a fascinating one, and how she handles her success at the end is really fun. How on top of everything she was in Memory Blank returns in full form, and an enchantment to watch. Every situation she gets in she has a funny, inventive, and sometimes thought-provoking plan to manage. Her passion in talking to Dora is outright exciting to watch. She challenges Dora's views, forcefully goes against them when necessary, but at the climax treats her like no one else ever has: a person. The whole time Sam is able to get what she wants just by staying true to herself and giving the honesty out. Plus she has some really funny moments like how she makes sure she is unappealing to Aragon.
The episode also intertwines arguably two of the show's best morals, one of them maybe even being the best. The first moral is that tradition is not always good. This is executed through that the sexism of the tradition in Dora's medieval world turned her into having no inspiration to do her own will, due to Aragon using it as a crutch for his bigoted beliefs. The episode has a great payoff that, as mentioned, once Dora starts going against what is considered "normal" which is following Aragon's rules, things start to look up for her immensely. The second covers a more gutsy topic, that standing up against abuse and fighting against the abuser is always the right fight. There is haunting realism in that Dora for so long thinks she's happy with her demeaning situation solely because Aragon convinced her she should be. In fact, Aragon's tactics are impressively accurate to real-life abusers for a kids' show, where he withholds being more toxic than he already is, as long as Dora does exactly what he wants. As sometimes one is not aware of how miserable an abusive relationship makes them until they are able to think about it more deeply. Sam's response to Dora when Dora insists she wants a "happily ever after" by continuing her current path leads to a moment that really hit personal levels with me.
The episode is also pretty funny. Again, I like the jokes about tradition, some of them being how it impacts perception of beauty, such as the glass slipper logic, Mr. Lancer singing, and the ending about the veggie burger. Even though the "Danny becomes very popular" theme is back from Lucky in Love, the running gag about the blatant ways the girls constantly try to win points with Danny still makes this version of it stand on its own. Tucker's outside the box method of using technology to defeat his enemies makes for some lively moments.
Brown- I hate this episode as it is unwatchable trash.
Red- A pretty bad episode that I dislike, but don't hate.
Orange- A bit weak, but with okay parts.
Yellow- This episode is decent; it has good aspects but with flaws.
Green- Pretty good, with some flaws every now and then.
Blue- An episode that is great, better than good but not amazing.
Purple- This episode is absolutely amazing, and a must-see.
Season 1
7/10 Mystery Meat- An alright, decent starter episode as Danny and Tucker are established as likable characters, as Danny already comes across well as normal but not generic and Tucker is a likable extrovert, and Jazz is already shown well as a perfectionist but still caring sister instead of a comedically bad sister, which is a relief, and Danny's parents are refreshing to be shown as at least better than Timmy Turner's parents. The food gags and battles with the lunch lady are fairly funny. However, Sam ends up being unsympathetic and totally unlikable switching the food menu to what it is in this episode, and gets off to a very rocky start here despite me at least not minding her as much so far later on in the show. As is often the case for good cartoons, the starter episode is neither the best or the worst episode of the show.
7/10 One of a Kind- I enjoyed this episode for the most part as it has some improvements over Mystery Meat. Its alternating between the different subplots makes for better pacing, some of the humor lands more here, especially the picture Sam takes of Danny and Tucker, and Sam is not as unsympathetic as in Mystery Meat. It does have the standout flaw making it closer between the two of that it doesn't go into more detail about which characteristic Danny found about Sampson that made it unique, which I'll go into more detail with a spoiler box.
It would have been better if there was more detail on the anatomy that classifies gorilla genders, and even if there was an inappropriate body part they still could have at least implied which one that was, like maybe through a getting crap past the radar joke.
5/10 Attack of the Killer Garage Sale- This episode has plenty of the positives and negatives of Parental Bonding. Danny becomes a self-absorbed jerk again, only for reasons related to Paulina of course. There are also some awkwardly written parts here, like Danny standing around instead of trying to do something when Technus gives a monologue, and Tucker and Sam suddenly becoming idiots who do not realize it is off that everything in Sam's house is glowing. Again a lot of the episode feels like Parental Bonding, except that Danny is more motivated by selfishness. There are still good moments, like Danny's apology, some of Technus' technology, and Dash's nickname for Danny, but those are not quite enough to save this episode from the very mediocre stretches it has.
8/10 Splitting Images-* This was an episode that some people in the fandom don't like, but I thought was at least fairly good. It is the most thought-provoking episode to its point in terms of this order, as it covers the "is the hero really heroic?" plot fairly well. Sidney Poindexter is an unlikable but interesting, but sad to think about villain considering the implications of what time in his life he passed away. It's aggravating that he doesn't listen to Danny's explanation of what Dash did to him that warranted punishment, but it does make sense considering the implications of Poindexter's death that I mentioned; maybe bullies still had an element of truth about Poindexter that they stated to try to rationalize driving him to suicide, or pranking him into getting killed themselves, but that was still no excuse for destroying his life. Even though Poindexter not listening to Danny's side of the story wasn't okay either, of course. But one thing is still crucially important as to why I defend the episode: Danny shouldn't have involved other people who didn't deserve it in his pranks against Dash. Paulina didn't deserve to have Dash be possessed into throwing his lunch at her, at least not at that point, and when Danny intentionally caused frogs to go all over the school so others had to hunt the frogs down that took a lot of time and energy for other people. The episode does a mostly good job calling Danny out on when his pranks hurt others aside from Dash, and it's good that Danny admits he became the person he hated. Other good parts include good humor about Poindexter being clueless about the 2000s world and everyone else saving Danny from getting a worse punishment than he ends up actually getting. The weakest part of the episode is the ending, as it would have been better if
Danny successfully lectured Poindexter about hasty judgment and Poindexter wasn't rewarded as much by others for how he acted, and if Danny punished Dash in a more appropriate way at the end.
*My opinion on this has changed to a six but it's a really hard to measure episode
4/10 What You Want- This episode has some problems as it's probably in the bottom three of this season. Its biggest problem is that it wants to cover Danny being a show-off and having to apologize to Tucker for it, but most of the time Danny shows off because he has to to stop Desiree right then, and even the one part of the episode he's very arrogant in he's not a show-off in it exactly. This episode would have worked better if Danny had to apologize for being a cold or badgering friend instead, or if Tucker had come up with ideas that were better than Danny's that Danny doesn't listen to with the same moral about Danny showing off as it would make more sense then. The one time Tucker does the latter is the flying car scene, but it leads to an awkward watch because you're supposed to see Tucker as in the right effectively through the moral for blowing up at him for how he stops the car from 9/11ing the tower. Tucker does come up with another idea in this scene, but Danny wanting to control the wheel actually makes a lot of sense in this scene as he is under Desiree's spell and could end up steering, and also accelerating the car towards the tower. While not awful as no one is extremely out of character it should have either changed itself with one of the two things I mentioned so it would feel less like Danny was hit with Informed Wrongness here.
9/10 Bitter Reunions- This episode was a lot of fun, and I liked it a lot. It is the first episode showing that the show will have somewhat of a storyline arc, and Danny gets some good fleshing out too. The best part of the episode is Vlad Masters, though, as he has every trait already here of a great villain: a creepy backstory with some originality added to its less original premise, an intelligent, sinister personality, and cool but frightening powers. Seeing him beat Danny the way he does as you've never seen Danny lose that harshly, and the truce they make is really suspenseful and great for the show as a whole, as everything feels in the balance. This is definitely the best episode up to its point in the show.
8/10 Prisoners of Love- This was a good episode, that deals with a more sophisticated matter, that being divorce, in a way that helps the Fenton family grow. The most interesting part of the episode, but also partly its weakness, is that that parts in the real world with Maddie and Jack Fenton are actually better than the ghost world parts. In the ghost world there are still good aspects like Walkker's obsession with rules being interesting here, more in the other Season 1 episode he's in, but it would have been better if all of the ghosts Danny teams with got a chance to shine, not just Skulker and the Lunch Lady. But the real life parts are where this really stands out, as these scenes have a slower pace and less common feel for a cartoon that really works. I like Alicia, and she makes a good contrast to Maddie with her likable but sarcastic personality, and how she uses the latter adjective for it to help Jack deal with his fears, and the super rural guys have funny moments as well as her. How the twist at the end about Maddie saying "divorce" is executed is funny even though it's a bit predictable. Jazz being that scared of being wrong is also entertaining here. Again this episode is good, but would have been better especially if the ghost parts didn't have the major flaw I mentioned.
10/10 My Brother's Keeper- This episode was awesome, and the best episode of Season 1, as it handles depression really tastefully. Tara Strong's performance as Penelope Spectra is amazing as she drips evil in the voice of the most evil villain the show has to offer. There are so many good morals here, from not trusting the school authorities to not patronizing those with depression to not caring what others say, and that an element of truth doesn't always mean something is entirely true. Jazz's and Danny's arcs are excellently done and lead to an extremely satisfying ending. This is one of the episodes that you have to see to understand why it's great.
8/10 Shades of Gray- This was a good episode that I liked more than I expected to, and is one of the least flawed episodes of Season 1. The jokes are funny, like some related to the ghost dogs, who in their puppy form remind me of the Polterpup from Luigi's Mansion. Everyone is in character and well-written too, and unlike another episode this season, I felt sympathy for Valerie's situation. The only nitpick here is the black family being the poor one seems a bit stereotypical even though to be fair Valerie's family was okay in terms of money before. But aside from that, everything works well.
7/10 Fanning the Flames- A decent episode but I didn't like it as much as most other people did. The character development about what Sam and Danny start to figure out about their friendship is good. The joke aren't bad like usual like Mr. Lancer constantly having to try to stop the students from flooding Ember. But her song's actually the weakest part of the episode for me; while there's some personal bias there as I like to hear full villain songs, even for what it is it was just decent but nothing I found special.
7/10 Teacher of the Year- This was on the slightly to fairly good end, with an occasional great aspect. I loved seeing Mr. Lancer be more stern, yet not a bully, with Danny about making him pass a test. Danny is also well-written and learns a good lesson about hard work. This episode has a good twist about how instead of having to manage schoolwork and avoid playing too many video games, Danny has to juggle both his schoolwork and his video games. There are two bad moments, though, when Tucker is uncharacteristically stupid about giving Technus critical information and when Jack smashes Danny's phone beyond repair but you're supposed to see it as funny when on a personal level it isn't. There's also a twist about Sam that's predictable, although I didn't see it coming, so there's that I guess.
8/10 13- This was easily far from an unlucky episode to watch. Johnny 13 and Shadow are two cool new characters to watch, with Johnny's cool persona and not being totally evil like some of the other ghosts, having partly unselfish intentions but going about it selfishly, and Shadow's cool powers and dark, spooky colors make them both a ton of fun. Tucker's character arc about learning from Sam to be himself and be more confident is amazingly done as well and he becomes more competently handling things unlike in What You Want. The action scenes are a lot of fun here. Danny is in character and likable but the plot about him trying to protect Jazz from Johnny is easily the weakest and only weak part of the episode, as sometimes it feels like Danny is portrayed as a brat for not wanting Jazz to fall for Johnny, and Jazz is a bit clueless here when usually she's pretty smart.
6/10 Public Enemies- This episode has some good parts including its good action sequences, Wulf being a cute character and it being satisfying to see Danny, Tucker, and Sam helping them, and them being in character although not at their most interesting. However, this episode is way too fast-paced with Walkker wanting to take over the world, Jack wanting to set up a group based on dealing with ghosts, and the aforementioned Wulf subplot being jammed into one but each of these don't get enough development. Even the good action sequences feel like the swallow up it having much great storytelling. The mayor feels like just your average mayor stereotype, although
him being possessed and dragging Danny away to make it look like Danny is kidnapping him
1/10 Fright Night- When I finished Public Enemies I was hoping for the next episode to be more based on having a good story. While this episode looks like it is going to at first, it has serious problems to the point of being not even mediocre but outright bad. In this episode Danny is completely out of character, having no problem going into the ghost world to steal Fright Knight's sword even with the danger it could cause everyone, when beforehand while he's shown to have reckless and impatient moments he isn't completely idiotic, and beforehand does no work to come up with something creative for the project he's facing off against Dash on, like he learned nothing about the moral of at least making an attempt in Teacher of the Year. Dash actually is interesting in this episode considering how much work he puts into his ghost exhibit, the problem being that the bully is much more likable and consistently well-written than who you're supposed to side with because the latter is ridiculously badly written. Fright Knight has a cool voice, but ends up coming across as just an average evil knight, and personally I would have preferred if his sword showing the characters' greatest fears weren't played for humor either. The ending and Mr. Lancer's characterization especially in it are horrible too, as
when Danny admits he cut corners Mr. Lancer says "fortunately for you, I don't care" and then punishes Danny for something that isn't even his fault, just because Danny's parents accidentally sprayed him with water.
8/10 Lucky In Love- This was a fun episode as it was good seeing Johnny 13 and Shadow back again so soon. Kitty is more interesting in this episode than in 13 in terms of her motivations, and her possessing Paulina leads to some hilarious moments as well. Almost all of the jokes are funny in this episode in general too. I loved how Danny ended up teaming up with Johnny at the end. The only weak points of the episode is that it could be deeper, but it is so much fun that it doesn't really matter, and that Tucker dating Star isn't that funny.
4/10 Life Lessons- This episode is an interesting case as while it's the final episode in my bottom three for Season 1, it actually does have really interesting moments like the flour bag plot and Valerie and Danny teaming up against Skulker. The biggest things that ruin the episode however are Valerie and the moral. Valerie is a complete jerk to Danny here as in the beginning she tries to bully him into doing almost all of the work in their group project, without ever apologizing once to him. The way Danny has to apologize for every part of getting mad at Valerie makes it feel like the episode dismisses Danny's valid concerns to Valerie that she was being lazy, so the moral effectively becomes "don't tell your teammates that they're being lazy because it could make them feel bad". So any good parts of the episode still aren't enough to save it.
5/10 The Million Dollar Ghost- There really is not much strong either way in this episode. Danny really is likable here and supportive to his dad, and Jack's big moment at the end is really satisfying. There's an occasional chuckle here and there, and it's not a line-crossingly bad episode. Other than that there really is not much to talk about. Vlad feels dumbed down here, not close to as interesting as in Bitter Reunions or Maternal Instinct, and there is one mistake he makes trying to trap Danny and Jack that feels really uncharacteristically stupid for him. The episode still could be funnier too; the team hunting Danny down isn't really funny or interesting and Scaredy Cat doesn't stand out at all. Definitely one of Season 1's weaker episodes.
5/10 Control Freaks- This episode more than with Million Dollar Ghost has some aspects that are really, really good, and some that really, really aren't. Freakshow is a good villain as his anti-comedic and cold clown personality add more suspense to the episode. Red-Eyed Danny's more meanly efficient behavior as interesting contrast to normal Danny is acted well by David Kaufman. It is easy to root for Tucker and Sam try to bring Danny back to normal as both of them are likable here. However, the three things that keep it from being good outright are that I can't stand Sam's parents and they don't have to apologize for how they act here or go through an arc, how Danny permanently gets out of his hypnosis from Freakshow is horribly done, and one running gag ends up being mean-spirited and not funny at all at the end, that being
The gag about Mr. Lancer being trapped in the janitor's room, made distasteful when the janitor opens up the door, and then knowingly traps Mr. Lancer back in for the weekend. You know, like… killing him due to lack of oxygen by any logical means? I get that it's a cartoon but it still feels in poor taste, especially when I watched this episode so close to learning about DL-6 in Turnabout Goodbyes even though suffocation had a different role there.
Season 2
6/10 Reign Storm- While a bit better than the last three episodes, that still could be saying much more. Vlad is back in character and menacing again instead of boring, and each of the other returning characters are in character except for Sam who is unreasonable about being snippy with Danny just for dealing with Dash. The utilization of the returning ghosts is really good and much better than in Prisoners of Love, despite this being some ways weaker in almost every other aspect. The fight scene at the end where Danny needs to watch his power level is a lot of fun. This episode is entertaining to a good enough extent and moments of heart, albeit every now and then, are there. I felt mixed about Valerie and Danny starting to go out in this episode; Valerie is written better in this episode than Life Lessons except for being a sucker towards Vlad with likable moments, but still not enough to fully regain respect from that episode at least as of right now, and make me not feel like Danny deserves a better girl (but again Sam isn't written great either here). The two other major flaws aside from Sam chastising Danny for dealing with Dash are
when it looks like Danny's town is about to fall under attack by Pariah but it turns out everything ends up not in danger
7/10 Doctor's Disorders- This was a fun episode with it being one of the funnier, maybe even funniest episodes of the show. The ghost disease is creative with a lot of highly entertaining uses. Though I wish Penelope Spectra was utilized better, as she is underused and there is one scene where she feels uncharacteristically naive towards how Danny could thwart her. That being
the Danny pulling the handkerchief out of his pocket part
7/10 Identity Crisis- This was a good enough episode. I like the arc for Danny I found to be about not sacrificing oneself in unnecessary ways. I also like Sam here; she is supportive about trying to make sure Danny is true to himself. Technus has a better role here than Spectra did in the last episode as he shows up more and has some of the episode's funny jokes. David Kaufman hamming it up as Super Danny is hilarious and I loved every second of Super Danny. The episode does have flaws, though. The humor is still a bit more hit and miss than Doctor's Disorders, despite having better villain utilization as I mentioned and slightly more depth. One joke about sniffing Tucker's hat isn't funny, and occasionally Fun Danny does become a bit much, despite not quite being the worst as some of his interactions with Super Danny are good. The ending is satisfying, but I won't spoil it.
6/10 Pirate Radio- This episode wasn't bad, though it falls a bit short of being one of the better episodes of the show. Youngblood is a fun villain in terms of his childlike antagonistic personality being funny, and his running gag is good. I like his parrot too. Although it still is not one of the show's funniest episodes, being more clever than funny most of the time. For example the gags about Tucker and Sam wanting to party without Danny's permission aren't as funny as they could be. But as mentioned it is clever; I like how they unravel the secret of the hypnotic music for example. Ember's back and could be more interesting, but she was never one of my favorite Danny Phantom characters. Seeing Danny being really confident and charismatic when rallying the other kids is extremely satisfying. Danny's army fighting Youngblood's forces on the ship is a lot of fun too. The worst part of the episode is the ending, though. Danny gets grounded for helping save everyone from Youngblood, which while not quite as bad as the ending of Fright Night because it could have been avoided if Danny admitted he was a ghost, is still unsatisfying and unsatisfactory as he's grounded for throwing the party too when Tucker and Sam did that, especially since you don't see them fess up to Danny's parents about it either.
3/10 The Fenton Menace- Ooh boy, this episode. I didn't like it at all, and it manages to be worse than two out of three of the episodes in by bottom three for Season 1. Might as well start with the good, because there's… a lot in the opposite category.
Jazz's speech at the beginning of the episode makes it seem like it could be thought-provoking and having a bigger thought-provoking feel when the episode itself actually doesn't go the direction of either characteristic. Mostly each of the characters except for Jazz, and at the end Danny, are in character and not horribly written (Tucker, Sam, Mr. Lancer, Jack, and Maddie, and Youngblood despite his running gag being extremely annoying) and it still takes until the third act for Danny's characterization to drop noticeably. The bathroom scene has two really funny jokes, one being what Jazz says that triggers Danny to go into the bathroom, and the second being Mr. Lancer's comment when Danny is fighting Youngblood in the bathroom. There's also one actually really good line from Sam towards Jazz about not being bossy I won't spoil (the episode looks like it's actually going to be good at the beginning, if only it actually was!) The very end isn't as distasteful as the very end of Fright Night, as there is a decent action scene, and then you do see Jazz say she respects Danny, and this episode is also not as bad as that episode because at least neither of the out-of-character characters put the life of an entire town in danger.
Now for the bad. Probably the biggest problem is that I really do not care for Jazz in this episode. Basically all she does here is gaslight Danny about him seeing invisible Youngblood when he makes a move to try to fight him, insisting that Danny was just seeing things and was delusional, despite having already learned before that sometimes Danny sees things that other members of the family don't see. Even considering Jazz's tendency to think she is more right than others, how she acts in this episode is really off and I perceived it as out of character; the subtlety of her conflicts in Prisoners of Love and My Brother's Keeper that still don't turn her into a brat, which is refreshing for a fictional older sister, are nowhere to be found here as all she is here is a one-dimensional annoying older sister stereotype. Her constantly insisting she knew why Danny is seeing Youngblood is like she learned nothing about not always being right from Prisoners of Love. Another problem that's consistently obnoxious about this episode is the markedly more mean-spirited and less funny feel of the episode and its humor. Now one could argue this kind of blends in with the Jazz writing problem, as there's one extremely constant and thus constantly annoying running gag about Youngblood pranking Danny when invisible that's executed in a way that feels cruel instead of funny each time, but especially because Danny gets all the intensity of it, as it sets off Jazz needling Danny about thinking he didn't see anything more. But even then aside from the bathroom scene at the beginning being really funny even the… good might be a strong word, but better jokes in the episode feel through the motions for the show. For example Tucker's alibi machine has some tolerable humor unlike the mean-spirited humor Danny gets, but even then it feels similar to the "spray was useful after all" shenanigans in Doctor's Disorders, and still is just partly fart jokes. Next, back to the sibling conflict feeling inauthentic and not subtle. By the climax especially it feels like it's just "siblings being jerks to each other" humor back and forth between Danny and Jazz, like the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode Oh, Brother except not funny, but there's one scene especially, that being how Danny forces Jazz to be able to see Youngblood, that really is too nasty and too mean-spirited for Danny, even considering what Jazz puts him through in this episode. Of course instead of doing something funny humiliating Jazz to bring out the child in her it has to have been
Danny being that much of a bully to Jazz about her personal property (even admittedly after him making some other also not funny attempts to make Jazz a child)
8/10 The Fright Before Christmas- This was a pretty good episode. All of the rhyming was inventive and funny, and integrated well into the plot. Ghost Writer is a really interesting, colorful (and not colorful) villain with his introverted, calculated prankster personality, and the episode does a good job not letting him off the hook just because he was wronged by Danny. On the topic of Danny, he learns a good lesson about learning to tolerate what brings other people cheer even though he dislikes it. Yet on the other side, there's one really great scene with Jazz where she says she doesn't blame Danny for hating Christmas with his parents, feeling for me like having the three-dimensionality she didn't have in the previous episode. The villains are also integrated well into this episode and about each of them show their characterization in a shining way.
The episode's two weak points, while this section is longer it actually doesn't mean they overshadow the positives, just that they're complicated, are that I don't think Danny owed his family an apology for being silently grumpy because of Christmas, though this is not as bad as in Life Lessons as it's portrayed more as guilt here instead of the main part of hating Christmas he needed to apologize for, which was being intolerant of others' cheer in the form of taking back apologizing for destroying Ghost Writer's book after finding out it was Christmas. This is the second weak point; Danny comes across as pretty bossy for being unapologetic for destroying the book. Like I know it's not out of malice considering you were sorry until you found out it was about Christmas, and you think you're doing the Ghost Writer a favor because you see Christmas as evil, but even then your writing seems a bit weak here. But at least Danny has to apologize this time unlike with last episode, and I still link it to his arc about learning not to be bossy sometimes. Because of this, I still don't see this episode overall as a misstep in Danny's characterization, and his writing in the rest of the episode is really good.
8/10 Micro-Management- I liked this episode a lot. The theme of gaining strength even without powers is really well-done as it's great to see Dash, and also Danny work to stop Skulker even with only normal abilities, with great character building for both of them. Danny is written amazingly here; he's confident just like usual, but he also is patient with Dash about what to do next, and even Dash is likable and funny. The humor in terms of how they navigate around when so small is really funny too. I also enjoyed the subplot with how Sam gets Tucker in shape, her handling of that was cool. Even the ending being slightly
bittersweet as their results are still shown not to be anything special
5/10 Memory Blank- This episode was aggressively okay, with a flaw for every good thing about it. Sam's characterization here is amazing, with her having the perfect combination of competence in tough situations, being a good friend, and growth of learning weird is okay. Desiree is still fun in this episode, and any of the other characters here are in character with two exceptions, but they're pretty marked. I really didn't care for Danny in this episode, as he comes across as uncharacteristically stupid about instantly blaming Sam for the ghosts appearing especially considering he does it so constantly, and is unappreciative about any good thing Sam does. The only exception to this is him realizing his mistake right after Sam says she wished she never met him, but that is far from enough. I also find Tucker to be annoying in this episode, especially since he thinks Sam intentionally caused the ghosts too. The humor isn't all bad as there aren't exactly any unfunny moments like there were in The Fenton Menace, with some good jokes surrounding Paulina, actually, as well as
Danny relearning his powers,
the Mystery Meat callback and Danny being less respectful of girls due to not having Sam's influence.
10/10 The Ultimate Enemy- An amazing episode. Its darker tone works perfectly as you see how horrible Danny becomes when fate punishes him for cheating. Jazz finding out Danny plans to cheat has some frightening resonance with other instances similar, like finding out family members are becoming addicted, and one really feels for her. Dark Danny is an amazing mix of competence, remorselessness, both physical and emotional sadism, and a sheer lack of empathy that make it exhilarating to root against him, and the crown jewel of this episode. Although, Clockwork's confident, outside-the-box attitude to gradually saving Danny make him a great character too, and the entire plot of proving to the Observants that they saw things too narrowly is amazing. Every second of Danny and Jazz doing everything they can in their power to work against the clock and thwart Dark Danny leads to incredible suspense. Future Vlad is an astonishing contrast to normal Vlad as he actually feels remorse for his actions in that future, and even ends up not being one of the notable antagonists. Especially the fact that not even Vlad was evil enough to want what happened, even in the present right after the incident, ups the feeling of dread. Yet the ending has an amazing heart and feeling of victory, and really does feel like it wraps up the show up to its point.
This episode is not perfect. It would have been better in my opinion if
Danny cheating on the test more directly led to his loved ones' deaths, like
if Danny not knowing something critical he needed to know on the career aptitude test led to others' deaths.
6/10 Secret Weapons- Neither on the marked lower end of the show or as good as it could have been, Secret Weapons has a lot to be fond of about it but has one critical flaw that stops it from being one of the better episodes. Danny's writing is excellent here, showing a three-dimensional mixture of good heart, confidence, and his usual blunt nature. Jazz is much better written in this episode than in the season's first episode centered around her and she comes across as legitimately well-intentioned instead of a one-dimensional stereotype. Her conflict about wanting to help but it having hindering effects had some personal resonance as I've been in her situation before, and it, mostly, makes her easy enough to sympathize with. This episode understands the line about making most of her actions annoying to Danny but funny to the viewer where The Fenton Menace failed to, as the comedy of her failing to fight ghosts and her nicknames for the ghosts are funny. It also is quite an an enjoyable experience with some suspense to see her snoop on Vlad and uncover his power-hungry plan, and while it is done a smidgen similar to Maddie's shtick in Maternal Instinct, the spying aspect gives it enough to stand on its own, showing a competent and rootable side to Jazz. It would have been better if one saw Jazz's pain due to Danny snapping at her somewhere in this montage, however so it didn't seem like it vanished. Tucker and Sam are also fun in this episode, with Tucker having a fun running gag of thinking Danny being trapped in the thermos was funny and regretting it and Sam getting another moment of being kind but firm towards Jazz. Vlad is true to character here as well, maintaining his tactical (except at managing being perverted towards Maddie) nature and being an intimidating large ham to watch but still having funny moments (such as his "absolutely" remark). On topic, the episode in general is very funny, such as the checkers fakeout joke with Jack and Maddie and Danny's reaction to Jazz's overconfidence about hunting three ghosts in the car. The slower moments, like Danny being informed Jazz went missing and the ending, as well as the good continuity from The Ultimate Enemy, really give the viewer a feeling of being immersed in the episode, and the episode a feeling of being immersed in the show. The fight scene between Danny and Jazz also has some fun physical combat moves and some technically impressive angles. That being said, this episode has two problems, and I'll get to the smaller first, that being I don't see how it was that hard to get Danny out of the Fenton Thermos to the point of him being trapped in there that long. Or did Jazz just forget to or not care? That part isn't explained well. But the much worse crack in an episode that would have otherwise been great is how the episode handles Danny apologizing to Jazz for erupting at her earlier on, for hacking into his computer. He is entirely unassertive here and does not include telling Jazz to not do it again or asking her to apologize, and Jazz causes him to by saying "this is for humiliating me in front of the entire school!" Where while Danny still went too far even considering Jazz's actions, it comes across as Jazz not realizing the extent to which she misfired. While this is not as ruining towards the episode as with Life Lessons, because Jazz realizes she made a mistake at the end of the episode, this really dampens the episode like rain. A matter that is too bad because it would have been one of my favorite episodes of the show otherwise.
7/10 Flirting With Disaster- This is another episode where some parts of it really work and a couple other parts of it really don't. Valerie regains respect lost in Life Lessons, being hardworking and well-intentioned, and funny occasionally. Her conflict of wanting to feel trusted is easy to sympathize with. Both of the fight scenes are enjoyable, though the first is much better because Technus has much more of a presence with foreboding dialogue and it feels more... I'm not sure if gritty is the right word, but real because one sees all the positions and attacks the possessed suit tries at. The second fight scene is fun but weaker because there is not as much in it and it cuts back in forth between the space area and the (still fun) attacks Technus tries on everyone. MOST of the jokes are funny, with Tucker getting some funny commentary on Danny's and Valerie's crushes on each other, and how Technus draws Danny and Valerie together is fun as well. On that topic, I love how Technus is written in this episode. He is much more tactical and smart, and more sinister than in previous episodes, with intimidating dialogue and a smart strategy about using Danny's and Valerie's emotions to benefit his plan. He certainly learned some about being smarter about his evil plans from Identity Crisis, even not announcing them to other characters when necessary. The episode has good pacing and a feeling of buildup, and not much of it feels like filler. How Danny's and Valerie's parents initiate talking to them about their crushes on each other is good-hearted and makes for a funny running gag between the two conversations. The scene where
Valerie breaks up with Danny
after Danny is really distraught due to breaking up with Valerie, Sam disparages him as clueless (over the running gag of her not understanding what the ring says), and skips off grinning, which really is Sam's low point of the show. It's made worse by that Danny is completely unassertive once again and doesn't warn to end their friendship right then if she doesn't apologize for the potshot.
9/10 Beauty Marked- Despite its premise not seeming interesting when I heard about it (partly because admittedly I misheard it as Sam being mean to Danny to get him to sign up), this ended up becoming one of my favorite episodes of Danny Phantom.
That the least interesting antagonist of Season 1, Dora, becomes one of the show's most interesting characters is delightful. I like her dramatic diva personality, and her interactions with Sam all around. As her obsessive-compulsive desire to follow the rules on beauty tradition contrasts harshly with Sam's individualistic nature, such as the funny moments in the preparation for the beauty contest. Her snips at other characters are quite funny, as well, such as toward Tucker at the beginning. She ends up being a redeemed antagonist and it is really genuinely done, giving her both an understandable motive why she did wrong and making it satisfying to see her do right, when some cartoons don't execute that well. Her dragon role in the fight scene is also epic, where one sees her give her big speech.
Sam is at her unquestionable best out of the entire series so far in this episode. Her desire to enter the beauty contest solely to one-up what she sees as bad tradition is a fascinating one, and how she handles her success at the end is really fun. How on top of everything she was in Memory Blank returns in full form, and an enchantment to watch. Every situation she gets in she has a funny, inventive, and sometimes thought-provoking plan to manage. Her passion in talking to Dora is outright exciting to watch. She challenges Dora's views, forcefully goes against them when necessary, but at the climax treats her like no one else ever has: a person. The whole time Sam is able to get what she wants just by staying true to herself and giving the honesty out. Plus she has some really funny moments like how she makes sure she is unappealing to Aragon.
The episode also intertwines arguably two of the show's best morals, one of them maybe even being the best. The first moral is that tradition is not always good. This is executed through that the sexism of the tradition in Dora's medieval world turned her into having no inspiration to do her own will, due to Aragon using it as a crutch for his bigoted beliefs. The episode has a great payoff that, as mentioned, once Dora starts going against what is considered "normal" which is following Aragon's rules, things start to look up for her immensely. The second covers a more gutsy topic, that standing up against abuse and fighting against the abuser is always the right fight. There is haunting realism in that Dora for so long thinks she's happy with her demeaning situation solely because Aragon convinced her she should be. In fact, Aragon's tactics are impressively accurate to real-life abusers for a kids' show, where he withholds being more toxic than he already is, as long as Dora does exactly what he wants. As sometimes one is not aware of how miserable an abusive relationship makes them until they are able to think about it more deeply. Sam's response to Dora when Dora insists she wants a "happily ever after" by continuing her current path leads to a moment that really hit personal levels with me.
The episode is also pretty funny. Again, I like the jokes about tradition, some of them being how it impacts perception of beauty, such as the glass slipper logic, Mr. Lancer singing, and the ending about the veggie burger. Even though the "Danny becomes very popular" theme is back from Lucky in Love, the running gag about the blatant ways the girls constantly try to win points with Danny still makes this version of it stand on its own. Tucker's outside the box method of using technology to defeat his enemies makes for some lively moments.
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