There’s a lot of psychological examinations I can make of Danny. Since I'm neither an expert nor amateur of psychology, I'm gonna have to do this the anal-fan way. While the episode is simple in premise, it dives deep into the core of Danny’s character. Marty Isenberg literally split him in two and in return, we’re given a look at how the turning cogs of both Fenton and Phantom's mind work.
Fun Danny is the pinnacle of frat boys everywhere: crass, blunt, lazy, and destructive. He cares little for authority figures, he plays all night without a hint of care of the danger surrounding him, and his manners are disgusting to say the least. He very much represents Season One Danny without the courtesy and shyness. He waltzes around with as much attitude and carelessness that his past self exhibited, but being pure slacker, he takes it to another degree that he desires to go bowling while Technus continuously absorbs energy in his presence. He’s behaving in the manner Danny once did in “Fright Night” and if anything, it serves to announce to the viewers that this is one of the final moments of Danny's adolescent. Baring some hiccups in mind, Season Two onwards treads the path to his maturity. Unfortunately his physical attraction and personality leaves much to be desired. His surfer accent, the backwards cap, and his abusive use of the word “dude” and at one point “Par-tay” had me cringing in shame. I know the writers are beyond the time period of today’s youth, but this is inexcusable. I may slowly be turning into an old fogie myself, but teenagers do not talk like that. Super Danny may mock the superhero genre of it's time, but Fun Danny's attempts were more to define how a youthful slacker's mind works then comically injecting the outlandish routes his better half succeeds with. The results had me rolling my eyes in disbelief and ridicule.
Super Danny regales in his heroic role and is the real treat of this episode. When trouble is a-brewing, he comes to the call with little hesitation. Day and night, he rights wrong with no sense of depravity and as much enthusiasm as Superman on a good day. Even when overshadowing Fenton, Super Danny takes his cleaning duties seriously, he dutifully obeys his parents, and concerns over Fun Danny’s lazy attempt to play as his own personal half. In short, it’s a much foreshadowed look at Season Three Danny with added pomp and circumstances. A complete parody and satire of the superhero genre of yesteryear, he boldly flies to danger with nary a hesitation or emotional angst; his ego is one-dimensional. He flexes his muscles and pulls off a confident grin as stars, shining lights, or an American Flag emphasizes his engaging poses. He shouts off deviously stupid catchphrases/insults and wears it with the most dramatic of all voices, and his bed sheet cape and hair bellows in imaginary wind to announce his superiority. He's meant to be ridiculous and outrageous as possible. For all intents and purposes, it succeeds. The mundane life of a superhero is equally entertaining and sidesplitting because it’s specifically meant to be ludicrous.
It makes sense Full Danny is stuck between the crossroads of maturity and the childish world he once inhabited prior to the accident in Season One. He’s caught choosing one from another and slowly cannot grasp the frustrations of double duties just yet. With the city now enamored by their spiritual savior, Danny has his work cut out for him as people come to rely on him as their hero. From his solved problems of awkwardly handling most of his ghostly powers and avoiding angry citizens, he now struggles with an entire new line of complexities that Super Danny would scoff at. It ultimately culminates into a much grown Danny by series end. Season Two has always been the meat of the series, exploring the characters much fully then Season One’s beginning and Season Three’s near Flanderization. “Identity Crisis” is a pivotal example. The two Dannys eventually work together, but their multitasking was rushed and cheap by the very end. Neither combining their powers or thinking of a brilliant plot to defeat Technus; they merely grab him and stuff him inside a Thermos. Thankfully, they work and contrast with one another for the duration of the episode prior, so it kind of pans out.
The Fenton Ghostcatcher’s usage is intriguing. While I’m not fond of the “Merge” and “Separate” sides that wasn’t prominent in it’s last appearance, the machine gives raise to Danny’s duplicatity and his mind. We know it expunges all things ghostly, but instead of Danny Phantom merely just leaving his human body, he becomes two. “What You Want” briefly showed that the two each possess their own mind. When they split there, they were in shock with the Phantom portion returning to him to reunite. It didn’t make sense then because he would have possessed Fenton instead of returning, an issue “Identity Crisis” states when it clearly shows the ghostly DNA splitting from it’s human counterpart. Plothole aside, Phantom has integrated into Fenton so much that he is now his own person somehow. Because Fun and Super Danny are the results of one full Danny wishing to balance his unwanted schedule, Super Danny took in Danny’s original mind to save the world while his lazier half tread the way of junk food and bowling. Latter episode “The Ultimate Enemy” gives an ambiguous look at this as well; there Danny's ghost self possessed Vlad Plasmius and killed his human half in a theorized combination of anger, guilt, and pain for and from his Fenton counterpart (for more info, check out my TUE Q & A).
The other concern is the offhand question on why when under the Ghostcatcher again does the two Dannys receive half their own powers. Could it because Super Danny, absolutely nothing but a ghost bounced off some of his given abilities to the nearest object, Fun Danny, to create that balance instead of disappearing into nothingness? The Ghostcatcher merely removes the ghostly obstacle, it does not destroy the victims; they have to go somewhere when used on the "Separate" angle. Danny Fenton is compatible with ghostly matters that only he could stand the blast of the ghost portal and not die (as I theorized in my "Memory Blank" review), so him receiving any portions of his own powers doesn't affect him negatively. I’m not sure if there’s a logical scientific reason for this (Even if there was, my science only extends to Magic School Bus episodes), so I’m theorizing this as much as I’m probably hand waving it.
Technus' last role in "Teacher of the Year" was lackluster at best, his attempts determined, but boringly executed. Taking a step up, he lays greater havoc then his previous outings and with it, a changed look; a physical upgrade that is rare in the DP world that I welcome it with open arms, and a far more sinister personality and outlook. He only gets better from this point on, even if he only makes one last major appearance. Ahhh, he makes up for it by being awesome.
Aside from several awkward moments with an off-model Jazz, the animation is great, especially the Fenton Ghostcatcher which it’s simple switch from brown to green feathers since it's last debut make it much more visually appealing. I was impressed the animators were able to keep an eye on which Danny is which by the last act when they’re all but the same, and their take on Danny's mutant-like duplication is a small masterpiece on it's own. Various stores and items share many of the writer, animators, and director’s names; a fun feat for fans, and the brief split screen between Fun and Super Danny was an innovative treat. The last portions are the crème of the crop as the dazzling array of purples, pinks, and blues mix for an engaging pallet of colors. The ending shot is breathtaking, played in perfect conjunction with Guy Moon’s soft, relaxing music. Whenever Danny Phantom inputs a rare, serious ending amongst all the comedy-entrapped ones, it’s usually their very best because they're often rare and sentiment.
8.5/10
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Article written in: Jul. 24, 2008
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