They don’t make 'em like they used to. Danny Phantom has never been subtle or particularly emotional. If something life-changing occurs, characters will often joke about it as much as react in shock. For the most part, they somehow still managed to balance it fairly by presenting a deeper, darker plot moment, but keeping it light for the little tykes. However, one of the major problems this show has is its use of humor. No matter how desperate the situation is or how big the baddie gets, the characters will make a stupid joke that’ll ruin its emotional value.
"My Brothers Keeper" is a rare exception.
I’ve said it before, "Bitter Reunions" is the precursor for greater things to come, but "My Brother’s Keeper" is when the show finally nailed it. Starting from episode seven and on, events and character moments pick up after six episodes of introduction and setup, "MBK" is the final resting for the beginners and the story heats up from here on.
This episode spares no expenses preparing and utilizing its emotions between two scarce sibling bonds. There have been plenty of moments of Jazz’s interaction with her family. She is indifferent to her parents’ work and refuses to be a part of it, instead choosing to evaluate it and work for a cure. But for Danny, he was this helpless little boy who was stuck between a troubled social life and demented parents as his root moral examples. She took it upon herself to play substitute parents and the results have been mixed. By this episode, it’s become hostile and seems almost on the brink of permanent separation between the two. Any conversation they shared on screen mostly consisted of indifference (mostly from Danny’s end), deviating opinions, or in rare times, their fear of Jack and Maddie embarrassing them. Having (mis)heard his sister call him a "baby" and "loser" was the final straw.
Jazz is the complete opposite of Danny. He’s emotional, mopey (for this episode), naïve (but with moments of cleverness and thinking on the spot when he’s forced to), unpopular, and underachieving. Jazz is intelligent, capable, confident, and optimistic. She continuously loses her chance to deter her parents away from ghosts, been proven wrong, and shot down repeatedly by Danny, but her sour mood is only temporary. She will never give up if someone out there needs help. Though this is a positive reinforcement, this is only a beginning step for her. Jazz is, if not anything, egotistical in the most kindest way and she assumes she knows what is best. She pokes and probes her brother because she think it’s helpful, but though she confesses she can be a pushy know-it-all, that’s merely stated to reassure and get Danny to open up to her. Her concerns are valid and though her endurance eventually rubs off on Danny, it’s a personality trait she has to get over and eventually will be called out on. She shows a small sign when she changes her mind and decides to leave Danny alone in confidence, realizing that damn, this brother of mine isn’t as weak as she initially pictured. For now, what we see is merely the start of her character development.
Danny’s development is a bit more subtle than Jazz’s. He whines throughout the episode due to his failure to use his powers correctly, but for good reasons. For the past eight episodes, Danny has been struggling to use his abilities and made several mistakes over the course of his growth. By "MBK", this has taken a severe toll on him and it doesn’t help that he has two people egging him on: Bertrand who uses straightforward insults and teases to put him down and Jazz who constantly brings it up, further rubbing the salt on the wound. Like any normal teenager, he brushes off and rebels against any authoritative figure and tries to take over this matter himself or at least avoid it as much as possible. Naturally, this comes to haunt him (sorry, another bad pun) later on when Spectra forces him to submit to his worse fear: rejection for being a freak. This is an amazing parallel to Vlad’s fear and raises another point in their similarities. Eventually, Danny manage to gain a revelation when Jazz calmly eases herself onto him. Her taking down Spectra made him realize Jazz isn’t the necessary evil he points her out to be and that there's more to her then he initially assumed. Both of them learned their lessons with dignity and are all the better for it.
Spectra is a magnificent villain: vain, manipulative, creepy, and dangerous. If she and Vlad met, the two of them would have a field day trying to ruin Danny, and then destroy each other. I’m disappointed the show never actually let the two mindbenders compliment and work with or against each other—the results would have been maddening. Spectra has one thing above Vlad that puts her straight in the demented category: her eternal happiness. Spectra is a cheerful bag of nuts and her cutesy delightful reaction to ruining people’s confidence and eventually killing them off is borderline insanity at its finest. She bends to no rule but her own. When she’s smiling, you’re in trouble. When she’s grinning, you’re dead. I have less opinion on Bertrand except I love that the two work together. This isn’t a typical "leader abuses the sidekick" villainy, Spectra and Bertrand are equals and they treat each other as such. They’re clearly best friends, which makes it all the more erroneous and annoying when she casts him aside like a paper bag. Also, I think he’s very, very gay, which feels me with glee because he doesn’t look like the stereotypical gay man (unlike Ms. Tetslaff butch appearance to compliment her possible Lesbianism). That or he just enjoys making flamboyant poses.
I only wished the animation was better. Overall, there’s nothing wrong with it and everything moves smoothly, but it lacks the vibrant tones of "What You Want". Some of the characters' faces are horribly off-model, especially Jazz who goes through the inevitable "Big Mouth Syndrome". There's also Sam who gets the same facial structure usually employed for the "rubbery animation" that starts off in the next episode.
Spectra is devastatingly beautiful and despite how simple her ghost form is, her pure black appearance is ingenious. It's a dark void of nothingness that she wants it to be something through vanity. Bertrand is stumpy and short which perfectly reflects his tightwad arrogance as well as complimenting his partner's height. I especially like Jazz here as she pulls off some good poses and reactions and I already mentioned the dinner scene with Danny twirling his fork in disdain. I think it’s a good use of subtly and expression without words. If only the music remained silent until it was fittingly needed. Having to hear a musical cue play every time a character even lifts a finger is not only annoying, but unnecessary for powerful moments such as these. This is not needed and it's grating Danny Phantom had to be a victim of this. Hartman, this is not Fairly Oddparents.
The flaws are minor regardless. "My Brother’s Keeper" is the most sentimental episode of the entire franchise. I’m not joking. There are a lot of emotional moments in other episodes, but it’s never effectively played as well or as sincere then here. The writers managed to resist adding in humorous moments that would counter touching scenes and only does so after the heartfelt brou-ha-ha. This isn’t permanent, but it makes this episode stand out. It’s a perfect example of the kind of sincere depths Danny Phantom CAN achieve. There are plenty of affectionate scenes scattered throughout the show when Hartman and his crew aren't peppering every sad scene with a dumbass joke, but neither one comes to the level of near perfection that "My Brother’s Keeper" reaches.
10/10
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Article Written revised in: Jul. 3, 2010
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