I’ve been giddy to review this episode for a good while now. The story is strong--delivering a worthy achievement of continuity, character development, and animation. Jazz remains a compelling character from start to finish and after 23 episodes, her quest has finally ended. A firm dedicator of normalizing her family since Day One, the redheaded bookworm was shocked to find out she possessed the Fenton genes to kick ghostly butt and enjoy it at the same time; having made it a daily part of her existence since, if not to the point of obsession much in the veins of her own father, a man whom she resembles greatly in personality then she would like to admit. Even more so when she wishes to join the reigns of Team Phantom in their scours of adventure. As Danny points out, she continues to be overbearing as she promised her younger sibling in “The Ultimate Enemy”.
Therein lies both the character expansion and the problem. She may realize Danny is no longer that insecure toddler she coddled before the events of “The Fenton Menace”, but her neurotic behavior doesn’t betray her. As the oldest, she finds a loophole around her own revelation and finds another manner to protect and help her wayward brother while trying to give him the distance he needs to combat ghosts. It doesn’t work as she unexpectedly butts in and screws up. So much so that she has sucked Danny into the Fenton Thermos no less then six times in the episode’s run. Topped with inaccurate aiming and poor mishandling of the Fenton weapons, she’s become a nuisance for Danny that the he's found another reason to square off against her. Yet it doesn’t bother me. This is Jazz’s final completion and Danny’s petty differences are not only understandable, it’s acceptable. He has no desire to shove his sister away from their growing relationship nor create the same level of animosity prior to "My Brother's Keeper", but she is butting into his private affairs in an otherwise one-man job. He, like everyone else, needs his space and respect. Her brilliant mind belittles personal matters as she gets analytical and observant; it’s not until the last minute she realizes her professional business has honed into territories best left in the closet. By end, she realizes she can remain a quieter cover-up for Danny. Her old status quo, but with a progressive bonus.
But they had to do it at the expense of her dignity. The entire episode portrayed her as a clumsy nitwit the likes of which rivals Jack to a tee. She trips, she falls, she misdirects, she does everything but portray competence. She never had much of a chance to show off her fighting abilities in past episodes and “Maternal Instincts” only showed the battle between the mutant ghost animals and Jack/Jazz off-screen, but it’s clear she knows how to work the Fenton goodies once she learns it. “My Brother’s Keeper”, “The Ultimate Enemy”, and "The Fenton Menace" emphasizes it further when she suffers no ill-loss with the Fenton Peeler, nor the RV itself, or the Fenton lipstick. Why now? Why the need to further her development through out-of-character behavior? Even her witty banters and childish manners proved too much. It may seem a bold attempt of her embracing her child side from the lesson she gained from "TFM" and it would have worked fine if the writers had only kept it within her character. It overbears too much and serves a big downside to what is otherwise one of Jazz’s finest moments. It closes her book, but not without paper cuts.
Fortunately, the story holds well with minimal flaws (Are the nanobots still inside Jazz's body). The use of past items (The Fenton Ecto-Suit, Technus’ Electro-Rod) and new (Bloodstream nanobots, Ecto Converter) flawlessly work to build a compelling tale, one where the audiences try and put two and two together to what Skulker plans to do with these individual items; a sneaky maneuver very unlike him. He’s not even exchanging insults with the "whelp"! It’s clear it’s a Vlad Masters plot with Skulker as employee (first established in “Bitter Reunions”)--after all, who else would be more elaborate? And like Jazz, he, too serves a character boost while dismantling bits of it. Thankfully, they’re not as blatant as Jazz’s, but surely Vlad would know better then to stick his head inside the bleachers (while in human form, mind you) where Danny awaits to deliver the good or to figure out the comical bad acting when he happens to be a master of emotional manipulation (no, pun not intended).
First few watches of this episode left me a bit iffy at first on Vlad’s sudden desire to win Jazz over as a daughter. Prior to that, he has held no interest and she seemed dead set last in Masters' thoughts. It took time and better knowledge of the show to realize his reasons for her acquirement. If he wants Maddie as his wife and Danny as his son, Jazz would be his daughter on the virtue that she is his beloved’s offspring. No, she is still no Danny; the one whom he potentially engrosses over the most; she has no ghost powers, but she is every bit of Maddie’s child and he vows to win her love as he hopes the others. Each of the Fentons has had their time with Vlad, it’s Jazz’s turn. And as far as Vlad’s concern, when a Fenton member wants to join in his lonely little nest, all the more better. That’s essentially one down, three more to go--with the third dead and buried. Better then none. The fact that he now received rejections by three out of four of the Fenton clan must be severely taxing the man's mental state.
The other casts flawlessly played their roles without overshadowing (yes, pun intended) the main. Tucker and Sam especially whom the writers figured they weren’t needed all out, that this is Jazz’s story--Jazz and Danny’s story and their growing love for one another. The focus is on them. And although I didn’t care much for Tucker being shoved into a locker (twice) like the butt monkey he is, I am glad he had his chance to formulate an opinion against today’s current dilemma. By Season Three, he’s going to be shoved so far from the limelight or given a maximum dialogue of maybe three sentences in order to make room for Sam. Take it for all you can get, Tuck fans.
Like the story, the animation kept most of it's pros intact. As I stated in my out-of-date Top Twenty list (which I will revise in the future--once I review ALL the episodes here), I believe “Secret Weapons” to be the crowd jewel of the DP animation (again, baring minor mistakes). From start to finish, everything here is gorgeous. Beautiful night scenery, solid colors, wonderful character models (Danny has muscles--awww, he's growing up) and vibrant tones from the blues, pinks, lavenders, and greens that just screams why DP has such a bold palette. The animators even added emphasis on character body movements--Danny’s frustrating hands, Jazz’s antics, Maddie shaking her thang--all gorgeous. The battle between Danny and Jazz is aces. George Goodchild’s emphasis on actions really show when he gets the two to combat without stillshots, but plenty of fast-paced camera angles and dynamic smack downs. The animation here is at it’s most pinnacle; I’ve never seen Danny look more radiant in bright lights then I do here. Kudos to the drawing team for also adding little scraps of metal when Danny stops Jazz (screenshot above). It doesn't just portray a rather powerful piece of the current struggle between the two (if you wanna fanwank it), but shows how minor attention to details like these are the crème de la crème and how it can really make a difference. Goodchild is probably the only consistent man whom I can tolerate come Season Three. For that, I salute you.
8.5/10
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Article written in: Oct. 5, 2008
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