The first nine episodes of Danny Phantom are generally regarded by fans as the "Magnificent Nine". Forgive me for playing devil’s advocate, but I declare it more as the "Magnificent Eight" because this episode is anything but what its chosen nickname implies.
I can get pass the mandatory Aesop; it’s the fifth episode in a children’s show that, with a school setting, practically begs for a bully plot. As a growing fourteen-year-old who tires of being the victim, Danny takes advantage of his powers and violently smacks, pushes, and throws things at his deserving enemies despite the grave consequences and horrifying potential harm that could befall them. Despite that brief power abuse in "Parental Bonding", this episode triggers and starts Danny’s dark arc path and if we have to suffer through a mandatory "bullying is bad" story to get to the excellent "The Ultimate Enemy", fine by me. It’s not Heathers, but its damn close.
Enter Sidney. He started off as an exciting character: a background that states who he is and what his problem is, and a goal that he sticks by. Unfortunately once the first half is over and he and Danny switch bodies, Sidney’s motivation is quickly shut down in favor of a "I'm so popular, I forgot my own morals" plot that already worked its way in last episode. Suddenly these jocks and cheerleaders that he despised so much become his bestest buddies in the whole wide world. Not one of his bullying subjects is brought up until the last minute when he is forced to do battle with Danny; so his reward doesn’t feel justified when the episode didn’t give us the time we need to feel pity for him. It’s almost as if he got away scot-free.
His power levels are severely inconsistent. He opens numerous lockers, torments several rooms in Casper High, shoots eye beams, forces Danny’s ghostly body out, and send auras of telekinesis with ease, but the moment he becomes the "halfa", he’s weak, incompetent, and unable to get in a single punch. In the mortal world, this didn’t make any sense, but I theorize that his powers are useless in "his" world and Sidney ends up vulnerable there. Perhaps a lifelong grudge ironically conjured up his own little Purgatory and/or Hell that proceeded to torment him in the Afterlife. He doesn’t use his ghost powers and Danny in Sidney’s body couldn’t either—only affective from the borders beyond it. Sidney gets out in later episodes, though I can hazard a guess that he had "broken the curse" by "beating up Danny" and wining approval from his classmates.
Unfortunately the episode’s disasters don’t end there. Minor little inconsistencies that wouldn’t have matter ended up bugging me big time. Everything from the way Danny (Sidney) is angled to retrieve the soda or that blatant phase in front of public eyes is just careless. Danny crying in angst that he didn’t get to relieve his popular days is an insult to what he learned last episode, and they don’t stop there!
Sam plays a questionable role here. She spends the majority of the episode bitching about Danny’s power abuse (which I agree amicably with her, BTW), yet she herself isn’t prone from good scout thinking. For the sake of frogkinds everywhere, Sam willingly steals the creatures despite its approved school-issued mark and she takes advantage of Danny’s popularity to push her own agenda—what's going to happen by the end of the series? Is she keenly going to take Danny's fame and use him to push her causes? There are also a couple of times where she seems strictly concerned with the frogs then Danny; though I'll admit she is determined. Though she was successful, I felt she was getting away with murder while Danny got dumped on.
There could be a pathological difference. While Danny did it as selfish karmic revenge, Sam’s goals are for the benefit of the world and she feels what she is doing is a good thing. Sometimes a little questionable action must be administrated in order for the greater good. But I can't and won't cut her any slack anymore then Danny, especially when there are third options or such and such. Though Sam was kind enough to stage a protest at the beginning, Sam’s wanton behavior was the "wrong" way to handle her concerns and Lancer’s little statement at the end had me cackling a little grin. I don't know, maybe I just believe in a different system of doing things or maybe I don't like pushy people. *shrugs* The concept is jarring, but it can subtly work as a compare and contrast between Danny and Sam’s actions.
Animation takes a step back, characters look slightly weird (mostly their faces) and there’s some weird colorings. It’s not "One of A Kind" bad, but the background hues were just plain. The only good thing we got out of this entire damn episode is Danny in a pink dress. Who is he trying to kid?
3/10
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Article written revised in: Jun. 19, 2009
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