“Teacher of the Year” gave a nice view on Lancer’s side outside of his Mr. Strictland mode, proving he’s more then the cynical jerk the series makes him out to be. Because the show is centered on Danny’s perspective, this is what he perceives in Lancer and thus, the audience. As a tertiary character, he’s not as well-defined and his development in “TotY” seems almost pointless if not for the small, but occasion integrations in “Fright Night” and “The Ultimate Enemy”.
“Lucky in Love” continues that grand tradition: Kwan, Star, and Paulina, secondary/tertiary characters get top billings in this episode by pitting them with Danny, Sam, and Tucker, each marginally successful in creating chemistry with the main trio. Star, upgraded from a non-speaking cameo role revolves her life around as Paulina’s number two girl (and occasionally Valerie’s best gal pal). Here, she is introduced to abuse Tucker into his personal man servant in order to make up for lost times as Paulina’s personal satellite and subsequently, her time in the "A" list. Her personality is demanding, sinister, and seemingly more vicious then Paulina (they never suspect the second bananas), all the makings of an interesting person on screen, however demanding it is, but unlike Valerie, she remains forever a tertiary character. Tucker continues his consistent butt monkey role, but he easily lets the audience know of his loyalty; making time to help Danny against Shadow even during a opportunistic date with a hot chick--one of his many uncontrollable vices.
Paulina plays main center here, tied as Danny's willing girlfriend. Her personality hasn’t changed lickety split and is still every bit the shallow teen she was prior. That doesn’t relegate the fact that she isn’t human, she, too has secret desires. Having been saved by Danny Phantom twice, she develops an enormous crush on him and has since kept it her personal goal to win his heart, ever hopeful of the day the two are together. Beyond a devilish hide, she has inner sincerity and desire. For the time, I imagine this crush to be a secret: Danny Phantom is the enemy of Amity Park and anyone associated with him surely would be on the wrong side, Paulina would never relinquish her reputation so easily.
I saved Sam and Kwan’s for last because the lowly Asian gets the biggest upgrade despite Paulina’s center spotlight. “Shades of Gray” pointed out a potential likable personality in the boy when he saw Danny’s accidental contact into Valerie as a mistake. The only reason he whaled on him was through her aggressive demands. Kwan seems to suffer from an inferior complexity and does what he is told. His role isn’t that far behind Danny’s. While he handles his low self-esteem through acts of heroism, Kwan gets his through popularity. He beats up lesser kids, is a member of the football team, and isn’t above acting shallow to reach the top. “Lucky in Love” shows his methods are only used because he needs a sense of belonging. He follows then lead and to Dash, that makes him more his lackey then best friend; all the more easy to chuck him away when Danny joins the popular bandwagon. What can Kwan do about it? His nothing but a walking doormat. He clings to Sam and peppers her with affection, willing to embrace new cliques out of desperation and longing. While Danny is in the midst of discovering himself, Kwan is trying desperately to connect with someone and if he has to stuff numerous band members, then so be it. Popularity leads to more "friends" so he'd never has to feel lonely again, but he probably feels rotten on the inside. It’s a shame he’s never given another sense of character after this, but for one episode, it’s a diamond in the rough.
Danny regales in the Casper High spotlight and thoroughly seems to enjoy it despite the lesson he learned in “Attack of the Killer Garage Sale”. I’ve never had too much of a problem with this development though, it's not as centered as the last one for one thing; He didn’t so much take advantage of the popularity as he did wooing Paulina, his crush, his dream. Sam and Tucker busied themselves with their own significant others for a fair amount of time; but he never outright abandons them, it felt more like a temporary leave of absence. Either way, Danny eventually puts his head back together by the second half upon realizing the mystery behind Paulina’s amore. He then displays a serious face and contributes to today's current disaster, fixing it even if it means sacrificing Paulina's so-called "love". At least the writers were kind to let us know Danny isn’t letting popularity swim over his head. He's desire to be a hero is successfully taking over at this point, though it's no way near perfect.
Kitty and Johnny plays main villain roles and outside of needing some serious couples twelve steps program, I wasn’t too gung-ho over their presences. It’s a tad bit interesting for the plot twist alone when Kitty reveals she’s been inside Paulina throughout the first half. That was a nice throwback, even if it did cheapen Paulina discovering Danny’s secret. I could only imagine the story and conflict she’d face debating over whether she should continue her crush on Phantom despite his human half as the “loser” Fenton.
Like the past five or so episodes, animation bounces from solid to rubbery. Thankfully the animators for the latter seem to have gotten the picture of how out of place it is as the look is less noticeable. Fortunately their actions are still fluid in motion.
8/10
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Article written revised in: May. 25, 2008
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