It's incredible the amount of plot holes in Danny Phantom that are easily fixed if only the plot were a little darker.
Like Tucker's fear of hospitals and doctors from Doctor's Disorders, for example.
To be precise, the fact that Danny had apparently no idea that Tucker goes downright catatonic whenever he passes in front of the nurse's office as a result of his fear of anything medical related but Sam did. Especially since Danny and Tucker have known each other for as long as they've known Sam, if not longer.
If the plot were a little bit darker/more mature and didn't shy away from heavy topics like human mortality or that Danny actually died in the accident and came back to (half) life, this would all have a very simple explanation.
Danny didn't know about Tucker's fear of hospitals because it's a recent thing, while Sam does because she was there when it happened.
In other words, if you ask me, Tucker could have developed his fear after Danny's accident. After spending who knows how long inside a hospital waiting for news of his best friend's recovery, with each passing second spent there being a constant reminder of the possibility that Danny might not make it. Thus, his fear would be a result of anything medical reminding him of those agonising times and of the fear he felt at the idea of losing his best friend forever. And Sam would know about it but not Danny because she was right there by Tucker's side as they both waited while Danny was being treated and remained unaware of the world going on around him.
And just like that, you fix a plot hole, and add layers to the story, the characters and their interpersonal dynamics in one fell swoop.
I’m sure this detail has been brought up before, but darn it I’m going to say something about it anyway. (And if anyone has anything more to add or debate about on the following, do speak up! I’m very curious to know what everyone’s thoughts are on this.)
This here. This right here, is why I’ll respectively disagree when people say Dan is a complete and total unfeeling monster and that A Glitch In Time ruined his character by showing otherwise. Yes, he's evil. Yes, he's done unspeakably horrible things. But look at this! Look! Do you see what I see? I see a city that has been completely and utterly destroyed. A literal apocalypse-style wasteland of rubble.
But. He. Did. Not. Touch. The. Memorial.
It’s in near-perfect condition. Just a few cracks on the bottom half. But his family and friends’ statues were left completely intact. No broken chunks, no cracks, no scorch marks, and not a single scratch on any of them. Not one. And not only that, but Lancer’s was also left intact (although admittedly not as good of condition as the others but still in one whole piece.)
Every single thing around it has been decimated. Every single thing. There is absolutely NO way that this wasn’t purposeful on Dan’s part. No, there had to be some sort of level of mindfulness for his dead family's memorial to still be in such good condition in the middle of this whole mess. Listen. The man went on a 10 year rampage. 10. And in those 10 years, he was ruthless. He destroyed literally everything in his path with zero hesitation, and as soon as the ghost shield protecting the last part of the city was deactivated he took no time laying waste to all that too. But you mean to tell me that out of everything that’s been destroyed, out of the whole town that’s been blown to bits, that the faces of his dead family and friends just so happens to be the only thing that has survived? Nah. If he didn't care, that memorial wouldn't be intact. If he wanted that memorial destroyed, it would be destroyed alongside literally everything else around it. Period, end of story, that’s all she wrote.
Ngl I wished we got to know what Tucker’s home life was about more, you get an insight of what Sam family is like but not tucker’s feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe he gets along with parents better than Sam and Danny who understand his geeky nature but wants him to do better. Idk something
The more I think about it, the more I kinda wish the writers had gone through with their idea of Sam having a psychic link with Danny. And there are a few episodes in particular that could have really played around with this the most:
In Frightmare, there's the fact that Danny and Sam had the exact same dream about each other. The same setting, same people, same dialogue, all the way down to the clothes they were wearing. At this point, they had deep unspoken feelings for each other, so it would come as no surprise that a good dream for them would be similar and involve them being together, but Sam having a psychic connection to Danny would have made them having the exact same dream to the letter make perfect sense and been a neat little detail, even moreso than just them liking each other. And when they're both awake and inside Frightmare's mind, what, then? How might her psychic abilities have been able to assist Danny during moments of peril, not just here, but all throughout the series?
We also have Control Freaks and Urban Jungle, where one of them experiences mind control and the other has to try and save them or snap them out of it. How would Sam's psychic abilities have come into play when Danny was under Freakshow's control? Could she have used them to try and communicate with the real him? How would something like that have played out? Or when Sam fell under Undergrowth's control? If she still had any form of consciousness left, perhaps she would have tried using her abilities to call out to Danny in some way, either through visions or some kind of mind message. Or what about when an enemy is near and could cause trouble for Danny again? Would Sam experience something similar to Danny's ghost sense? The fact that they were the only ones who could get through to each other while under someone else's control, even if just briefly, felt like traces of that concept were still there, it just wasn't fully committed to. There are so many possibilities that could have come out of that, especially their relationship. They'd make a great power couple, if you will. In a way they already are, but idk, I'm just really curious how something like that would have played out throughout the show.
Hot take — Vlad didn’t want Danny as his son until after he saw he was half-ghost
(Lemme explain first!)
So we’re introduced to Vlad in Bitter Reunions, someone who doesn’t like Jack and likes Maddie (very creepily)… but is dismissive of both Jazz AND Danny.
You heard that right. Vlad was dismissive of Danny in the beginning. Yeah, he’s polite to Danny and indulges his correct assumption of Vlad being obsessed with the Packers based on the decor and admiration of his signed football.
But other than that?
Vlad couldn’t care less about Danny, would probably see him and Jazz as a necessary part of having Maddie, that maybe he sees what could have been if he was with Maddie in them both but overall doesn’t really have particular focus on Danny.
But do you know what changes Vlad’s tune?
He sees Danny change from ghost form to human form after their fight, that he’s a half-ghost like him (and given how shocked he was, I doubt he knew that Phantom was half-ghost, let alone that he was Danny, until he saw him transform outside of rumours from the Zone that he probably didn’t believe… until that moment)
IMMEDIATELY Vlad’s demeanour changes around Danny—he calls him nicknames like Little Badger and son that a father would call his kid, he pays more attention to Danny, especially at the party before he asks him to go down in the lab, and of course he makes the offer for Danny to join him and be his apprentice and son. Which Danny, of course, refuses and begins the start of one of THE most iconic hero and villain dynamics ever and which still holds our attention years later, especially what could have been if Vlad was less of an asshole and genuine in being a mentor/fun uncle or got a redemption
But, would that still have happened if Danny WASN’T half-ghost?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Vlad saw himself in Danny, powers and all, something he wanted to mould into his image and make into someone just like Vlad, that narrative-speaking they were meant to be each other’s foils, a visual representation of how Danny could have turned out if he wasn’t who he was. But that would NEVER have happened if Danny wasn’t half-ghost, that Vlad would have dismissed or outright ignored him (especially with his close resemblance to Jack), he would never go to such lengths as cloning Danny if he wasn’t half-ghost like Vlad. NONE of their rivalry and moments in the series because of it (the bounty, EVERYTHING in Reign Storm, Dan, Vlad cloning Danny and resulting in Dani) would have never happened; I don’t even think Valerie would have become a ghost hunter if it wasn’t Danny who ruined her life and therefore Vlad never sent her that suit! None of that would happen if Danny was still human and therefore not of interest to Vlad. It only did because Danny was half-ghost, and therefore Vlad did see himself/his “son” in Danny and resulting in all of that, that they were foils of each other BECAUSE they were half-ghost.
Anyway, that’s my thoughts on Vlad viewing Danny as his son and how Danny being a halfa impacted that, thanks for coming to my TED talk!
So @murcielagatito recently made a post talking about the Phandom and how it is weird that the Phandom created a character like Wes to be someone who investigates who Phantom is when there are characters like Paulina and Valerie in canon that can fit that role.
I want to talk about some of the characterization/moments that Paulina has in the series since we are already familiar with Valerie and i think she fits better as friendenemy- antagonist turned ally role but that's on me.
So one thing about Paulina is that she has a huge crush on Phantom but not on Danny Fenton. In Season 1 episode ¨Lucky in Love¨ has near the ending showing that she has somewhat of an altar dedicated to Phantom in her locker.
So we know from this that she is really into Phantom and she seems to idolize him. I wouldn't say that she is obsessed with him, more like she just really likes him.
This alone builds some potential cool interactions between Danny and Paulina because of how she sees the two halves of who Danny is so differently. For her Danny is a huge loser and Phantom is a hero/idol.
Another very interesting is that in ¨Memory Blank¨ Paulina invites the Phantom trio to her quinceañera (15th birthday), which leaves the teens confused of why she is doing this if she doesn't like them much. Paulina then says the following:
She explains to them that she is inviting Danny because she has noticed a connection between Phantom showing up whenever Danny is close by, so she thinks that way if Danny comes, Phantom is likely going to be there too.
This is worth of noting because not many characters in the series realize this or go to this level to being this close to figuring out that Danny is Phantom, not even Valerie with her technology used to be this precise.
These things alone can set up for potential things to work with, with Paulina finding out who Phantom is and some potential character development for her.
Now this crush thing she has was clearly inspired by Lois Lane from Superman- but it could be written to be one sided crush and her staying friends with Danny after she learns his secret. It could also be changed in a way she really looks up to Phantom and she would like to be more like him. So it doesn't have to rely on the romance stuff that much.
What i'm trying to say is that Paulina as character has more potential to fit the role ¨person who investigates Phantom¨ than instead having to... use a character that isn't even in the series. Plus, it could give some good character development she needs- considering that in the series she was mostly a static character.
I wrote all this in my notes, I’m gonna do two parts: this, then a rewrite which is gonna take a bit.
So I decided to watch Masters of All Time. My thoughts will be below. First, I noted everything I liked, and everything I didn’t. I did this as I watched the episode to try to get details as accurately as possible. So now here are the notes I took during the episode, and my thoughts afterwards.
Also before I get started, I want to make this clear: no hate if you like this episode. I’m glad you’re able to enjoy something that was legitimately painful for me. It has a really neat concept, and that’s part of where my disappointment comes from. This isn’t a personal attack on people who enjoy the episode, just me explaining why I hate it. Let’s get into it!
Everything of note that either makes no sense, or points out a writing flaw in other points of the series
Why would clockwork even let Danny do this? Yes, he’s hesitant but Clockwork has been shown to only interfere if absolutely necessary, and seems to think most things happen for a reason. This is one of the things you could excuse though because erasing Vlad’s powers I guess seems like a good idea? But Clockwork should know that something big will happen in result, that fuck Danny himself could not be a ghost or stop existing at all, like yeah Sam and Tucker won’t be infected but they may not even know him at all? At least Clockwork is like yeah you’re gonna learn thing the hard way but eh. Idk you could excuse this one but still doesn’t make sense to me.
How the fuck didn’t Danny realize how big of a difference one small change was gonna make. Like, his parents being ghost hunters and like, still together? Did he not realize that Vlad not having ecno acne was going to change a lot? The incident separated him from Jack and Maddie so him actually still being in their life could change a lot???? Like idk I get Danny’s just a teen but did he learn nothing from The Ultimate Enemy
Twenty years later Jack still has the ecno acne; we don’t have an exact say on why Vlad’s went into remission but it likely had to do with ghost powers and years of hospitalization, was Jack not hospitalized? Wouldn’t he be dead from it?
Okay this one is a big gripe for me. WHY DOES JACK PLASMIUS LOOK LIKE VLAD PLASMIUS? Was that specific strain of ecno acne the vampire inspired strain or something because Vlad’s design is very intentional with his specific character, its personal to him. Jack would most definitely not have made himself look like that, especially with how he tried to do good at first. Like????
Jack hating ghosts makes sense in this world, honestly I wish Vlad shared more of a hatred for ghosts in our current timeline cause that would make a ton of sense “if it wasn’t for ghosts I wouldve never lost the love of my life” where’s that anger with Vlad?
VLAD BEING A FARMER DOESN’T FUCKING MAKE SENSE. Okay so like, you take from Bitter Reunions how he says “I didn’t have any old moves, all those years in the hospital robbed me of that” after being tackled holding a football implies he may have wanted to play football. That’s a stretch? Well his entire house is decked head to toe in packers memorabilia, and in the college photo we see HE’S WEARING PACKERS COLORS!!!! He couldn’t do an active career like football after being hospitalized, but if that never happened, why fucking. FARMING? DAIRY FARMING? HUUHHHH. WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?
“I didn’t destroy the past, I destroyed the present!” YOU FUCKING THINK? WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN that like nothing else would change except Vlad not having ecno acne? Okay this one’s just a nitpick and I’m aware of that lol, Danny’s just a teen I know he wasn’t thinking about the consequences
WHHYYYYY does Vlad still live in the same castle? I know he’s the new dairy king whatever he owns that castle in the present cause he’s rich as sin, how did he become the dairy king? Maybe its explained? I’m writing this as I watch
Why does Vlad have grey hair? It became grey because of the incident. Speaking of, why does Jack have black hair? Make it make sense
Yeah this is a complaint because you’ll see. Vlad is clearly in love with Maddie, truly. He seems to genuinely care for her. I know later they just make him controlling for no reason which I’ll get into but like, it’s nice to see him actually care for her and her care for him too.
Why is Vlad super anti ghost? One of my “compliments” is how I think Jack hating ghosts makes sense. And tbh in the true current, Vlad having a hatred for ghosts for the same reason would make sense, he was disfigured, hospitalized, and he never got to confess to the girl he loved the most. In this world, Vlad has no good reason to hate ghosts unless he for some reason knows Jack is a ghost? We see that before any changed to the timeline are made, Vlad was a bit annoyed with how Jack and Maddie got along, maybe it has something to do with that? I dunno. I feel like this choice was made just so they gave Vlad a reason to be controlling. But Vlad is only the way he is because of the incident bitter and resentful of a life he never got to have, so why the fuck is he just controlling and mean? Why when he has everything he wants, is he still a dick? Because he’s just like that no matter what because the writers didn’t want to add anything thought provoking about how Maddie and Vlad could’ve actually been good for each other. No, Vlad’s evil no matter what blah blah blah
AND ANOTHER THING. Maddie is shown to have other personality traits then liking ghost hunting, like, Jack is the one super obsessed. She’s the one that gets annoyed that Jack makes it his everything. Who knows, if she had a life without Jack, would she have continued her thing for ghosts? Thought provoking questions this episode won’t answer. This was again just a choice made so Vlad could be controlling.
Vlad immediately forgives Maddie because he doesn’t wanna doubt her oh gee maybe its cause he actually loves her. Nahhh we can’t have that.
How did Maddie build an entire underground ghost Lab that Vlad didn’t notice. Also how does she still have the suit
Whyyyyy would Vlad slander Jack to Maddie? Is the personality they wanna give that Vlad was always jealous of Jack and Maddie’s relationship? I mean, I guess so? I guess this one could make sense but it makes me wish we knew more about their trio’s relationship in college besides what we see and how Jack describes it; Vlad did always seem like a third wheel, I guess this one could happen but as I said, just makes me wish we had more context as a whole, could make this action make more sense
Why is Vlad in his suit all of a sudden. Did they forget what episode they were doing. Did they just straight up forget. Also it’s the middle of the night why isn’t he in pajamas or something. Huh.
I just hate the narrative Danny Phantom has as a whole with how some characters are just meant to be together so other pairings have to not work or be bad in some way. How about thought provoking stuff about how the relationships that seem destined to be actually good have some solid rivalry? No? All other parings don’t work just because even if it means mischaracterizing? Kay.
I had a thought here about Vlad’s anger at Danny not making sense but I don’t remember what it was. Maybe relates again to the ghost hating thing making no sense. Idk my brain cells are dying.
“None of this should be happening” “I like it this way” what this way? Being with Maddie? I mean yeah? I mean did the writers forget that Vlad doesn’t have the knowledge of his baseline current self here?
Because I hate it so much just another point to say I hate Vlad’s behavior here. He’s just evil and manipulative no matter what? Why? Just because? Because that’s Vlad Masters? Are we forgetting that his usual behavior is very much a product of his rage and bitterness about a life that was robbed of him? Or am I just giving the “evil villain” too much credit. This is pissing me off
Things I liked about the episode:
I think the bit at the beginning with Danny’s parents embarrassing him was silly, entertaining
I like Vlad’s attitude of like “oh you’re giving me chills” just his sassiness lmao
I like getting to see more insight into the day of the incident, Vlad trying to confess but being stopped by Maddie, that was neat
Seeing exactly what caused the incident was neat, too, that it truly was Jack’s fault
It’s kinda funny that we can tell Jack didn’t name Danny cause he thinks the name is dumb
I do like we get to see Jack chose the name Jasmine, as he mentions having a cat named Jasmine
I liked seeing Vlad say like oh Danny I knew you could do it, neat to see him acknowledge that Danny can be pretty smart, even if he kinda forced his hand here
I’m too tired to go into detail, so I’ll do it later but Jesus Christ this episode sucked. It had good things about it but so much shit just didn’t make sense and was just a blatant mischaracterization of Vlad
Alright I’m finally back to this after a couple of weeks, the episode seriously drains me that much, wish I was kidding. As stated in a previous post this episode makes me so angry that it has the power to make me dissociate and feel physically ill. Some of my comments are nitpicks, and I’m aware of that. I hate the episode so I’m just angry about even little things, I know that’s weird, lol. But, I thought I’d share these nitpicks anyway.
The notion that Vlad would be evil no matter what just doesn’t make a single lick of sense considering how Bitter Reunions builds him up to show that his anger and well, bitterness stems from being robbed of the life he never got, and his desperation to have that life now. Maybe I’m just biased but Jesus. Some people will try to claim that Vlad would still be evil therefore deserves no sympathy on like, posts and videos about him and if someone starts their comment with “but in masters of all time”, the rest of the comment is immediately static to me.
I do want to make it clear the things Vlad does due to his anger is not acceptable (I’ve even got an analysis of his character in the works that addresses this further), I just see so much potential for him to be better, and Masters of All Time could’ve been that episode. To show that he’s truly a victim of circumstance that is overwhelmed by his anger and jealousy, that these events truly shaped him into the not so great person we see in the show, but that he didn’t /have/ to be evil, that if given the life he wanted, the one he felt he deserved, that he could’ve been better.
I also think this episode missed the mark to be more creative design wise. Jack could’ve had his own ghost form! That would’ve been so cool! I also would’ve LOVED to see more of the college trio’s dynamic. Were Vlad and Jack truly best friends, or was that just Jack’s rose tinted glasses? I know it’s a kids show from 20 years ago but damn they could’ve done more here. I think this episode could’ve benefited from being another 40 minute special, although I know that’s unrealistic. Just a sorta, how I’d do things thing.
That’s basically it from me in terms of the episode. But, only for now. I plan to rewrite the episode, soon! Including some of my own HCs about the college trio, and who Vlad could’ve been if the incident didn’t happen, and how Jack and Maddie could’ve been! How this could’ve been a more thought provoking episode as a whole. I may even do some drawings :3 I’m excited to share my thoughts on what we could’ve had. But, keep in mind they will simply be my ideas, and not a definitive “the writers should’ve done this instead”, just my hcs and such. This is my first sorta DP writing post, but hopefully not my last. I enjoy sharing my thoughts like this, and I know some of my YTTD ones have reached a good bit of people, so I’m curious as to how this’ll be received.
Again, yeah, I’m biased, I hate this episode, I nitpicked. This is not at all a defense of every single bad thing Vlad has done, just my opinions on why the choices made here don’t make sense.
