This episode is a strange one. On the one hand, Danny Phantom is and always has been a comedy series. And this is an entertaining episode to be sure. On the other hand, it's extremely common for these episodes to incorporate "a lesson about honesty or some such nonsense" to quote Danny Fenton.
The Box Ghost acting like himself is funny. The Box Ghost dousing Danny Fenton in props from the Broadway musical My Fair Lady was funny. As was the fact it led to Danny Fenton finding himself accidentally dressed up as Eliza Doolittle
Sam Manson with her robot frogs schtick was funny. And I think everyone was enjoying witnessing the fun that Sydney Poindexter had as a result possessing Danny Fenton. On the test of entertainment, it passes with flying colours.
In terms of the lesson the episode was meant to teach. It's not clear what it was. It could be some claptrap about how it's impossible to exact revenge against those who wronged you without ending up exactly like them. That said, that doesn't actually seem to be the moral of the story. Danny Fenton wasn't using his Danny Phantom powers to try and punish Dash (at least not initially) but to fight back against Dash who was actively aggressing him. At one point, Sam is in the middle of persuading Danny Fenton not to fight back when Dash attacks Danny Fenton in full force and he continues after she stops talking. At that point it's not a question of revenge it's a question of fighting back.
Then is the moral don't fight back? No. Since it's revealed that Sydney Poindexter is continually tormented in the Ghost Zone right up until Danny Phantom in his body fights against the real Poindexter in Danny Phantom's body in response to the latter attacking and wins and as a result, Poindexter goes from being derided as a pariah to praised by his peers. And as a result, things start to go well for him.
Actually in the end, Danny's apology isn't "I shouldn't have given Dash a taste of his own medicine" it's "I shouldn't have tried to be someone, I'm not". Which sounds like some kind be yourself moral but the moral is undermined by the content of the episode wherein Danny Fenton prospers most when he is someone else.
The truth is that if Danny Fenton were to use his ghost powers (as Danny Phantom) to stand up to Dash, he'd have put an end to the latter's bullying of him. And the show can't have that because that would kill a major part of how the characters were established for the sake of the show. (The theme song depicts Dash pushing Danny Fenton into a locker).
If he were to succeed in standing up to him, the writers would need an excuse for why the show returned to the status quo the next episode. And as an explanation, they had the moral of this one be (effectively) don't do anything that interferes with the show's continuity.
And I can actually live with that. But it's kind of annoying.
So all in all, notwithstanding the confused moral, this is a good episode.
The Box Ghost acting like himself is funny. The Box Ghost dousing Danny Fenton in props from the Broadway musical My Fair Lady was funny. As was the fact it led to Danny Fenton finding himself accidentally dressed up as Eliza Doolittle
Sam Manson with her robot frogs schtick was funny. And I think everyone was enjoying witnessing the fun that Sydney Poindexter had as a result possessing Danny Fenton. On the test of entertainment, it passes with flying colours.
In terms of the lesson the episode was meant to teach. It's not clear what it was. It could be some claptrap about how it's impossible to exact revenge against those who wronged you without ending up exactly like them. That said, that doesn't actually seem to be the moral of the story. Danny Fenton wasn't using his Danny Phantom powers to try and punish Dash (at least not initially) but to fight back against Dash who was actively aggressing him. At one point, Sam is in the middle of persuading Danny Fenton not to fight back when Dash attacks Danny Fenton in full force and he continues after she stops talking. At that point it's not a question of revenge it's a question of fighting back.
Then is the moral don't fight back? No. Since it's revealed that Sydney Poindexter is continually tormented in the Ghost Zone right up until Danny Phantom in his body fights against the real Poindexter in Danny Phantom's body in response to the latter attacking and wins and as a result, Poindexter goes from being derided as a pariah to praised by his peers. And as a result, things start to go well for him.
Actually in the end, Danny's apology isn't "I shouldn't have given Dash a taste of his own medicine" it's "I shouldn't have tried to be someone, I'm not". Which sounds like some kind be yourself moral but the moral is undermined by the content of the episode wherein Danny Fenton prospers most when he is someone else.
The truth is that if Danny Fenton were to use his ghost powers (as Danny Phantom) to stand up to Dash, he'd have put an end to the latter's bullying of him. And the show can't have that because that would kill a major part of how the characters were established for the sake of the show. (The theme song depicts Dash pushing Danny Fenton into a locker).
If he were to succeed in standing up to him, the writers would need an excuse for why the show returned to the status quo the next episode. And as an explanation, they had the moral of this one be (effectively) don't do anything that interferes with the show's continuity.
And I can actually live with that. But it's kind of annoying.
So all in all, notwithstanding the confused moral, this is a good episode.
