Danny Phantom

*gasp* Sam entered a 'Miss Teenage Happy Princess Beauty Pagent'! That sounds nothing like her! *cough she-wanted-Danny's-attention-deep-down cough* Yeah, of course it was all just to "make a statement". I loved how Danny chose her in the end and they walked off arm-in-arm. AW! That scene rocked! And I'm glad Danny didn't get beat up by the jealous candidates in the end- Tucker could use some excersise. And in this ep, Danny literally was Sam's 'knight in shinning armor'. But it also had girl power- go Dora! I loved the dragon fight and the animation ruled! And Danny actually split himself in two! :)

When I first heard about this episode, I didn't really think it would be good, but boy was I wrong! This episode was fantastic! My favorite part would have to be when Sam and Paulina are doing each others makeup and then they get mad and throw a fit when they see what they look like. My other favorite part was when Danny was fighting Prince Aragon. I'm not usually one to say this, but I must say that Danny looked awfully hot in that medieval outfit he was wearing!!! I can't wait to see other episodes like this one.

I like this episode particularly because of Sam trying to prove to everyone that women should think for themselves and not be afraid to be there own individual selves. Throughout the beauty show " training " Sam refuses to give in to what they said a girl should be, believing that a girl should be cherished for their individual mind. And through keeping her ideals, she helped Doloras to find the courage to think for herself and to stand up to her spoiled and evil brother.

it\'s so cool! sam\'s being in a beauty pagent for the first time! sam\'s being brave and everything! too bad danny too busy being \"popular\" and not noticing that. >:( well i don\'t understand why the prince picked sam anyway,he picked her not danny. what\'s weird is that does\'nt he know that paulina loves danny phantom from lucky in love? what a spazz!:p so anyway sam\'s being smart and a supergirl in this one and i love it! but still it was so cool,mysterious and great way to do this! i hope they make another episode like this! ! !

This was an awesome episode, though I missed a few seconds of the beginning. But that's okay, it was awesome. I think that the beginning and Danny's ghost battles was a little rushed.And I think I saw Danny become two for a split second, or he was just split in two by the axe. Anyway, the entire idea was so cool. But they ruined the Dragon Ghost's character. She doesn't sound waily anymore, she can turn into the dragon wheneve she wants, and I don't think she was a princess before. I think the DP peoplejust made her a princess out of nowhere. Anyway, this episode was still cool, it really pointed out the pressures of teenage women in our society, to be thin, pretty, and perfect. And also how Dora was controlled by her brother because she was a princess. It was so sad but cool in the end. And Prince Eragon, the Amulet of Eragon, see it. Maye he made the amulet. Anyway, the Prince was pretty cool, though I don't get why he had to have a human bride. Anyway, again, this episode was awesome. Great plot, fights, and Dora and Eragon were so cool. I loved this episode. Definetly one of the bests, way to go Butch.

In order to make a statement about individuality, Sam enters the beauty pageant that’s come to Casper High, in which Danny is made the judge by the organizer, Dora Mattingly. While Danny is swarmed by the contestants to get him to vote for them, he is attacked by a number of medieval ghosts. In between battles, Sam discovers that Dora is the Dragon Ghost! She manages to get the message to Danny during the contest, but when he tries to get to her, he accidentally declares her the winner! A tiara is placed on her head, and she is whisked away to the Ghost Zone. There, as the winner, she is declared to marry Dora’s brother, Prince Eragon!



The commercial for this episode got me really excited once again. Maybe not as much as FWD, but still very much indeed. What I saw was yet another splendid Season 2 episode of Danny Phantom.



The opener was excellent in terms of starting things off on the right foot. Sam’s and Tucker’s reactions to the announcing of the pageant were perfectly IC, and Danny’s fight with the ax ghost was good. Did mine eyes deceive me, or did Danny manage to duplicate during the fight? It may have just been the axe, but it was still cool. But I thought it seemed too obvious with Dora picking Danny as the judge that there was a plot behind it.



I knew there was a chance that the plot with the pageant could get OOC and clichéd, but it wasn’t done as badly in this episode, and I wasn’t bothered by it when it did get just a wee bit sour. Tucker’s reactions toward it were IC and funny, and Danny’s weren’t that bad either. Sure, Danny has good common sense, but the fact is he’s still a teenager, and who wouldn’t like that kind of attention? Perhaps the only parts I didn’t like were when Danny seemed to ignore Sam at one point in the lunchroom, and when he seemed to not pay attention to the ghosts attacking him and putting it off until after the pageant. He learned his lesson early on, and that set the stage for some awesome fights in the second half. Oh, and I though Sam and Paulina’s makeup scene was hilarious! I was totally freaked out by it.



Sam…she was wonderful in BM! Her reasons for joining the pageant were perfectly IC. She likes to speak her mind and express her individuality, and that is made apparent here. She was excellent in picking up on the plot at works between Dora and the Prince, and in her way of letting Danny know about it. The way she acted when in the Ghost Zone was splendid as well. I was even moreso freaked out about her get-up then the makeup scene. :) I also really liked how she convinced Dora that she has great power as well and she’s not what the Prince tells her.



As for the Prince and Dora, they were both interesting characters here. Dora actually bugged me a bit for the most part; she seemed like a girly pushover mostly, but that wasn’t entirely her fault, and I hope for Danny to have her as an ally in later episodes. Prince Eragon was more sinister than I thought he would be, but it seemed also in terms of being selfish and rude.



Once again, the animation, the music, and the humor were done magnificently. The second of those definitely had the vibe of the Middle Ages, and the humor was picked out mostly throughout the pageant scenes, especially when Danny snapped his fingers for the girls to chase Dash away when he was harassing him.



I enjoyed the small bits of D/S throughout the episode. Small, but they were definitely there. I do wish Danny would’ve shown a bit more worry when he knew that Sam was going to marry Eragon. The D/S part I enjoyed the most was definitely when they walked off to the Nasty Burger arm-in-arm. Can’t wait for more!



There isn’t that much I can say about this episode in general, and also not much I can say that is wrong with it. But like I said, Danny wasn’t perfect with the pageant scenes, Eragon and Dora bugged me just a bit, and the last bit of the episode seemed a bit rushed, from the time when Danny got the amulet off of Aragon up to the end. But normally I can get through a thing like that without getting bugged too much.



Overall, BM was a very nice episode. It’s in my Top 10 and it gets a 9.4/10.

Sam enters a beauty pageant to make a statement that any girl can be beautiful! But the host, Dora Mattingly, of the pageant thinks different. So to keep Danny mind off everything else, she puts him as the judge. Danny and Tucker take total advange of it, as any guy would. Sam ends up turning the pageant upsidedown! But when the contest starts, Sam uses her attitude to stand out. So when she finds out that the Host is a ghost, she tries to tell Danny, but he doesn't catch on at first. When he sees that Sam was right, he and Tucker try to see whats going on behind it all. Dora ends up being the dragon ghost, and she brings her to a cretin part of the ghost zone were its the middle ages. When the guys get there, they crash because tachnoligy doesn't work. Meanwhile Sam tries to convince Dora to give in, and let her go. But she tells Sam that she doesn't have a choice. So then Sam decides to act out at the dinner. Which gets her thrown out, but Danny and Tucker 'saves' her. But they get caught, and the Prince tries to fight them, Sam convinces Dora that she is just as powerful as he is. Then when Dora sees that she is, she gets him back for a lot of things! Then its gets easier for everyone, when Danny destroys his necklace which gives him his powers. After that, they return to the pageant and Danny awards Sam as the winner. Sam makes a joke about it, and the rest of the girls get mad at Danny and Tucker.

I love this episode. The dragon ghost Dora Mattingly voiced by Julianne Buescher is back! I love the whole Renaissances theme. When the episode premiered I was learning about the Renaissances in history class. (The dark ages, the middle ages.) There was very accurate on that term. The creators goofed when they made it possible for Sam Danny and Tucker to touch things in the Ghost Zone that belonged to the ghost's. The children’s hands should have just phased right through the objects since they are the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. Oh well it was a good episode. I liked Paulina's cheer.

This episode was one of the those episodes that tells a story all of it's own - it showed us Sam really is a brilliant character to watch , her original-ness gave of a great vibe and added another factor to the story.







She showed that people really are individuals with their own minds and should be changed. Although some dislike this episode in particular i enjoyed it and give it 10/10 for its orgininality and superbness.

With almost every episode there was a point to it (TUE showed the consequences of even the smallest of immoral actions, KS showed not to take people for granted, etc.) but this episode showed nothing but a cheesy 'girls can kick butt, too' moral that you'd expect from something like 'The Care Bears.'



And while the aforementioned episodes introduced cool or actually pivotal characters (Clockwork Dark Danny, Dani Phantom), this did nothing but give a tertiary character, one who you'd never expect to have any real attention, a back story with said cheesy moral, and maybe give some background girls names (girls who'll likely never be called by name again anyway)



I've always liked Susan Blakeslee, as I used to be a rather loyal FoP fan and I was looking forward to hearing her. Now originally, I was hoping that she'd use her 'Timmy's Mom' voice and not her 'Wanda' voice, as it would be too cartoony for the slightly older audience DP. But now, ironically, given the true nature of the episode, her Wanda voice would've been much better. The 'Mrs. Turner' voice as Dora quickly became annoying, tiresome and boring as the episode progressed, and the 'tiresome' and 'boring' just might have been alleviated by a certain 'fairy-fied' voice.



Prince Aragon was not much better; although his dragon form was very cool, and I did like his introduction saying that Danny would make a perfect pawn, that was about it. I know that he was supposed to be moody, close-minded and pretty much boring (it comes with his sort of 'dark prince' territory) but he was SO boring- How boring was he? He was so boring that I actually preferred it when the scene shifted to the Casper High girls. Oooh! Want some ice with that burn?...I'm sorry; couldn't resist. What I did like about him was how accurate he was phycologically, after all, a weasly, narrow-minded, control freak would probably be more likely to pick on his sister to feel big than a physically larger guy who already is big.



I missed Kwan yet again in this episode. I know it's no excuse, but I believe he gives kids like Danny a hard time just to fit in with his posse, LiL should be proof of that, plus I find he's more entertaining than Dash, Star or Paulina.



But for one of the first times, Dash actually had me smiling. Getting stampeded by CH girls on Danny's orders and then taking his chance to pummel him once the girls were after him, too. 'Your get out of whale free card is over!' That's actually pretty clever, for Dash; mind you, he does tend to do a lot of play on words when it involves putting down Danny.



I really don't know what to say about Aragon's minions (the axe-wielder and the archer). They had no dialogue, save roars, so it's hard to rate them as good or bad, but I really could've done without Danny's axe puns. It reminded me sickly of Jazz's witty banter which makes me wish that I was actually listening to Burt Ward (the Adam West age Robin) instead. (Sarcasm, in case you weren't sure.)



I didn't want to believe it that there was only one girl in CHS (save Val and Jazz who didn't appear) with tangible integrity and who would actually try to win without kissing up, but that hope didn't last long. Between Danny and Tucker's milking the situation to the girls listening to Dora and sucking up, it made you thoroughly disapprove of pretty much all the characters, save Sam. Speaking of which, during her rampage through the dining room, did anyone else notice that she sounded exactly like Lor from 'The Weekenders'?



But one thing I really did like was Danny's manifesting powers. He can duplicate now up to two different Dannys, and seems to be getting a grip on his 'manipulative abilities', such as turning his jaw to air to avoid contact or splitting his body in half to evade a blade or, in Aragon's case, fire breath and tail. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to save the episode.



If it wasn't for the fact that Sam and Tucker were present and fully functional, I would've rated this even worse than MDG.

I loved the episode. I thought the ending was really sweet when sam took danny to the nasty burger. That was sweet. And I think she learned to appriciate all the things she has today. Thats a big lesson.{: And i can\'t wait for a new episode. if this episode was great i am sure that this next one will be too

Sam can barely contain her contempt for the “Miss Teenage Happy Princess” beauty pageant and its organizer, Dora Mattingly, when they descend on Casper High. She decides to enter the contest to make a statement about individuality, but makes a discovery instead: Dora Mattingly is the Dragon Ghost! Before she can get to the bottom of the mystery, she’s inadvertently crowned Miss Teenage Happy Princess by its happy-go-lucky judge... Danny Fenton! When the tiara is placed on Sam’s head, it magically transports her to a castle in the Ghost Zone, where she learns she’s to be the bride of Dora’s brother, the ghostly Prince Aragon. As Danny and Tucker head into the Ghost Zone to rescue Sam, she does her best to shake things up in the medieval ghost world she’s stuck in.

It goes without saying that some episodes of a show will be worse then others. Some episodes are really good, some are pretty average, and some are just bloody awful and terrible to watch. "Beauty Marked" is one of those.



To make a long story short, a beauty pageant is coming to Amity Park, and all the girls want to be in. All except Sam, who thinks it's demeaning. So she enters to make an individuality statement. The pageant competitor is actually the Dragon Ghost, going to get a human bride for her brother. So now, Sam must try to get herself out, while Danny tries to get in to rescue her.



The problems of this episode start in the very beginning. For one, it's a cliche. Ugly girl enters beauty contest and makes a statement about individuality, preaching her brand of feminism. Okay, a woman doesn't need to be Barbie to feel beautiful: We don't need to see it again and again.



Sam-centric episodes have a major problem with them: Sam is a character who relies upon shock value to be decent enough to watch. Goth chick, overly feminist, vegetarian, she's designed to be different. But we've seen so much of Sam that we know what she will do, and, unlike the other characters in the show, like Jazz, Sam has not undergone any major changes that characters require to be interesting. We know that she would make a statement about individuality, and that she would raise hell in Prince Aragorn's domain. So really, what we saw was not funny, but expected, and such, boring.



Danny himself was in character and fine, but we didn't see enough of him. He voted for Sam because she stood by him and helped him, and not Paulina who would be the real beauty queen. Cliche, boring, and completely stupid.



Tucker suffers from the same problems Sam does. He does the same old things over and over. He's girl-crazy and tells a lot of techno jokes. How boring.



This was without a doubt the worst episode of Danny Phantom to date. The problem was that there was far too much Sam. Sam is only a supporting character, she should not be made more important then she is. Most every episode where she plays a major role, the action falls short. Do us a favor, Mr. Hartman, and cut out this useless character. Bring back the dynamic individuals who actually are interesting to watch: Bring back our Jazzes, our Maddies. Ditch Tucker, too, while we're at it, and bring back Jack and the awkward father moments that are just so hilarious.

It kept me glued mainly because I was hoping for more Danny and Sam relationship developments. But come on! Nothing's happening! They'd better take a step up soon. The one other thing that bugged me was how the bad guy's name was Aragon. That was just waaaay too close to Eragon's name for my taste. Other than that stuff, this episode was highly entertaining, funny, enjoyable, and more danny phantom fun. Yay!

This was a great episode with Sam getting a bigger part in the show. Danny's axe puns didn't get old for me, it added to the fun. The different hair style for Sam was good.



Tucker was cast perfectly for the situation, in both the Beauty Pagent, and the midevil setting. Danny's additions to his suit in the Ghost Zone was cool too.



Getting to see more of the school's girls, was interesting. I loved the part where Sam and Paulina did each other's make-up. It was expected to turn out the way it did, but still funny.



I give this episode a 10/10.

I loved this episode. We get more information about the Dragon Ghost and she finally gets another line other than "Mumsie wouldn't let me go to the ball!" My I loved the ending and when Lancer said to Danny after he said Sam "Are you unwell?" That was classic. My favorite part was when Sam was swinging from the chandalier saying "I've always wanted to do this." and Dora said "I've always wanted to do that too."

-Very good episode, a lot of references to other medevil things.



The glass slippers crack was one of the most obvious references. This took a while for me to get the plotline because I missed the first 5 minutes, but when I saw the full episode a couple times, it was a whole lot better to understand. This is one of the best episodes and I can't wait for King Tuck.

This has to be one of my favorites. I loved mostly everything about it. I loved the sweet D/S ending, too.



Danny and Sam's first actual [i]date[/i]...definitely an awesome D/S development. Now, I know that a lot of other shippers don't see it as a date, but a dinner between friends. I don't think this is entirely true. Usually Tucker, Sam, and Danny hang out as a group. Now, since when do Danny and Sam leave without Tucker, and arm-in-arm, too? Sorry, but it's obviously a date. Boy, IT'S ABOUT TIME!



But I also loved crazy Sam...she was so funny! Sam always comes up with the wackiest plans when she's under pressure, and I always love watching them. Sam going completely nuts so she wouldn't impress Prince Aragon really made me laugh!



Okay, the not-so-great points about the episode:



I think it was a little too rushed. Especially the beginning, when they went from scene to scene quickly, and during each transition a whole day went by. This is a little rushed for the show. The battle at the end was pretty rushed, too, and they could have added more to it. I don't entirely blame Butch and the other writers for this, though--they had to cram a lot of episode into just a thirty-minute time period. It might have been better as a movie, I think.



It was a little OOC at the beginning, I guess. I mean, when the knights were first appearing at the beginning of the episode, Danny didn't say anything about what they were or even want to do any research on them. Usually if a ghost bothers him that much, he will at least want to research it or at least find out something about it. In this episode, he didn't. And another thing that didn't make much sense was that Danny didn't believe Sam at the beginning when she tried to tell him that Dora was acting like a ghost. But in her goth haiku, he believed her immeadiately. It was strange because he suddenly changed his mind and acted like Sam had never mentioned it before. This was a little weird.



All-in-all, a great episode. Butch, what will you think of next?

An awesome episode! I could watch it over and over and over again! Butch Hartman, I once again salute you! My captain, my captain!

Ahem, right. To put it bluntly, this is now my favorite episode. The jokes were pure surefire hits, especially the axe puns. :lol: Those were just hilarious.

Also, the slight D/S in the episode was just like a dream. i mean, hello, major hints! He wouldn't be screaming her name out followed by the occasional 'NO!' if he didn't like her. Mwa-ha-ha, Danny, the evidence is against you! You cannot hide it! You CANNOT hide it!!!! Love this episode.

This episode was really differents from any of the others ones. It was not bad at all, I thought this one was really funny. It really explains more about the dragon ghost, because it was always kind of a mystery ever sense "Parental Bonding" where she came from. It was really funny when Sam acted crazy to get away from marrying Prince Aragon. And this episode does make a point of individual beauty, and all the other things on the outside do not matter.

The beauty-pagent thing has been done before. Nearly all shows have some form of a beauty pagent, but leave it to Danny Phantom to give it an interesting twist.



Unlike other shows who have the pretty heroine going all out to win the contest, only to learn that the best thing about her isn't her pretty face, but her unique qualities, Danny Phantom starts out with the heorine at that point. Sam signs up to make a statement, that all women are special, unique, with good heads on their shoulders. She's not in it to be pretty, she's in it to make a social statement.



Naturally there's ghostly chaos involved, and the ending is a little cliched, but it was still fun to watch. Fairy tale references run rampant along with all of the cliched lines about how a woman is supposed to be quiet and demure, but that's why Sam's able to kick so much backside. A totally modern woman, Sam is, above all, herself.



It's the modern fairy tale, with the witty, independent girl proving that it's not how you look on the outside, but who you are on the inside.

The story was a good one, but it went by too quick. It look like it was rushed. The animation was still great but something was missing. You always have a dud one and a while in any show. This is still a great show though. Would hate to see it gone.

I can't give this a perfect ten, however, because of a minor discrepancy. I'm not referring to Dora being able to turn into a dragon, during the showdown with her brother!

Sam helped her realize just how much her brother

had been repressing her. So, she became legitmately mad at him. And, thus, was able to become the Blue Dragon Ghost.



Nope! What I mean by "discrepancy," was her statement that she had been Prince Aragon's virtual slave for 1,600 years. In the episode that first introduced both her and Paulina, Dora clearly stated that it was her "horrid step-mommy" wouldn't let her go to some royal ball. Does this mean Aragon is really a stepbrother? And, that he used Dora's resentment towards the Queen Mother to usurp rulership of their Ghost Zone habitat?



Also; wasn't Dora being used as a steed by Poindexter the Nerdy Ghost, during King Pariah's invasion of Amity Park? Why? Was it part of some arrangement? Poindexter gets to ride her like a cavalry horse, in exchange for his help in stopping the Prince from bullying her, once and for all?



Answering these questions would be the perfect means for Mr. Hartman to bring Dora back for a third time. Which, in turn, would put Dora one up on Desire' the Wishing Ghost (whose only been on twice). Please, think about it Mr. H!

I really enjoyed this episode. It seemed like it went by a little to fast though, like there was too much information crammed into a thirty minute time period. This episode was very interesting to watch, it really caught my attention once we got to see Sam in her bridal gown and she went bezerk trying to get Aragon to take her crown off. This episode was very intertaining but had no real purpose in developing the series. No character developement were made unless you consider Dora a character development. Still I give this episode a 9.5, it could have been a little better.

There are a lot of reasons why this is now my favorite episode besides control freaks. One, it had a lot of Danny and Sam in it, and they are my two favorite characters, it had some d/s moments in it too. not many but some. two, im into all the medival stuff and to me Dora was a cool ghost when she first appeared in Parental Bonding. I liek dragons too. Three, The dragons and prince aragon were such a paraody of my favorite book Eragon. four, sam was hilarious at the part where she came out into the dining hall and started throwin food at them and stuff. my mom even thought that was funny. i can't believe im actually gettin my mom to like this show. i know this doesnt have anything to do with thsi review but i saw my mom watchin identity crisis the other day and i was liek woah cuz shes usually reading. ok..five, the one part where all the ghosts sittin at the table remind me of a scene in my favorite movie Corpse Bride...those are all the reasons i can think of right now...if u havent seen this episode u beter c it

The only reason I gave this episode a nine was because of the DxS moment. I would have given it a seven but that made me feel good. I kept asking myself if Danny and Sam were going on a date, but it was kinda pointless. The answer-Probably not. Just two friends going out to grab a bite to eat.



If wishes came true, dreams could fly.



I don't know what that means. Anyway, this episode could have totally used some more DxS nessness. It wasn't that great, but i still gave it a nine. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

If you think I'm wrong, then i guess that's your opinion. As for me, I'm kicking back and waiting for more new Danny Phantom episodes.



Later



-crusheddp :)

I've always watched Danny Phantom, from the day it started, and I have always been waiting for a great episode with a lot of Sam!!!! This was just what I was waiting for and I am so happy this episode is the way it is! I really liked that it also showed a ghost who became in some ways, good. It also showed Sam's individualality instead of her just always talking about it. This was a great episode and I definately can't wait for more!!!!!

I was really looking forward to this episode, and it didn't disappoint. I thought it kind of made sense that Danny would take advantage of the temporary popularity to go on as many dates as possible and, after the break-up with Valerie, not be quite thinking about pursuing a relationship. Tucker was very funny with the "spillover." And at the end, with Danny and Sam - was that a date? It kind of sounded that way.



It would have been fun to see more competition between Sam and Paulina and some more Danny/Sam moments, but I guess the ghost thing was the primary plot. Sam's going crazy to convince the prince she wasn't right for him was hilarious and IC, and Danny & Tucker's horrible timing in pulling her away just when she was going to be set free was priceless!



It was interesting to get some of the backstory on the Dragon Ghost as well. I'm pretty sure she had a different voice here than previously. And wasn't it just like Sam to challenge norms and turn things upside-down? A good episode overall.

Danny gets picked to be the judge of a beauty pagent, resulting in every girl trying to impress him so he will pick them, every guys fantasy, to have hundreds of hot girls fowning over you even if its for the wrong reasons. Danny seems to get a couple of new powers like that rouund ghost shield and he can duplicate but only once. The episode was funny, and you learn a little more about the dragon ghost.

In "Beauty Marked," a medieval-themed beauty pageant comes to town and the shallowness comes to full bloom. To make a statement against all that, Sam joins the pageant and behaves as she normally would - cynical and gothic. But she soon learns that the hostess of the pageant is the dragon princess ghost. Her brother, Prince Aragon, has arranged this entire pageant, and specifically set Danny up as the judge. With Danny too distracted by his newfound popularity with the ladies, Sam tries to solve the mystery of the Aragons, but her efforts are found out. When she finally slips the message to Danny in a haiku poem, his calls are mistaken for his choosing of the pageant winner. Sam is transported to Prince Aragon's castle, where she learns the truth. The spoiled prince wants what no other ghost can have - a human bride. Thinking that Danny, being a half-ghost, would pick the perfect candidate, Prince Aragon makes Sam his bethroed - and the tiara she wears prevents her from ever leaving the castle.



Fantastic job with this one!



I have to admit - when I read the summary for this episode, I was split. I absolutely adore everything that pertains to the Middle Ages and I love dragons - I use one as an animal form in my artwork, heh. All things medieval = good for me, and I doubt there was any way that I would have disliked that part of the story. I also love fairy tales, and the story sounded reminiscent of many a great fantasy that I've read and loved.



On the other hand...I almost never like episodes with a "dating pageant" story - either as the main plot or a sub-plot. I'm a guy, so that doesn't help me any in getting into that kind of story, but I've never found any one of these plots to be anything more than a collection of the most outlandish and annoying cliches imaginable, and they have created some of the most shallow and OOC moments in television animation history.



In this episode, the beauty pageant material was probably my least favourite part of the episode - mainly for the affect it had on Danny and the corny dialogue it spewed. Coming after FwD, Danny's shallow behaviour and girl flirtation seemed OOC to me, though it wasn't as bad as it would have been had this episode taken place RIGHT after FwD. Dora's dialogue and the actions of the shallow crowd were pretty ridiculous IMO. But I managed to get through it without hating the ep for a number of reasons.



First; Sam. Her reasons for joining that pageant were perfectly IC IMO, and her behaviour was great. She was cynical, didn't go out of her way to do anything special, and as soon as she caught wind of something fishy about Dora, put that at the top of her priority list. Loved it!

Second; the medieval hunter and executioner keeping Danny busy so he wouldn't find out Dora. They kept a visible edge to the first half of the episode and helped create some great action sequences. And Danny's struggle to come up with "axe" puns I liked. Those superheros have to wonder...is it really worth the strain on the brain to write those?

Third; Tucker was hilarious, and unlike Danny, his behaving like that was perfectly IC.

Fourth; Mr. Lancer as a minstrel? I LOVED that! I fell down laughing seeing him in that outfit. It was so funny! And it made perfect sense - he loves literature, and minstrels were the storytellers of yore.

Fifth; Prince Aragon. Even without him doing much in the first half, his appearance early on and involving him through Dora kept an intangible edge in the story and gave a feeling of suspense. He was a very sinister and scary figure, and the shadow he cast helped to distill the sappiness brought by Paulina and company.

Sixth; the knowledge given by the huntsman, executioner, Prince Aragon, and theme of the pageant that the Middle Ages material would come soon.



Then, in the second half, things go almost entirely medieval.



And I LOVED it!



Tucker's determination to keep his technology in use was great. I loved his method of using his PDA in a "tech-free" zone. And Danny and Tuck gearing up in medieval armour - excellent touch there.



Sam's interaction with the dragon princess was really nice. The moral in this episode about how stupid those beauty contests are and how it's good to think for yourself was somewhat veiled to me by the medieval atmosphere and the eye candy (more on that in a minute), but between the two of them, it got out, and I thought it was well-handled. Not too preachy, not too soft, and also not too OTT with girl-power (no offence, of course. I freely admit that many girls I know, including my best friends, surpass me in all departments, and I love movies like Mulan. But when that gets OTT, it's like any other story element for me - not good. Not a problem in this ep.) The two of them teaming up at the end was really cool.



The issue between Prince Aragon and the dragon princess was interesting. Once it was introduced, I thought it would be more important, and it seemd a bit hollow, but what we got was pretty good. If they ever return, it'll be interesting to see where that goes.



Crazy Sam...LOVED IT! That was hilarious! And it seemed IC to me - just like the FOMO seemed IC to me. She needed to do something! (And boy, was she desperate when she came up with that one!)



The animation just keeps getting better and better. The character design for Prince Aragon was sinister and fitting, and he had a fun court of characters and a great-looking castle. His dragon form was amazing - very Maleficent-esque and very scary. The battle sequence he had with Danny was out of this world. The animation seems like it does nothing but improve now. The scope of that last fight and the effects and action timing were just beautiful.



And Guy Moon turned out another stellar score - especially in the second half. Loved his music in the final fight. Like everything else, very "medieval."



Danny in this episode was better than he has been in the past when attention gets to his head IMO. He came to his senses by the commercial break, not by the end. His early behaviour seemed OOC, but his immediate rush to the rescue was very much him and a nice change of pace. He seemed a bit short-changed in this episode for some reason, though. It might just be that I was paying attention more to Sam, the medieval, and the dragons.



I liked the way Danny and Sam's interaction was played out here - minimal. FwD had more direct moments between them that pertained to the romantic, but here, it seemed more on the level of friendship - like in CF. I really enjoyed that. Even if I'd like to see D/S happen, the quieter notes of music in that movement of the love pentangle are fun to see.



I would give this episode a 10/10, but there were a few things that bugged me. Again, Danny seemed OOC and I didn't like a lot of the beauty pageant material. The ending also seemed rushed. I thought most of the episode played out pretty well, but things seemed to go too fast at the very end when the battle started to wind down - like everyone was in a hurry to get to the end that they just waked through the last couple of scenes. Someone suggested that this episode could have played out better as an hour-long movie, and I agree with that.





But I really enjoyed this episode a lot. I give it 9/10. Well done!