The Fentons head to Wisconsin, where Danny meets a half-ghost like himself, but who is evil.
9.0
"Superb"
The Fentons take a drive to Wisconsin for Jack and Maddie’s college reunion, run by Jack’s old roommate, Vlad Masters. Shortly after they arrive, Danny meets a new ghost, much more powerful than any he has faced so far, who pounds him mercilessly. The next night at the reunion, Danny is revealed by Vlad that he is a half-ghost, the same one that he had just met! He’s also known as Vlad Plasmius, and he wants revenge on Jack for making him half-ghost and ruining his social life. He also wants Maddie as his wife, and Danny as his son!
Looking back to when I first saw this, I have to first think for a minute. I had just finished watching the Jimmy/Timmy power hour, and I was also pretty sick at the time, so I wasn't what you call able to take it all in. But it wasn't long before I grew to really like this episode.
The opener was fine, a pretty good action scene to get you started off with. But the dropping of the vultures on Danny at the end of that part, while okay, it just didn't seem right. I'm never really a fan of that kind of humor.
During the discussion with the Fentons after the opener, things were still fine. Jazz seemed IC by trying to stand up for Danny when he said Jack and Maddie couldn't relate to him. And Danny was IC as well by trying to get her to butt out.
The trip to Wisconsin was a relatively fun and interesting segment. The weapons of the Fenton RV (or Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, whatever you call it) were funny and the way its weapons fired off everywhere, including goo onto Jazz's face, was funny as well, especially when Jazz went, "I'll get you for this."
The flashback to Vlad's proto-portal accident was interesting and understandable. Showed that Jack was the goofy and somewhat careless bumbler back then as he is now.
When they got to the castle, that's where things relatively began to pick up a bit. All of the Packers merchandise that Vlad had was a nice touch, and I favor it since the Packers are a team that I like, though not my favorite team, but that's beside the point. Vlad himself was clever at this point. He was able to fool Jack into thinking that all was forgiven and to move on, where in reality he had something sinister planned for him. And he also got them all to stay in the castle with the crack about the Dairy King.
Then Danny and Vlad faced off for the first time, and that's where things really started moving. Danny was overwhelmed throughout the episode at the fact that he could not defeat Vlad, that he had much more experience than him. But he is able to rely on his brain more than his strength to, while not defeat Vlad, at least put the fight on hold for a while, exploiting his weakness. And we actually see Danny getting hurt bad for the first time here. We take sight of tears on his jumpsuit and bruises everywhere else. Danny at this point is still young and still learning that the battles will be tough and he will encounter one who is stronger than him.
As for Vlad, I have to say, he is a brilliant arch enemy for Danny. As I mentioned earlier, the way he was able to deceive Jack into thinking that all was forgiven was cunning and sinister. The fact that he wanted Maddie and Danny was a nice touch, and it showed that the powers he has may have messed his mind a little bit, wanting to "rule", as he said to Danny by wanting Danny to join him. He had a great type of cockiness in his skill when Danny was trying to fight him, and thats good for a villain, IMO.
One last thing that I must acknowledge was the overall tone throughout the episode. In earlier episodes, it was pretty much an average high school setting, but here it got much more adventureous and dark. The dark background that was shown whenever he Danny and Vlad were fighting was a perfect compliment to the attitude of it.
There is little I can say what is wrong with this episode, but I think that at the reunion, Jazz wasn't portrayed very well. I mean, she thinks of herself as an adult, but she skips on the reunion to watch football flashbacks, and didn't seem to really care that Vlad was hitting on Maddie. But as for the football part, I actually don’t blame her here. I’m a football fan, and I’d probably do the same thing. Also, Tucker and Sam were not present here, but unlike the former, this is not a problem because they weren't necessary for the plot.
Well, that's all I have. Bitter Reunions is the first real turning point of the series, and it is done very nicely. The first what you call great episode of the series, and I give it 9/10. Nice job, Butch!