Frightmare

Season 3, Episode 9, Aired

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9.4
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Nocturne, the ghost of dreams, puts everyone in Amity Park to sleep. Danny must defeat this evil ghost who uses people's dreams to make himself more powerful. To make things more interesting, Sam and Danny get stuck in a dream where their friendship is more than "just friends". Despite this, Danny must defeat Nocturne, who seems invincible against Danny's attacks. The only way to beat the king of dreams is for Danny to find a way into the dream world, or risk having Amity Park dream into a world of nightmares!moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (21)

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  • Significant

    10
    "Perfect"
    By basserne, Nov 17, 2010
    It is the best of them all. Finally Danny are realising Sam`s true emotion fore him and understand that they are equal to his own meaning about her.

    Now we know that if a ghost overshadows one when they sleeps they will enter their dreams, which is usefull because it makes Danny realise his friends true meaning about him. He learn that Sam loves him and in his best friend Tuckers dream, he is NOT his friend but his JANITOR.

    Sam proberly just guested Tucker`s dream, but he did derseves it, beacuse if his dream is that his best friend shall work for him.

    In otherwords perfect in any waymoreless

  • Very awesome episode. mostly revolved around the thought of " DP + SM " for me.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By lil_mizz_krazie, Jul 02, 2008
    Great episode! Starts off like a very weird episode. Ok, Danny gets an A on a Social Studies or Science test, Danny's a football star Danny's popular and everyone knows he's Danny Phantom. And he and Sam are boyfriend and girlfriend. We find out it's just a deranged dream of Danny's. He's, for some reason unknown to him, in the Ghost Zone.

    When he gets to Amity Park, he finds everyone asleep. He automatically assumes that Vlad is behind this, but he is also asleep. He goes to Tucker's room, where the sleeping beauty is. Danny checks Tuck's computer to find out why everyone is asleep, he only finds a dark figure looming over Tucker. Danny then has a flash back of the same figure looming over him saying " Goodnight, Ghost boy. " or something like that.

    Danny finds out he can go into people's dreams by overshadowing someone. He goes into Tucker's dream, seeing Tucker acting like he's super rich, has two Star's next to him and has Danny as a janitor. He wakes Tuck up by replacing one of the Star's that he's about to kiss,Tucker then wakes up after Danny says he doesn't do windows. They then go to Sam's house to wake her up, her dream is like a continuation of Danny's dream, where he Finally finds out Sam like him more then a friend, ( I think. )

    After they wake up Jazz, they face the guy that we saw earlier, Nocturne. He's the second most dangerous villain of Danny, and he gets his power from dreams. He decides to power himself up by putting him in a pod like thing and goes to sleep. To stop him Danny, with Sam, goes inside his dream to defeat him while Tucker and Jazz try to power down the factory he's sleeping in. in the end, Nocturne's defeated and everyone wakes up. this episode shows hints that Danny and Sam love each other.moreless

  • yay DxS!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Coolcamz18, May 09, 2008
    Woooooooo! I love this episode! One of the best episodes on season 3! This episode is action packed and shows some more Danny and Sam Development! I love how danny is totally stronger! especially now that he has his ice powers to kick butt! All The Blushy moments of Danny and Sam made me Squee! and whats better is that in the first part of the episode it foreshadows the end of Phantom Planet. Danny Finally gets the idea that Sam Likes him! and this episode is also very funny! Danny finding out that in Tucker's dream that his the janitor! Overall love this episode.moreless

  • One of the best episodes of the series.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By neocarleen, Mar 29, 2008
    From the first episode of Mystery meat, Danny Phantom has evolved and matured. This episode is definitely one of the best episodes. It's almost as if Butch Hartman is pushing Danny to his full potential just before the series ends. The Danny and Sam romance continues, and they even fight along side each other. A few humorous scenes are thrown in as well to keep the show a Nick classic. A peek into everyone's dreams also gives some character development. And as Danny has another classic fight with a seemingly unstoppable ghost, only to save the day triumphantly, viewers are reminded why this show is so amazing. All in all, a series classic!moreless

  • I don't really get the title! This episode is my unfavorite out of the whole season!

    5.6
    "Mediocre"
    By check77, Dec 22, 2007
    The ghost of dreams puts Amity Park to sleep, and Danny must wake everyone to stop his new foe. In "Frightmare," Danny awakens from his dreams in The Ghost Zone, and when he comes back to his home, he finds all of Amity Park in slumberland. Nocturn, the ghost of dreams, is out and about, putting the world to bed to enhance his own power!

    Hmm...

    I was looking forward to this one. The concept intrigued me, and I had seen pictures of Nocturn, who has by far the most original design of any DP ghost introduced since Season 1. I had heard a few non-spoiler-y grumblings about the story that gave me pause, but I went in anyway.

    And I'm not really sure what to think.

    EfaE aside, this is the only episode of Season 3 that feels like it took its time and paced itself at a slower tempo. I haven't had as many problems with the pacing of this season as some people, but it was nice to get a different rhythm this time around, one more in-line with some of the greats from the past. The non-conventional way of introducing the circumstances and villain, and having Danny on his own piecing things together was very nice, and I enjoyed seeing him go through a mental challenge after so many villains this season that have been easy to understand and the challenge merely being a physical one.

    This was also the first episode of the season where Jazz joins the trio, and the first time ever that I really felt like that foursome's potential as a team was exploited to the characters' best advantage. Their plan at the end and their cooperation was wonderful. I loved small moments in that last battle - Jazz and Danny both helping out Sam, Tuck catching Jazz, etc. It's that kind of character work that I love most in any story. And after BUF, it was great to feel like the characters actually had something to go up against.

    However, I won't deny the fact that Nocturn isn't too different from Vortex or Undergrowth. He's a standard evil villain with control over a specific thing out for power and world domination. And, with Pandora coming off pretty flat to me, that leaves Amorpho as the only impressive new ghost of the season IMO. But I do think that Nocturn was a slight improvement over his predecessors. He doesn't have much more personality, but his voice is much, much better. Nocturn doesn't shout every single line. He has subtlety. He shows signs of great intellect. He actually sounds like a threat. And again, he has a much more unique design. None of these things can replace an actual personality, but they are welcome additions to this unfortunate formula.

    Nocturn could have been more than he was, though. And more could have been done with the idea of dreams.

    I love the use of dreams in stories, especially when they're used for great character work. Some of the best episodes of shows like AVATAR use dreams to great dramatic effect. And DP's staff is as talented as AVATAR's. But DP's writers also seem more willing to give up the heart of the characters for various reasons, and that's where I think the dreams in this episode really suffered.

    Everyone seemed to be dreaming about their innermost desires, for reasons unsaid - perhaps idyllic dreams give Nocturn more juice than nightmares? But in any event, of the trio, the dream that I bought the most was Tucker's. A techno-mansion and many lovely ladies makes sense for him. But why does he want his best friend to be his janitor? I'm sure that's in there for gag purposes only, but I've never found jokes like that amusing. If those characters are such good friends, they wouldn't treat each other like that or think of each other like that. I know I've been passive a few times when Danny pulls a prank on Tucker - mainly in early episodes like PB, when the characters were all developing and the ghost powers were as new to them as to us - but either way, there's a line, and I felt like it was crossed.

    The shared D/S dream...coming at it from Danny's perspective, it sort of made sense to me. Danny has some shallow traits within him, though as the series progresses they seem to fade. I could see him dreaming about being popular. And I could see him dreaming about people knowing he's part-ghost and accepting it. But dreaming about being a football star? Since when is he interested in sports? And since when does he want to be friends with the jerk who's been bullying him for over two and a half seasons? This struck me as the writers finding it easier to conform to the common image of high school success than to craft something that actually fit Danny's personality.

    And the dream from Sam's perspective...be prepared for a rant here:

    Sam has never cared for what's "popular." She's flat-out stated that she hates sports. She's a fan of things dark, Gothic, and somewhat Victorian in appearance. She doesn't like Dash. She doesn't like Paulina. And, most important of all - she likes Danny just the way he is. She doesn't want him to be anything other than himself. Why in the world is she dreaming about him becoming a jock? This completely goes against the personality she's had for the entire show! This is the kind of dream I'd imagine Paulina would have if she had any thoughts about Danny. Sam (IMO) should have a dream about having a quiet evening alone with Danny in a Gothic castle high on a hill in the middle of a forest - NOT turning Danny into a conglomeration of things that she's supposed to detest!

    I can understand the reason for them having the same dream; that love is in the air, that they're connected by great bonds of effection, yadda yadda yadda. But this was a cheap cop-out. There had to be a better way to convey the D/S aspect of this episode. Dreams could still be used - I love the idea of using dreams to connect two people drawn together by romantic feelings, and in some ways I think that may have been the theme of the episode - but they should have been better than this. Oh My Gosh, Sam and Danny need to see this as a sign. Danny and Samantha almost together. That is so awesome. They did not kiss on the lips though. I would have loved to see that. The two are meant for each other. It has been a while since I have seen this episode. I do remember there was something Tucker had that saved the day. Tucker always has a secret weapon that saves the day. Well ether he does or Danny's parents do. As I recall it was a good episode. Nocturne is a relentless ghost. I loved the different dreams that the different people had throughout this episode. Nocturne is a play on Nocturnal, sleeping during the day and being awake at night. In fact, the only dream that I found 100% believeable and fitting to the character was Nocturn's - and given his cardboard personality, that's not saying much.

    The animation and music here was gorgeous. Once again, Nocturn's design was wonderful, and the use of dark colours and the look of Nocturn's dream were all very fitting.

    Overall, this episode started with great promise and showed some nice touches of originality. But for me, the parts are more impressive than the whole, and some of the key aspects of this story idea could have and should have been better.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (6)

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    • Look Hard: During the flashback of Nocturne sending Danny into the Ghost Zone, his goatee is black, & does not reach the bottom of his chin.

    • After Danny sucks the Fright Knight into his thermos, he puts his thermos onto a sash and flies back towards the school. After he phases through the wall, neither the thermos or the sash is with him anymore.

    • When Danny entered Sam's dream and overshadowed Dash, he was still in ghost form. That way, he couldn't have transformed Dash into "Dash Phantom", because if he had transformed while in Dash's body, it would've had to be back into a human.

    • The surveillance cameras indicate Jack and Maddie were put to sleep at the refrigerator and in the lab, but when Danny went to check on them, they were in bed.

    • When Danny first checked up on Jazz, she was in her bed, but when Danny, Sam, and Tucker come back to wake her up, she is asleep on her desk.

    • Fentonworks has security cameras all over the place, yet Maddie and Jack don't know Danny is half ghost. How is this possible?

  • QUOTES (14)

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    • (In Danny's dream) Dash: It must be nice, Fenton, being a superhero and having the girls all lovesick for ya. Tucker: Sounds like someone's tired of taking his cousin to all the dances! Dash: (Annoyed) She's my mom's sister's stepdaughter!

    • (Danny zaps Nocturne) Danny: That'll teach you to steal people's dreams. Nocturne: "Steal" is such an ugly word. I prefer the term "harvest".

    • (After Danny overshadowes Jazz to wake her up) Tucker: (To Sam) So, what were you dreaming about? Sam: Oh, you know, nothing specific. I was just sharing a glass of chocolate milk with two friends who looked just like Star! Tucker: Hey, that's what I- Oh, Danny told you my dream, didn't he? (To himself) I'm pretty sure that violates the dude code.

    • (In Tucker's dream) Tucker: That will be all Fenton. Dream Danny: Yes sir. Real Danny: Wait! I'm the janitor?! Tucker: Now for some tunes! Danny: I hate to cramp your style dude, actually, no I don't. Tucker: (Kissing Star's hand in his dream when Danny taps his shoulder) I can't neglect you my pet. (He turns and sees Danny) Danny: Seriously, I'm your janitor?! Tucker: AUGHHH! (Tucker wakes up, his helmet busts and Danny flies out of Tucker) Ah man! I just had the worse nightmare! Danny: Actually, you're now in a worse one. Come on, we gotta free Sam... And just so you know, I don't do windows!

    • (In Sam's dream) Danny: The cafeteria? Come on Sam, I expected bigger dreams from... Sam: (To Dream Danny) Can you make room for your girlfriend? Danny: Girlfriend? Her dream is just like mine. Uh, her dream is just like mine!

    • (In Nocturne's dream) Nocturne: The ghost boy and his girlfriend, once again together in dreamland.

    • (In Nocturne's dream where he is a powerful ruler) Danny: You got to hand it to the guy, he's got a vision.

    • Danny: Okay, how do I remove that headset without lighting myself up like a christmas tree?

    • Danny: Wait a minute, something obviously woke me up and knocked this thing off me, the question is what? (Danny thinks back to his dream where Danny and Sam almost kiss) Danny: Woah! Yeah, that would do it!

    • Danny: That's all you do? Put people to sleep? Are you sure your not a teacher?

    • Danny: Why are dreams so important? Nocturn: Ask the ghost boy who dreams of the goth girl Danny: Aw man, that was private...

    • Nocturne: (After putting Danny to sleep, and sending him off a cliff in the ghost zone) Sweet dreams... ghost boy!

    • Jazz:(After Danny and Sam go to fight Nocturne inside his dream.) Wow...Those two are really. Tucker: Creepy! Jazz: What? Tucker: I mean creepwalkers at five o'clock!

    • Danny:(Talking to the sleepwalkers)Hey guys. Love your induviduality!

  • NOTES (20)

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  • ALLUSIONS (3)

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    • Danny: (Slip inside people's dreams) This is just like the Spongebob Squarepants episode Sleepy Time how Spongbob went inside people's dreams. He just had to slip inside them.

    • Danny saving Sam: Dialogue When Danny catches Sam after the Sleepwalkers drop her, he asks her if she is okay and when she says yes, Danny says cool and flies off. This scene is similar to Spiderman 3 where Spiderman caught Mary Jane when she fell from the web. Spiderman asked her if she was okay and when she said yes, he says okay and takes off.

    • Sleepwalkers: Name and Mission Nocturne's minions, the Sleepwalkers, share the name of a race of otherworldly beings also known as Sleepwalkers in Marvel Comics.

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