alifeofred

Ever since it was revealed that there's a ghost fighting super hero living in Amity Park in season 1 (Since at the start no one was differentiating one ghost from the next) But ever since the Inviso-bill fiasco, Danny became more vigilant with keeping his two sides separate.

Because people were looking more closely now.

That was after What You Want, meaning the Ghost Catcher most definitely picked up on the difference that Danny so evidently made within himself.

Hence why things became crazy in Identity Crisis with the device (It could also be a retcon from the creators, but I'd like to think there's a bigger picture here.)

What Danny intended was to make two of himself (Splitting himself like he'd seen Vlad do, he thought that's what it was) He thought that's what the Ghost Catcher did the first time.

As it did with Technus. Purging that which he possessed, or making two of what was there in the first place.

Let's talk about what the distinction between Phantom and Fenton actually means for Danny and why it was important for him in the first place.

Considering how loony their parents can be. Danny and Jazz started disassociating from the craziness of the Fenton household early on.

With Jazz psychoanalyzing everything and placing it all in neat little boxes she created and labeled herself. Touting herself as the only sane one in the house, looking after everyone, especially Danny, because only she could. Because she was the only normal one there was.

Danny started hiding himself. Making himself invisible in a crowd. Aiming towards the most mediocre of things. Like wanting to be part of the normal accepted crowd of kids. Going on dates. Hanging out with his friends. Liking the most obvious chick in school. Like, he was trying too hard with wanting a normal childhood experience.

All because both Danny and Jazz were fighting against their Fenton instincts. Ghost fighting and the mania that comes with being a Fenton was in them from the start. No matter how hard they tried to disassociate from it.

Their parents encouraged whatever they wanted, but hoped for the same passion and zeal that they had.

And wouldn't you know it, when given the chance. Both Danny and Jazz pull out all the stops and show just how much that Fenton DNA matters. They can't fight it. And with time, they don't even try.

The thing is that Jazz, once exposed to this life, went full in. Starting by saying it was for Danny's sake but she started to enjoy it after a while.

Danny, on the other hand, only let half of himself fully immerse in it. Saying that Danny Fenton was still human and mundane. As far away from the ghostly craziness as possible.

Except this mask slipped up from time to time when the situation asked for it.

Pirate Radio, anyone?

Danny took charge as himself. And his natural instincts and leadership shone through. One he tried to hide so much.

As the series progresses, he might have forgotten about what shallow things he wanted in season 1, like popularity and dating the hot girl.

Instead, he wanted down time with his friends without anything ghostly interrupting. And he wanted to date the pretty and kick ass girl who he genuinely liked to be with.

He's growing, right? (Not enough to see what's right in front of him, but sure.)

This still isn't what's right for him. He's still so fixated on separating his two selves that he doesn't even care that Valerie hates his alter ego and wants to kill him. So long as she likes Fenton, it's all good.

When that ship sails, not because of anything Danny does, but because Valerie chose for him. Danny starts to ponder on how he should go forward.

Another kick to the head, very much needed as it was, came in the form of Gregor. Making Danny realize his feelings for Sam. He's getting there, right?

But it's still through the lenses of Fenton. He wants the normal experience still.

Livin Large and Phantom Planet were continuations of a conflict that wasn't resolved in Identity Crisis, just delayed prematurely.

So when given an out, Danny reverses his powers. Thinking that now that his ghost powers are gone, so are the responsibilities that came with it. Any positive thing associated with that part of his identity, is lost.

He doesn't realize that fighting for the right cause wasn't something that his ghost powers could do. It was something he could do all on his own. But by cutting off that one vital part of himself, he became half of who he was.

Hence why calling what Sam and Tucker and Jazz did as quote unquote 'Bullying' him, is uncalled for. Because they never viewed Danny as two separate people. He was always one and whole to them. And when they saw him lose a vital part of himself, they were distraught.

Jazz was saddened, but it was her brother's choice.

Tucker was disappointed, but he'd support Danny.

Sam was angry, and she would say it to your face.

And she did. Sam never minced words with Danny. A quality of hers that he always admired. (Which was what he meant when he said this btw...)

He needs her to ground him. Tell it to him straight.

It wasn't the powers that made Danny a super hero. It was himself and his resolve to do the right thing that made him a superhero. And he had to realize that.

Mind you, this was in one episode.

His two sides. One that gives up on everything but the people he loves. And the side that will risk it all till the very end. Putting his life on the line to protect his town.

He's done it before too. In Reign Storm he would have died and he was willing to as well, if it meant getting rid of Pariah Dark.

This isn't a retcon or bastardization of Danny. It's this constant pendulum inside him that switches from all to nothing and back again over and over again.

He doesn't need Phantom to fight. And he realizes this after Sam pushes him to confront himself.

He goes from this...

To this...

He does all this without powers. He's a natural leader, always has been. And when he tells his friends to get in the escape pod when all the ghosts were after them, everyone listened. Sam lingered because that's just how these two operate.

Speaking of (since I'll bring up Sam and Danny any chance I get cause I love every aspect of their relationship and just how perfect they are for one another), when Danny gets his head on straight, without powers I might add, these two come to life again.

I see those smiles and I know what they mean. That's Sam for ya. She's his conscience and he needs her. (Something I'll talk about at length in another post, promise).

He gets his powers back, but he learned a valuable lesson as well.

No matter how much he wants to separate his two sides, he just can't. They are the same person. Him!

In the end, with his secret out to the world. There's no need for differentiating Phantom and Fenton anymore.

But he still realizes what he wants is what both sides of himself strived for.

He wants to fight evil and protect as many as he can.

But he also wants to experience life like a normal teenager too.

Finding a balance between these two is something he'll always struggle with, but that's life.

And with the end showing him with the globe of the world on his hands, showcasing how he protected the planet. It could be considered a nice sentiment, but at the same time an omen too.

It could be showing us that Danny now bears the weight of the world.

If given the chance to explore further (if ever) in the future. There could be multitude of stories. One of which Butch Hartman himself alluded to. Where Danny now seeks shelter in his ghost half.

So he tries it with himself. And we got two Danny's... just not the way he'd hoped.

The pendulum has swung the other way. Now he's going to take on everything. No matter the price. Which is a great plot point that I would love to see explored.

Going through high school is torture enough. But if you throw in ghost powers at age 14, then there's sure to be disaster.

Considering Danny was already going through enough problems as a normal teenage boy living with eccentric parents. Adding in the ghost powers paired with his own sense of doing the right thing. Then you've got Danny Phantom—Teen Ghost Fighter.

This comes with a slew of newer issues that get to be a bit much to handle. No wonder Danny constantly faced an identity crisis. And not just when he wanted to spend the summer with his friends as a normal kid.

No, no. Danny's identity crisis continues throughout the show.

The Ghost Catcher being the perfect instrument to show what was going on with Danny mentally when it came to balancing his identities.

Starting early out. He gets his powers. Figures out something new about them every day. Tries to fight ghost crimes with them, do the right thing, fight the good fight.

But keep his ghost side hidden from the world. Which starts to cause him problems as the series progresses.

When he first starts using his powers, it's all standard issue and he's learning, trying to come to terms with them and his role as Danny Phantom.

Which is why when the Ghost Catcher splits him the first time.

It's all too easy to become one again. Because there's no internal struggle yet. He hasn't distinguished both sides. Notice how he starts to separate both sides of himself later on in the series.

Human Danny has school, family, friends, and a life. Ghost Danny fights evil ghosts and protects his town.

Danny drew the line and the internal struggle began.

So when he splits himself with the Ghost Catcher the second time.

And tries to become one again, this happens:

The unholy combination of both sides of Danny warring to come out on top.

These two:

Made this:

The hand on hips thing is purely his own choice btw.

Goes to show how separate both halves have gotten. Danny drew the line to keep his identity a secret, and managed to further alienate both sides of him within himself.

Hence his constant, Danny Fenton does this, and Danny Phantom does that. He doesn't consider them as one. Which is why he manages to make the most stupidest decisions whenever he wishes to shed one side of himself.

This distinction becomes even more disastorous when a certain Disasteroid is hurtling towards earth and Danny Phantom is nowhere to be found cause he fucked it again. Because when the genius did this...

...he mentally and physically got rid of any association with Danny Phantom.

He thought that now that he didn't have his powers anymore, he didn't have to give two shits about standing up for what's right.

We got the Cool Fun Time Danny for good. But this time there wasn't a Super Danny Phantom in the wings to pick up the slack.

Danny stopped caring.

It was like, now that he didn't have his powers, he was free to not care about anyone but his friends and family and about living his life free of responsibilities like any normal teenage boy.

Cause if With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

Then...

No Powers = No Responsibility.

I mean, when genderbend Sam comes up in our minds, it's usually this:

And hats off to @amethystocean-adr for creating THE perfect fanart of Danny Phantom that I keep going back to her channel to get my daily DP dose.

Anyway, there were two episodes where we got to see Sam in drag and mind you, this works for me.

Look at her. The confidence she exudes!

This, paired with...

And...

All of this is suave and hot. Imagine Danny seeing her like this. Oh wait. He did!

Give the guy some time to admire his girlfriend wearing his shirt, will ya! In a moment of crisis, with him RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE. He stops and goes:

-Is that my shirt?

Yes, Danny. Your girlfriend borrowed your shirt. You're never getting it back. She stole it from your room in Girl's Night Out and kept it at her place. For keepsake? Who knows, right?

Anyway, the best part no doubt about her look is probably here.

Look. At. That. Smirk!

Okay so common discourse I see among the DP fandom is a general hatred for Phantom Planet and I just don't get it.

Do I think it's a great episode, of course. Do I think the first half should have been fleshed out more so that calling it the final episode could have justified. Of-fucking-course.

Be that as it may, it's still a great episode. Sure, I prefer Reign Storm and The Ultimate Enemy because those two were stronger episodes that are beloved by the fandom. But Phantom Planet gets a bad rep. And that's unnecessary.

I'll highlight the reasons why it didn't work before talking about how it did work.

Why it was bad

The first half undid a lot of character development for Danny, Sam, Jazz and Tucker. The team was angry at Danny and said a bunch of stuff, Sam in particular, about what a colossal idiot Danny was. And people did not jive with it.

Danny was being an angry bitch and made a stupid mistake just because Vlad was bruising on his ego.

The asteroid crisis came out of nowhere when we still had a lot of unfinished plotlines that could have been way better as a finale.

The entire first half made Danny seem like a joke and I did not like the continuous underwear reveal gag. That did my boy dirty.

Vlad became a bit too much of a maniac. Which he was, but he was always a calculated maniac before who was always ten steps ahead of Danny in every confrontation. But in PP he was just plain stupid...But considering the movie Don't Look Up, I think Vlad was right on the mark. Still, a stupid plan.

The ramifications of team Phantom snapping at Danny and then not making it up to him was not lost on me.

There's also the fact that I wanted to know what happens after because so much was left up in the air. How would the world treat Danny now? What about the Guys in White? What happens to Vlad? And what does Valerie really think? I mean, he did betray her like Vlad did. I want answers!

And finally, we already knew that Danny didn't want the world to know he was Phantom. And all that time he never once cashed in the Phantom popularity wagon, but was instead terrified of it. He liked his anonymity. And we saw just how much a few episodes prior in Forever Phantom in one of his best dialogues "And I just wanted to be left alone. But if we don't figure a way out of this, I don't think I'll ever be left alone again." With the Phantom banner as a visual aid to how severe the consequences of the world finding out he's phantom would have been. But that wasn't taken into account and I want answers!

Why it was great

In iteration with the last entries. I'll say that yes, Sam and Jazz and Tucker may have been hard on Danny. But that was how it always was. He messed up. And they got angry with him. He then makes up to them by being better. There have been so many examples of that in prior episodes so I wasn't bothered by it that much.

Danny was being a jerk but he always did that before there was a lesson he needed to learn. And he always did. Either on his own, or through the help of his friends and family. So I forgive him his tantrum.

It made sense that Danny gave up his powers and that scene was awesome. I understood his reasonings and they were on par with his character. He'd done so plenty of times before. Just because he was impulsive and headstrong and he wanted the easy way out. We've seen him do that countless times, so this time wasn't new. That was a great scene and I stand by it.

The first half may have been slow, but the second half, from the moment Danny gives up his powers, was great.

The asteroid crisis may not have been the ending we wanted, but the show needed to end on a grand scale, and this was it. And it worked.

I understood Sam's frustration because she never pulled her punches with Danny and this time was no different. Their conversation on her steps was the best dialogue exchange on the show. I loved it.

Danny's motivations were validated as well. Because up to this point he always went the extra mile to protect those close to him. He was always overprotective. So this move that he made, was in direct conjunction with that impulse. I can see him letting go of his powers to protect those he loved. And he drove home that point when he talked to Sam about it.

But point is, I understood Sam's point as well. Danny took the easy way out. And he gave up on fighting for what's right. And he didn't care about any of it. Which is what she hated because he's done that before. But this was permanent. So she snapped. And good for her.

Aside from that conflict, Phantom's comeback. And the events that followed were superb. The plan. The kiss in the snow. The fear of what he had to do. Almost failing. Everyone thinking he's dead. But he comes back. And he saves everyone. That was beautifully done.

That scene when he reveals his powers was so beautiful that I'll forgive any mistakes the episode made. His hesitation. Everyone understanding and being there for him. The standing ovation. It was so... beautiful!

And the kiss! The kiss is worth everything. I loved it. Both of them had gone so long without confessing their feelings that this moment felt earned. And it was shot so perfectly. Both of them were hesitant and shy. But then...nothing else mattered than telling the other that they mean something. More than something, maybe a whole lot of everything. And we got what we had been waiting for for so long, at last.

Plus, the ending shot and their talk and the second kiss. Totally solid ending.

Oh I've been a fan for a really long time. Maybe 10 to 12 years now? Rewatching the show at 13 really got me back into this show. I didn't even know about so many of the episodes because they never aired on TV. But ever since then Danny and Sam have been my number one OTP. No one can top them.

Last one, I promise.

If I didn't have an image limit I would've made three posts and been done with it. But here we are on the sixth one.

Okay, let's start off easy.

Tucker makes a lot of stupid jokes. Even better is that most of his antics lead to to Danny and Sam being annoyed. More often then not we'll see our lovebirds head off on their own, leaving Tucker to his demise.

Exhibit A.

He may not have been vocal about it, but Tucker was the biggest DxS shipper on the show.

Which showed in his quiet exasperations when these two got particularly cutesy. And he was the one who was left to deal with them. Reminding them that "hey, I'm not your third wheel, take it elsewhere."

Gregor What's-his-face is ancient history and our besties are back on track. With Danny a bit too overexcited. Pretty sure this was the kick he needed to get his ectobutt in gear and actually get the girl.

But these two. Tucker's right there.

Same as he was right here.

Hello for these. Things are better when these two are sharing space. Not to mention how in tune they are with the other. Can someone say soulmates?

And let's not forget these two looks. The handholding and the gazing. Please. Get a room!

Plus can we talk about this? We as a society should!

And these two. Both episodes come back to back. And fun thing about both is that Danny and Sam leave Tucker hanging to be mauled by Paulina and Star.

How the heck can they do this to him twice! Twice!

Ending this entire series on a cute ass high note.

He's glad you're okay, Sam. He's real glad. Almost so glad that he was ready to blur the lines between best friends and something more.

Until our third wheel enters with his own three wheel drive. The real MVP is Tucker.

Thank you everyone for being here for these posts. I have a lot of feels left to share about this show. But this panel ends here.

All I have to say is that, these two are clearly meant to be. And it was a joy to see them get their happy ending.

And just think, these two went from this to this.

Kudos, Danny.

Here's to all of us getting one as well.... Preferably with a cute half ghost boy with killer charm, a dry wit, and overprotection issues.

Okay, bear with me one last time with this, cause we have to end the episode.

After they kiss and it's exhilarating and a moments reprieve has been had. We have to get back into hero mode.

But hero mode notwithstanding. Danny looks back one last time.

That smile says, "I kinda have something special to come back to."

And it's precious.

Fast forward, he becomes the ghosts' punching bag again. He makes it back. Or does he?

They all think he's dead. And she's devastated. He was supposed to make it back.

But then, the portal moves. And out comes Danny Phantom with a bajilion ghosts. And it's a beautiful moment. Made even more so because he smiles that powerful smile of his and she's smiling because he made it back. Just like he promised her.

Disaster averted (pun intended). Time for that sweet sweet moment where she's the first one out and she tackles him like the lifesaver he is.

Stuff ensues. Secret identity revealed. Everyone cheers.

And now it's time for our lovebirds to have a moment to themselves.

Starting out quite and polite conversations. Which will no doubt segue into more serious territories in a minute.

Notice how Danny has this swagger about him. He's content. Weight of the world off his shoulder and now he has the one thing he's always wanted.

He seems to know of her misgivings before her, hence the way he's so self assured with that smile on his stupid cute face.

She's giving him an out.

-You'll probably get pretty busy.

-What else is new?

-I... probably won't see much of you anymore.

But he's like.

I wouldn't count on that.

The most cutest scene.

Look at her! She's got tears in her eyes. Since when has Sam been like that? And he's a bit unsure here, but one thing he is sure of is her. That he wants to be with her. He needs her in his life. Because if she's there beside him, everything will be better and it would be an even bigger adventure.

Cue happy ending!

We only got to see a small portion of it though. But rest assured, these two probably had their fair share of handholding in the future. And we couldn't be happier for them.

That might conclude the looks in an episodic capacity. But know that there are a lot of looks where that came from.

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for.

The moment our ship became real.

Phantom Planet.

So say what you will about Phantom Planet, but I genuinely enjoyed it. The first half was a bit lacking, and sure Danny was being a colossal jerk. But we kinda knew where he was coming from.

More on THAT later because I have a whole other post for that analysis.

The show really kicks up after Danny's 'I don't give a fuck' montage. The moment Sam lays the smack down.

And She. Is. Pissed.

Danny is clueless, but he does let her in on what his reasons are. Aka, he wants to protect the people closest to him...especially her.

But she isn't listening. To her, Danny's given up.

But the show really kicks off from this point on. Not surprising considering this is one of the best bit of dialogue on the show. And it gets the point across.

Disasteroid strikes. Everyone is panicking. And Danny Fenton has a plan.

It takes all that he has to accomplish. And he nearly loses his life...again.

The thing about this scene is that everyone leaves as soon as Danny goes into leader mode, but she stays a moment longer because she knows THIS Danny as well. The one that risks his life to save others. So at odds with the devil may care Danny of a few days ago.

Plus the fire in his eyes.

So she concedes. And trouble starts for Danny. The ghosts are out for revenge and Danny is a neat punching bag.

Fear not though, Phantom is back and stronger than ever. Notice how the ghostly wail didn't even weaken him. He really has gotten powerful now.

And the moment wouldn't be complete without...

It's always been you.

Kinda seems like she's saying something else, amiright?

Moment interrupted, we have plans to execute. We'll have time for this later.

So when later comes. And it's time to go. He's not ready. And she is definitely not ready.

Which is why she pulls the classic...

Promise to bring it back.

With yourself. In case that wasn't obvious.

And he's stalling, because there are words he wants to say and none of them are adequate enough to convey just how much he...feels for her.

Notice the desperate longing on both their faces. My oh my.

She makes the first move. And he's taken aback.

But he makes his split second decision. There may be a mountain of words left unsaid between them, but he'll be damned if he doesn't at least convey one small bit of it. Considering the imminent suicide mission that is.

This. Shot. Ruined. Me.

He...and she...and they! Like, what? Look at him! Looking at her! Because she feels lost. And she might be thinking that maybe I pushed him away with being so forward, it is Danny she's dealing with. The king of denial, next to her highness.

But then!

The soft way he holds her chin. So in contrast with her kiss with that douchenugget Gregor/Elliot.

Danny's just...staring her and she's...still lost. But so is he. And then he just!

IT HAPPENED!

The-th-the way he's framing her face with his hands. Holding her. It's just so darn tender.

And it was this moment that I realized I ain't ever getting a Danny of my own. Ever. Sad.

Ending this segment with the after moment.

Notice the sad boy, sad girl faces just blossom into similar grins. Not to mention...he's leaning his forehead...against hers. And it's...too much!

Or not enough.

We were robbed of a season 4 where we would've seen these two be together on a more universal level and they would've worked out so perfectly and Tucker would've been sick of it, and them. The amount of jokes he would unleash on these two.

And they would've remained blissfully in love.

Is it just me or would we have seen a more territorial side to Sam had the series continued? Just imagine someone flirting with Danny and Sam just...pulls the claws out.

Not to mention, Danny himself would've had the ghostly green eyes out every time someone made a come on at Sam.

We were robbed!

And I've run out of picture limit. So onto the next and final part of looks, that will feature so many other looks from so many other episodes.

Okay onto part 3. Since I will not shut about about these two. Ever.

We start with the classic and amazing Frightmare. Because that episode did so much for my ship and it was in and of itself such a great episode. I don't get why season 3 was slept on. It gave us such great content.

Anyway, we'll start off with the dream sequence. And the utter awesomeness of it.

Danny was caught off guard at first. Because come on, even at the back of his mind he'd go... "Wait. I've been dreaming of this for ages, how is it real?" Probably what jarred him awake in the first place.

But it's the way that Sam shows up next to him and he immediately smiles. Smiles! At her! Like the smile was immediate.

That smile should be illegal.

Moving on to her being so damn open about wanting him and being with him that he's taken aback (he's like, 'So onboard, but this is kinda new.')

Then he wakes up and he realizes what the heck just happened and he immediately goes into super hero mode. Putting everything on the back burner while he deals with Nocturne.

Going back to her waking up from dreaming about him and he's there and he knows and she has some idea about what the heck the just happened and then... denial. Denial. Denial.

I mean, look at them. At this point, Danny boy, what's left to be in denial about anyway?

Then there were the knowing looks and inside jokes which just about killed me.

Look at this Marshmellow!

And then the additional, "Can you make room for me?" Like, just kiss already.

Not at Jazz and Tucker being the third wheel in the background. Tucker's like, "This happens a lot, I'm used to it." But Jazz is more, "What's going on here? Something to psychoanalyze when I get home?".

Ending the episode on a high note.

Idiots.

Which reminds me, check out His and Hers by MyAibou on AO3 and Fanfiction. The author showed extra scenes for the episode and they are to die for. I already consider them canon.

Moving onto Claw of the Wild.

Not that great of an episode except for the Danny and Sam moments. Other than that the episode kinda felt forced. Like some of the other season 3 episodes did.

Still solid Amethyst Ocean material.

Exhibit A.

Sammy. What's up with that.

Only these two would find imminent death to be the best time to have a moment. With the, "I can't live without you." Kind of moments. I swear...

And then the... "We don't have to wake them all up, do we?" Cue flirting.

He's all up for spending the night together again, Sam. Maybe you both need it to finally confess.

Ending the episode on THE highest note. Because I will forgive any stilted-ness from the episode for that one final bit of beauty that it gave us at the end. I love. Love. Love that scene.

These two laughing. And this is something I noticed. The sound of both their laughter mixing? It sounded so damn cute and adorable.

And with THE most romantic line I've ever heard. Like, smooth as fuck, Danny boy, smooth as fuck.

–We have our own soundtrack.

–It's perfect.

Uhh, this is the same Danny who got weak kneed around girls, right? Look at him pulling this stuff at the end. It's even more cuter because it's Her! His soulmate!

Damn, I'm crying again.

Reign Storm.

Okay so I'm gonna need to unpack a lot here and I'll definitely do a separate segment just for this one episode in the future.

But for now let's discuss the looks. Because there weren't just googly eyes. More like weighed stares meant to convey a lot of emotions that words couldn't.

Starting with.

The silent communication these two had going on, like, I can't even.

He knows he might not make it back. And she's worried sick about that.

Plus so many words are left unsaid and he's the one that initiates it with the;

"If you have something to say to me. Now might be an excellent time to do it."

We all know that Sam may be in denial and won't admit to anyone about what she feels for Danny. But if she's in denial, then he's clueless.

Clueless one! Amiright?

And yet, in moments like this. He feels that pull and he puts it on the line. He knows in his hearts of heart what she means to him. Now he just wants to know what she feels.

But interrupted again.

And he smiles. Smiles to let her know that they'll have time. And she... concedes. What else can she do?

Plus, the second smile is more of a promise than the first one and this time around, she looks like she believes him too.

Now this is a promise. And do these two deliver it perfectly. No dialogue necessary.

Moving forward, Danny defeats Pariah Dark. Almost dies doing it. Comes back and hers is the face he sees first. And then Vlad starts spewing bullshit so Danny's getting pissed.

Even though he's weak and drained, he's gonna kick Plasmius's ass. Until... her.

And he listens.

Moving onto the next day and Danny's still stewing. And who reminds him to take it easy?

And don't even get me started on the knowing looks. These two are just...

Point is, Reign Storm did so much for their relationship and it was executed perfectly.

The scope of that episode was stellar enough and then the writers put the cherry on top by adding the romance subplot. Winners!

And since I want to do a separate analysis of Frightmare and Claw of the Wild. Onto part 3!

Okay so, lengthy post.

I wanna discuss the long looks these two shared. Of which there are many.

These looks can be platonic.

Or they could be filled with emotion.

But fact remains that both Danny and Sam are meant for one another and that has been evident since day one. All the way back to the second episode. (The first one doesn't count considering Danny was a nervous wreck and Sam had her own agenda to deal with Tucker.)

So we'll start with Parental Bonding. And the reason it's in my top 10 list of best DP episodes.

The way Danny just knows Sam and saw through that sarcastic veneer to what lay underneath. That she wanted to go to the dance. And he obliged.

And then this happened.

Like du-ude, major brain malfunction. If you know Paulina's gonna get angry by the smallest of things, maybe not mention the person that riles her up.

Then we go to the looks shared after everything was over and done with.

Combine that with.

This...this is everything!

But the best of the best was definitely...

I mean. He cracks a lame joke to help her settle her nerves considering she was a FIRE BREATHING DRAGON moments ago and he thought he might have hurt her.

But she's safe and he's being his goofy self again to make her laugh. And... It works. No romance subplot but the way these two working together as a unit was perfectly highlighted in this episode.

Moving onto smaller things peppered throughout.

One of which is from Beauty Marked. And may I just tell you that this episode holds my heart.

I mean, come on!

He's sorry. She accepts. He thinks she's awesome. She knows. Like can these two get any cuter?

Plus the cadence of his voice when he says, "You should listen to some of those ideas...I know I should have." That bit. Just for her. And she hears and appreciates it.

Going to Boxed up Fury now. Not one of my favorite episodes. Kinda ranks low because the Box Ghost as the main antagonist... Meh. But it did deliver this gem of a moment.

That smile. Then the split second realization. And notice how he just... keeps on smiling long after she's looked away. Eeep.

Add in the quiet and tender way they talked to each other after that.

Be careful. Okay?

I'll be back. I promise.

Can. They. Not! Tucker's a few feet away. So is the 10 headed dragon currently wrecking the city. But that's okay. You two find time to make eyes at each other. I don't mind.

Now, we go to a moment not many consider a moment. But let me elaborate as a true Danny and Sam fan (Sanny? Dam? Nah) Trust me, it's a masterpiece (Master. Hah. Get it?)

Eye for an Eye. So Danny's doing a bit to make Vlad look bad and he winks at his friends to let them know what he's up to.

And Tucker. Pal o'Tucker. Doesn't catch on. But Sam does. Because she knows him.

And that smile. Both of their smiles.

Like I said.

Like in Mystery Meat. Tucker's right there, but he goes to Sam first.

Or in Ultimate Enemy.

He always checks on her first.

And another thing, when it's just her who needs his help. He's so tender with her. No matter how rough the fight is, he just turns to her all soft and mellow.

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but seeing small glimpses of their relationship in episodes that didn't cater to the romance factor, just goes to show how much these two are meant for one another.

Like, come on. Fright Night.

Parental Bonding. No snark. Just genuine concern and the softest soft boy voice I've ever heard him use.

Do not get me started on Frightmare. The knowing looks and shy glances. Like they were in a world of their own.

And come on, how can we forget the Danny and Sam major episode that wasn't there to further their romance but gave us such gold.

I mean, just look at them for hootenanny's sake! Her arms around his neck. Everything! Not to mention the first thing she does after he catches her from sudden death was to ask HIM how HE was. Like... Sam, you got yo priorities girl.