#like it takes away the disgusting lack of autonomy danny has in MB

[redrobin-detective]

?? What did Sam alter the costume to in Memory Blank? I’ve never seen the episode before

So Phantom up to ep 20 aka the first season:

Then comes the first ep of season 2, Memory Blank in which, tldr, Sam accidentally wishes she never met Danny which Desiree overhears meaning Danny never got his powers. Sam recreates the accident but this time, slaps a logo she made so it's literally fused to his costume without explaining to Danny what she's doing and then trying to pretend after that it had always been there:

(creepy shot I realize but the whole ep was Sam being invasive and creepy, and not in a creepy goth way, which is so infuriating)

I remember pre-teen me was upset bc I did (and still lowkey do) think the logo was dumb looking and much preferred the sleekness of the plain black/white suit. As an adult looking back I'm pissed at how they treated Sam throughout the episode, making her a bad friend, making her only seem interested in Danny for his powers to the point of making him go through a traumatic, life threatening accident again seemingly for her own gain as not much had seemingly changed in Amity with Danny safe and fully human.

Also the idea of Danny not having his powers with ghost attacks still prevalent is a damn cool idea and could have been explored. What if Amity was a warzone without Phantom, that would be a good reason to give Danny his powers. What if, even human, Danny had become a hunter in his own right and it was HIS choice this time, not a stupid accident, to become half ghost and save his town? Like they could have very easily made the story make sense, highlight Danny's inherent goodness/heroism even without powers, up the stakes and show a good story. Instead the ep is a very clear and ham-fisted attempted to make DP "marketable" and it annoys me 15 years later.

#I will die on this hill #memory blank could have been awesome #a great character exploration #an interesting AU at Amity w/o Phantom #and we see that for all Danny's troubles and sacrifices that he DID make a difference #esp after the last ep (control freaks) when Danny was low on himself for being controlled by Freakshow #and the thing with the logo!! #once sam explained to human hunter Danny and tuck about the real version of amity #they decided TOGETHER to make Danny a true superhero #and shop their own logo and basis for a team #like it takes away the disgusting lack of autonomy danny has in MB #and makes him *own* his identity and responsibilities as Phantom like they very clumsily tried to do in PP #like holy shit butch #its right fucking there but no you had to make a shitty episode #that was a disservice to the fascinating worldbuilding and characters #so you can sell tshirts with your shitty logo #never forget that I want to physically fight butch and this episode in particular