Danny's desire to win a haunted house bet leads him to steal the sword of the dreaded Fright Knight, who sets out to conquer the human world. Danny finds himself unable to beat a ghost eel, which knocks him Casper High where he knocks a paint bucket over on Dash. Lancer breaks things up before Dash can pummel Danny, and to give them a creative outlet, tasks them with helping him decorate a haunted house for the annual faculty Halloween party, with the winner avoiding detention. Danny is sure he'll win, so Dash suggests a bet: it he loses, he'll run through the school parking lot in his underwear. If Danny loses, the ghost boy has to eat Dash's underwear, which to Danny and friends' horror is disgusting and kept in his pocket. Later at Danny's house, he struggles to come up with anything scary., so Sam produces a book she got from her favorite book store: Chronicles of the Fright Knight. Sam explains that the Fright Knight is the age old spirit of Halloween, who sends people to a dimension with their worst fear using his Soul Shredder sword. Danny recognizes a castle in the book as one they marked on their map of the Ghost Zone, and decides to take ideas from the Fright Knight to use for the house. He ends up directly copying what he sees, albeit incredibly poorly with cheap materials, and is still unable to scare Tucker and Sam even after possessing the Fright Knight figure he made. Tucker decides to leave for trick-or-treating, having plotted out his route and prepared with a "light costume" of Groucho Glasses, but when he tries to leave, he gets knocked back by an ecto blast from Jack. He and Maddie had tracked a ghost signal to the room because of Danny, and the annoyed Tucker walks off in a huff as Jack claims he's a bit old for walking around in a "stupid costume." They tell Danny they're decontaminating the area, and when he tells them to leave before Lancer thinks they're helping, they become suspicious, unaware of the project. He lies that he's just finally becoming interested in ghosts, causing Jack to tear up happily as they leave. Danny decides to check in on Dash and gloat, only to find functioning animatronics and a tunnel ride in "Dash's Spa of Doom," and Lancer praising the boy as they prepare to watch Dash's presentation on the dangers of Athlete's Foot. He heads to the Ghost Zone and locates the Fright Knight's castle, wherein he is forced to dodge booby trap blades, with one nicking his side. Remembering that humans "are the ghosts" in the Ghost Zone, Danny reverts to normal to escape a closing spiked room, and finds a purple pumpkin with a glowing green sword sticking out of the top. He manages to pry the sword free, which awakens the skeleton guards around him, surprised when they suddenly bow down. Initially thinking they respect him, Danny gets a surprise when energy swirls from the pumpkin and the Fright Knight rises. The Knight demands his sword back to begin a reign of terror, noting that it wasn't a request, but a demand, when Danny turns him down. Danny escapes, but the Knight tosses out a pumpkin that unleashes a horned ghost Pegasus, and gives chase. Back in Amityville, people laugh at and ignore Jack and Maddie when they determine there's a ghost emergency. Danny makes it back to the portal in time to close it on the Fright Knight, but when he leaves, the Knight reaches through the portal and forces it open. Danny brings the sword back to Sam, shrugging off her worries about the theft until he sticks it in the floor and it sends out energy that brings Dash's displays to life. He decides to hold off on giving the sword back until Lancer judges his room, allowing more energy to leak out as the Knight proclaims that he'll soon take over. Lancer in unimpressed with Danny's cheap room, but gives some points when a fake spider turns into a real giant one. The Knight sees Dash running from the house and recognizes his fear as the work of his sword, learning the house's location from the terrified athlete. Things continue transforming as Tucker comes across the Knight, assuming him to be Danny, only realizing his mistake when the Knight grabs him and reveals that the changes will be permanent once all the evil energy has leaked into the world. Lancer remains calm believing that everything in the house is Danny's doing, and Danny and Sam then clean up with the Fenton Foamer when he says the boy might have it in the bag. The Knight invades, however, and as Lancer takes it for another robot, Tucker warns Danny to not let the Knight have his sword back. The Knight is able to wrestle the sword away from Danny, in the process slicing Lancer, who ends up in a world where he is forced to drag his nails on chalkboards. Though Danny is excited, thinking he has won the contest, he switches to concern as it is now up to him to get Lancer back, save the town, and defeat the Fright Knight. Danny Phantom is one of those show that was perfectly built to have an episode like this, considering it's already about ghosts and other horrors.
Much like Cosmo and Wanda in the Fairly Oddparents Halloween special, having a world where something supernatural exists, yet most people are unaware of it, allows for jokes as they fail to realize the things they're seeing are real. This is the very center of the main plot's jokes, as Lancer goes through Danny's "haunted house" unaware that the dangers around him aren't robots. His ignorance to the situation makes it more entertaining as he sits perfectly calm in a spider monster's web and Danny gleefully listens to him give points. We also get some comedic moments with Danny's bumbling father, as he tries in vain to track and defeat any and all ghostly presences. The Fright Knight is a cool, menacing villain, with an interesting design and some great voice work from Michael Dorn. He obviously demands respect from those around him, snarling at Tucker for not giving it to him and seen when his skeleton soldiers bow before he even rises. As the Spirit of Halloween, he and his horse are adorned in creepy attire, and everything about his identity is tied to the holiday, down to his sword being found in a ghostly pumpkin. This is another show from the creative mind of Butch Hartman that gives us a good combination of serious and comedy. I personally find Danny Phantom to be his best show, and for other fans, the battle against the Fright Knight is a fun way to get into Halloween and look back at a fun show.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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