- "In Spectre Scope"
Produced 2003, aired in U.S. on 9/24/04
Production order: 10 (1-10)
"Amity Park: Life Is Good"... At least, it is if you're Valerie Gray, one of the richest, most popular girls at Casper High, currently showing off her new $579 blouse. Sure, things take an unpleasant turn when it gets covered in hot chocolate, courtesy of that geek Danny Fenton bumping into Paulina, but it'll be easy enough to replace – later that day, her father, Damon's, security firm seals a profitable new contract from Axion Labs, who have recently decided guard dogs are obsolete and turned to more modern measures for protection.
Alas, it turns out the "the most secure facility in the United States" is still vulnerable to one thing: ghosts. Danny Phantom's ghost menace of the week is a ghost dog who randomly shifts between two forms – a normal-sized, harmless, playful puppy, and a giant, raging, fanged monster. After he finds it at school, it chases him to Axion Labs, where pandemonium predictably ensues. Danny tries to stop it, but it's too strong for him, rampaging through the entire building, wrecking everything in its path. Naturally, none of Damon's security features can stop it, either. By the time the two ghosts leave, it's clear his business and reputation are ruined beyond repair.
Danny feels terrible when he sees what happens to Valerie. She and her father move out of their house to a run-down apartment in Elmerton but first sell all of their non-essentials in a yard sale. He and Tucker try to cheer her up, but the last thing she wants is help from the bottom rung of the social ladder... or any reminders of how low she's fallen. Things get worse when the ghost dog – whom Danny apparently already returned to the Ghost Zone – returns. Danny manages to catch it this time but not before it trashes the Grays' moving truck, ripping their furniture to shreds and soaking a box of Valerie's clothes in a puddle. Valerie has no idea what they are or why they're ruining her life, but she's determined to find out what's going on. Danny better figure it out, too, as we see the dog escape back through the Fenton Portal after he tosses it into the Ghost Zone again.
Valerie's still struggling to adapt to her new social status the next day at school, where all of her "friends" are preparing for an upcoming concert and none of them are very sympathetic to the fact that she needed to sell her own ticket online to help pay for the damage to the moving truck. Furthermore, she and her unfamiliar brown bag lunch are exiled from the popular table. Danny and his friends are sickened by the display, and Tucker tries to invite Valerie to join them instead, but she angrily informs him she doesn't need their pity and just wants to be left in peace. Unfortunately, this is the wrong town for that. The ghost dog returns and begins wreaking his usual havoc in the cafeteria. Danny manages to get it to come after him just before it eats the lunch lady. Thanks to a slip-up from Tucker, Valerie now realizes there's a name for the creatures that have destroyed her life: ghosts... "Oh, my gosh! Ghosts!" What can she possibly do about that?
She gets the answer later that night, after her father gives her some good news: he's been hired to protect Axion Labs during their renovation... as a security guard. Valerie, however, isn't too thrilled by his new job. She's much more interested in a mysterious package that's arrived for her from Wisconsin. She opens it after her dad leaves. The note inside simply tells her, "Heard about your recent ghost troubles – hope this helps," and the signature "Vlad" means nothing to her. But since the package contains ghost fighting gear and weapons, she doesn't care where it came from...
Meanwhile, Sam has taken Danny (in his ghost form) and the ghost dog (in its puppy form) to the park. Danny still can't figure out why the dog keeps coming back no matter how many times he returns him to the Ghost Zone. Sam's solution is to treat him like any dog and train him to follow commands – "ghost dog or not, he's still a dog." Since Danny is the only other ghost around here, he'll have to be the one to do it. She can't be seen hanging around with the ghost boy, so she gives Danny a book on dog training and heads over to a nearby hill where she can keep an eye on them with binoculars. To Danny's surprise, the dog responds well to commands immediately, as if it's already been trained. Things seem to be going well until they're interrupted by a missile hurtling towards them. Danny just manages to dodge the attack and is looking at the smoking hole where he was standing five seconds ago, wondering, "What the heck was that?"
Survey says: the figure dressed in a red, full-body jumpsuit complete with face-concealing black visor, flying... er, wobbling behind you on a flying board. The distinctly-feminine figure regains her balance and fires another missile at Danny. It misses, and Chase Scene ensues as she flies after him, firing missiles and lasers at him over and over again. She's still clearly having trouble with the board, even getting thrown off at one point, but it returns and catches her. Her aim isn't too good, either, yet, as she tosses a bunch of razor-sharp disks at Danny from only a few feet away, and all of them miss. One of them, however, does ricochet and hit his arm. Danny's shocked to find that it hurt him, even though he's a ghost. What kind of weapons are these?
Emboldened by this development, Valerie rockets forward and prepares to shoot him with the cannon she's been wielding this whole time, but she loses her footing again, knocking her aim off. The board catches her again, and she gets upright with some effort. Fortunately for Danny, the ghost dog has returned in its Cujo form and drags him away, dropping him when they reach Sam.
Valerie continues chasing and flying after them until she slams right into a tree. Danny takes advantage of her brief distraction to get rid of the dog by telling it to go fetch. He sees his attacker coming again and tells Sam to hide, but, instead, she tackles him into the bushes. Valerie flies up and aims her gun for the finishing blow, only to find herself facing, not the ghost boy, but two losers from school rolling around in the grass, making out!
The two mundane, human teens scream in surprise, Sam asking indignantly, "Do you mind?", and Valerie comments, "Always knew you two geeks would end up together," before taking off to find her quarry. Sam recognizes her voice but doesn't seem to find that half as disturbing as Danny's state of euphoric Post-Kiss Catatonia...
Tucker's highly amused when he hears about his friends' "Fake-Out Make-Out," as they call it, the next day, wondering if he should try that on Valerie... just as he bumps into her, making her drop an armload of books. He notices they're all about ghost hunting, which she has made her personal mission after they wrecked her life. She's still not eager for Tucker's company... until he tells her that his best friend's parents are professional ghost hunters. Danny's about as happy that his best friend has a crush on a ghost hunter as you'd expect.
Danny's still on edge later while he and Sam watch a basketball game in the school gym, expecting the ghost dog to show up again any second. And how in the world did Valerie get her hands on all those anti-ghost weapons anyway? He only gets more anxious when Tucker and Valerie join them, wondering just what Tucker's been telling her. Right on cue, the ghost dog returns, and this time, both ghost hunters go after it. Danny now realizes that the dog seems to be looking for something, but that's all he gets to learn before Valerie show up with guns blazing. Danny's saved by a random act of clumsiness from Tucker, who falls off the top of the bleachers right on top of her. Danny shoves her into the basketball hoop where she can't get hurt or chase after him before he makes his exit.
In science class, Danny confronts Tucker over his dangerous, potentially deadly taste in girls, but Tucker doesn't see any reason why he can't like Valerie, especially since she likes him back. The conversation is cut short by another reappearance by you-know-what, which leads to Valerie chasing Danny Phantom chasing the ghost dog. Danny gets Valerie off his tail with a small but powerful ecto-energy blast, knocking her off her board and her gun out of her hands. Although he's mad at Tucker for insisting on having a crush on the girl "with the weapons and the grudge," he still can't help but blame himself for everything that's happened to Valerie. Before he can help her, however, he has to get rid of this dog once and for all, and that means he'll have to find what it's looking for.
Danny follows the dog back to Axion Labs and figures whatever it's looking for is inside. He turns both of them invisible when he hears someone coming. It's the owner, now wishing they hadn't gotten rid of the guard dogs, and the security guard, whom Danny recognizes as Valerie's dad. This could complicate things.
Danny returns to the lab that night with Tucker, Sam, and the ghost dog. Once they're all there, Danny goes ghost, deciding it'll be safest if he goes in alone. After Tucker disables the security system, Danny ties the dog to a tree with the Fenton Fisher and leaves the others to keep an eye on it while he searches the lab.
At first, it look like he picked a good time, as Damon leaves to go get a late night snack. If only he didn't leave his daughter behind doing her homework... Valerie doesn't waste any time putting on her suit and going after the ghost boy again. She doesn't seem to have any qualms about damaging the lab further, as she blasts a chunk of the roof away without hesitation.
The battle continues as the dog rips the tree out of the ground by its roots and drags Tucker and Sam into the combat zone. Danny tries to tell Valerie he doesn't want to hurt her, but she refuses to listen to him. Even when Danny swoops over and saves her from the dog, she fires at him again as soon as he lets her go. It's impossible to reason with her – she's determined to have her revenge: "You and your stupid dog ruined everything! And you're gonna pay! You and every ghost like you..."
With that, she shoots such a powerful blast at Danny that, even when he goes intangible, it knocks him through several walls. He finally stops in an old, unused, out-of-the-way room covered in dust and cobwebs: an empty kennel that must have been used for the guard dogs. He pokes around in it until he finds something that makes him smile.
Back in the lab, the ghost dog is slobbering over a prone, screaming Valerie as if it's about to bite her head off when Danny returns with a squeaky toy. Judging by the dog's reaction, this is what he's been looking for. Danny tosses his toy to him, and he catches it in his teeth, turning back into his puppy form before dissolving away, his unfinished business completed.
Danny helps Valerie to her feet and tries to apologize for everything: "Look, I know you're angry, but that's not my dog, and I'm sorry about whatever happened to you. Not all ghosts are evil." Valerie doesn't buy it; she grabs his hand and throws him to the ground, aiming a new wrist-mounted weapon at him. Before she can fire, however, she hears her dad coming back and panics about him finding her like this. As there's nothing Danny can do about that, he phases through the ceiling and flies away.
By now, Tucker and Sam have arrived, and Tucker thinks there is a way to help Valerie. He reactivates the security system and lets it catch him in a net. When her dad and his boss arrive, they find Valerie dressed in her regular clothes and a boy seemingly caught sneaking into see her – not too good but not a terminal situation. Valerie seems to appreciate Tucker's help, too.
Well, the ghost dog is finally gone for good, and things are back to normal at Casper High... sort of. Danny realizes he's going to have to be more careful now that he's attending school with a ghost hunter. Unaware that her Mysterious Benefactor and his Arch-Enemy is dropping off another gift for her as he speaks, he wishes he knew where she got all that new gear, especially since she couldn't afford it. Sam doesn't know where Valerie got the weapons, but she can confirm where she got some extra cash. Guess who bought the concert tickets she was selling?
Cut to said concert where the three friends are having a blast, and, on that optimistic note, the adventure comes to an end.
This episode provides examples of:
- Apologetic Attacker: Danny during his fight with Valerie.Danny: I really hate to do this, but... (blasts her)
Valerie: Yeah? Well, I don't! - Ascended Extra: Valerie goes from being just another background student at Casper High to one of the series' major antagonists and most memorable characters.
- Bittersweet Ending: Danny couldn't convince Valerie that not all ghosts are bad, so she still has it in for Danny Phantom. However, not only was Danny able to placate the ghost dog, but he and his friends get to go to a music concert.
- Butt-Monkey: Valerie. Seriously, could her luck get any worse in this episode?
- Deadly Euphemism: It's implied that when Axion "got rid of" the old guard dogs, it didn't mean they were shipped away.
- Don't Explain the Joke:Danny: (when the ghost dog bursts into the cafeteria) Who let the dogs in? (Beat) See, the song is "Who Let The Dogs Out?", but I said, "Who let the dogs in"... I'll be right back.Sam: Bring some new jokes!
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Valerie's attitude towards all of Tucker's attempts at cheering her up. She also rejects Danny's offer to help her out, whether as Fenton or Phantom.
- Double-Meaning Title: On one hand, "Shades of Grey" is referring to Valerie's last name. It's also a reference to how between good (Danny) and evil (Vlad), Valerie is in the grey area where she's an antagonist blinded by hatred, but with understandable yet extreme intentions.
- Evil Mentor: Danny may have turned down his offer, but Vlad's found someone else willing to accept his help.
- Exactly What I Aimed At: Danny harmlessly blasting the door-frame above Valerie during their fight leads to this exchange.Valerie: You're a pretty lousy shot!
Danny: That's because I'm not trying to hit you! Can't we talk?
Valerie: I'm done talking! - Everyone Can See It: Valerie adds to the Ship Tease between Danny and Sam when she sees their 'loser love' by commenting "Always knew you geeks would end up together".
- Fake-Out Make-Out: The Trope Namer.
- Fallen Princess: Valerie becomes this overnight.
- Fantastic Racism: Valerie has it in, not just for Danny Phantom, but for all ghosts.
- Forgot I Could Fly: Danny's running for his life from Dash and Kwan when he suddenly remembers, "Wait a minute... I have ghost powers!" and turns intangible.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Valerie's still getting used to her new weapons and doesn't have very good aim. Danny promptly lampshades if it was her first day with the new weapons.
- Insecurity System: The failure of a security system against ghosts is what sets the plot in motion.
- It's All About Me: Paulina's only concern when she finds out that Valerie's financial woes have forced her to sell her concert tickets is that Valerie sold them to someone cool so the rest of them won't have to sit next to any "losers."
- It's All My Fault: Danny's attitude about what the ghost dog did to Valerie and her father. Doesn't stop him from resenting her for trying to hunt him down as her new mission in life.
- Lack of Empathy: Dash, Kwan, and Paulina are completely unfazed by the misfortune that befalls their friend.Valerie: Things are kinda tight now, ya' know?
Dash: No.
Paulina: Nuh-uh.
Kwan: Not really. - Misplaced Retribution: Whenever Dash fails a test, he takes it out on poor Danny. There is also Valerie who only judges Danny responsible for her situation while it was mainly the dog's fault. She keeps blaming him even when she learned the dog wasn't his.
- Missing Mom: We never see Valerie's mom or get a single clue what happened to her.
- Riches to Rags: In the span of a single day, Valerie lost her wealth, her home, her belongings, and her popularity. It's implied Valerie's dad was sued overnight for all the damage to Axion Labs, and he was promptly demoted from Head of R&D to a standard security guard.
- Shoot the Dog: Literally. Valerie shoots at the ghost dog (who was in puppy form) when the fellow was trying to tell Danny it was looking for something. Needless to say in their next encounter, the dog was not happy with Valerie.
- Shout-Out: It may only happen once, but Danny refers to the ghost dog as "Cujo".
- Split Personality: The ghost dog. The ending implies his monster form vanished once he found the toy he stayed behind to look for.
- Tempting Fate: Paulina, Dash and Kwan were hoping that whoever Valerie sold her concert tickets to weren't a bunch of "losers". Come the ending of the episode, it's revealed that Valerie unknowingly sold them to Sam. The ironic twist is how Danny, Sam and Tucker refer to the popular kids as "these losers".
- Training the Pet: While not exactly a pet, Sam suggests that Danny tries to train the ghost dog to curb his destructive tendencies. It doesn't really work, but nonetheless Danny makes note that the dog was already (sort of) trained. Justified as it's implied that the ghost dog was once one of Axion Labs' guard dogs.
- The Voiceless: Vlad makes a couple appearances, but doesn't say a word.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Valerie may think she's serving justice and fighting evil, but she's blinded by her hatred, not realizing that the ghost she's gunning after doesn't want to hurt anyone.
