Alright, here’s the thing: while we here at Nerds and Beyond love all things spooky, we also love lighthearted fun. So when it came time to write about Halloween episodes of our favorite shows, I had to write about Phineas and Ferb. Yes, technically it’s a kids’ show, but it is, in my opinion, the best written kids’ show of the past decade and definitely worth writing about.
While it is true that Phineas and Ferb presented us with a multitude of Halloween episodes over its four seasons, to my mind the two Halloween themed episodes from the fourth season are by far the best, and “Druselsteinoween” is actually one of my all-time favorite stories from the show, simply because although the show is known for its multiple storylines, it is rare to see every primary storyline in one place in the same episode, and that is exactly what “Druselsteinoween” does. While it would be fun to take some time to walk through each of these storylines, your time would be better spent watching the episode than reading my summary. So instead, let’s look at the highlights of of this episode that really make it stand out.
To start with, this episode offers up one of the best Flynn-Fletcher parent scenes in the series. Throughout the series Mr. Fletcher and Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher’s oddities are often highlighted for comic effect, and they are in top form here as they greet trick-or-treaters and ultimately, instead of handing out candy, scare the kids out of the candy they’ve already collected instead. It is the perfect moment of comedy for adults watching, as most of us would never dream of doing something like that, no matter how fun it might seem.
This episode also features, as all the best Phineas and Ferb episodes do, some stellar music. There are two great songs in this episode, both of which Ferb is responsible for. First, with Ferb acting as the DJ for Vanessa’s Halloween bash we are treated to a dance club-esque remix/mash-up of some of the most popular songs from the show including “S.I.M.P. (Squirrels In My Pants)” and “I’m Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun!” Then Ferb breaks out his smooth vocals for a ballad as Vanessa and Monty finally get to dance together at the party. Not only is “Vampire Queens Love Pimpernels” an oddly specific and eerie song, but it marks only the third time in the show’s run that Ferb has take the lead on a song, and it is so much fun to hear this eerie ballad coming from our favorite man (boy?) of few words.
This is also an episode where we get to see, as mentioned above, Vanessa Doofensmirtz and Monty Monogram together as a couple. These two are not together for long, but the storyline is hilarious as they deal with the complications due to the sworn-enemy status of their dads. Here, it is particularly amusing as Major Monogram spots Monty at the party, only for Stacy (who also dressed as the Scarlet Pimpernel) to save the day by stepping in for Monty in front of his dad and, in a callback to an earlier episode, asking why Monogram, as the water and power guy, was at the Halloween party. It is fun to see Stacy outside of Candace’s immediate circle for a change, and to have her act as the shield for Vanessa and Monty’s relationship is just the icing on the cake.
Finally we come to what might be my favorite part of the episode: Isabella’s Cinderella impression. Everyone who has watched the show knows that Isabella is in love with Phineas and is always working to get him to notice her. In this case, she has dressed up as Cinderella and every time Phineas walks by, she loses a shoe hoping that he will play Price Charming to Cinderella and return it. However, as usual, Phineas is clueless and all Isabella ultimate does is repeatedly lose her shoes. Once, one of her shoes even lands in the punch bowl, leading her to warn Baljeet in passing that he probably doesn’t really want the punch. There is little more Halloween than someone spending the whole evening pretending to be someone else to live out a fantasy, and even though it doesn’t work, Isabella really goes for it, so what more could we ask for?
Between these awesome moments, the fun costumes and the solid storylines for everyone, “Druselsteinoween” is a must watch Halloween episode in my house and it should be in yours. Where else can you find a show whose Halloween episode features romance, music, a treasure hunt, trick-or-treating, and more comic references (Major Monogram and Carl as Carmen Miranda. Does it get any funnier?) than you can shake a stick at? I don’t know of any, so for my money, Phineas and Ferb‘s “Druselsteinoween” takes the cake as the best family-friendly Halloween episode of television.
