"Lights Out" is the thirty-fourth episode in the seventh season of The Fairly OddParents.
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.jpg) This episode should have been left in the dark...in the pile of scripts rejected by the writing staff.
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Plot
Timmy reads a frightening story to Poof, which makes him cry and become fearful. After managing to sleep for only 12 seconds, Timmy wishes for twelve hours of darkness. Unbeknownst to Timmy, if his fairy godparents are left in darkness for over eight hours, they transform into "Scary Fairies" and start to menace their godchild.
Why Its Lights Went Out
- The attempt at horror comedy falls short, becoming excessively dark and disturbing instead of humorous.
- The episode serves as yet another instance where Timmy is subjected to torture.
- Cosmo and Wanda are portrayed as highly disagreeable and behave out of character by repeatedly trying to harm Timmy, their godchild. Their efforts to retaliate against Timmy for frightening Poof are executed poorly, resulting in actions that seem overly harsh.
- Unfunny, nonsensical, and inappropriate lines for a children's shows, such as:
- "Sorry, son! I just waxed the stairs...and added more of them!" — Mr. Turner
- "And I shouldn't have picked a bad time to smear my naked body in cat food." — Mr. Turner
- "Sorry, son! I moved our house to the top of a hill because the view is so much better!" — Mr. Turner
- "In the meantime, we're going to drag our lacerated bodies to the hospital sweetie." — Mrs. Turner
- "Oh, hi, Timmy! Forgot to tell you: when I moved the house to the top of a hill, I also moved it closer to a freeway! Have fun!" — Mr. Turner
- "I don't know which was worse, the tiger attack or the passionate mouth-to-mouth from Mother." — Mr. Crocker
- Tootie and Mr. Crocker are completely annoying and serve nothing to the episode other than failed attempts at humor.
- Tootie appears to be out of character as she attempts to physically harm Timmy, suggesting that her role in this episode may have been initially written for her sister Vicky. This switch seems abrupt, akin to Vicky's role in "Frenemy Mine," an episode also penned by Kevin Sullivan.
- Not helping is that this was Tootie's final major appearance in the show, aside from a few cameos as well as appearances in the live-action movies.
- The episode features disturbing imagery, primarily from Cosmo and Wanda's mutated designs, characterized by stretched-out, bulging eyes and an overall appearance reminiscent of shady alleyway characters. As the episode progresses, their appearances grow increasingly grotesque.
- The episode was produced with a minimal budget, which is evident as there is scarcely any animation; most of the episode unfolds in darkness, showcasing only the characters' eyes. This starkly contrasts with the show's usual emphasis on visual humor.
- This proves how gimmicky the plot was and how lazy Kevin Sullivan is.
- For some reason, the darkness doesn't affect anyone in any way aside from Timmy.
- Strangely, saber-toothed cats are in this episode for some odd reason despite having died out around 12,000 years ago. Furthermore, they managed to fly for some reason and hurt Crocker, who was floating away in a helicopter.
- Unfair ending where Cosmo and Wanda face zero consequences for their unjustified actions, notably attempting to run Timmy over with a passenger train at a railroad crossing, as well as attempting to dangle him dangerously on an airplane and also try to run him over with a truck. If they were human beings, doing those things to a real child would've landed them in jail.
- This episode showed how hypocritical Butch Hartman was. He apologized for "It's a Wishful Life" due to it being mean-spirited towards Timmy, and yet he was okay with this episode being produced.
Redeeming Qualities
- In the end, Timmy apologizing to Poof was one of the sweetest moments about this episode.
- The first two minutes were decent.
- The animation is good when it's not when we only see the characters' eyes in the dark.
- Dave Thomas surprisingly did a wonderful yet grotesque take of Cosmo and Wanda's designs.
- In the scene of Cosmo being scarred by the book Timmy read to Poof...because it has words in it is quite funny.
Videos
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