A Fairly Odd Review Series: Season 0, Episode 7: “The Zappys!”

While I wouldn’t say ‘The Zappys!’ is my favorite of the season so far, it is pretty damn close. It’s one of those stories that’s generally pretty solid, but the ending elevates it into being great, and it makes me appreciate the relationship between Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda more.

As the episode begins, Timmy’s front tooth is coming loose, and he laments over this, saying that this tooth has gotten him awards and made him notable in the eyes of others. Then this gets interrupted by them all getting invited to the Zappys, an award show where fairies are given trophies based on certain attributes. But thanks to Jorgen Von Strangle abusing his power and intimidation tactics, he gets all the awards and everyone’s too scared to do so.

A portion of the episode focuses on a montage of Jorgen forcing the host(a Billy Crystal parody) to give him all the trophies, and it’s pretty humorous in how it all plays out. Jorgen’s fairy abilities are so over the top and intense in contrast to the other fairies’ more toned-down powers that it’s hilarious, and his casual cruelty is surprisingly entertaining in a “Wow, what a douche, lol” kind of way.

But soon, it’s Timmy’s turn to explain why he loves his godparents, and this is easily the most heartwarming moment the shorts have had so far. Cosmo and Wanda are not only his best friends, but they make him feel special and loved in a way no one else has ever done before. Hearing it all laid out like that is moving on its own, but to have Timmy actively struggle with Jorgen to get the trophy that he feels his godparents actually earned just makes it even stronger. This moment reminded me why I loved Timmy as a protagonist when I was growing up; sure, he can be impulsive and go overboard with his ideas, but he’s a good kid at heart and will fight tooth and nail to stand for the ones he loves.

But in case you forgot that his tooth was going loose, it gets knocked out in the struggle, and the Tooth Fairy makes her first appearance in the series. Along with being a pretty charming and funny character on her own, her dynamic with Jorgen is the comedic highlight here. With how tough and mean Jorgen is, seeing him get talked down back to a reasonable level by her is both funny and cathartic. There’s also a brief few seconds where Timmy is shown without his front tooth and it’s weird and jarring as someone who’s so used to it being there and I kinda love it, lol.

I’d still say there are other shorts here that were stronger in terms of either story or comedy, but what is present here is damn good. Even if you don’t get into the first half, the second half I think makes it all worth it.