Top 5 Penn Zero Season 2 Episodes

Hello, Spongey here.

Back in 2016, I did a post on Penn Zero: Part Time Hero. It was a Disney Cartoon that I thought was solid and there I explained why it was a pretty good series.

You can go there for more detail but in short it’s not great but it is solid and deserves the fans it has. However, like most of Disney’s smaller shows, it’s treatment ended up being mixed.

On one hand, it sadly got cut off after the 2nd Season, keeping the Disney XD curse going strong.

But Disney actually learned their lesson and actually gave the creators time to finish the show the way they wanted. Yes, this show got a real ending despite the short run.

That’s really cool even if that has it’s drawbacks that we’ll get into. I do wish we could have gotten Season 2 maybe a bit sooner instead of waiting 21 MONTHS!

A little over a year and a half, damn! I’ll never complain about Steven Universe hiatuses again after this! But when we finally got Season 2, it turned out pretty well.

It was just as good as before and a bit better in places. It did suffer from being sadly a bit shorter and a few lesser episodes here and there. But thankfully it and a lot of gems and the show officially has no real dud.

Some weaker ones but nothing actually bad. Overall, this was a nice Season to end on. Like before, it’s not fully great but it’s quite good with a lot of gems.

And today, we’ll highlight them. We’re looking at the episodes the helped make this Season another good one and made this show even more a solid and underrated one.

Which ones were my faves? Which had the most creativity, best comedy or overall best experience? Let’s find out.

This is my Top 5 Penn Zero Season 2 Episodes

5. The Pirates, The Parrot, and the Talking Boats/The Last Mountain Beast

Writer: Jeff Poloquin

That’s right, we’re starting off with a tie. These are both 22 minute episodes from the very start and middle of the seasons and since I like them about equally, I figured I’d discuss them both at the same time.

Let’s go over Pirates first. It starts from where Save the Worlds left off, as we find out they need these shards to get access to the world that Penn’s parents are trapped in.

But that is put on hold as Penn and Friends must go to a pirate world where they have to solve some puzzles to get the treasure, along with a female pirate named Maria.

After the long hiatus, this was a nice episode to come back to. It has a cool world that it has a lot of fun with and there’s a lot of good jokes here. Boone and Sahsi are pushed to the side a bit but they still have some amusing moments, and the main plot is done well enough to make me forgive that.

Pirate Maria is pretty likable and her bond with Penn is really nice. Yeah, it gets shippy but they don’t go too far with it and it’s kept light. Most of the episode is just simply fun with the pirate stuff and the bonding.

Which is fine since it’s all done very well. Every joke lands and it’s all a fun and sometimes sweet Pirate-y ride. There’s also Yvette Nicole Brown as a whale ship also named Maria which is pretty great.

As for the shard thing, it’s merely introduced here but it does well with how it tells it’s story and sets up the season. Now onto Last Moutain Beast, which is more story heavy.

Penn hasn’t found another shard since Pirates and is starting to get frustrated. So when he finds out their next world has one, he starts to put finding the shard over their mission to guide the titular Mountain Beast.

This episodes serves a similar purpose to The Ripple Effect, as both episodes shows how much Penn wants to save his family and he causes trouble because of his actions.

It’s a tad re-hash-y but I think this one works in it’s own way. The world is decently cool and Rippen/Larry have a fun subplot with how slow they go. But the main focus is Penn.

We further see how flawed he is as he puts his own desires over the mission. But because of his motivations, he stays likable. They hit a nice balance here and I really like how it shows that he’s flawed and can make mistakes.

Sashi is the one who has to save the day after he messes things up which leads to a sightly bittersweet ending. But of course it’s mostly happy as Penn learns his lesson.

The ending with him and Sashi is really nice, as is the song where they fight which gets a nice reprise. Both these episodes balance nice moments, adventure and comedy pretty well and serve their purpose well.

I can’t tell you which is better, I suppose is funner while Mountain Beast has better great moments. But in the end, both are equally “Great but not amazing”.

Hence why they land at the bottom, but I still really like them for their comedy and character moments. Don’t love them as much as the next 4 but one was a great opener and one was a great middle point.

Overall, both episodes are good at what they do and are pretty enjoyable as a whole. Nice way to start our list.

4. Be My Ghost

Writer: Paiman Kalayeh

One of my favorite aspects of this show is how it combines really good humor with good heart, and while most of these episodes do that, this one sums it up the most I think.

Penn and the gang are zapped into a world where they are ghosts that have to save the ghost of comedian named Sonny (voiced by Jeffery Ross) from being captured by Rippen and Larry.

First off, I find it interesting that the good guys are the ghosts since usually it’d be the other way around, but it’s a nice expectation subversion.

This episode literally has a comedian so of course most of the comedy comes from Sonny. He’s an insult comic so we get some good mean jokes that mostly work. It never goes too far and they keep Sonny likable enough.

Especially with the friendship he forms with Larry. Larry has no problems with himself so he laughs at all the jokes art his expense which Sonny really approves of.

It also leads to my favorite joke in the episode but I won’t spoil it since it’s a pretty great bit of dark humor. This friendship is the heart of the episode, as it gives us some nice moments like with Sonny revealing why he haunts this hotel.

This of course causes conflict as Larry has to help Rippen catch Sonny so they can win. You can guess how it all ends but it’s still really heartwarming anyway.

Still won’t totally spoil it though but the way last few minutes is really nicely done. There’s a few instances of Rippen and Larry’s good traits being highlighted this season and this is one such example.

And having an actual Comedian in the mix helps make it all very funny. The only issue I can some having is Sonny, as maybe not everyone will find him funny but I personally did. And as I said, they add some stuff to help make him likable.

Overall, this episode is a nice balance of good humor and some nice heart. It’s got some interesting turns and good dark humor. What’s not to love?

3. The Most Dangerous World Imaginable

Writer: Kenny Byerly

I really like Penn’s parent. They have fun personalities are geuingely good together, meaning we can add 2 more actually good cartoon parents to the list.

Anyway, with this episode they get their day in the limelight as we see what it’s like for them in the titular world. The story is simple: Brock goes out to get a present for their anniversary and when he gets into trouble Vonnie also to go out and help.

This episode is simply really enjoyable and nice. It’s mostly just a simple adventure to show more of what the world is like, while using the anniversary angle to give us a story along with it.

Through the world we get some fun action and cool monster designs. We also get this guy named Marvin who makes for a fun sidekick for Brock in this adventure. He even finds love so happy belated Valentine’s Day!

Actually, the whole episodes works for Valentine’s Day as we get a good luck at how Brock and Vonnie love each other. There’s no forced conflict or anything like that, just one trying to do something nice for the other.

It ends up being a really sweet episode without trying to hard to be so. This episode is effortlessly enjoyable and doesn’t try too hard to be bigger than it is.
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It’s a refreshing change of pace and is a highly enjoyable watch. There’s not even any nitpick-y issues, it’s easily the most even episode of the season, perhaps even the series.

So yeah, it’s a “Some have better stand out moments” thing for me that’s not bad. It’s still a great episode that’s a nice limelight for some fun characters, set in a really cool world.

It’s a great episode of sometimes a simple little slice can be just enjoyable as a big heavy story. There’s no9t much more that needs to be said. This episode is just a highly enjoyable and nice story that I’m glad was made.

It’s not as big as some others but that’s what makes it great. It’s got a nice couple at the center and has stars that spit acid. So yeah, it’;s a really nice one.

2. My Mischievous Son

Writer: Paiman Kalayeh

Given the subject of this one, it’s not surprising at all it made it here and thankfully it turned out so well that it’s this high up.

The concept here is that they get zapped into a world that is pretty much a sitcom called…well look up. In it, Penn has to give his boss a good dinner to get a promotion but Rippen as his son tries to mess it all up.

Don’t think about the idea of Rippen being Penn’s son too hard. Trust me.

Anyway, this episode gets the sitcom feel down really well. It’s got the typical set up, the arch types, and of course the laugh track. It’s captured well and leads to a lot of good jokes.

Most of the jokes do indulge and exaggerate the sitcom tropes rather than full on spoofing them but it still works cuz…well it’s still really funny and there is some spoofing.

You gotta love Larry as the wacky neighbor, it’s the role he was born to play. Thank goodness for dairy product! …It makes sense if you watched the episode.

There’s also Sashi as the chatty teen and other things like that., Boone doesn’t get much to do, which I guess is my only nitpick. Back to good stuff, just like Be My Ghost, the ending is what elevates it.

I won’t give away too much but they do a good job of setting it up and the resolution is really satisfying. It connects to Mrs. Wright so they make pretty likable here.

The heart stuff also adds to the sitcom cheesiness so everything connects together really well. It pokes fun at Sitcom tropes and does them really well, while also having a really nice ending that makes sense with the characters.

It’s more or less just like Be My Ghost with how it shows that this show can be sweet and really funny, this one just got higher because I like the comedy and heart more here.

Overall, it’s another really funny episode with a nice ending, that captures the Sitcom feel really well. It gave me everything I wanted from this premise and then some.

The only thing left to say is that this was paired with an anime episode, and of course I prefer the Sitcom one. …That and this one actually is better but whatever.

Moving swiftly on.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

10.Trading Faces(Paiman Kalayeh): Being a body swap episode with Rippen and Larry is funny enough but then they actually didn’t swap the voices like so many others do. That’s what got it on here, plus it’s pretty funny.

9.Cereal Fugitives(Paiman Kalayeh): Not quite as good as the first cereal world episode but still really funny and creative.

8.The Kobyashihis(Jase Rici): This one serves as a sequel to Flurgle Blurge in terms of themes and it does that really well and is quite nice.

7.Rockulan, Papyron, Sisciroian(Kenny Byerly): It’s basically Game of Thrones with Rock Paper Scissors. That is all.

6.Sensitivity Training(Jase Rici): I brought this one up in the JAM Session review as an example of an episode that teaches that anger itself isn’t bad, and that was really refreshing. Nicely done.

And my favorite Penn Zero Season 2 Episode is…

1. At the End of the Worlds

Writers: Sam Levine and Jeff Poloquin

Yeah, like like my Regular Show season 6/7 list, I didn’t want t be predictable but just like that one, you can’t blame me because that’s just how amazing this finale is. It’s clearly the 2nd most legendary animation thing to happen on July 28 of 2017.

Despite being a two Season wonder, Disney let them create a real finale and it’s honestly just as good as the big finales planned more in advance. It does everything you’d want and it pretty much leaves no stone unturned.

Granted, it has a few bits of rushing things slightly due to not having as much time as they wanted but that’s more or less my only nitpick. That and it goes Return of the King on us but just like that one, it’s done well enough that it became less of an issue on repeat viewings.

He set up is that after they get the shards, they must charge them and get to the Most Dangerous Imaginable where of course Rippen also shows up for an epic battle.

It’s fitting that I compared this my Regular Show list as this finale is like that one, in a very good way. Like that one, it has a big epic battle scene featuring characters from previous episodes.

And man is it just as amazing here. It’s more joke heavy here due to kind of show it is and it works, being extremely funny and tons of fun to watch. Plus, the amount of episodes means we pretty much almost every single character in some way.

Even the part with them charging the shards is pretty enjoyable since it nicely sets up everything and has a great moment with Sashi fighting herself. Don’t ask.

Then of course comes the 2nd part which is where all t the emotional stuff happens. Rippen’s part in it is the best aspect of it because it’s nicely set up in other episodes, so even if it was pretty obvious this would happen, it still works.

It leads to some really sweet stuff, the best part being the ending which I can’t spoil but does a great job of giving everyone a good send off. There’s also a crazy reveal that was both shocking and pretty funny.

In the same way Save the Worlds was the perfect Season 1 finale, this was the prefect series finale. It does everything I wanted, and then some. It was a ton of fun with great laughs, had a lot of good character moments and a lot of heart with quite the emotional ending.

I suppose it doesn’t do anything you wouldn’t expect based on what it is, but that’s not a bad thing in this case. As usual, I wish I could say more but it’s best you experience it for yourself.

Overall, At the End of the Worlds is the perfect finale for a show like this, which is pretty impressive for a two season wonder like this one. Sure, more time would have made it even better but given the circumstances, I’m glad it’s as good as it is.

It almost makes up for Disney’s treatment of the show. Almost. Either way, this finale is great on every level and it easily is my favorite of Penn Zero Season 2.

And those were my Top 5 Penn Zero Season 2 Episodes.Not my deepest list but this shows episodes don’t give me a ton to say but hopefully I explained it all well enough.

This show was never quite Disney’s best but it’s still an example of how good their cartoons are these days. It has a more flaws than some others but it was also more consistently good then some others, so it all balances out.

To quote Phyllis “Could have been better but still pretty good”.

It’s worth noting that some of the crew now works on Tangled: The Series, which is also worth watching, so there you go. I think that’s all I got, just a fun little list to tide you over until the whole 300th review going up next week.

So yeah, thank you Penn Zero crew for a solid show and for all these solid episodes too.

See ya.