Hi! It’s Annie!
Lately I haven’t had many ideas in the way of binging new shows, so I have instead reverted to some of the shows I used to love and haven’t seen in years. And no show says summer quite like ‘Phineas and Ferb’. It’s definitely the most obvious show to watch around this time of year where summer is fast approaching and it’s becoming far too hot. But one of the things I didn’t remember as much from when I used to watch this show, is how much this show actually focuses on romantic relationships. And I was even more surprised to find that I actually wasn’t a huge fan of any of them (for the most part) upon my rewatch. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this show and I don’t think anything will ever change that. I absolutely love the characters! But my disappointment with some of the match-ups, really made me start to think about which match-ups I would rather see. Welcome to shipping, everyone! Am I seriously going to talk about my ideal ships in ‘Phineas and Ferb’? Yes. Yes, I am. Obviously, this post is going to be absolutely full of MAJOR SPOILERS for ‘Phineas and Ferb’, so if you haven’t seen it (HOW???) go ahead and watch the absolutely timeless brilliance of Dan and Swampy before continuing on with this post. Let’s get into it!
Couple: Candace and Jeremy
This is one of two of the major focused on couples in this series, and arguably the most prominent of the two. Candace loves absolutely nothing other than busting her brothers and Jeremy. But most of the time, busting Phineas and Ferb beats out any and all obligations to Jeremy. Poor Jeremy has to at first deal with Candace being creepy and stalking him in her crushing stage to being constantly abandoned during the dating stage. I used to not mind Candace as a character, but watching the series as an adult has made some of my previous neutrality on Candace as a character fade away as well. Candace can provide some comedy and some much needed foil to Phineas and Ferb’s plot lines, but she doesn’t really seem to care that much about anyone. Her goal in life is to bust Phineas and Ferb, which would effectively get them in trouble with their parents and result in them being unhappy. It would be one thing if she was worried, but she never really seems to care about the dangerous aspects of anything they create. She only cares about her Mom if it means she’s busting the boys, no matter what she might be pulling her Mom away from. And she’s constantly abandoning her boyfriend and best friend with these endeavors. Jeremy is laid back and sweet. Seriously, he’s the most understanding boyfriend ever. Even when Candace demonstrates that she doesn’t trust him to be faithful to her on multiple occasions. Jeremy deserves better.
Alternative Couple: Stacy and Jeremy
Stacy is just as victimized by Candace as Jeremy, if not more so. Candace will spend what little time she’s willing to give up on Phineas and Ferb with Jeremy. In the end, you really do wonder why the two are still friends. Stacy even confronts Candace about this issue, and though it is resolved in the episode it is obviously never solved in the overall plot. Stacy also occasionally has love interests, but they never really appear or are referenced again after the episode finishes. So Stacy is always left completely alone. Which is messed up considering how much Stacy has been there for Candace. You never really see that friendship reciprocated. Stacy is also shown to be pretty laid back and has a lot of the same interests as Jeremy. When Candace and Stacy go to see a music festival that Jeremy’s friend is involved in, it is very clear that both Stacy and Jeremy are more interested in that music style and festival than Candace is. I just can’t help but think that Stacy and Jeremy would really get along and that they would have a much healthier relationship. Because both of them are so understanding, they would actually have someone to be understanding towards them too.
Couple: Phineas and Isabella
Whatcha Doooin?? The second of the two prominent couples and quite possibly the more popular of the two. I used to love the idea of Phineas and Isabella. It was made to be cute and lovable from the get go. But you do always feel bad for Isabella considering that Phineas never seems to realize that she’s even there beyond the regular friend group. He’ll do anything for her, but that’s no different than how he acts to any one of his friends. And sometimes he ignores her to an extent that makes it annoying to not just Isabella. Isabella is very obvious in her feelings and it gets to a point where you honestly wonder if Phineas is pretending not to notice because he doesn’t feel the same. I don’t think Phineas is ever interested in having much in his life other than coming up with what he and Ferb are going to do today. And he often doesn’t give Isabella any of the recognition she rightly deserves for her help. Literally everyone else pays more attention to Isabella that Phineas does. And while I still love Phineas, I don’t personally feel that the right answer is Isabella waiting around for him forever. I think I would have much rather seen her move on with someone else.
Alternative Couple: Ferb and Isabella
There’s a time travel episode where Candace goes to the future and it comes out that her future kids have an “Aunt Isabella”. Isabella at first rejoices until Candace points out that this could also very well mean that she’s married to Ferb, who then reacts fairly positively to this news. And the idea of the couple hasn’t left my brain since. Ferb is very obviously more emotionally available in a few more aspects of his life than Phineas is. He’s more sympathetic and often notices when Isabella doesn’t get recognition. And Ferb is actually also shown to be interested in relationships. It would just be a bit better if it was more in his age group, but I’ll get back to that in a bit. Phineas isn’t necessarily not emotionally available in general, but his interest in anything other than friendship with anyone is never present. Isabella and Ferb have always been close as the brothers and Isabella usually spend the most time together. It would be really interesting to explore a different kind of connection with Ferb and Isabella, and Isabella would finally have the romantic and thoughtful partner she so desires.
Couple: Vanessa and Ferb
The very obvious issue here is the age gap. Maybe if they were older it wouldn’t be as much of an issue, but a teenager and an elementary school student is very very not good. I understand the significance of the voice actors and ‘Love Actually’, but that shouldn’t directly effect the characters. Vanessa also has made it clear on multiple occasions that she’s more interested in someone mature and also around enough because of her feelings of abandonment revolving around her Father at times. And I think we were already introduced to a great relationship for her.
Alternative Couple: Vanessa and Monty
Obviously, I’ve already talked about Ferb. But Vanessa and Monty were an adorable couple that we never really saw an actual break-up from. Our only clue that they broke up was the jump to the future where it showed her dating Ferb. And let’s be honest, Vanessa dating someone she first met as a child is really creepy. The connection between the son of Major Monogram and the daughter of Doofinshmirtz was an interesting dynamic. They both found something in each other that they couldn’t find with their sometimes absentee fathers. And they didn’t let their differences get in the way either, for the most part. Monty and Vanessa were absolutely perfect for each other, they even have the same coffee order, and knowing that they eventually broke up canonically breaks my heart. I prefer to think that they were truly endgame instead.
The Good Couples:
There are two canonical couples that I do absolutely love. Lawrence and Linda are the absolute cutest. They go antiquing together, they danced together very cutely to Love Handel, and Lawrence even became a pop star for her. Lawrence and Linda are a timeless couple, and rewatching has only re-introduced me to more cute moments that I didn’t originally fully appreciate. The second major couple that I love is Buford and Baljeet. And no, you can’t convince me that these two weren’t actually a couple. They have sung more than one song about missing each other and are heartbroken every time they are separated. Their relationship may be complicated, but it certainly looks nothing like any of the friendships between any of the other characters. They are a couple that slowly, throughout the series, become unafraid and unashamed of pining after each other. It’s an adorable progression to watch.
Did I ever actually think I would make this post? Absolutely not. But I never expected to be so passionate about ‘Phineas and Ferb’ couples. Of course, this post barely even mentions my favorite character Dr. Doofinshmirtz, but we all know he’s the most relateable anyways. His comments about being lonely are played for comedy, but hit really close to home for many of us. Which is part of the reason why we ship. I’m curious if anyone else has considered alternate ships for some of the main couples after having seen many of the same issues that I do. Feel free to comment your alternative ships below! Now I need to go do something else instead of obsessing over couples from ‘Phineas and Ferb’.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 