User Reviews

This episode will make you cry. It is also extremely grounded in reality. Instead of insane, massive construction projects, it follows the very personal story of Phineas and Isabella, who were too afraid to share their true feelings with each other, but with one last day before heading off to college, they finally set out to make amends. They sing a heartbreaking duet that is really one of the best songs in the entire series. As a high school student myself, I can easily relate to what they are going through, with being too afraid to say how they feel and letting the time slip away. This episode may be called fan service, and that's true. However, this is the best fan service I have ever seen. You can tell that the creators really wanted to show this before the series ended, so they put their all into this episode to make it an extremely satisfying episode with an overall happy ending.

'Act your Age' was announced some years ago, and the 'Phinabella' shippers exploded with the big notice. Now, after its unexpected premiere in Russia, finally we could watch it in its original language.

The episode is set ten years (although I think they aren't exactly ten years, maybe seven) in the future, with Phineas deciding to which university he should go and then discovering that Isabella had a crush on him for ages, so he has to meet her before she leaves Danville for school and tell her he also was in love but didn't take notice of her feelings. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz has a mid-life crisis and creates an inator that will make him have 'young blood' again.

The episode had its flaws, sadly, for example, the absence of characters like Jeremy, Stacy and of course, Candace Flynn (who only appeared some seconds), and the reason behind 'Ferbnessa' and 'Balinger' relationships. But apart from that, it was a good episode. The designs, made by Ashley Simpson (KicsterAsh in Deviantart) were really good and the Doofenshmirtz plot was funny. Ironically, it also was related to the title of the episode.

Dan Povenmire and Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh could have made this episode as a long and epic one, but they decided to give us something better with this 20-minutes realistic episode. They tried to give us a life lesson. About friendship, friend zone, love and maturity. You wouldn't believe how many young people will feel identified with the Phineas and Isabella situation, because what they suffered is what many teenagers suffer. And they wanted to show us that it's never too late. Love is not something that involves a hyper-uncontrolled and fanciful adventure, love is something that happens everyday, and we saw that Phineas had even more problems with that than in an extraordinary day where he could be or not in danger. That's a great character development.

There was nothing strange not seeing them inventing, because they haven't invented things in all the episodes. There was nothing strange seeing them talking about love, because humans grow up. Pretending that they should act as kids even when they aren't kids anymore is not rational. Also, why do you think this episode is called 'Act your Age'? Things have changed, nothing is the same and life turned out to be tougher than they thought, but love exists.

The best part is that, even when they aren't kids anymore, they still have the same spark and the episode is as funny as anyone other. The songs were good, and the Phineas and Isabella duet was one of the best, saddest and better arranged of the show; just listen to the vocal harmonies and you will shiver.

In the end of the episode, finally Phineas and Isabella have their final talk, and the boy makes everyone cry sacrificing a better future for him just for her, a sign of pure love with the best Phineas Flynn's style. As he said in the song, he tried to make the most of everyday, but without her, all those years felt misspent for him. Now, he will enjoy the true happiness he searched for all his life. Another great lesson by the creators, about the importance of love.

Although the show isn't over, after 7 years, Phineas and Isabella's story has finally came to an end.

As any Phineas and Ferb fan knows, this episode was hyped for years as the ultimate "Phinabella" episode. I suppose it is a nearly impossible request of the writers to fulfill the precious ideals that every member of any particular fanon possesses, but I feel that this episode simply didn't hit any marks well enough.

For starters, the episode features the cast in their late teens; already we lose a significant amount of the childlike innocence and fun that makes this series so enjoyable. I was very disappointed to find out that the titular duo do not even create one of their famous contraptions in this episode. Instead, we find Phineas trying to select a college. I, for one, don't associate a character like Phineas with performing such a mundane and uncreative task. Obviously, Phineas has to find a college eventually, but that is just not the point of this show! The reason this show is so immensely popular among people of all ages is that Phineas and Ferb exude a certain precociousness that melds with their childlike innocence to create an irresistible pair of personalities. Phineas is always looking to the stars--a hopeless idealist. However, this episode gives us a Phineas who seems to have abandoned hope upon losing Isabella. The rest of the series gives us wacky, ingenious inventions. "Act Your Age" gives us a dreary college search. This episode simply doesn't have the charm that makes me love Phineas and Ferb so dearly.

Secondly, the relationship between Phineas and Isabella is almost painful. Once again, the episode seems to have lost the touch that had made the series so magical. Phineas uses terms such as "friendzone" and "having a thing for someone" in reference to his feelings for Isabella. He seems to be a normal and, frankly, quite boring teenage boy caught in the web of dumb, awkward teenage "love." Gone are the days of Isabella's innocent, charming, and at times hilarious crush on a clueless Phineas. Instead, we have a couple of bumbling, hormone-addled teens who think that they're in love and behave in the most trite, clichéd way possible.

Finally, this episode has virtually no character development. It tries to cram ten years of change into a twenty-two minute episode. The characters have undergone drastic changes that have no explanation. At some point, Buford became a film school cliché, Baljeet became a professor who managed to get a girlfriend, and Ferb has become an anachronistic greaser. Worst of all, every character has become flimsy; we don't get a chance to familiarize ourselves with the new teenage characters, so we don't understand the motives for their actions. "Summer Belongs to You" has more worthwhile development of Phineas and Isabella's relationship, while also maintaining focus on the boys' invention, other characters, and the trip around the world. However, this episode focuses almost entirely on Phineas and Isabella, yet all we get out of it is the fact that Phineas had developed a crush on Isabella at some point after high school. We don't know the circumstances, we don't know the reason, we don't even know if his feelings are genuine or not. Making the characters teenagers has the same effect as introducing entirely new characters, giving them an exposition that crumples under its own weight, and expecting the audience to have an emotional response to their plight. It just doesn't work.

This episode was a disappointment. Although my review might seem harsh for a children's show, keep in mind that this episode was made specifically for the Phinabella fandom, which consists mainly of teens and adults.