The Phineas and Ferb revival must address one strange, loose plot thread from the series’ original run, regarding Candace’s (Ashley Tisdale) best friend Stacy (Kelly Hu), who stumbles upon the series-long Perry the Platypus bombshell with no one else knowing. Phineas and Ferb follows two main plotlines: Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (Thomas Bordie-Sangster/David Errigo Jr.) building wild contraptions with Candace vehemently trying to show them to their mother, while their pet does battle with evil scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire). A regular set of characters always participate in these adventures, including the ever-sarcastic and occasionally clueless Stacy.

Stacy’s storyline is most often tied up with Candace; as the long-suffering best friend, Stacy either begrudgingly helps or quietly excuses herself once Candace is caught up with the day’s attempt to show Linda (Caroline Rhea) the truth. However, in addition to featuring some linear storylines, Phineas and Ferb gives every member of its supporting cast their time in the spotlight. Stacy’s big moment in the early series might have been the bombastic musical number “Disco Miniature Golfing Queen,” but Phineas and Ferb season 5 should find the time to acknowledge Stacy’s craziest solo adventure.

Stacy Knows That Perry Is A Secret Agent In Phineas And Ferb

Stacy Discovers That Perry Is A Secret Agent When He Crashes Into Her Living Room

In “Happy Birthday, Isabella,” (the second half of season 4, episode 9 on Disney+) Stacy leaves to watch a horror movie by herself after Candace goes into busting mode. However, she is almost at the end of the movie when Perry and Doofenshmirtz’s daily battle happens to have escalated to the point of them crashing into her living room. Stacy sees Perry in secret agent mode, and his cover is blown.

Once he has wrapped things up, Stacy promises not to tell anyone, as she doesn’t want to have her memory erased and have to watch the movie again. The second half of the then-final season then carries on without ever really acknowledging that Stacy just knows about Perry. The episode is very obliquely referenced when Stacy runs into Major Monogram (Jeff “Swampy” Marsh) again at Vanessa’s (Olivia Olson) Halloween party, but Perry is not a part of this interaction.

Overall, it’s a bizarre plot point as it shatters an implicit boundary between the Flynn-Fletcher family’s life and Perry’s double life, with no consequences. There is a comedic bit during the episode’s credits where Stacy briefly freaks out, but Candace brushes off her strange behavior. It is possible that, under the circumstances of the series nearing its presumed end, the writers decided to do something wild like this with no plans to ever do anything else with it.

Why Phineas And Ferb Shouldn’t Ignore Stacy’s Perry Discovery

Phineas And Ferb Adheres To Some Continuity, Which Means That Stacy Still Knows About Perry

However, the series is now continuing, making it harder to just accept Stacy’s discovery as part of the continuity without ever referencing it again. Phineas and Ferb‘s timeline is suspended, and the narrative is highly episodic, but there are still some ongoing storylines. The boys and their friends reference past inventions; Monty (Seth Green) and Vanessa’s relationship goes from flirtation to secretly dating to being discovered by Carl (Tyler Alexander Mann); etc. These examples suggest that Stacy and Perry’s understanding would naturally come up again at some point if given enough episodes for it to happen.

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Even Stacy and Perry’s interactions in this fated episode suggest continuity, as Perry presents Stacy with a pamphlet about discovering a secret agent pet, and memory erasure is now their standard procedure — both plot beats established in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension. Stacy actually found out that Perry was a secret agent before, which almost resulted in Perry having to relocate in the movie, but she gets her memory erased with everyone else. Now, Stacy is getting away with being a complete security breach for O.W.C.A (the Organization Without a Cool Acronym).

Why Stacy Was Always Phineas And Ferb’s Most Underrated Character

Stacy Is The Perfect Friend & Just As Funny As The Rest Of Phineas And Ferb’s Characters

What the revival sets up is Stacy having to exist onscreen for much longer, withholding the secret from her best friend and her family, a completely different effect from when the audience was never going to see her again. Outside the circumstances of a completely goofy animated series, it sounds like something that would take a toll on a person — but then Stacy has always been the most underappreciated Phineas and Ferb character. Like Jeremy (Mitchel Musso), Stacy is largely written to complement and support Candace’s character, with a little more individuality and self-prioritization.

Stacy is a loyal and patient friend, and alternates between being delightfully oblivious and amazingly witty. She does demonstrate some subtle character progression in the original series as she sets boundaries with Candace, requiring that their friendship be a priority too. There is a limit to the amount of time Phineas and Ferb can really spend on Stacy’s arc when the series isn’t structured with her as the main character, but occasionally referencing the fact that she knows about Perry could imply a lot about her without that using up that much dialogue or screen time.

Phineas and Ferb follows the adventures of stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher as they embark on various creative and often unreal projects during their summer vacation, while their sister Candace tries to reveal their escapades to their mother. Concurrently, the family’s pet platypus Perry leads a double life as a secret agent battling the evil scientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

Cast

Vincent Martella , Dan Povenmire , Ashley Tisdale , Jeff Marsh , Dee Bradley Baker , Thomas Brodie-Sangster , Caroline Rhea , Alyson Stoner

Character(s)

Phineas Flynn , Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz , Candace Flynn , Major Francis Monogram , Perry the Platypus , Ferb Fletcher , Linda Flynn-Fletcher , Isabella Garcia-Shapiro

Release Date

August 17, 2007

Seasons

6

Creator(s)

Jeff Marsh , Dan Povenmire