#I'd like to see a timeline where Zack didn't move into town
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Zack I think is a character that I think highlights the fundamental thing that sets MML apart from both PnF. Change.
Phineas and Ferb was defined by its formula, it's stagnation. The first day of summer was nearly the same as the least on some fundamental level. It was only that last day did the status quo really shift forward (and even then the holiday episodes we had didn't showcase an evolution... but that kinda has to do with PnF's nonsensical timeline). Sure we did get some character arcs with Buford and Baljeet and Vanessa and a lot of references to continuity, but in general the show was about characters stuck in patterns. The finale was about them finally breaking the patterns that made them unhappy.
Milo started with that change in status quo, and then kept breaking it.
Zack is in many ways a catalyst for change to Milo. Which may be a bit weird to say about a kid whose life is defined by its unpredictability. But if you think about it, Pre-Zack Milo's life was pretty consistent. He had 1 friend. Everyone avoided him. No birthday parties. He wasn't in a band. He didn't go to games.
But he made one friend... and then his other classmates became more open, and he joined a band with one, with him and his crush even began to like him back. He got to visit a farm and go to a football game.
He ended up in space and time traveling and sure, those didn't have anything to do with Zack, these are still big things that are unusual, even to the Murphy family. The big adventures that started after Milo met Zack. The show starts with Zack's world being ripped open by meeting Milo, and Zack in turn bringing some more normalcy into Milo's life, which was special in its own way. And then as a community they are able to face the more intense stuff Murphy's Law throws at them and do even grander things.
Including things the Murphy's had otherwise given up on, such as Brigette and Martin's skating thing. And Murphy family Christmases. And Milo birthday parties.
Of course Zack is also the character with the clearest arc and character growth. I find it truly tragic we never got a S3 with a spring version of going the extra Milo. I think it would have really highlighted how far Zack came. I imagine he would have been helping Milo out without the overthinking. But even without it by the time of Sphere and Loathing in Outer Space Zack had come a long way from the terrified boy who considered leaving Milo behind, to someone who followed him into space, and into a storm of the very thing that made Milo so intimidating to him in the first place.
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