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Gargoyles: Awakening Part 5
Reviewed: 07/21/2013
The Awakening To Reality Actually.
So we are in the middle of a cliffhanger with the Gargoyles going to various fortresses to get the briefcase from Xanatos. Now what is going to happen here and who turns on who? Will the Gargoyles get the data back and why does Xanatos need that briefcase anyway? Let's find out shall we...?
This episode is done by Eric Luke & Michael Reaves. The teleplay and story is edited by Michael Reaves. Animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan. Backgrounds are done by Studio Fuga. Additional services were provided by the following: Nakamura Productions, Takahashi Productions, Light Foot, Studio Cats and Studio Robin.
Opening Moment #1: Same non-narrated opening and a recap that spans all the episodes. I should also point out that this part includes the title card presented in a normal DTVA fashion instead of the A Bad Reflection On You way; plus the story and teleplay credits are presented as well.
We begin this one with a far shot of the tower fortress with the spotlights pointing up as we cut to the Gedo Fashion Sense Guards pointing their guns at the goofballs and that look from Broadway spells Spongebob Squarepants to a T. Brooklyn claims that this is the wrong floor and apologizes. So the guards shoot to kill and the goofballs dodge and go up the elevator shaft as red flashing laser like bullets whiz by. So they jump to a higher floor and Broadway struggles to open the door; but does and that prat fall on their faces in the blue checkered floor hallway. Oooookkkkkaaayyyy. Then we head to the computer lab with various computer whiz kids as the ceiling opens up and the lights go out; but we can still clearly see them despite them being in darkness. I think the shading was supposed to be used when the backup lights come down; but they come on too soon. Ho hum. The goofballs drop down and Brooklyn goes into white eyes mode. He grabs one of the computer guys and demands to know where the disk is. He points in the general direction of the computer console as Lex goes over and pushes the second black button to the left and the disk ejects. Lex grabs the disk and Brooklyn leans his body against the door since the Gedo Fashion Sense Guards are on the other side. Hey guards: SHOOT THE DOOR! Anyhow; Broadway grabs a computer server and lifts it up. He throws it out the window. Eat your heart out SCTV! The goofballs fly out the window as Lex proclaims that they have the disk. So they fly towards the city and swoop down and that is that. I just realize how obvious this setup is: Three locations just to get information for three disks when we saw one briefcase. I mean; if Xanatos had three briefcases; then this makes him look more honest, do you not think? So we head to the underground computer room of doom which is much larger and looks like a computer room Donatello would set up. The commander in the almond uniform is talking to a security guard stating that one of the offices has had their security breached. Commander (Peter Renaday) orders security to be increased at once. He seems to scoff at the notion that "monsters" were involved; but he takes no chances anyway.
So we head to an abandoned subway track with leaking pipes and a brown rat squeaking around. So we see Hudson and Bronx walking towards something as Hudson is still pondering how he got talked into this. Going into the underground fortress; or taking Bronx with you? Because it was taking Bronx with you that got you all shocked and appalled Hudson. He notices a security camera beeping and then a wall made of steel which looks like it was made recently. Hudson seems to have evil intentions as he runs to the steel door and tries to lift it up with no success. We cut to the monitor as Commander sees Hudson and now he's shocked and appalled. So we cut back to Hudson and here comes the Gedo Fashion Sense Guards pointing their guns at him. One of the guard proclaims that he has no idea who he is; but he's certain that he is not bulletproof. Hudson rises his arms into the sky as the steel iron like door slowly opens up as all the guards and the commander are waiting. Hudson walks in and then Bronx attacks like a rabid dog. Here's a clue: Where a big ass "monster" gives up too easily; it means he has a plan! So Hudson does a gorilla press slam and throws one of the guards into three more guards. Bronx tries to pounce on commander as commander brings out his gun to shoot Bronx dead; but Hudson shoulder tackles him and the bullet nails the computer console and misses the two lab dudes' heads by three inches. Hudson runs in and scans the computer panel and tries to figure out which button ejects the disk with no luck. So he bashes the nine blue buttons on the console; and the disk ejects from the holder easily. Lucky bastard! Hudson grabs the disk and he and Bronx run off as the commander slowly gets up and presses the red button which actually makes the steel door close. Logic break: When the door was originally opened; it opened bottom to top. Here; it's closing from the sides! Bronx and Hudson make a mad dash to the exit and make it through with inches to spare. Hudson claims that he's getting too old for this and then the GFSGs run in with their guns blazing. So Hudson and Bronx climb a ladder (in Bronx's case a wall) and into a secret passage leading to a steel cage like catwalk.
Hudson calls this being sitting ducks all right as more bullets and red flashes commence. So we do more running away from Hudson Soft and Bronx as the GFSG's continue to chase them; when suddenly Hudson notices a slowly running train approaching. Remember that for slightly later as Hudson breaks through the cage wall and throws it away. Hudson grabs Bronx and they jump onto the slow moving train; and once he is on and crumbles the roof of the subway car a little bit (much to the horror of the passengers inside; but that doesn't do much of anything); the train speeds up like crazy. That scene had to be BS&P'ed. GFSG's wonder where it went so wrong in their plans to kill them as the subway goes through the tunnel to the bridge outside and after about five seconds of that; Hudson grabs Bronx and flies into the sky with the wind currents. Hudson tries to land on a roof of a house; but he tumbles like a rock and they roll for a while with a really wussy bump off-screen. That looked poopy. Bronx is on top of Hudson trying to play Dino to Hudson being forced to play Fred Flintstone. Hudson gets up and blows off Bronx being too fat despite the fact that Hudson appears to be the same weight as Bronx. You need to look up the word "fact" and come back to me Hudson. Hudson looks at the disk wondering if the aches he got was worth it. Answer: No; at you all see later on. So we cut to the shot of the air fortress and the front of the ship (another computer room) as another commander is on board and he looks like the commander from the underground fortress. One of the GFSG guard proclaims that both fortresses have been breached and that they lost 2/3's of the data. And then the door gets torn off and here comes Goliath and Demona. Demona proclaims that they lost it all as Goliath jumps in and uses the TAIL WHIP OF DEATH and that knocks out what is left of the guards.
Demona runs in towards the cylinder console and ejects the disk from the console; proclaiming that the mission is a success. Despite that; she punches in the console and grabs a large electrical wire and touches the console with it; setting the whole cylinder console on fire. The whole place is consumed with fire, flame and smoke as the scene turns bright red. Goliath demands answers to this outrage as Demona has made it to the escape hatch and wants Goliath to join her. Goliath no sells because he cannot stain his honor of killing people who didn't kill him. This would have worked better if we saw everyone on the floor near dead; instead of on their feet trying to put the fire out. Demona grabs Goliath and drags him out of the air fortress as the air fortress slowly descends down as every prop engine explodes on cue before hitting the water. We see the guards all jump out of the ship into the water; but the ship completely explodes and appears to explode at point blank range; and everyone is dead apparently. We the cut to a car parking area in front of the harbor as a red 1960's car stops and out comes Eliza looking at all this horror she is seeing; and then looks up and notices Demona and Goliath flying in the air. UH OH! Eliza is surprised of this and that ends the segment seven minutes in. Well; that was an interesting seven minutes of action which the only character development we got was Demona's hate for humans. I just wish she was more subtle since her actions speak more obvious than her words. Otherwise; this was very good.
After the commercial break; we head back to the castle tower as Demona and Goliath fly up and then swoop down and land right in front of the babyfaces. And David Xanatos. Demon gives him the disk as Xanatos proclaims that the contents on the disk will have benefits to human and gargoyles alike. Memo to Goliath: He's only telling half of the truth. Goliath is about to leave since he has a friend to see; and Demona wants to know who it is. Goliath admits that it's a human named Eliza Maza. Demona gets all pissy about it because humans are the enemy and Goliath has learned nothing from 1000 years ago. Goliath gleefully points out that he has no thought of making war with the world and Xanatos is proof that not all humans are bad. Oh; just wait about seven or eight minutes and you'll change your tune Goliath. Demona cannot forgive like Goliath can concerning what the humans did as Goliath points out that they are dead now. Demona wants blood for blood from the descendents because all humans must pay. Goliath then states a matter of fact that Demona has changed into a cold, unforgiving beast that isn't the same as before. Ummmm; she was like this BEFORE Castle Wyvern was attacked. Maybe she has always been like this and she's looking for an excuse to commit violence on someone. Goliath flies off to see Eliza as Demona has no more to say while we cut to a monitor and then zoom out as Xanatos and Owen are watching. All Xanatos sezs that Goliath cannot be controlled and that is a pity. So we cut to the same skyscraper where Goliath and Eliza met as Eliza is waiting on top as Goliath swoops down in front of her. Eliza wants to know where he has been because she found out about three locations where disks were stolen from Cyberbiotics labs; and the air fortress crashed into the harbor and two gargoyle figures flew away. Goliath states plainly that three disks were stolen from Xanatos and all they did was get them back to him.
Eliza then shows him a white piece of paper featuring the emblem from part four and the bug and logo was created by Xanatos Enterprises. Whoops! That wasn't very smart David. Goliath is shocked as Eliza proclaims that Xanatos has been using him and his clan since day one to steal the disks owned by Cyberbiotics to create something from that data. Yeap; half telling the truth, and more dangerous than outright lying at this point. Eliza goes over and does this awesome speech where she proclaims that she realizes that Goliath has a good reasons not to trust human; but he needs to trust somebody in this world and she would be a better choice than Xanatos. Eliza's holding Goliath in her hands is great here. I cannot do this justice; it was awesome. This show needs to be run on every Disney channel until the end of time. Okay; that won't happen, I'm just reacting to the scene. So we scene change to a black background with brown eyes as David Xanatos proclaims that the gargoyles have outlived their usefulness and he appears from the darkness as we are inside the office with five robots cyborgs under the white sheet. Xanatos proclaims that he cannot trust them to be loyal to him anymore. Owen checks his watch and there is a few hours left; and he wants to kill them while they sleep. Well; the gargoyles have already blurted out how their kind was destroyed in Castle Wyvern; so it makes sense. However; Demona comes in and rubs on one of the sheets; so I assume that this is Goliath's replacement as she wants David and Owen to test the robots to see if they are worthy replacements. David teases hating this idea; but then decides to allow it and gets evil.
So yeah; both Demona and Xanatos are officially full on heel mode now. I thought that Demona would turn heel first; then Xanatos would turn heel and then turn on Demona as well (although that could still happen soon enough). A lot of people consider this groundbreaking; except Demona was basically heelish while playing babyface to Goliath. Also; heel turns in DTVA are not unusual and Demona still falls into the hellish combination of Desiree (in being a heel anyway) and Kit Cloudkicker/Captain type of heel turn (fake heel turn to save the babyfaces from certain death) I thought Kit's fake heel turn on Baloo was much better because Demona's heel turn is for revenge over love for her clan while Kit's was for the love of his family. Plus; Kit as a real heel is just plain surreal and a bigger BS&P nightmare than Kit as a fake heel. Still; Demona does have the best female heel turn ever done and she's a badass to the bone; plus she's a lot better than bouncing babyface Demona anyway. So we head to the ramparts as Brooklyn is trying to act cool with glasses on (and failing); Lex is playing a computer and Broadway set up a table to have his before bed snack. Yeah. The goofballs of doom proclaim that they are liking 1994 as Broadway felt that it was touch and go at first; but they got use to it and it's better than 994 AD. And people are surprised when new blood doesn't exactly warm up to the classics of the past? Then a red laser beam whips past Lex's head and they all turn around to see...Goliath? In a metal suit with a gun blaster in his right arm? Ummm; no, it's just six Goliath look-a-like robots. Personally; if they wanted to do this right, Xanatos should have designed six robots; but all of them are clones of the main gargoyles. Except for Demona because she's with Xanatos and the robots in the spotlight. The goofballs are more confused than I am and Xanatos orders them to attack the goofballs as the robots fly into the air and then swoop down; and their arms open to reveal the laser cannon and the squash is on! Broadway nearly gets hot and tries to hand onto the ramparts; but he is just too fat as the brick screws his grip and he drops onto the ground with a semi-on screen bump. Wow. Broadway tries to get up; but slumps down again.
Xanatos proclaims that he told Owen that the robots are a vast improvement over the Gargoyles as they don't need to sleep, aren't made of stone and 100% loyal to HIM! So Xanatos has dipped into the playbook of Martin Torque. Someone should tell David Xanatos what happened in the finish to From Here To Machinery. Lex's wing gets hit by a laser forcing Brooklyn to grab him; but be a sitting duck to the robot's radar scan. Then in comes Goliath as he tackles a robot down and bashes it into the castle wall and it explodes? Well; that was pretty direct. At least he didn't use orange juice this time. Goliath goes over to Brooklyn and motions to him to give Lex to him and Brooklyn throws Lex to him. Goliath swoops down and pushes away the debris from Broadway and places Lex next to him. They both appear to selling super death at this point. Brooklyn flies below the castle and then climbs up the wall as Hudson and Bronx come out as Hudson demands answers to this outrage. Then they both see Goliath Robot #2 flying towards them and shooting his laser at that. Bronx jumps up and bites on the robot's tail. This robot has green armor; so I'm guessing that this was Broadway. Actually; I checked out some more and it isn't. So Bronx manages to drag the robot down to ground level as the robot shoots at Bronx and Bronx dodges everything in sight. Then Hudson jumps down and we get an awesome visual of the scanner eyes seeing Hudson jumping at him with the sword and then it fizzles out as the robot is cut in half at the halfway point. The robot drops on his back and red sparks fly. Hudson proclaims that it's never a dull moment. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Then we get MORE dodging from Goliath and the robots as we scene change to the entrance to the lobby and in comes Eliza as she flashes her badge at the fat human security officer because this is police business see. We return back as Goliath jumps and gets on the robot's back and steers it like a bull. And after a while he steers it into another robot and then jumps off. The robots have a meeting of the minds and they explode on cue. Yeah. Debris goes flying and destroys part of the rampart in the process as the heels flee to dodge the debris. HA!
Xanatos thinks that his robots are not performing as well as he had hoped. GEEZ, YOU THINK?! Demona proclaims that there is only one robot left and it's time to bring in the real guns. Xanatos agrees and the heels flee stage left. So we cut to Broadway and Lex waking up from their slumber (like they are going to kill off the only two comical guys they have in the show? Really fans?) as we get a logic break: On the near shot; it seems the sun is rising right now; but on the next shot where the final robot is flying around and stalking; it's still night time. So all but Brooklyn and Goliath run towards each other as the robot is now setting it's radar on them. Goliath and Brooklyn then discover that there is one piece of castle still not dislodged from the damage done to it by the robots. Oh; that isn't contrived in the very least, no siree! They push the piece of wall and it lands right on the robot's back and the robots and gets squashed between the castle wall debris and castle rampart and explodes perfectly at the 17 minute mark of the final episode. There is a huge fire afoot as Brooklyn cheers and Hudson proclaims that they say the Middle Ages are barbaric. HAHA! I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Brooklyn yells that they won and Goliath is confused because Brooklyn said dude. That is still a slight improvement in the reaction most people have for that word. And then Demona calls them fool because they haven't won anything as we see Demona with a particle cannon and Xanatos with his big ass red laser gun. And Demona's cannon has a steampunk-equse scope lens on it. AWESOME! She fires it as the screen turns completely white and that ends the segment almost 17 and a half minutes in. Well; this is no Plunder and Lightning due to too many mistakes; and a low rent game plotline; but this is still awesome on a Treasure Of Golden Suns level; only with better focus. Ponder that one for a while...
After the commercial break; we see Demona with the rocket launcher as she fires a rocket at the rampart and Brooklyn gets hit and drops to the ground like a stone. OUCH! Goliath joins in as Goliath wants to know what the hell is going on. Demona calls Goliath a fool because he should have taken everyone out of the castle from the start; but Goliath wants to protect the humans instead. See; she made a deal with the Captain to get everyone out according to her plan with him. But it failed because Goliath refused to let his clan leave. Goliath cannot believe this and questions this while Demona really blows him off for it since humans are evil am I right? Right? In other words; Demona wanted the Viking to sack the castle and destroy everything; then the gargoyles would return and have their castle back. And she doesn't even trust Captain. The biggest differences between Kit and Demona are amazing. Kit is afraid to trust; but doesn't outright trust anyone. Plus he's doesn't have a powerful weapon except for his legs. Demona doesn't just trust humans; she outright hates them and wants to kill them when she has an excuse to do so. She is also one of those people who claims to not trust humans; yet she trusted Captain and Xanatos enough to get to this point in time. And if I'm Goliath, I would point out that little detail to her. She's a monster heel who is a coward in a different sense; in that instead of running off from danger (which is cowardly; but there is no shame in doing it if your powerless); she wants payback and wants to murder innocents. That is what makes her one of the most badass heels in DTVA history. While Don Karnage could have been all that; he was known for his flair and comedy. In one way; it was great because at least when he fell low as a serious heel, he was still funny, unlike Dukie. So yeah; this is the biggest reason why Gargoyles rocks and why you want to watch the show: To see what happens to DEMONA next. And she will deliver in spades much later in the series when she gets an canonized backstory which is something even Kit couldn't get. Because Disney treated TaleSpin as filler (although that didn't stop the comics from trying at least).
Plus; this all makes sense too: She hates humanity for fearing her without realizing the irony of her scaring the crap out of everyone she comes in contact too. We get a closeup shot of Goliath's face as Goliath points out that there are evil gargoyles and good humans as well as evil humans and good gargoyles. And she should know better because she is the one who CAUSED all this trouble. Well; that is putting it bluntly there Goliath. Demona is pissed off of this and proclaims that humans are a poison that needs to be purged from the planet as she is full blown nihilism mode (even more so than most real human ones by the way); and proclaims that she is offering Goliath to rule the world with her and to join her. That is so Shredder 1987 TMNT of you Demona. Brooklyn might as well be Ralph and say: "Does the phrase 'Go suck a lemon!' hold any meaning to you?". In fact; I was hoping Brooklyn would say that actually; but Demona keeps going on and on asking Goliath if it means nothing to him now that she trusted him once and loved him once as Goliath is shedding tears for the first time ever. That was perfect as he sezs nothing and Demona points the rocket launcher and shoots it at him completing the monster heel turn. The rocket misses Goliath and blasts right into the castle walls knocking Goliath down as there is more explosions present. Demona then points the rocket launcher at point blank range at Goliath and proclaims that she has a name and it was given by the humans. He will know this before he dies as she finally addresses herself as Demona. And just as she is about to send Goliath to hell; Eliza runs in and tackles Demona down which causes the rocket launcher to fire again and it destroys another rampart completely and Xanatos forgets to dodge the debris properly and gets nailed in the back with a rock and falls down knocked out. Sorry; but Katie Dodd took the metal beetle shot to the back of her head much harder than you did. Demona and Eliza look up and here comes the castle tower come crumbling down towards them and it splits the rampart in two and they both free fall in one of the most awesome "Money Shot" moments ever in DTVA.
Eliza screams as Demona tries to dodge castle stone; but one of them hits her in the back which looked good; but pales in comparison. Goliath swoops down and grabs Eliza right away as Demona falls to the sky with rocks tumbling down to the ground below and she's gone. And we will _never_ see her again....WINK! WINK! NUDGE! NUDGE! Goliath flies up and lands to allow Eliza to stand on solid ground again. Goliath looks down and then does his full growl in agony pose again because he has been betrayed again. So Xanatos finally wakes up and Goliath grabs him by the suit and dangles him over the edge proclaiming that if Demona wants to kill humanity; then he'll start with the one who betrayed him to start with. Xanatos actually dares him to throw him over the rage; pointing out that they would be collecting moss if he did nothing. Goliath is about to no sell the deal when Eliza yells at him to stop. Goliath wants one good reason why he shouldn't just drop him literally and Eliza gives the answer: You'll turn heel like Demona did. Hudson backs her up on that one and asks if this is what he wants. Goliath then throws Xanatos to them and Xanatos takes a sicker bump then he would have if he got dropped. And TaleSpin fans on-line should know this finish well because in the fanfic Tail Winds; this is the exact same finish Kit did when he tries to force Don Karnage off the Iron Vulture for revenge after his parents were killed by said monster heel. Again; a lot of TaleSpin fans are also Gargoyles fans as well. So we head back down to street level as there is massive damage on the street as the police are on the scene barricading the area. We then cut to a police car as Xanatos is sitting the back with his hands handcuffed to his back.
The door closes and we head back to the castle which seems to have repaired itself in the aftermath. Goliath looks on as Hudson assures him that he did the right thing; as Goliath wonders if Demona is dead. Hudson can only say that they'll know soon enough. So we have the goofballs getting on their perches as Brooklyn wants his glasses back and Bronx comes in with them. Brooklyn takes them and puts them on; and the lens shatter like glass. HA! So Broadway is hungry again and cannot explain why the Chinese food didn't catch. So we pan up to Goliath on his perch as he proclaims that he has a friend in Eliza and Eliza hopes he makes a lot of friends in this world. Sadly; most of them are not human. Most of them anyway. Eliza proclaims that she'll always be his friend and asks about tomorrow night in the same place and wants to take in a "Giants" game. I'm going to assume that it's the fall and she's referencing the New York Giants football team because the Giants in baseball are in San Francisco on the other side of the USA. Goliath is confused on these _Giants_ just as the sun rises on the horizon and he turns to stone and sleeps. Eliza wonders if this city is ready for these gargoyles. Answer: Not at all. We get some shots of the building and that ends the pilot at 20:00. Well; that was slightly anti-climatic, but the Demona stuff was MONEY and this better lead to better storylines for her because she is monster over as a monster heel now. A couple of mistakes did dampen this episode though. **** 1/2 (90%).
THE REVIEW LINE
I do admit that "Total Media Bridge"'s review of this pilot did color my thoughts on this episode and the pilot in general. However; it was awesome just the same. Still; it wasn't quite the epic romp that I remember because the most I remember loving to death was Demona's heel turn which was kick ass and she takes names dead. She is probably the most over character in the series right now as she has everything; including a motive to be a monster heel which is because she hates what the humans have done. I found the whole "disk fetch quest" to be contrived because no self serving CEO would put three different disks in three different places. They would backup the same disk in three locations; but not three different disks. That just exposes Xanatos too early. Most of the fighting scenes were acceptable; but the amount of bullet/laser ratio is getting too high in the laser category for my tastes. The goofballs were themselves and for once; they actually did something right without screwing it up. The quality of this episode is hinged on Demona's heel turn and boy it delivered like mad. Again; all of the stars are for Demona: She made David look like a fool; she has a motive (however unjustified it is) and her justification (or lack of it) makes sense from a story point of view. I also loved Goliath's response before she finally declares Goliath her enemy for real. So we finished up the pilot and it is slightly better than Golden Suns; mostly because part two was too much in a cool down period after the first ten minutes of action. However; I prefer Plunder and Lightning to Awakening for several reasons: (1) Plunder and Lightning had a much better focus, (2) Kit Cloudkicker's performance and (3) the finish to the pilot was more epic because it involved the SeaDuck getting destroyed to destroy the Lightning Gun. Awakening does have one thing over TaleSpin: an awesome heel turn that was real; instead of Kit's fake heel turn that was better acted. Next up is the post-Awakening story arc as the various Gargoyle characters get focus episodes starting with Lexington meeting his new idols: The Pack. Then Brooklyn gets tempted into joining Demona; so yes, she's still alive; and then Broadway does the unthinkable and spooks American parents for the rest of their natural lives. All of this to come over the next couple of weeks; along with a new monster heel human who is forever intertwined with DEMONA. Who is he? Find out as we live again watching Gargoyles. So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.