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Gargoyles: Long Way To Morning
Reviewed: 08/03/2012
And A Short Way To An Easy Episode To Rant On...
Well; we are getting closer and closer to the end of the first season as this time; Goliath and Hudson are remembering the past where they actually had seen better days than they are right now. Now the first 30 minutes of Awakening's flashback was an excellent story, maybe we can get this show back on the awesome track again. Let's rant on shall we...?
This episode is written by Brynne Stephens and Michael Reaves. Animation is done by Sunwoo Animation. Wow; I thought it wouldn't be until season two before they would show up.
We begin this one in Scotland in 984 AD; which is ten years before the great tragedy at Castle Wyvern as we zoom in with thunderstorms in the background. We head to a window zoom in shot and then into the bedroom with a young girl being tucked into bed by her brown haired father wearing red and green robes with a blue cape. The girl wants to be a part of the big fest; but the father disallows it because the gargoyles might get her. And then Hudson arrives from the shadows and the father greets him like he's a human. What a hypocrite this guy is?! Hudson wants to discuss business with him as the dad sezs good night to Katherine. Yeap; she is Princess Katherine as a child. Young Princess Katharine is voiced by Anndi McAfee who began her career as Amber in Dink The Little Dinosaur in 1989. She proceeded to do nothing of note until she was Robyn Starling in Tom & Jerry: The Movie followed by Home Free as Abby Bailey. The Little Mermaid the series as Crabscout #2 is her DTVA debut and appeared in Recess as Ashley A and Lloyd In Space as Brittany. She is usually Cera in the Land Before Time OAV's and television series and was Lebreau in Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2. Pound Puppies 2012 edition as Miffy and Tiffy are her most recent credits. She has 69 acting credits to her resume and was the voice announcer for The Soup (!!!). Well; at least I won't have to do a tribute for her in Recess. Hudson and the dad leave to go outside in a thunder storm as Hudson wants him to reconsider scaring Katherine about gargoyles. Now this is an interesting piece of character development because it allows us to see why Katherine had disdain for the gargoyles ten years later. So Hudson and the royal father exchange notes about some Archmage that was banished from the castle. Hudson thinks banishing him wasn't enough; and the human dare Archmage to return to take over the throne.
So then we get some thunder balls and they destroy a few non-living things as we get a thunder and lighting shot of a old man in green welding a staff and having white hair with a white beard. If that beard was three to four times longer; he would look like Ramuh from Final Fantasy VI. In fact; he might have been inspired by Ramuh/Indra from Final Fantasy IV. He cuts a promo on how he is not so easily disposed of as he addresses the father as Prince Malcolm. Well; good, we can get the VA's out of the way quickly.... Prince Malcolm is voiced by Roger Rees and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Rees started his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and attended the Slade School of Fine Arts.[2] He played Malcolm in the acclaimed Trevor Nunn 1976 stage and 1978 television production of Macbeth. Rees created the title role in the original production of the play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, winning both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1982. He also starred in the original production of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard in London in 1984. Rees began to work in television during the 1970s, appearing opposite Laurence Olivier in The Ebony Tower (1984). From 1988 to 1991 he starred in the late 80s/early 90s British sitcom Singles, with actress and co-star Judy Loe. From 1989 to 1991 and in 1993, he also appeared intermittently on the long-running American TV series Cheers as the English tycoon Robin Colcord. Later television appearances include My So-Called Life as substitute teacher Mr Racine, British Ambassador Lord John Marbury on The West Wing and James MacPherson on Warehouse 13. His film career beginning in the 1980s, Rees played the Sheriff of Rottingham in Mel Brooks' 1993 film, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. More recent film appearances include Frida (2002) and The Prestige (2006).
Continuing his work in the theatre through the 1990s, both as an actor and a director, Rees was awarded an Obie award for his 1992 performance in the off-Broadway play The End of the Day. In 1995 he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Indiscretions.[citation needed] That same year, he also participated as narrator for the audiobook edition of Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice. As for audiobooks, Roger has performed in a wide variety of programs.[3] In November 2004, Rees was named artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, only the fourth person to hold the post in its half century history. He left the position in October 2007. In October 2010, it was announced that on 22 March, he would be portraying the role of Gomez in the Broadway musical adaptation of The Addams Family, following the departure of Nathan Lane.[4] On 19 September, it was announced that Rees will extend his run in the show through closing on 31 December 2011.[5] He began his career as Willie in The Place of Peace in 1975; followed by Under Western Eyes as Razumov. Gargoyles is his DTVA debut and only appearance. Affluenza (Mr. Carson), Warehouse 13 as James MacPherson, and The Middle as Mr. Glover are his most recent credits. He has 85 acting credits and 16 self credits to his resume. He also directed an episode of Oz in 2002. Archmage is voiced by David Warner and according to Wikipedia: In 1963, he made his film debut as the villainous Blifil in Tom Jones, and in 1965, starred as Henry VI in the BBC television version of the RSC's The Wars of the Roses cycle of Shakespeare's history plays. Another early television role came when he starred alongside Bob Dylan in the 1963 play Madhouse on Castle Street. A major step in his career was the leading role in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) opposite Vanessa Redgrave, which established his reputation for playing slightly off-the-wall characters.
He also appeared as Konstantin Treplev in Sidney Lumet's 1968 adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Sea Gull and starred alongside Jason Robards and Stella Stevens as Reverend Joshua Duncan Sloane in Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue. In horror films, he appeared in one of the stories of From Beyond the Grave, opposite Gregory Peck in The Omen (1976) as the ill-fated photojournalist Keith Jennings, and the 1979 thriller Nightwing. He also starred in cult classic Waxwork (1988), and featured alongside a young Viggo Mortensen in the 1990 film Tripwire. He has often played villains, in films such as The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), Time After Time (1979), Time Bandits (1981), Tron (1982), Hanna's War (1988), and television series such as Batman: The Animated Series playing Ra's al Ghul, the anti-mutant scientist Herbert Landon in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, as well as rogue agent Alpha in the animated Men in Black series and the Archmage in Disney's Gargoyles and finally The Lobe in Freakazoid. He was also cast against type as Henry Niles in Straw Dogs (1971) and as Bob Cratchit in the 1984 telefilm A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. In addition, he played German SS General Reinhard Heydrich both in the film Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil, and the television miniseries Holocaust; as sinister millionaire recluse Amos Hackshaw in HBO's original 1991 film Cast a Deadly Spell, who plots to use the world's most powerful spell book – the Necronomicon – to unleash the Lovecraftian Old Ones from eternal imprisonment upon the Earth.
Warner was considered for the role of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street after producers were impressed with his performance as Jack the Ripper in Time After Time but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.[citation needed] In 1981, Warner received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for Masada as Pomponius Falco. In 1988, he appeared in the Danny Huston film Mr. North. He subsequently appeared in films such as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Avatar (known as Matrix Hunter in USA), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Titanic (the third time he has appeared in a film about RMS Titanic) and Scream 2. In 2001, he played Captain James Sawyer in two episodes of A&E's adaptation of C.S. Forester's Hornblower series. He appeared in three episodes of the second season of Twin Peaks (1991). He also continues to play classical roles. In "Chain of Command", a 6th-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, he was a Cardassian interrogator. He based his portrayal on the evil "re-educator" from 1984. His less-spectacular roles included a double-role in the low-budget fantasy Quest of the Delta Knights (1993) which was eventually spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also played Admiral Tolwyn in the film version of Wing Commander. He also appeared as mad scientist Dr. Alfred Necessiter in the film The Man with Two Brains in 1983 alongside Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner. Warner's sympathetic side had been evident in Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (1977), where he portrayed Captain Kiesel. Other "nice guy" roles include the charismatic "Aldous Gajic" in "Grail", a first season (1994) episode of Babylon 5 and "Chancellor Gorkon" in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). In an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, he played Superman's deceased Kryptonian father Jor-El, who appeared to his son through holographic recordings.
Warner has also played "ambiguous nice guys" such as vampire bat exterminator Philip Payne in 1979's Nightwing; and Dr. Richard Madden in 1994's Necronomicon: Book of the Dead. In Seven Servants, he co-starred with Anthony Quinn in 1996. Another 'sympathetic' role was in 2013, when he played Professor Grisenko in the Doctor Who episode "Cold War" in which he battled a revived Ice Warrior and struck up a rapport with the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald. David also appeared in the second series of the Sky 1 comedy-drama "Mad Dogs". Warner contributed "Sonnet 25" to the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics), which consists of Shakespearean sonnets and play excerpts as interpreted by famous actors and musicians. He has performed in many audio plays, starring in the Doctor Who "Unbound" play Sympathy for the Devil (2003) as an alternative version of the Doctor, and in a series of plays based on ITV's Sapphire & Steel as Steel, both for Big Finish Productions. He reprised his incarnation of the Doctor in a sequel, Masters of War (2008). In 2007, he guest starred as Isaac Newton in the Doctor Who audio drama Circular Time. He also guest starred in the BBC Radio 4 science fiction comedy Nebulous (2005) as Professor Nebulous' arch-enemy Dr. Joseph Klench. In all these productions, Warner has worked with writer and comedian Mark Gatiss of the League of Gentlemen, and plays a guest role in the League's 2005 feature film The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse. He has also performed in radio plays for the distinguished American companies L.A. Theatre Works and the Hollywood Theater of the Ear. In 2005, Warner read a new adaptation of Oliver Twist for BBC Radio 2 (adapted by Neville Teller and directed by Neil Gardner). In 2008, he guest-starred as Mycroft Holmes in the Bernice Summerfield audio play The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel.
In 2009, he was the voice of Lord Azlok of the Viperox, an insectoid alien race in the animated Doctor Who serial "Dreamland". He has also contributed voice acting to a number of computer games, most notably playing the villain Jon Irenicus in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Morpheus in Fallout. Warner also did voice work on the short-lived FOX animated series Toonsylvania as Dr. Vic Frankenstein. On the Cartoon Network animated television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, David provided the voice of Nergal, a demonic creature from the Earth's core. He voiced the character until 2003, when he was replaced by Martin Jarvis. He also voiced one of Batman's greatest enemies, Ra's al Ghul, in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and an episode of Batman Beyond. He also voiced the Lobe in Freakazoid and Alpha in Men in Black: The Series, Herbert Landon in Spider-Man, as well as the Archmage in Gargoyles. Warner narrated the Disney's direct-to-video Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin. In March 2010, it was announced that Warner would be joining the cast of the Dark Shadows audio drama miniseries Kingdom of the Dead. In 2010, David Warner appeared in the BBC Radio 4 play 'Plantagenet - What Is A Man' by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles, chronicling the early years of the Plantagenet dynasty, as King Henry II. Originally broadcast Sun 14 February 2010 / 15:00. He began his career as a Sailor painting the ship in We Join The Navy in 1962. Gargoyles is his DTVA debut and appeared on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as Lord Angstorm. Before I Sleep (Eugene Devlin), Wizard (Merlin) and Doctor Who (Professor Grisenko; also appeared in the mini-series) are his most recent credits. He has 208 acting credits and 17 self credits to his resume. Whew!
So we chants a spell which sounds so goofy (Fulminus Venite - which is Latin for Come Lightning in English. Captions has it as Benite which is a Japanese B/V mistranslation if I ever saw one. Ironically; Benite means blessed, so it's Lightning Blessed, or Blessed Lightning which would have been better and more ironic to Archmage's heeldom in hindsight.) and it's basically a thunderbolt spell which nails Hudson in the chest and knocks him out. To Gargoyles Wikia: It's not lethal since Hudson lived on. Malcolm asks what he wants and Archmage wants revenge as he brings out his staff which double as a blow dart. He blows into it as Hudson recovers and tries to block the way of Malcolm; but he misses the dart and the dart hits Malcolm in the chest. Malcolm goes down and Archmage bails away stage right. Hudson goes over to Malcolm who is sweating like crazy as his chest is feeling like it's on fire with the dart in his chest. Out comes Young Katherine and since she never saw who killed Malcolm; she yells at Hudson and pounds on his chest like Molly; only she misses by at least eight inches. She cries as Malcolm is lying on the ground and apparently he died. At least in theory. So we return to 1994 NYC with a sunset shot of NYC as we head to the clock tower and the gargoyles live again as Hudson gets to wake up first; because he's the focus character of this episode. Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway leave for breakfast and I know this because Broadway wants blitzens. Goliath then notices Hudson looking at Xanatos tower and asks what he is thinking and Hudson claims that he is dreaming old dreams. So then we scene change to Eliza's apartment as she comes in and puts her gun on the dresser while she is dressing and pinning her badge inside her shirt. Then we hear noises and here comes Demona breaking through the glass ceiling literally. AWESOME! She has a gun as Eliza tries to go for her gun; and Demona shoots and a poison dart is put through her chest. Hmmm; you don't suppose she was working for the Archmage at one time didn't she?
Demona proclaims that she poisoned her with a dart that will kill her in 24 hours as Demona grabs Eliza's gun and destroys it. So much for Matt Bluestone being an effective partner since the whole point of him being her partner was to prevent stuff like this. Demona claims that she has the antidote and wants to meet Goliath at the Old York Opera House in the village. This is really cartoonish of her: First she uses a spell to turn Goliath into an undead zombie and now she's using poison darts to try to kill Eliza. It's almost like BS&P is sabotaging everything Gargoyles tries...Oh wait...Demona casually sezs Ciao and leaves as Eliza is no selling this; and she shows that the dart hit her badge and thus the dart doesn't even hit her body. That is so stupid on the writers part. If they wanted to create a sense for the audience to get behind; they could have cut this scene out and used it at the finish when Goliath and Hudson fail to get the antidote which we all know is the finish in advance. So not only is the finish predictable now; but there is no sense of suspense because we already know Eliza is NOT going to die; which means there is no sense of danger. I hope the flashback scenes make up for this because nothing else will. Hudson and Goliath are going to look really stupid in this one. And then we head to the clock tower; and now we know why they wrote this as the gargoyles and Eliza exchange notes. So; yeah, I got worked up over nothing. This is a great booking decision now because now that Goliath knows what happened; we can focus on Hudson redeeming himself in the past and being a hero to Goliath. The gargoyles wonder what Demona is up to and Goliath wants to find out right now. So Goliath prepares to leave as Eliza thinks this is a bad idea because they know it's a trap. Hudson counters by saying that Demona will come after Eliza again after she realizes that her plan failed to finish the job properly.
Goliath walks out of the tower as Brooklyn wants to join him to get some unsettled business done which that line was added to ensure everyone that this episode is a serial. Goliath blows him off and order him to guard the tower with Bronx while Lex and Broadway return Eliza home and guard her in case Demona tries to go to her house. Goliath picks Hudson (The perfect booking full name for him: Hudson Soft. Because he's got a soft belly and likes television) on this trip and everyone bails to do their jobs. So we fly in the skies over NYC as Hudson asks Goliath about bringing the others; but Goliath no sells because he feels Brooklyn is too emotional for this job and wants someone more reliable which doesn't exactly thrill Hudson as they land on top of the roof of the Old York Opera House. Goliath and Hudson look around as Hudson notices claw marks on the roof and on the chimney as Demona appears and she has her red laser cannon. She shoots her lasers and the first one makes Goliath fall on his ass onto the roof as Hudson gets out of the way; but Demona shoots again at Goliath (despite Hudson yelling no at the scene) and Goliath gets hit with the red laser and gets a burn mark as he takes a really sick bump into the conveniently placed chimney and it crumbles. Hudson gets in front of him and brings out his whacky sword and that ends the segment barely six and a half minutes in. Wow; the segments are just getting shorter and shorter now.
After the commercial break; we see a sky shot of the same scene as Demona shoots her red laser and Hudson deflects it as it hits Demona's hand; but she oversells it as if she was hit in the chest and flies down; grabs the laser gun and then claws the wall to slow the free fall. Hudson goes over and grabs the injured Goliath as Demona flies onto the roof and stalks both babyfaces proclaiming that they are only delaying their demise. Hudson counters because he's a patient Gargoyle see. See; sunrise will come and they will all recover. Which is pretty stupid since Goliath was at full strength and Demona still hit him with the laser and wounded him. Demona proclaims that they won't make it to sunrise as she shoots a laser and Hudson dodges it; but lands in the solar glass roof and crashes into the stage floor below and into the basement floor where they store the old Viking ship. Ummm; yeah. Demona calls this desperate measures. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. She hops down on the stage as she continues to taunt the babyfaces while Hudson drags Goliath's body below the stage and towards the back of the viking ship. Goliath insists on staying; but Hudson refuses to abandon him. To Demona: Tell him he can watch television forever. That'll make him abandon Goliath. Or maybe not. Demona proclaims that Hudson is letting Goliath suffer by continuing this nonsense. Goliath's been suffering since his clan got killed by the Vikings; so that is kind of silly. Demona proclaims that they cannot hide; but they cannot run either as she jumps off the stage to floor level. So we continue the stalking as Hudson is having flashbacks.....
....and we head inside Prince Malcolm's bedroom as we see Hudson with Captain (sans the facial hair) and a young Magus (Who looks like a younger version of Magus wearing blue robes instead of white) tending to Prince Malcolm in bed as he is still alive. However; he has been poisoned by the Archmage and has until sunrise to live. Why didn't Demona just say that to Eliza? Then the irony would have been better in hindsight. Malcolm asks if there is an antidote and Magus claims that it is in the pages of the spell book Magus would have ten years later. Let me guess: They stole it from the Archmage too. Katherine is still blaming Hudson for the incident as Katherine's mother motions her to leave and Katherine leaves with her; remembering to invoke eye contact violence on Hudson on the way out. Malcolm tells Hudson that this is not his fault and she cannot understand. Hudson disagrees because he feels that he failed him. He does have a point; I mean, how could he miss the poison dart at close range? Anyhow; we head to the castle look out as Goliath and Demona arrive. Goliath is ready for Hudson to give him orders as Hudson is happy with that. Hudson proclaims that their mission is to steal the Grimorum from the Archmage and they need to find him quickly before sunrise; or he'll never find them at all because he cannot fail again. Hudson flies away as Demona proclaims that he should step down because he's so old. So Demona is an ageist? Why doesn't that surprise me? Goliath proclaims that with age comes wisdom and that is why he leads them as Goliath follows him; along with Demona close behind. So we head back to reality (no, not really) as Demona continues to stalk Hudson on stage and she taunts Hudson claiming that he's too old to be playing this game as Hudson drags Goliath towards the iron barred window as Demona turns the corner threatening to rake the entire place with laser fire unless Hudson swears loyalty to her since she's the leader and Goliath is finished as one. Hudson no sells; so Demona just simply shoots at everything in the area, smashing crates and various stuff. Hudson gets through the narrow window with Goliath which is downright impossible.
So Goliath continue to beg for Hudson to leave him; but Hudson refuses as he opens the grate leading to the sewers on the street. We cut back to Demona who turns around and gives a backhanded praise to Hudson as we see the warped iron bars on the window which makes going through that even more painful. Then we jump cut to outside which is complete whiplash since I think there was supposed to be a scene in between that. Demona continues to taunt Hudson for his decision to go in the sewers which makes him unable to use his wings. I don't think it matters since Goliath is too big to return to the clock tower; and Demona would just follow them anyway. So we head into the sewers as Hudson is still dragging Goliath's body as Hudson proclaims that they will make it through yet. Goliath is seemly starting to recover as Hudson talks about the search for the Archmage which Hudson claims took gumpation. So we HIT THE FLASHBACK~! We head to a desert like area as all three gargoyles land on the sand. Goliath is concerned about the trail getting cold once the storm hits as Hudson sees some tracks and deduces that the Archmage is expecting them because he likes speed over stealth; and he isn't even trying to cover his track. Hudson notices the tracks leading to a dark cave as Demona loses her headband on the near shot; but gets it back on the far shot. Bad form there Sunwoo. Demona proclaims that Goliath should lead because he's younger and stronger and Hudson should be following HIM. Goliath holds her hands telling her that she's wrong and that Hudson can lead them. And there's no time to argue the point as we see Hudson and company run like hound to the edge of the sinkhole where the cave is.
We pan down with thunderclaps and then we do a long sequence of Hudson wrapping brown feathers around a stick and making a torch flame by rubbing two rocks together (this scene was edited out of Toon Disney and XD versions) as we see the babyfaces enter the cave and walk down. Demona blows off Hudson for going into an area where the wings are useless and Archmage has powerful magic. Oh please Demona! Hudson easily recovered from his lightning magic. How can he even be a threat at this point? Hudson blows her off in kind because he refuses to fail; and Goliath agrees with him. Demona asks who is the bigger fool: Hudson for going, Goliath for following him; or Demona for not abandoning them. Ummmm; Archmage for underestimating all three? Because we all know what the finish is going to be anyway. So we head deeper into the cave and it's turning into Lezard's Tower with the walls now becoming brick with magical carvings and stone statues lining the halls. Hudson turns right as Demona feels the walls packed with pictures and writing wondering what this all means; and then she gasps as she sees a picture on the wall showing a human slaughtering a Gargoyle. Yeap; this is the tease of her human hating ways now. Because the next scene has the trio walking out of the cave to an abyss and we look forward and there is the Archmage's home with a candle burning in some large skull like stone statue in the background behind him. Archmage yells his "Lightning Come" spell (using the spell book as a staff) and this is why he's saying it in Latin: because in English it sounds boring; in Latin it sounds godly. Ironically; if it was Venite which means blessed; that sounds ironically godly. So he shoots the lightning and it hits everyone and the trio dodges it and gets caught in the abyss which is only about 20 feet deep. We pan over to Hudson who is shocked and we return to reality (no, not really)....
...and see Hudson dragging Goliath in the sewer water as Goliath is insisting that Hudson abandon him and save himself. Hudson proclaims that they go together, or don't go at all as Demona appears and shoots the laser again proclaiming that this is futile despite his courage. So Hudson dodges to the right and it leads to a dead end with a waterfall like spout. Hudson turns around and brings out his whacky sword again as Demona advances towards him proclaiming that she'll make this quick as Hudson teases using Goliath as a shield and turning heel; but then falls backwards and they both free fall towards the lake below as Demona is shocked and appalled and that ends the segment fourteen minutes in. Well; this has been an amusing cat and mouse game so far as Goliath is still at rock bottom at this point of the storyline.
After the commercial break; we see Goliath and Hudson dive into the water below as Demona comes to the edge and then a thunderbolt strikes the area where Goliath and Hudson once stood; so Hudson knew that standing his ground was a bad idea from the start. Yeah. Hudson swims Goliath to shore and then drags him out. Hudson wraps Goliath with his wings and tells him to hang on since there were worse scrapes than this as we hit the flashback again. Hudson tries to hide behind one of the column spikes and Archmage blasts him right in the spike with the Lightning Come spell which causes rocks to slash his left eye and give him the scar that he would wear for the rest of his life; and blind him in said eye. Demona tries to run in; but she gets blasted down with Lighting Come. Man; this Archmage is a one trick pony who cannot do any damage whatsoever. So Goliath manages to find a way to hover up (despite the fact that Demona claims that their wings were going to be useless) and manages to dodge Lightning Come and then tackle Archmage down on the second attempt. The spell book of doom drops into the abyss after Archmage does the whacky bump; Goliath flies down and grabs the book; and then scales up the abyss and Demona helps him up. Well; doesn't this point Demona's point or what? Goliath proclaims that they have the spell and Malcolm will be safe; but here comes Archmage with a stone spike in rage; and he forgets to look where he is going because the babyfaces simply dodge him and he falls into the abyss below and is dead. At least in theory. Hudson gets up and thanks them for the work as Demona wants him to save his strength and not talk as we finally see the damage done to his eye as it has yellow whites.
So we head back to reality (no, not really) as Hudson drags Goliath into the memorial gardens and BS&P is just all over this: In the far shots; there is no sign of crosses anywhere. On the closeup shots where Hudson is hiding behind a tombstone; it appears to have a Christian Cross; but we only see a little bit of it's shape; but on far shots, they are all straight lines. WHAT THE HELL?! I'm shocked they didn't edit the angel statues in this memorial gardens. So Hudson drags Goliath into the mausoleum and Goliath pleas for him not to go because he cannot face her. Hudson proclaims that he can face Demona; it's just that Hudson cannot defeat Demona which means they are going to draw finish again! So we see Hudson's shadow hiding behind a tombstone as BS&P shows a cross that the top has been cut off in the background and then a long sequence as it starts to rain and there are thunderclaps. Finally; Demona appears from behind the angel statue as Hudson draws his sword and sees Demona in the reflection. Demona shoots and Hudson dodges easily. And BS&P finally gives us a cross tombstone in the background. Hudson bails to behind a tombstone as Demona is blocking the entrance to the mausoleum as she proclaims that she wants Hudson to join with her and rule the world instead of joining Goliath in death. And they are still showing straight bars instead of crosses in the background; until Hudson takes his sword and starts to run in; and you can see a second cross in the background. I CLUB BS&P! Ducktales allowed cross in a graveyard in the dozens for goodness sakes; and that show isn't even a serious show to begin with.
So Hudson runs in and clanks sword to laser gun with Demona as Demona shoves off and backs up. And wouldn't you know it; they are now showing crosses in full bloom in the next couple of shots. MAKE UP YOUR MIND BS&P! So we dodge shots for a while and destroy grave stones in the process which just continues to turn Demona into a psychopathic human hating, grave defiling....Well; you get the picture. Hudson then really ups the ante of vandalism by slicing the angel statue in half. AWESOME! So we continue with the laser/sword duel as Hudson is shoved down while Goliath groans inside the mausoleum. Demona perches herself on the roof and tells Hudson to die. She shoots and misses as Hudson flies up into the air and then dives onto the Demona. They have one more duel with the sword and gun; and this time the sword wins and Demona gets knocked down on her ass. I am FEELING THIS now! Goliath wakes up and he crawls out of the mausoleum and climbs up the wall continuing his wonky selling of pain as Hudson and Demona clank their weapons together; and then Demona goes for the deathblow move despite Hudson has drew her to a standstill; and Goliath grabs it. Goliath pleas for Demona to stop and she blows him off and manages to wiggle the weapon free and pistol ships Hudson in the face and he goes flying. What an idiot this Goliath fellow is? It's like he's now losing battles ON PURPOSE now? Demona whacks Goliath in kind and tries to go in for the kill; but Hudson rushes in and blocks the weapon as he proclaims that she will not win. Demona proclaims that she is smarter, stronger and younger than he is. Now doesn't that sound familiar? It sounds like Sony VS. Nintendo 1995-2010 inclusive. Why? Because as Hudson is whacked in the face and falls on top of Goliath; Hudson proclaims that he has something Demona will never have; something that only comes with age. See; Hudson can wait...and his waiting has paid off as we get a side shot of the clouds parting and the sun comes out. Demona has the laser weapon up for the deathblow; but the stone sleep takes over much to her disdain and they turn to stone. What a perfect finish to a fight eh?!
So we hit the flashback and head to Prince Malcolm's room as Captain (with only a mustache) is at the fireplace as we pan over to see Magus proclaim that the spell has worked and Prince Malcolm will live as Malcolm is in better spirits now and thanks Hudson and the stars for getting the spell book in time. Hudson shakes his head and claims that it wasn't him. So we head outside the bedroom at the look off as Demona continues to argue that the clan needs a younger leader; which Goliath no sells because Hudson is fine. Hudson comes in and actually agrees with Demona; and gives the reins to Goliath. Goliath at first no sells because Hudson's skills led them to the Archmage in the first place; but Hudson insists because the Archmage was defeated by Goliath. Goliath accepts the offer as long as Hudson is his long term adviser because his wisdom is what is still needed. They clasp hands together to seal the deal and then we head back to reality at the graveyard AFTER HAPPY HOUR and on top of the roof of the mausoleum as all three live again! Demona goes into red eyes mode and proclaims that now it ends. Demona goes for the deathblow; but Hudson grabs the weapon on the way down and proclaims that now it ends indeed. Goliath gets up and he's no longer injured and thanks Hudson because; yes folks, it's finally happened. The Gargoyles have FINALLY won a battle in NYC! And it was done by HUDSON F'N SOFT of all gargoyles. Yeah. Demona proclaims that they think he has won; but they have failed because they were supposed to get the antidote for Eliza and the poison has taken it's course and she's "dead" now. And we discover that Demona was lying about an antidote like the scumbag that she is. Demona leaves without further incident as Hudson and Goliath both agree that this should be kept a secret in the best interests of Eliza. Goliath and Hudson clasps hands together as Goliath thanks Hudson for keeping him alive. Hudson is grateful despite thinking that his warrior days were over. Goliath calls it nonsense because there is still fight left in it and Hudson isn't thrilled about it. Both of them have a good laugh and fly away from the graveyard into the moonlight to end the episode at 21:18. Wow; I enjoyed this episode and was feeling it as the Gargoyles finally won for the first time. Won by Hudson of all gargoyles! We got some great character development; a back story to Magus' spell book, a tease of Katherine have disdain for gargoyles caused by Malcolm and Demona and Hudson vandalizing a graveyard. What more could you want? Too bad Sunwoo screwed up in places. **** 1/4 (85%).
THE REVIEW LINE
The Long Way To Morning ended up being worth it as Hudson stepped up to the plate and almost hit it out of the park! I really enjoyed this fight between Hudson and Demona in their playing of the cat & mouse game; and then at the end they had a wicked fight with the weapons while causing some decent damage to a NYC graveyard. I was not happy at first with the idea of Eliza getting poisoned by a dart and then getting the antidote from Demona; which there was none and she lied of course because they killed the suspense and I was thinking that they should have cut the scene where Eliza's badge deflected the dart and waited until the end to show that she wasn't poisoned, but thankfully, she told Goliath about it and went in a different direction which was more suspenseful. The flashback did a great job of explaining the backstory of Hudson giving Goliath the keys to the store and getting Magus' spell book; but man, the Archmage sucked. He had only one trick and it was so not threatening. Sure; he hit Hudson in the eye; but it was the shrapnel and not the spell that caused the scar and blindness. And Archmage is so dumb that he does the Wily E. Coyote spot in the end to "kill" himself while getting his spike dodged with ease. He looked so stupid in this one. Now I know a lot of people will complain about the flashback not matching up to the story; but it's perfect because Hudson invokes the key to beating Kurt Angle in Wrestlemania 20: Allow Demona to be so overaggressive that she never makes her shots count and wait for sunrise to recover; so that you get it 2-on-1. Yeah; it's a fluke win for the gargoyles; but they NEEDED to win this after being winless in 10 straight episodes. Plus; the flashback was Hudson finally realizing that he didn't have much left even though they squashed the Archmage easily and giving the reins to Goliath; and then return in the present and Hudson returns the favor to Goliath and defeats Demona in spite of Goliath being useless the whole time. Goliath did have one stupid moment by trying to get involved which wouldn't have mattered because Hudson had basically won the fight right when he knocked Demona on his ass. I was FEELING this episode which is great because I haven't had that happen since Awakening Part Five; outside of Deadly Force. Next up is Her Brothers Keeper as Derek Maza saves Xanatos; and THE PACK~ arise again to wreck havoc. So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.