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Gargoyles: Her Brother's Keeper
Reviewed: 08/04/2013
THE PACK~ Strike Again!
So we roll on with another episode of Gargoyles as Eliza's brother Derek is wanting to give Xanatos a chance to prove himself that he can not be an evil CEO much to Eliza's disdain. So much so that Derek takes a position with Xanato's company because Xanatos saw something in him; while Xanatos is trying to keep himself from getting killed by THE PACK~! Sadly; only Jackal and Hyena. And the goofball gargoyles are fighting each other over a videogame. Yeah; it is THAT kind of episode. So let's rant on shall we...?!
This episode is written by Brynne Stephens and Michael Reaves. Animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan. Backgrounds and additional services are done by Jade Animation.
We begin this one in the skies AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) over NYC as we get a shot of a clock with the temperature reading below 32 degrees (it's around 27 degrees; which is in the minus range. That's really below normal in NYC; even in November; which is supposed to be in the storyline at this point.) as a police helicopter is flying around; apparently stalking a black limo. Eliza is in the passenger side and we see Derek Maza in a blue uniform wearing a blue hat which shows a helicopter symbol; so I'm guessing he is one of the helicopter operators for the police force. Anyhow; Derek and Eliza are arguing about David Xanatos. Eliza is following him because she smells a dirty rat; while Derek wants Eliza to back off because Xanatos has already paid his debt for what happened in Awakening. Eliza isn't about to let Xanatos off the hook that easily and Derek blows her off stating that they are done chasing Xanatos once a real call comes in. So we head back to the clock tower and then we get a shot of someone playing Comanche Over The Edge; or something along those lines. It's a helicopter simulation game from Novalogic which was released in various versions at around this time. So Lexington is playing the thing inside the clock tower as Brooklyn is complaining about not getting a turn. Yeah; we went from the nuance of Deadly Force to depicting the stereotype of video games making the goofballs act like whiners. Lexington's excuse for not giving him the controller: Because he's the only one who can work it. Geez; that doesn't sound like a Mr. Hardcore snub to the rest of the gamers now doesn't it? Broadway is eating a veggie cheese sandwich asking the obvious question: Why do you want to fly a helicopter when he already has wings? Answer: Because Lexington wants to be human and having wings makes him a freak?! Although playing video games has the same effect on people who look down on us gamers; so yeah. Broadway then responds by admitting that he's dumb and has his brains in his stomach. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Brooklyn in roundabout terms even agrees with me on that one.
Goliath tells them to knock it off because Eliza didn't give them the game to fight over it like children. Which is funny because, they are manchildren. Well; Lex and Broadway are anyway. Brooklyn is at least somewhat mature. Broadway sides with Goliath because if police were meant to fly; they would have wings. Dude; you have the voice of Patrick Star. I cannot take anything you say seriously. That analogy SUCKED! Anyhow; we return to the limo chase as we see inside the back of the limo with Xanatos in his sweet tuxedo talking to Owen who is wearing a driver's outfit as he is looking at the monitor which shows the helicopter following them. So Xanatos wants to go shopping as the limo drives into an underground parking lot which is basically under a building called the Diamond Exchange. I didn't know David Xanatos was friends with Diamond Dallas Page! Maybe; Xanatos wants to get into professional wrestling. He does have the look of a greasy businessman which would make a good foil for Vinny Mac. So we head inside the Diamond Exchange building as it's basically the human version of the Status Seekers high class society. We pan over east towards the door and we see Jackal and Hyena in formal gears which makes them look like geeks instead of the nerdy armor/animal skin look that they usually shoot for. They notice a diamond under glass on a green pillow in the middle of the room; which is dubbed the Coyote Diamond. Ummm; okay. They walk over and it appears that they shove two people away stage left; but it's screwed up; missing the shove by at least a foot. THE PACK~ members look at the diamond up close and Hyena proclaims that her buddy Fox claims that it's the most valuable diamond in the world and asks what is stopping them from escaping with said diamond. Jackal answers that with style because Fox and Wolf are in prison and Dingo is in Europe. Okay; Fox and Wolf getting arrested makes sense since the police cars came in during the finish to The Thrill Of The Hunt; but how did the rest of them escape prison time?
So we see Hyena using her high heel show to invoke MOLLY VIOLENCE on Jackal! ALL HAIL! So Jackal is about to set an explosion on the glass while practicing the fine art of not being seen doing it; but it makes no difference because a brown haired female in a red dress opens the glass and with a green cloth; grabs the diamond and walks away. HAHA! Jackal whines about not seeing the diamond enough as the lady informs them that the diamond has been sold. Hyena is not happy to hear that as she goes over to the windows while a large crowd is gathering to shake hands with Xanatos and Owen. Yeap; Xanatos bought the Coyote Diamond. And can you believe this Coyote thing would be paid off later? Xanatos grabs the diamond with his bare hands and proclaims that it will look good next to the Star of Arabia. Hyena is pissed off as Jackal taunts her on that temper of hers. So a brown haired, brown mustache man butts in claiming that he is a big fan of the television show THE PACK~ and wants an autograph; and Hyena agrees to do it: by using a knife on his face! Okay; that is pretty good on a bad ass heel level. Jackal decides to join in as he jumps in and kicks Xanatos in the back and then grabs the diamond on the way down. Jackal orders Hyena to leave now; but Hyena takes orders from no one.. AND THE ROCK MEANS NO ONE! Jackal orders her again and she follows him without further incident. So they bail down the steps as we see Xanatos order Owen to call the police. So we get a long sequence of Jackal blowing off Hyena's temper and they go out on the roof and pull out what appears to be two blue umbrellas which they place against the wall. Then I discover that they are makeshift hand gliders which were conveniently hidden. They try to run with the gliders; but the police helicopter appears right in front of them forcing Jackal to bail behind the pipe and brings out the rocket launcher. He points it at the helicopter as Derek proclaims that they are toast and Xanatos then tackles Jackal down despite shooting the thing at the same time and it manages to only graze the tail end; allowing the helicopter to go into a tailspin for a while (BWHAHA!).
So the helicopter slowly lands as Jackal and Hyena surround Xanatos and tell him that he made his last mistake. Never say that in this cartoon; because it's clear projection on the heel's part. So Eliza comes out with her gun and orders them to drop the knives NOW! Hyena and Jackal tease throwing the knives at Eliza to dare her to "unintentionally" shoot Xanatos dead; but they bail to the hand gliders and swoop off the building and go out of sight before Eliza can even think of firing a shot. Xanatos grabs the diamond and then taunts Eliza claiming that the gargoyles aren't around when they are needed which gets Eliza to do her angry face. So Xanatos goes over to Derek and praises him for landing the helicopter safely without the back rotor which was damaged; despite barely seeing it in the background. Derek shakes hands with him and claims that he really had no choice. So now the real plot starts as Xanatos offers Derek Maza a job as Xanatos' bodyguard and pilot. This sounds so racist for some reason. Xanatos claims that there is less risk and a lot more upside (as in money) and Derek stammers over it. Xanatos gives him his personal address card and walks off, remembering to say it's always a pleasure to Eliza on the way out. Eliza is not amused by this as she proclaims that Xanatos is using him to annoy her. Oh sure; that's a perfect way to start a case against him working for Xanatos Eliza. You make it sound like it's all about you; instead of the best interests of DEREK. This is why Baloo looked like a heel in Stormy Weather; although unlike you; Baloo at least started on the premise of doing what was in the best interests of Kit's well being, despite the fact that Kit knew what he was doing from the start. So Derek blows her off for thinking that this is some sort of conspiracy against her. I see Matt Bluestone has rubbed off of her barely a few episodes in. Eliza tries to get a word in edge wise; no go as Derek wants her to use her instincts to figure this one out and storms off. HA!
So we head inside THE PACK~'s fitness center as Jackal is on the phone while Hyena is kicking and punching a punching bag. Geez; someone is pissed off today! Must be the music people because in the background; we hear nothing but church bells in the background the whole time. This is only slightly less annoying than hearing a dog barking and a ball peen hammer hitting a tension wire in Monster A Go Go. So Jackal informs Hyena that Fox (from prison no less) has new orders for them and Hyena doesn't want to hear any of this. Jackal then proclaims that they get to kill Xanatos for interfering and Hyena stops kicking the the ironically named punching bag and laughs like a psychopath; but Summer's laugh just doesn't quite work here. So we head inside the clock tower as Eliza and the gargoyles exchange notes on the situation. The gargoyle insist that Eliza tell the truth about Xanatos to him and Eliza would love to; but that would expose the gargoyles to him and she kept her word to keep them a secret. Lexington is more concerned about tracking down THE PACK~ since they are on the loose again. Goliath tells Eliza to basically tell Derek the truth and even allow Derek to see the gargoyles themselves; at least to get him to realize that Xanatos evilness is believable. So we scene change to just BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset) inside the police classroom as Derek is looking out of the window and Eliza walks in and tries to tell Derek that there is something she needs to tell him; but Derek counters claiming that he has accepted Xanatos' offer and Eliza gasps in a closeup shot and that ends the segment eight minutes in. Well; that was quite a shocker. No, not really. I always felt that Derek Maza looked like Glasses and had the same voice anyway. Fine episode thus far; but I'm not feeling this Stormy Weather-equse plot because this one doesn't have the heat needed to make me care since Xanatos is a tweener; and Derek is old enough to make that decision.
After the commercial break; we head to a cafe like place AFTER HAPPY HOUR as we get a pan shot of a waste littered street corner and then inside for a closeup shot of some males playing snooker. Then we pan over to a table as Eliza and her old man are exchanging notes on the situation with Derek. I also discover that Eliza's dad is drinking just ice from his glass; which indicates that he is drinking the most transparent alcohol ever made. Eliza is fiddling with bread sticks as she tried to explain to him about Xanatos; but couldn't because he had already made up his mind. Peter proclaims that it would kill his mother if he quits the family business if he takes Xanatos' offer and Peter wants Eliza to try harder. Which is ironic because in the next scene as we head to a house in the NYC; and the living room as Diane Maza doesn't seem to mind Derek making the choice to work for Xanatos. Derek thinks he is doing the right thing and Diane proclaims that if he's not happy being a helicopter pilot for the police force; then maybe a change is needed. Diane sees this as a great venture to go to; and tells Derek that he is in charge of his own life; not Eliza and not Peter. So yeah; we have Peter taking Eliza's side and Diane taking Derek's side of things. Do I care? No; because there is much less risk with Xanatos then going with Dan Dawson. So we....I cannot explain this scene...head to the men's change room as there are lots of naked bodies in towels as we pan over to the lockers with Derek at his locker and he hears Eliza inside telling all the male officers to hide from her and they looked embarrassed to be there. Derek most so. Matt Bluestone is in his blue underwater; while the black cop hiding behind the locker is wearing a yellow towel under his naughty parts; which is fine since he's human. I mention this because his name is Morgan and he was in the pilot episode when we first saw Eliza. This is NOT going to end well for Eliza Maza.
So Derek is cleaning out his locker as Eliza wants to show him the evidence she has; but Derek will have none of it. Wow; that's pretty childish of him. I mean; he's supposed to be an adult unlike Kit Cloudkicker is. Derek claims that she has a snitch that will tell him that Xanatos is the prince of darkness. So Xanato is a descendent of Kit Cloudkicker? That makes no sense. Eliza claims that he is practically is the prince of darkness. Oh come on Eliza; even Satan wouldn't be caught dead acting like a racist and giving Derek Maza a token job. He's an equal evildoer you know. Derek mentions that Xanatos saved their lives last night; so he has earned a chance to redeem himself; and Derek wants to prove that he can run his life by himself and storms off with his stuff. Eliza has the frustration face going on as we head to inside the clock tower AFTER HAPPY HOUR as Eliza and Goliath are exchanging notes on Derek being stubborn. Goliath asks what they could do to help; and Eliza wants Goliath to keep an eye out on Derek at least. Goliath sees no issue with it; so he tells the goofballs of doom to keep watch of the Wyvern castle to see if there are any signs of trouble as we see the trio at their video game as Lexington is still hogging the thing. Goliath last bit of orders: Try to get along. Good luck Goliath; when video games arise, rivals revive! So we get a far shot of Wyvern Castle as we zoom out to see Brooklyn perched on the rooftop about 100 feet away as Lexington and Broadway are arguing again. Lexington thinks they should go after THE PACK~ while Broadway thinks Eliza's issues are more important. I do have to side with Lexington on this one because THE PACK~ are far more dangerous than Derek Maza. Lexington almost sezs that he wouldn't know something if it bitten him on the ass; but he stops as ass as Brooklyn blows them both off for being stupid. So the red helicopter is seen taking off from the castle grounds of Castle Wyvern as we get a inside shot of Derek piloting on the right side with Xanatos on the left. As it is leaving; here comes a SWANK black helicopter with the logo which looks like a leftover from TaleSpin.
On an unrelated note and a very laughable attempt to pad this rant with more words than it does need; I have been noticing Kevin Johnston of Total Media Bridge reviewing Gargoyles. I didn't mention this in the Enter MacBeth rant; but according to the Gargoyles Wikia, the episode was supposed to air in the fall along with the other episodes leading to the end of season one; but the Wang Films episode Enter MacBeth was so horrible in it's original form that they had to delay the airing of the episodes (and every episode afterwards since it was a serial) to redo the animation. So if Kevin thinks this version of the episode is bad; it could have been MUCH worse in hindsight. I'm also figuring now that when the TaleSpin article finally happens; he is going to outright praise the show like so many others have. Unless he surprises me and hates Kit Cloudkicker, which is pretty much the only way I'm going to be interested in fisking his article at this point. At least now; I agree with the underrated bit now; after what happened at Comic Con a few weeks ago. So we see that THE PACK~ is piloting it which means Lex gets his action and the goofballs of doom fly after them. So we get THE PACK~ shooting at the red helicopter for a while as Derek is doing his best to keep the copter from spinning out of control. Hyena does the targeting in the back and her psychopathic laughing just doesn't click with me. Cree Summer needs more practice in getting that down pat. So she launches the rocket from the helicopter which looks so rectangular that I thought I was watching a modern style cartoon for a second there. It fires and it explodes; grazing the helicopter as it spins out of control. Xanatos goes to the side door and starts shooting at the black helicopter. No one accused Xanatos of not getting his hands dirty; unlike a certain Shere Khan that I know. Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge! Hyena targets the back of the copter and sezs "rich man...dead man"; but Broadway pounces on the back of the helicopter in white eyes mode.
So Broadway steers against Jackal's flying and the rocket flies and misses the helicopter by at least 15 feet but it doesn't explode on anything. It simply disappears for no reason. Broadway breaks through the glass cockpit; sezs boo to Hyena and throws her out of the helicopter; which for those of you who watched the full TaleSpin promos leading up to the series release; Baloo did the exact same thing to Rebecca; but she had an umbrella. And yes; she opens her parachute on the way down. Laughable logic break: When the free fall parachute sequence begins; she opens her parachute just behind a building. Then we cut to Jackal turning around and then he clearly sees Hyena with her open parachute floating down despite the fact that she was almost behind the building before she opened the chute. That was ultra horrible form by Walt Disney Japan. Methinks Jade animated that part. Xanatos notices Brooklyn joining in from the far shot as Derek notices something attacking them. Xanatos wants Derek to get out of dodge and Derek flies the helicopter away from the scene as Brooklyn and Lexington all pounce on the black helicopter. Jackal tries to get his gun; but Lexington (yes; it wasn't Broadway this time) grabs it and crumbles it. They then throw Jackal out of the helicopter and he free falls and his parachute opens (and it's blue while Hyena's is pink. I shake my head in disbelief and move on). People complain about this in TaleSpin; but parachutes existed in World War I; so it's wasn't like it was not believable or anything for every one to have one of them after their planes exploded. You can argue the logic of having a parachute magically appear out of nowhere; but that's just bad animation continuity. Even from a BS&P standpoint; it still makes perfect sense. Unlike Jake Long wearing a helmet when he flies. That makes no sense since no padding in the world can save you from a fall where you land on your head from extremely high heights.
So Lex gets into the cockpit and Lexington thinks this is exactly like Commanche On The Edge; which Brooklyn calls famous last words. Oh come on; at least wait until you just before you die before saying that. That's just cold. Lex takes over the stick and he forces the helicopter into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHA!) and it's nosediving towards the open area in between the buildings. Lexington admits that this is not the same. NO?! REALLY?! Kit flew much better than you did on his first try; and the Thunderyak was much crappier than this helicopter ever was. So we spin like crazy with the air to ground shot and that ends the segment 13 minutes in. Geez; that was awfully short.
After the commercial break; we see the helicopter spinning towards the ground as Brooklyn blows off Lex and Lex blows him off about doing any better. Broadway proclaims that he should stop acting like a birdmen and start remembering the air current stuff. Broadway? The Patrick Star voiced Tummi being the SANE one of the group? I cannot take this seriously even if I tried. More so when Brooklyn tells Lex to use the damn force! You know; if you are going to use voice actors from Star Trek; it would better serve you to cut Star Trek catchphrases, not STAR WARS references?! So Lexington pulls up and manages to get the nose up enough to fly forward causing everyone on the street to flee. So they fly into an alleyway and the helicopter does some 20 sick MAN-SIZED bumps on the pavement (seriously) before bouncing Broadway and Brooklyn out of the cockpit into the air. Brooklyn lands on pavement and the Broadway squashes him. HAHA! That'll teach you to tell Lex to "USE THE FORCE!". You are Star Trek actors; not Star Wars actors. Get the promos right at least! Lexington climbs out of the carnage and proclaims that any crash you can walk away from is...something something. Damn; even Launchpad can finish his promo without stuttering. Brooklyn asks what now and Lexington wants to keep the helicopter and get it working again which doesn't exactly thrill Brooklyn. Lex wants to hide it before sunrise; so we head back inside the clock tower with a far sky shot of Lexington explaining his little plan and Eliza agrees with him; because they need it to keep up with Derek. Goliath decides to give Lexington full control of the working of the helicopter as he is going on guard duty tonight. Lexington smirks as he assures Brooklyn in a sarcastic way that he'll make sure they know what needs to be done and Brooklyn finally cuts a Star Trek promo (You and what starfleet?). You know; this sibling tension would have been more believable if there was more of a buildup for it to blow over BEFORE this episode. But that is just me of course. Brooklyn leans on Lex; but they all leave without further incident. Hudson smiles and he and Bronx join him.
So that leaves Goliath and Eliza as Eliza isn't sure that he can reach Derek now. Goliath insists on bringing him here and that would expose him to the facts as he walks out towards the same door the rest walked through to leave. Eliza proclaims that it is going to take a lot more than that; but no one hears it. So we get some shots of ocean water and then cut to outside a prison. Then we head inside prison which is the same one Xanatos was in; I think. So we see Fox in her blue jumpsuit looking casual behind the barrier as Eliza wants answers right now. Fox seems to be in a giving mood as she admits that Xanatos created THE PACK~ and got them on the air. Eliza asks why Dingo and Jackal want to kill Xanatos; and Fox basically states that only Fox knew Xanatos was the boss who she told them to hit the Diamond Exchange and Xanatos is setting up his own assassination attempt. Eliza doesn't understand why and Fox claims that Xanatos wanted to drive a wedge between her and Derek and what Xanatos wants; he gets. Eliza is stunned as Fox taunts her proclaiming that she's so behind him that it's beyond pathetic. Xanatos doesn't have to hide his agenda because Xanatos knows that there is nothing Eliza can do about it to stop him; as Fox calls him the most brilliant man on Earth. This is just begging for a witty retort; but Eliza just looks defeated and walks out of the prison. Damn....Oh wait; she walks out and brings out the tape recorder from her jacket and replays the final bit of stuff Fox said; proclaiming that Xanatos will think twice about that once she plays this to Derek. Eliza puts it back in her jacket and goes to her car; when all of a sudden Goliath jumps onto another car beside her out of nowhere. Eliza asks why he is here and Goliath tells her that the copter left Castle Wyvern and it was a lot faster than him. Geez; you need Wii Fit STAT Goliath. I knew that battle with Demona last episode did some damage to your speed. Eliza deduces that they are headed to Xanadu which is his home retreat upstate. Goliath is praying that the goofballs of doom have THE PACK~'s chopper ready by now.
So we head into the NYC skyline as we see THE PACK~ chopper in the air as Lexington is piloting the thing and he's flying it a lot better now in his second attempt. Broadway calls it a hunk of junk (yeah; all the babyfaces minus Hudson and Bronx are in, so Hudson is still a television goofball, as usual.) which Lexington gleefully counters that one for me. Goliath assures Eliza that Derek will be fine and they will get there and Eliza hopes that this is the case. So we then cut to a house and then pan west through a forest like area as Hyena and Jackal are wearing futuristic gear and color lens X-Ray goggles. Why does Hyena's have to be dark pink? I mean; she's hardly a rigid gender role female in this show. They have their weapons ready just as we hear the door open and out comes Xanatos and Derek from the stone mansion which looks kind of middle class actually as Xanatos praises Derek for his flying and feeling that he was right to hire him. Derek hopes that this is not a nightly thing because that would make it safer to be with the NYPD. Xanatos claims that his life is anything but dull; and here comes through the forest, Jackal and Hyena as they shoot out a light pole on top and that forces Xanatos and Derek to drop down. Derek isn't happy about this place not being secure as Xanatos thought it was. So Hyena wants to go in for the kill; but the black helicopter (THE PACK~'s own helicopter mind you; with absurd metal armor on top) arrives to deflect the laser shot off of Hyena. Lexington mocks Broadway again as they shine such bright eyes that causes Jackal and Hyena so much pain that they are forced to take the X-Ray goggles off. Goliath acts as if he didn't know it was Hyena and Jackal doing this despite the fact that Eliza was right there who knew what was going on. IDIOTS! So they fire the rocket at them and it breaks apart to reveal a net and that nets the heels. Geez; even this show cannot allow at least laser weapons. I club BS&P!
So the heels cut through the net with their knives and then run off shooting at the helicopter and getting nowhere. Jackal hides in the bushes and shoots blue lasers just as Broadway and Brooklyn jump out and swoop down via the side door of the helicopter. Jackal tries to run away; but gets caught by Broadway, who now channels Baloo and invokes the POWER OF THE PUNCH on Jackal's face complete with white flash. To hardcore fans: I saw King Gregor punch Sir Victor in the face in Gummi Bears. I saw Baloo punch a pirate in the face in Jumping The Guns. Both on screen. No white flash. Yeah; Baloo punched Martin Torque and Coolhands Luke the same way Broadway did, but still. Both these cartoons were not overly serious; although I say TaleSpin is the most serious of the pre-Gargoyles era; but still, they were marketed to children. BS&P RULEZ you over still! So Hyena is fumbling around and selling pain in her eyes which means that she has issues with light it seems since she's bumping into stuff in a wussy like fashion. She is near a stack of down trees as she turns around with a face that has a sneer and pain all at the same time. She shoots at a flying Brooklyn who manages to get one shot to count (out of a dozen natch) to shoot a tree down and crush Brooklyn as he's on bottom again. Geez; this is not Brooklyn's day. Might as well be Kit from It Came From Beneath The SeaDuck. Hyena clearly cannot see anything as she's yelling about seeing Brooklyn as the helicopter comes in and shines light in her eyes just to cause more pain and suffering. Lexington targets Hyena perfectly and out in the front is a laser gun which shoots yellow lasers; the color of the flash WD-Japan uses in bullet shooting guns in TaleSpin. It goes through the laser weapon Hyena is using and destroys it. Hyena is ready to knuckle up; but Eliza counters by pointing her gun which is enough for Hyena to raise her arms and she smiles like the psychopath that she is. That was perfect.
So we scene change as we see the gargoyles on the western pan shot as Xanatos continues to make Eliza look bad in front of Derek by claiming that her help was fine; but they had things under control. He decides to bail to allow Derek and Eliza to have a private moment. Derek then finally admits that David Xanatos told him about the gargoyles; but he didn't believe Xanatos until he saw them. Derek also admits that Xanatos told him that the gargoyles betrayed HIM and that he made a few mistakes dealing with them. Therefore; under that poisoning of the well; this is enough for him to stay as employed with Xanatos and Eliza is angry now demanding that he quit now. Derek tells her to butt out of his own life which basically loses the sympathy I have had for him as Goliath roar at both of them to shut them up. Goliath proclaims that they should be lucky that they have a family to fight with because Goliath's blood brothers in the rookery are dead now. Oh how wrong Goliath is going to be next episode; mark my words! Goliath talks about the importance of family to him and then storms off stage right. Eliza then sighs and brings out her tape recorder; saying that she has been wrong about a lot of things, but she believes she's right about Xanatos. She tells Derek that she's no longer going to interfere in his life; but give him the tape recorder and wants him to listen to it at least once. Which is funny because what Eliza proves EXACTLY what Derek was talking about in the men's changing area. Then he can make his choice to stay or leave as she walks off. And yes; it's starting to snow circle snow. Derek looks at it; and then we head to the clock tower as the gargoyles all come out while Eliza is standing near the door looking cold and worried. Broadway and Brooklyn thank Lexington for doing something right and the armor really helped on that helicopter. Lexington admits that he couldn't do it without Brooklyn and Broadway and then they go their perches as morning arises (no sunrise since it is snowing now) and the gargoyles are sleeping the gargoyle sleep in a great visual sequence here. Eliza looks on from the door after the Mode 7 sequence of the statues as we end the episode at 21:12. This was perfectly acceptable cartooning; but they didn't do nearly enough to make the Derek/Eliza, Brooklyn/Lexington/Broadway sibling tension have enough heat for me to care. The whole PACK~ thing looked silly in hindsight; but at least there were few mistakes in animation or logic this time around. *** 1/2 (70%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Another episode down in the first season as we wind down that short road towards the big season one finale. I wasn't feeling this episode like the last episode with Hudson. The whole BW/Lex/BK sibling tension angle would have been great if it was built a lot better beforehand since we have seen them for almost every episode in this series; and none of them really showed any signs of tension. I realize that they are trying to give character development; but there are more subtle ways to do it and put it in the show without coming off as contrived. Derek/Eliza is understandable because Derek has only been seen for one episode before this; so they had to make it out of nowhere for it to work. That one made me not care for a different reason. The goofballs problem was lack of buildup and it came off contrived. The problem was that Eliza made it all about her from the start instead of doing what was best for Derek; and so I took Derek's side of things. It also doesn't help that Derek is an adult. A foolish adult; but still one nevertheless. Baloo at least made it a safety issue at first; but subtly hidden the fact that Dan Dawson was annoying him to no end and sweeping Kit out of his life; that when the big meltdown between Kit and Baloo happened; I loved it when Kit saw through Baloo's attempt to make it one thing while it clearly was for personal reasons; rather than a safety issue. That is why Stormy Weather was memorable. However; I lost my sympathy for Derek when he told Eliza to butt out and acted like Bart Simpson. I hate the "my body, my life" mantra because often that body, that life can violate other bodies and other lives. Kit didn't play that card with Baloo; he played the "you're not my father/you betrayed me" card which was important because it plays into Plunder and Lightning and why Kit would act like he did in front of Baloo. Derek wanted an easy way out of a risky job. Kit wanted to prove himself as more than a navigator with a cute face. Both have sympathy written all over it; but Kit wins out because he felt betrayed by Baloo as his partner; instead of an impulse of wanting to control his own life like Derek was doing. The rest of this was pretty much standard fare and none of it was bad; just there. Lexington does deserve bonus points for building that helicopter though and I'm liking Lex the most. So on the scorecard of doom; Goliath is 1-9-2 as this was a draw. Sure; they beat THE PACK~; but they lost out on convincing Derek that Xanatos is the prince of darkness which was the whole point of the episode. So; next up is Reawakening as we head to the season one finale. Goliath claims that his rookery brothers are dead in the final minutes of this episode. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~! So....
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you all next time.