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Gargoyles: The Mirror
Reviewed: 08/18/2013
Don't Screw With Someone Named After An Hockey Object!
So after a really bad episode about reading and making books out to be something that they are not; we go to this episode. Gregory Weissman called this his most favorite episode ever in the series and it's not hard to understand why. This is the official debut of Puck; and as you are about to see, you don't screw with someone like Puck!
This episode is written by Michael Reaves and Lydia Marano. The story is edited by Brynne Stephens. Animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan with additional services done by Nakamura Productions and Jade Animation.
Opening Moment #1: Full recap of Demona's heel turn in Rewakening; then The Long Way To Morning and then Temptation. Strangely; there is no footage shown from Reawakening with Coldstone, probably due to time constraints; but then again Reawakening was better than Temptation anyway.
We begin this one at the Metropolitan Museum AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we see Demona on the roof of a stray house with binoculars watching one of the security guards turn the sign from open to close on the front entrance. Demona looks evil as we head inside the hallway as the male security guard (Edward Asner) tell the female security guard with Eliza's hairstyle not to get too close to the display as the laser grid is on. She walks into a darkened display as we see a large mirror with stylized silver mirror. She looks in the mirror and apparently; Jade is animating this sequence because the image in the mirror stays in one pose throughout this scene despite the guard doing at least four new poses. That is extremely bad form and a mistake WD-Japan almost never made in TaleSpin! So then he hear noises and hissing as the male security guard gets thrown into a conveniently placed hedge. Oh; that wasn't BS&P'ed at all; no siree. The tail and arm clearly show it's Demona as she runs into the darkened room with the mirror. The female security guard runs stage left just as Demona slashes through the barrier and then she comes back with her gun pointed and her hat is gone. She sounds like...Eliza Maza? Yeap; she's in disguise, what a shock? Her hair gave her away. Demona calls her the most useless member of a craven, puny race. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I don't know why I laughed at that line because it makes no sense. If anyone is useless; it was that male security guard. And yes; Eliza has glasses on and is carrying a flashlight. Demona proclaims that Eliza won't stop her; but in comes Goliath and we have a chase as Demona is circled by Goliath and Eliza. So Demona tips over priceless displays which Goliath has to catch to prevent from vandalizing other people's properties. Which would have been continuity if the last episode finished with that moral instead of how books are magical. Yeah; I'm still stewing over that episode even today. So Demona runs and breaks the glass display containing spears; and then breaks through the glass window like wall and bails into the park. Goliath and Eliza follow her to a giant....HEE HEE... obelisk.
Meanwhile; in the confusion, we head back to the darkened room as we see two men (one fat, one thin) in full covered suits climb down from the ceiling and bag the mirror so to speak; and yes we get to see the entire bagging of said mirror as one of the men proclaims that they are doing it for some woman. Huh. So we return to the obelisk as she throws the spear at Eliza; but Goliath grabs it (complete with manga background during the spear throwing); and then Demona climbs the obelisk to the top and then flies away stage right. Geez; what a waste. Goliath isn't all that amused; but hey, they stopped her from getting the mirror. HAAAAAAAAAAA~! So we head to an empty street as a red van stops in front of a house that looks like the Hells Angels live there. Complete with gate and video camera. The female voice on the camera asks whose business is theirs. The man driving (the same one who was bagging the mirror) states that he's with Oberon and the female voice lets him in as the gate opens. Now if you cannot tell who is behind this bagging of said mirror; you have no business reading this rant. If you can tell; ask yourself this question: Can she project herself anymore than she already is despite the fact that she hates humans in general? The fat man is wearing a full bodysuit which covers his head; with a bulletproof vest and wearing goggles; while the thin man is wearing the same thing except he has a mustache. So we see the red van driving to what appears to be a high rise tower with a weird door knocker at the front door. So the men carefully take the mirror out and walk slowly up the stairs as the thin guy asks if Dracula lives in here or something. Then the weird door knocker which looks like a demon with red eyes growls like a hell cat as thin man is terrified. The fat man assures him that he has done this before as an envelope drops inside the knocker and Disney Captions doesn't even bother to keep the suspense on this as it's Demona as expected. It contains that money and she tells them to leave the mirror and go while they still can.
The men leave as the mirror is propped against the wall and then we scene change to inside a hallway which contains lots of bronze colored artwork that looks great in the background while the mirror has chains on it despite not having any earlier. Sigh. Demona rants about her plans being thwarted. Well; now you know how an average cartoon villain feels Demona. Children's cartoons are usually like that; even in this show. Demona goes into red eyes mode and proclaims that she takes control tonight as she produces a dinner bell and a metal circle. She uses the metal circle to ring the bell four times and then chants a spell. I find it odd that Ducktales allowed pentagrams which wasn't needed for Magica Despell (not to say I didn't want to see them though); but Gargoyles doesn't allow it despite the fact that Demona is holding a metal ring which looks like a perfect item to have a pentagram or even a hexagram on it. She is speaking in Latin as she blows a white feather into the mirror as she speaks the name of Puck and Titania as neon green lights (what is the obsession with neon green in this show? Is this some popular color I am not aware of in 1995?) flash and some figure comes out of the mirror as he is in the meditation position with chains all around him. He has white hair; elf like ears and his face would remind me of an Americanized version of Link if done properly. He is also wearing time era robes too and looks not to happy. So before we do a meet and greet; we head back to the clock tower as Eliza walks up as she proclaims that Chavez confirmed that Demona was a decoy as thieves stole the mirror. And yes; they brought back the unintentional laugh track back because Hudson is watching television again. Old habits do die hard don't they? All the babyfaces are here as we exchange notes. Eliza wants to know what Demona plans to do with an ancient mirror and Hudson manages to explain that the mirror stolen was Titania's Mirror. So the guy Demona summon is named Puck. No wonder he's so pissed off. I would be too if I was named after the object used in the most violent sport in the land not named American rules football. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! ZAP! OUCH! Ummmm...
Titania is the queen of the third race as all the gargoyles point out that it was based on a play called a Midnight Summer's Dream; and they mention Oberon's children who are Dark Elves by some among other booking names. Anyhow; they are shape shifters and Goliath even calls them changelings which seems to be a favorite dog whistle for the anti-vax group who cry about their children not being perfect. I don't get how being a changeling makes you bad. Shape shifting sounds awesome; ask the Anythings about it. It's perfect for hiding and would have been cool if the animators designed more creative ways to use them. In other words; they are creatures of pure magic. Eliza is having a hard time believing this as Hudson counters that one for me. Just wait until Revelations Eliza; and the circle of life when it comes to conspiracy theories will make you look like the brainless one. So we head back as we discover why the chains were on the mirror in the first place as Puck is chained up. So we make small talk as Puck blows Demona off for being such a poor party guest. Demona grabs him by the chains as Demona proclaims that Puck serves her now instead of the humans. Puck retorts that serving humans is awesome because they have a sense of humor that she lacks. HAHA! I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Demona gets in his face and states that she has him now. I love Puck by the way; because as you will see, there is a perfectly logical explanation as to why Puck likes humans more than Demona and why he likes them having a sense of humor. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~! So....
Puck is voiced by Brent Spiner and according to IMDB: Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android Data on the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His parents, Jack and Sylvia Spiner, owned and operated a furniture store. Jack died of kidney failure at age 29, when Brent was 10 months old. When he was 6 years old, his mother married Sol Mintz, who adopted Brent and his older brother Ron. Although his mother divorced Mintz after 7 years of marriage, Brent retained his adopted father's last name until 1975 when he took back his birth name. Spiner first began pursuing his interest in acting while in high school. There his inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett, gave a great start to the careers of a remarkable group of aspiring young actors (and directors), including Spiner, Cindy Pickett (Cecil's daughter), Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme, all of whom later attained success in Hollywood. After graduation, Spiner followed his mentor to the University of Houston and other local colleges, while also launching his professional acting career in theater (The Houston Music Theater and other regional theater) and in film (My Sweet Charlie (1970) (TV), which was shot on location in Texas). After a couple of false starts in New York and Hollywood, Spiner eventually established himself as a stage actor in New York, appearing in a number of off-Broadway and Broadway plays, such as "A History of the American Film" (1978), "Leave It to Beaver is Dead" (1979), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), and "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1985). While in New York, he had a bit part in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) and starred in an independent film called Rent Control (1984).
The play "Little Shop of Horrors "brought Spiner to Los Angeles in 1984, where he eventually took up permanent residence. In 1986, after a number of character parts in television series and movies, such as "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985), Crime of Innocence (1985) (TV), Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986) (TV), and Family Sins (1987) (TV), Spiner snagged the role that would bring him international fame: Data, the endearing android, whom Spiner played "by tapping into his inner child." "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), the sequel to the original television series "Star Trek" (1966), became hugely popular, moving to the big screen for four films (so far) after its 7-year run on television. Aside from these films, Spiner has made cameo appearances in a number of films directed by his friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme, such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Crazy from the Heart (1991) (TV), and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995) (TV), and has appeared in small roles in more recent films, such as Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and The Master of Disguise (2002). Arguably his most popular film portrayal was Dr. Brakish Okun in Independence Day (1996), a role that elicited his unique eccentricity and sense of humor. He began his career as an uncredited local in My Sweet Charlie in 1970; then went full time as Tom Fink in The Dain Curse in 1978. Gargoyles is his DTVA debut and only appearance. Robot Chicken (various cameos) and Generator Rex as Doctor Gabriel Rylander are his most recent credits. He has 81 acting credits, one writing credit (Star Trek Nemesis in 2002) and 27 Self credits to his resume. That's right folks; Brent went from being an unemotional, logical robot in Star Trek to being a playful prank loving trickster. Ponder that one for a moment and I dare you to try not laughing out loud over it. Trust me; it won't be as loud as the stuff Puck is about to do soon enough.
So we go back to the clock tower as the babyfaces all talk about how great being a shape shifter is because they can find love and blend in with the humans without having to hide anymore. Hudson warns them about getting what they wish for as we scene change back to Puck flying around the room asking what wish to grant and he doesn't have all night as Demona retorts that one for me. Demona proclaims that she is powerless in the daytime and no longer wants to be stone as Puck casually breaks logic she wants to stroll down fifth avenue. Oh come on writers! You expect someone like Puck to know that? Demona blows him off because she would if there were no blasted humans; so Demona proclaims that her wish is to eliminate all humans from the face of this Earth. Puck goes to the mirror and proclaims that she thinks he's Aladdin's lamp because he has limits after all. HA! So he touches the mirror which is no more absurd than using the touch screen on your smart phone. And ripples of lime green on the mirror reveal the image of Goliath as Puck calls this quiant because she's still in love with him. Eliza comes into the picture and Demona invokes the pointy finger of death as she demands that Puck get rid of Eliza Maza if he cannot get rid of all of human. Puck even asks about which version of "human" to use which angers Demona. HAHA! I am so loving this Puck. Maybe this is why Fanboy & Chum Chum suck so much. Puck outclasses them both by a thousand miles and it's only one character instead of two. So Puck claims that he'll figure it out as he does this chant and then he spits neon green lights from his eyes and mouth into the mirror containing the image of Eliza Maza and to get rid of her as she is formed. So we head back to the clock tower as Eliza proclaims that together; they are unstoppable and Demona is no match for them. Eliza then suddenly floats up; gets consumed into neon green light and then we do the WHITE SCREEN OF FLASH; only with neon green as the Gargoyles are shocked. Then suddenly; Eliza reappears and...
...BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's right folks! Puck turned Eliza into a gargoyle and made Demona look like an idiot because she wanted her dead; not changed into their kind. HAHA! Puck is so awesome and the master of screw jobs. Oh and it gets even better later on as we end the segment eight and a half minutes in. This is just great folks! Puck is so good that he might even make Owen smile and stay in character. I am so enjoying this and it's only going to get better now...
After the commercial break; we see the babyfaces in shock and awe as Eliza looks around and then hugs Goliath proclaiming that they all turned into gargoyles. So not only has Puck turned Eliza into a gargoyle; he has also made it so Eliza thinks that her friends were HUMAN! That is so damn funny as Goliath tries to explain to her that she has changed by Demona and the mirror. So we cut back to the mirror as Demona demands results and Puck assures her that Eliza is no more. Personality; yes. Physical appearance; not so much! So Demona demands that Puck do it to every human; but Puck claims that this is not what she wants. Demona grabs Puck and gets in his face about him doing it. Puck claims that he can; but not in her house. I think we all know where this is going now don't we? So we have Goliath and Eliza hugging as we exchange notes about gliding as we head to the edge of the clock tower as Eliza remembers free falling off the skyscraper and Goliath asks if she was a gargoyle then; she would have wings. Eliza is confused; so Goliath grabs her and we free fall from the tower. Ooookkkkaaayyyyy. This is getting off to the weirdest start ever. So we head to a roof of a communications tower (and yes; the FCC jokes have been retired since Donald Duck is no longer amusing to me right now.) as Titania's mirror appears in a lime green light. Geez; and I thought the purple color in Quack Pack was overwrought. Out comes Puck and he is acting like a giddy flying dog attached to a chain leash handled by Demona. That is a really funny visual that was better in this show than in Recess because at least here; Demona is a legit heel and both characters involved rule. In Recess; Randell was okay but Miss Finster was horrible and she's a teacher who is supposed to by proxy by a babyface, the force of right. Okay? It is storming outside with thunderclaps and Puck loves the view. HAHA! Demona pulls back on the leash proclaiming that he was not brought here to enjoy _The View_. What a wet blanket this Demona is?! I swear she is nursing way too many grunges to be healthy.
So Puck agrees to do it; but it will involve marshaling his powers, so it'll take a while. Demona isn't exactly thrilled of this as we cut to the sky over the city as Eliza and Goliath are flying together and Goliath proclaims that she's beautiful now. Sexist twit! Even Eliza questions this so Goliath yells that there is an updraft and they fly up and she laughs. They look down and Eliza panics because they all turned into humans now. Okay; this is really weird now as Goliath is trying to point out that they were always human; but Eliza doesn't seem to be buying it as they land on a roof as Eliza feels panicky for some reason. Goliath is trying to reason with her; but then he notices sparking and a lot of neon green light as we cut to Puck spinning around while looking at the mirror chanting him spell as he calls NYC the concrete isle which is pretty close to TaleSpin's concrete jungle (irony folks!) as Demona finds their presence vile so in the end there shalt be no child, woman nor man as he casts the spell into the mirror which deflects off into the dishes which flies right into the city consuming it with neon green flashes for a while; and then it stops. Goliath thinks that it's Demona as apparently all the gargoyles minus Bronx have made the trip as well. All the babyfaces fly up to the tower as Eliza is at the edge and we discover that she is now afraid of heights despite the fact that she was perfectly fine when she had Goliath's hand. DUMB! I should have known this since Lydia is writing this episode. So far; she has not screwed this up. Yet. So the spell is cast as Demona demands Puck to take her to the empty city. Demona? You are going to regret this moment. I know some are going to claim that it's a logic break for Demona to already know that Eliza is alive in this episode; but she already saw a brief glimpse of Eliza in Reawakening; so there you go. Demona is not that stupid not to notice. She sees Puck on his back on the ground and appears to be dead. So Demona tries to lift him up; but Hudson rushes in and tries to tackle her down; but she does the monkey flip to counter that.
Demona proclaims that it's too late to save anyone now as the other babyfaces rush in as Hudson proclaims that they cannot fight all of them. Yeah; one warrior who is female against four male gargoyles; that's really a fair fight?! Who's the heel in this one anyway? And yes; I'm ignoring the obvious logic break of gargoyles having males, females and children because I don't want Puck on my ass. You do not want to make Puck grant your wish now don't you? Speaking of Puck; Demona grabs her and then throws the mirror over the edge. Geez; I thought Titania was not a human? At least Demona throwing Magus' spell book into the river in Temptation made sense in a sort of "I hate humans despite my ironic using of them for my schemes to kill them forever." way. This one; not so much. Hudson swoops down and recovers the mirror easily which makes Demona look dumb again. So Demona is flying and then she notices the horror of all horrors: The humans are now...Gargoyles! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Like I said; you don't screw with Puck! So she's pissed and she lands into the stairway leading to the subways underground. And all but Goliath and Hudson (who isn't here right now) are so stupid that they fly into the hallway downstairs that gravity overpowers them and they prat fall on their faces. Broadway is not amused at all; which is downright hilarious. Hey goofball; learn HOW TO RUN! So Demona hides behind section 42 as a subway car arrives and out comes the denizens of NYC who are now gargoyles. And they don't even notice anything wrong with Demona grabbing a chained Puck in front of her showing it for all to see. She shoves her way into the subway car and it leaves. The babyfaces arrive as the goofballs look around and Broadway proclaims that this is like finding a needle in a haystack. And then three female gargoyles come over and wink at the goofballs before leaving. Well; that was weird and pointless as Lexington sums that spot for me. Goliath calls Demona's plan dangerous. Is that "Demona dangerous" or "DARKWING...DUCK" dangerous? AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm...
So we somehow scene change to a broken down alleyway complete with a broken down car with a broken down windshield which might be a prop from a Darkwing Duck episode. I think it was Stressed To Kill; but that wild speculation on my part. Demona blows him off for getting the spell wrong. Why are you so upset Demona? You wanted the humans gone and he simply changed them into "not humans". He kept his word you angry little whiner! Puck gleefully points it out to me as Demona demands that the gargoyles be changed into humans right now as Puck complains that he needs strength. Well; that last spell casting was a drainer if you know what I mean. HEE HEE! Demona gets in his face claiming that he made himself invisible to the crowd. Maybe that is a passive skill he has that can be done with little strength. Have you ever thought of that Demona? Of course not Demona; because you are a human hating sadist. ZAP! OUCH! Ummmm... (Demona: How dare you compare me to Miss Finster?! Just call the action before I turn you to stone and blow your..... Gregory: Moving right along...) Puck then admits that he was catching his breath as he starts to mediate while we cut to the babyfaces on the rooftop with Eliza and Hudson with the mirror. We exchange notes on Puck (another one in THAT famous writer's plays. I swear Greg was overdoing it here which is funny consider the number of references made in other series; even in series that were before THIS writer's time.) as Goliath calls his "harmless" pranks not harmless. I beg to differ Goliath! Because everyone is a gargoyle now and they cannot hate you anymore. It's the perfect cover for you now! So Goliath offers to show how easy it is to jump off roof tops and float in the air as he calls it easy. Suddenly; the mirror goes haywire and manages to nail Goliath, Hudson, Lexington, Broadway and Brooklyn. But not Eliza for some reason as Goliath turns into a human who looks like a fur less caveman in mid air. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Goliath gets WARNERED and free falls towards the ground to end the segment about 15 minutes in. I am in endless giggling mirth watching this and it's building up perfectly for the "best ending ever" moment. What is that you ask? Read on...
After the commercial break; we see Goliath falling to the street; so Eliza finally gathers her courage and manages to swoop down and save him despite barely getting halfway down despite the fact that Goliath was about 20 feet away from splattering on the pavement. That was not exactly good timing there guys. Eliza claws onto a building which almost fails; but she manages to get Goliath up with her onto the rooftop as Hudson finds a clothesline (out of nowhere) and takes a conveniently placed white sheet and puts it over the mirror so he can prevent anything else from jumping the mirror. Riiiiigggghhhhttt. Like I'm buying that mere cloth can stop Puck's funny magic. And yes; all the gargoyle babyfaces are now human and they all claim that they have always been human. Demona better not hear this or it might make Demona's head explode. Mine is symbolically exploding from the sheer force of mirth. Thankfully; Goliath ends this nonsense proclaiming that the denizens were human and the human gargoyles were gargoyles before and it's all thanks to Demona and Puck. So we head outside the alleyway as Demona demands to know if he succeeded as Puck claims that he did and we take a look and NOTHING...AND THE ROCK MEANS NOTHING has changed! HAHA! Demona is PISSED as she gets in Puck's face again. Man; this is elf cruelty if I ever saw it as Puck claims that he thought it was Goliath and his clan and was his mistake. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Puck is so great as Demona claims that it's his last mistake now; but Puck saves himself by pointing out that Goliath is a puny human now and is ripe for the pickings. Demona looks evil as this could prove to be interesting for her. So we see the human Wyvern clan (minus Bronx for no reason; probably because he would be scared away) causally walking in the street in their underwear in another hilarious visual made funnier by the fact that all the NYC gargoyle humans see them and panic; running away like scalded gargoyle dogs. CHOMP! OUCH! Ummmmm...No offense to you, Bronx.
Hudson questions this logic break because if the gargoyles hate humans and humans hate gargoyles; wouldn't the denizen gargoyles attack them instead of running away? I mean they have the personality of a gargoyle; so under that logic, they should repel the humans instead of bailing. With that said; it was damn funny so I'll let it slide. Goliath claims that they are in better position to fight Demona since an air assault is a bad idea. Hey Goliath; go fight in the subway then. That would give Demona a distinct disadvantage and you all were in the sub..Oh wait; she escaped, never mind. So we pick an area which seems to have a window showing weapons. I'm guessing it's another museum of some kind. I would have had to return to the museum where the mirror was found just to bring the story full circle. So Hudson puts the mirror down on the roof and unwraps it which allows the mirror to shine lime green and out comes Puck and Demona with her laser and her leashed "dog elf". ZAP! OUCH! Ummmm... One of the laser blasts hits the store where the weapons are and Goliath grabs a sword and shield. Geez; this only needs a sign that sezs: "Conveniently placed weaponry"; and I swear I'm watching the 1995 version of Dave The Barbarian. Demona proclaims that she hate her no matter what form he takes as she shoots at him. She orders Puck to take care of the rest who have various weapons on hand. Puck floats up to the statue arm (neat visual) and proclaims that it is time to party and zaps lime green beams from his eyes. They hit the weapons of the babyfaces minus Goliath and they turn into giant sunflowers (Broadway), a giant green bag (Brooklyn), a propeller (Lexington) and since Hudson's weapon is too whacky to change; sticky magical tar on his feet. Thankfully; it's not hot molten tar because that would cause some real pain and BS&P will have none of that. Puck jumps for joy as Bronx runs in; but Puck turns around and sprays him with magic turning him into a dog. HAHA! And sadly; he forgot to turn him into a small little dog (a Chihuahua according to Puck) because Bronx is still nasty so Puck bails stage left.
Puck is chased by Bronx as he kicks the sunflower which tears at the roots which force Broadway down as the stem manages to stop the spinning ax as I discover that Brooklyn was wrapped up in an umbrella. So everyone except Hudson (talk about not liking the poor guy) bails as Demona grabs Goliath's neck and proclaims that it's time to end this farce. Oh please Demona; this farce is so awesome, it should NEVER end. AND THE PUCK MEANS NEVER! So the goofballs of doom rush in and tackle Demona down onto the ground as on the stairway; the denizen NYC humagoyles finally stop selling being scared of them and rush in to back up the goofballs because they are hurting a female gargoyle. This is just great. So the goofballs back up trying to reason with them; but Brooklyn gets the "Joe Park Vs. Joey Ryan" moment as in "We're the monsters; we're supposed to be the frightening heels to them. We should stop selling and start acting like monsters!" moment and they finally stop selling and start growling badly at them; which is enough to frighten the gargoyle denizens as they bail stage right. That is AWESOME! Demona proclaims that Goliath cannot defeat her as a human as Goliath proclaims that he doesn't depend on brute force, just brute friends as Eliza invokes the flying kick right in Demona's face and she falls on her ass. Demona channels Shredder after too many times seeing the Ninja Turtles rise from the dead "What does it take to destroy you?". Sadly; Eliza doesn't counter with "Whatever it is; you don't have it." as she blitzs Demona and we have a gargoyle fight. I refuse to call this a cat fight in good conscience because no cats are involved. And it's sexist. And Eliza punches her in the face and it was on-screen with no flash to hide it. Wow. So yes folks; females can hit females in the face on screen in DTVA. So Goliath offers to fight her together and Demona brings out the laser and both babyfaces dodge it. For some reason; Demona becomes blind because Eliza still manages to hit the flying kick from behind and knock Demona down. HA!
Goliath grabs her; but Demona spins him around and throws him right into the glass of a shop impacting the glass before dropping on the sidewalk. Why didn't Temptation have this kind of bumping? Demona flies over and it about to kill Goliath, but Eliza grabs the laser gun and shoots the canopy which seems to be made of magical steel because it drops straight down and crushes Demona as Eliza is shown with the laser gun blowing at the tail end. That was pretty neat; but sadly, we get another logic break as Bronx is stalking Puck who doesn't notice that a human is coming up from behind with the trash can of doom and he gets canned. What a bastard this guy is?! Even worse; the guy who canned him is Hudson who we never saw get free from the magical sticky tar earlier in the episode. You couldn't have Broadway or Lex or Brooklyn do this guys?! I mean Hudson had a focus episode last rant! He doesn't need to do any more work for a while, okay? So we head back to the roof of the tallest building as everyone is zapped back there including the mirror as Demona is chained up as Goliath tells Puck to undo all of his magic on the humans and gargoyles; and if he does it, he'll gain his freedom. Puck doesn't seem too upset about doing this; because he needs a long nap anyway. So he shoots his eye beams through the mirror and the tower (I guess not deflecting it is the counter spell) and the whole sky rains lime green beams as the denizens at ground level turn back into Gargoyles; but most of them lose their shoes and socks anyway. Then we see Eliza turn back and somehow she gets a special present as she gets to keep her footwear and have a transformation sequence; only in reverse. Goliath and Eliza have a bonding moment which is screwed by Puck as he zaps Goliath backwards and then he chants to mend the human Wyvern clan back to normal and then asks Goliath to free him. Goliath undoes the chains and Puck flies around and through the mirror remembering to grab Demona on the way out before the mirror collapses on itself and disappears. And now; we come to the best part of this entire episode...
...So we return to Demona's room as the mirror reappears with Puck flying around with glee while Demona is sitting on her throne stewing and wanting Puck to leave. Puck wants to grant Demona one last thing before he leaves because Puck is many things; but not a poor house guest. Demona looks defeated and waves Puck off. So Puck is not amused and he disappears as he proclaims that her wish was originally supposed to be that she would not become stone by day. So he chants the spell in perfect English and then he disappears...And I betcha we'll NEVER see him again. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~! Demona is stunned as we head back to the clock tower as it's nearly sunrise with the babyfaces perched on the edge as Broadway notices the sun as Hudson would like to see the sun just this once. Goliath tries to speak to Eliza as Eliza cuts him off saying that Goliath is happy to be back to normal; but Goliath proclaims that this was not what he wanted to say; and then turns to stone on cue. Eliza claims that she knows what he was going to say; but that's the way it is now as she turns around and walks out. So we head inside Demona's room with a shadow of Demona and an open window as the sun is up and Demona has not turned to stone. Yes folks; Puck's spell worked and she can now defend herself in the daytime. She proclaims that the sun feels warm as she yawns and walks over to Titania's Mirror and sees her face...
...BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh boy! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I betcha Puck is doing that just now. That is the funniest, most ironic ending DTVA has ever done and it makes perfect sense. Hey Demona; you wanted to be alive in the daytime; well you got it. It's so ironic because as you might have seen; Demona is now a human! Yes; that means that in order to hate humans; she must hate herself as well. That is AWESOME! This makes Puck the most over character in the series; and without doubt, the funniest character ever! Demona screams no; and then we cut to outside Demona's mansion as we hear glass shattering which indicates that she shattered Titania's Mirror in the process of her rage. That is just wonderful. Puck HAS to return now to feud with Demona. That ends the episode at 20:45 approx. Now I see why this is Greg Weissmon's favorite episode: It's also the best episode of the series so far; even surpassing Deadly Force. It was hilarious from bell to bell; Puck was an awesome character and the fight was actually good. What more could you ask for? ***** (100%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Now I know that Gargoyles isn't know for it's funny moments as it's not one of it's strong points; but Puck is the big exception to this. I was laughing from the moment he started chanting his spells to the end when he screwed Demona and by then; I was rolling on the floor laughing my ass off. Sure; there were a few logic breaks; but all of them I accepted simply because it was funnier this way. Puck was the start of this chaos and Demona was the victim of Puck's grand hilarious moments that I laughed out loud. And the ending was built up so beautifully (kudos for not booking it so Demona doesn't turn human until the very end; it would have sucked otherwise) from start to finish that when Demona woke up at sunrise for real and did not turn to stone, you could feel the uncontrollable urge to laugh coming when she looked in the mirror and it made it so funny because Puck gave Demona the nastiest present ever: Demona turning into the very thing she hates. Ironic, funny and effective as now in hating humans, she also must hate herself, which also makes sense because she must have a lost of self hate as a gargoyle too! And it was Lydia Maarano who wrote this after three or four failed DTVA scripts; she struck gold. Sure; Michael Reaves was in on it; but still, Lydia finally got the praise she needed from me. The animation was almost perfect, the fight at the finish was intense which was missing in Temptation and I loved every moment of this even when they screwed up the logic (except for Hudson somehow getting out of the sticky tar. That was goofy.). I pencil this episode in the Top 10 somewhere as an overall episode; but it is the funniest episode in DTVA history. The ending without question is an 18* ending. So next up is The Silver Falcon which sadly cannot keep up with this. Puck has to come back somehow. So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.