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Koi Story
Reviewed: 01/29/2013
The Story Of The Grunting Fish Being Kidnapped...
So we continue to wind down that bumpy road towards the end of Quack Pack as the gang is now going to meet a Koi Fish in a big fishbowl made by some freak while camping. Yeah; I have nothing much to say about this one. So; let's rant on and find out shall we...?!
This episode is written by Alicia Schudt and story editing is done by Gary Sperling. Alicia first wrote a Brothers episode in 1986 (!!); then it's Sledgehammer, A Different World, ALF & ALF The Animated Series, It's A Living, The Nutt House, Alvin & The Chipmunks, 227, Doug (the non-Disney one), Valerie, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective the series and Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. The Little Mermaid The Series was her DTVA debut and her only other appearance. Dragon Tales is her most recent credit. That's it. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation OZ.
Opening Moment #1: Today's title card features a big ass goldfish in a big ass bowl being balanced by the tiniest red wagon ever seen. Of note; the creators aren't even trying to hide the fact that this is a parody to Toy Story because the Toy Story logos are being used here as parody. It's hard to believe that PIXAR was around in 1996 doing their first groundbreaking movie at this point and have been pissing off hand drawn animation purists for 17 years straight. That is some massive hatefest going here.
So we begin this episode with a tease shot of a castle on a cliff in front of a mountain; but then we realize that it's only Daisy holding a picture of said castle and when she lifts it up; the castle is completely gone. So much for truth in advertising. Daisy apparently loves castle because they are so enchanting while Donald is in the driver seat of the RV in the background wearing his angling (fishing) gear groaning on cue. I guess the experience of Leader Of The Quack has made him shun castles not unlike Kit Cloudkicker when it comes to squids. Daisy calls castles...castlely as we see a twinkle in her eyes on the closeup and we HIT THE DREAM MACHINE~! Yeah; I just made another stupid pun to annoy the living piss out of my critics; if there were any. We see a "golden castle"; which looks more bronzed than golden as Daisy strolls out to the balcony in princess gear which is all pink/purple. For a character that is so enlightened; Daisy sure as hell dreams up her being a female stereotype again. Yeah. So we see a white knight in shining armor on horseback doing some horse jumping over spots that a real horse would be put down afterwards. Seriously; one of the jumps is off a cliff and one of them is 100 feet high for crying out loud. The horse stops in front of the castle and the helmet comes off and it's Donald greeting Daisy with his "toots" slang. Daisy is not amused as Donald wants to go fishing and turns his spear into a fishing rod. Daisy asks why she would want to go fishing. My Answer: So you stop dreaming up to return to being a rigid gender role madam! Donald's answer: It's fun. Okay; Donald's answer is more accurate than mine; so shoot me. And Donald turns back into angler Donald as we return to reality (no, not really). Donald drops on his ass on cue as the nephews bring in the big ass raft and think riding the rapids is better. Daisy is not amused as the dream sequence doesn't seem to want to end since the castle is there for another 20 seconds before finally disappearing along with Daisy's princess duds. So Daisy proclaims that she'll allow them to do what they want...AFTER finding her castle. HAHA! Daisy storms off stage left and Donald blows this off on cue. HAHA! Some things never change with Donald.
So we get the sky shot of the RV driving down the road as Daisy is the back seat driver of this outfit (Oh; the irony!) and tells Donald not to worry about fishing as the bridge is out and the RV gets WARNERED into the river. Daisy climbs out and notices a conveniently placed cottage near said river. Daisy wonders why the bridge has suddenly disappeared as she needs help finding stuff to get the RV stuck as the nephews try to fool Daisy with the big ass raft while claiming that they are using it to find her castle. It gets pushed out and Daisy isn't buying what they are selling anyway. So Daisy tells them to shoot the rapids and this is a smart move on her part because it means the nephews will not be able to push the crappy button much in this episode. At least one can hope. Daisy calls for Donald; but he's on the RV sitting on the roof doing some casting much to the disdain of Daisy. Daisy storms off to save the RV as she goes to a pile of tall grass and walks past and then panics and hides. She then comes out and notices a huge orange Koi Fish which looks nothing like Koi from Fish Hooks in a big ass fishbowl on a tiny red wagon. Daisy proclaims that you don't see that everyday. HAHA! I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. And then out comes a duck dressed up like a prince with the purple armor, gold leather shoulder pads and a zig zag red stripe. He also has a crew cut red hairstyle and has a pack of flowers which he swings around. He might be Drake's cousin for all I know. He picked them for his Koi Fish known as Winston and Winston is just no selling everything. Man; even Sandy Sweetcheeks sells better than that fish. Even Daisy has noticed this one flaw in this duck's plan. He's Gil in case you didn't notice and voiced by Dan Castellaneta. We walk for a bit as we discover that it's a Koi Fish and Gil thinks that Winston is selling this when it's clear that he is not. Daisy and Gil shake hands and greet. Daisy asks about getting the RV unstuck; and Gil agrees to do that as long as she stays for Wintsons' birthday party. Well; it cannot be any worse than birthday parties in Left Behind; that is for sure. Gil kisses the fishbowl in a funny spot which leads to the red wagon pushing forward causing Gil to land on his face. HA!
And the wagon drags Koi's fishbowl down the hill to fetch a pail of "I'm Not Copying It Came From Beneath The Seaduck; honest!" nuts. Wow; I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Much like this show actually. So Gil chases it Roadrunner style (check the legs) and the wagon rides along with cliffs and stays on task right up a hill as Gil is in the perfect position to bail stage right as the wagon comes back down and chases Gil. HAHA! Gets the goofy idiot every time! Ultra funny spot: Gil runs under the river when Winston goes off the cliff and when Gil gets back up he is somehow BEHIND Winston. That was funny and even funnier when Winston flicks a tree and Gil like George forgets to WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE~! So Gil recovers (which is a feat in itself I might add) and Winston slingshots off another tree into the air. And where it lands; we all know where now don't we? Hint: He's goofier looking than Darkwing Duck drinking the joy juice. You know what that does to animals. Great MAN-SIZED bump there Gil; you're making this episode enjoyable thus far. Gil must be a Darkwing Duck character reject because he is swished like a DW character too. Daisy helps him up asking if he's all right; but Gil cares more about Winston as the wagon stops on a dime just as he asks Daisy to save him. HA! Daisy sums up Winston for me real nice and good. So we head back to the stuck river as Donald is fishing; hopefully not for praises from Daisy, for obvious reasons. Donald casts his line and relaxes as he calls this the life. So Donald gets a bite and struggles to reel it in and it ends with Donald getting stuffed into the river upside down with the big ass boot. HAHA! And of course since we have had no nephews crappy button pushing so far; we cut to the rapids as the nephews are white water rafting and bumping off the waves which barely exist before then riding down the slowed down river. Huey and Louie are loving this while Dewey is cowering which the other nephews taunt him for. Dewey claims that he was meditating. More like he was cowering, trying to remember the number for dial a prayer. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The nephews mock him in response bouncing on the raft just to annoy me.
So Dewey wants to look for Daisy's castle and the nephews agree. So they look around for two seconds and then they ignore the offer and row. Why doesn't that surprise me? So they row down the stream as Louie and Huey do the "Look Ma; I can juice just like the boys" spot; as Dewey panics because this raft ride has no more water as the big ass raft continues to bounce as if there is water left and then lands off the cliff of the waterfall which has no water below and a lot of fall and spikes. Sadly; BS&P won't let them note that last thing. So the raft teases a free fall; but it gets caught in the tree branch which is so strong that it somehow slingshots the raft up despite having a 100 pound raft and three kids at 300 pounds combined. Sigh. The raft bounces back about 100 feet before stopping on a dime as Huey has a headache and wishes he had a stunt double. Of course you don't Huey; because the stunt double would be a million times more over than you and since you are the star of the show we cannot have that. See Kick Buttowski. So we head back to the cottage as Winston is looking on from a window when we head inside to see a dining room decorated. I must say that Gil certainly has better tastes than Darkwing Duck when it comes to house decor. Daisy calls the place "fishy". I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. So Gil comes in with a silver platter under the dome and reveals it to be steamed kelp. Okay; that is certainly different. Daisy doesn't know what to make of this and then checks her watch asking about Gil helping her tow the RV. Gil claims that this is all in good time and Daisy sits down as Gil claims that Winston is giddy; while Winston is implying that he is sleeping (check the bubble spot). So Gil has a ladle of kelp and asks if she wants one or two scoops. I was hoping he would do the one or two lumps spot from the Bugs Bunny shorts; just to see if Daisy channels Granny Bunny and brings out the out of nowhere hammer to bonk him on the head. It's not like DTVA hasn't stole enough spots from Bugs and mocked Looney Tunes enough as it is.
So Donald is outside blowing off his fishing experience and being all wet. HA! He then ignores Daisy and Gill and is getting evil intention as he sees Winston at the opposite window. Man; he has been zombified by the forces of the Koi Story. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So Donald opens the window as Daisy and Gill are at the table exchanging pleasure thoughts. Well; Gil is anyway as Daisy only has her fork to defend herself with at this point. Daisy stammers a bit when Gil asks about having her kelp cold and then Daisy notices Donald climbing the table and zombie walking towards the fish and getting his face pressed against the glass. Gil runs in and shoves Donald aside and invokes the WINDEX OF DOOM to clean the glass because Donald got fingerprints on it. So that window is open? Doesn't look like that to me. Donald is in his classic PISSED OFF mode now; which involves jumping up and down and holding his arms as if he is going to shoot a machine gun. Daisy runs in and tells Donald to be nice. Good luck Daisy; you and Winston are going to need it. Gil and Donald breathe and show their angry teeth at each other as Daisy gives the intros to each. Sadly; this goes nowhere because we head outside the cottage as apparently; the RV has been towed out of the river already. Daisy thanks Gil for his services as Gil twists his arms in a cinnamon bun stick position (HAHA!) as he is honored. Winston of course doesn't sell a lick. Gil embraces the glass while Donald is pulling out kelp and seaweed out of his RV's engine. He then gets tangled and trashes like crazy; only to jump out because we hear a chomp sound and Donald has a turtle on his ass. HAHA! Donald tries to use his feet to push the turtle out but trashes like crazy again and gets seaweeded. HAHA! Turtle lets go spits out feathers and then sprays water on Donald just to piss him off. HAHA! Daisy sights on cue as she admits that she will stay a bit longer with Gil and Gil is so giddy about it. Winston doesn't seem to care as the nephews run in to talk about the river drying up and then Louie stops in midstream and stares at Winston. The nephews follow suit and they call him Fishzilla and talk about sushi which I bet that they never will eat in their lives. Besides; sushi is fish eggs anyway.
Gil gets in between them and claims that the river dries up all the time during this season. Riiiiggggghhhhttttt Gil. It's hilarious that Louie is agreeing with the sushi stuff considering that the next rant I'm doing is Shrunken Heroes when Louie channels the powers of the ALF. I'll explain that one later. Gil goes over to Daisy and offers to show Daisy is fish shaped oven mitts. Ooooooo; I would love to see those but Daisy doesn't seem interested. Makes no difference since Gil drags Daisy into the house to show them. The nephews huddle and claim that Gil cannot be trusted. Louie doesn't like the way he puckers up which teases Louie implying Winston; so the nephews get on his case about it because he's implying Gil. Okay; that was one of the better jokes the nephews have pulled off; but it still sucks. Meanwhile; Donald is still pulling weeds out of the RV and thrashes around like a madman inside the engine. HAHA! I could watch this all day; even in reruns. The nephews go over as Huey informs Donald not to be too quick to fix the van because there is a mystery on our hands. WAH! WAH! WAH! Hey smug asses; the music was basically doing the same thing. There is a reason why you don't mimic the music: Because it makes you look like a bunch of weasels. The music is there to help the dramatic effect of the "We have a mystery on our hands!" To make fun of that is really insulting to anyone's IQ. The children in the audience can get away with it because the music is fun; when the characters start doing it, it kills the fun they have. The nephews slap skin and proclaim that they are going to fish the riverbed for clue and then bail stage left. Complete with the "boat slides into ocean" music you heard in the Bugs Bunny short where Sam was a Sea Captain. The name of the short escapes me at the moment; but it's clearly the exact same music. So the nephews head up the hill to fetch a pail of Cluex Nuts. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So the nephews review the clues like a poor man's Sherlock as apparently; the bridge is missing, the castle is missing and the river is...NOT MISSING! Well; to be fair, Gil did say that it dries up this time of year, so it's not missing at all. This spot only serves to show how incredibly stupid Louie is as he trips and falls into the river, and the river takes him downstream screaming for help while teasing between screaming and drowning. The nephews follow on the rocks and that ends the segment almost 11 minutes in. This is a fine episode thus far.
After the commercial break; we continue with Louie still teasing the drowning/screaming spot as the nephews fall him down the river. The closeups are better animated than the opening far shot by the way. Classical scary music is played because Disney has run out of ideas on how to create classical modern music. I didn't realize how special TaleSpin background music really was until I watched both that show and then watching this one six years later. The difference is like night and day. Half of the show is stock music from the public domain with the other half being silly grunge music; while TaleSpin's was almost all original music (if there was stock music in the show; it wasn't used nearly as often as most DTVA shows) from Christopher L. Stone. Funny intentional mistake: Louie loses his hat and finally decide to do a drowning spot much to the panic of Dewey and Huey; but Louie pops out with his hat about 10 seconds later holding his breath when he grabs a tree branch.. When he comes up; his face is completely green. For once; an animation error that actually HELPS the sense of drowning and makes Louie's bop into the water make sense. Just imagine how good this cartoon would have been if Toby would just shut up and let the adults get the job done properly and stop playing nepotism. Sadly; Louie tries to climb up; but he's too fat (Imagine that for a minute) as the tree branch breaks and we start teasing the drowning spot again. Huey and Dewey find the out of nowhere hallowed log and jump onto it while riding the rapids. Louie loses his hat for four seconds; but gets up gagging as Huey and Dewey comes over to him and lift him into the log to end this time wasting filler spot. Huey then panics because the waterfall spot is commencing; but the fishing line of doom hooks onto the log and is reeled in by a African American guy wearing gray samurai gear. Okay; that is certainly original. I'm shocked Milo didn't steal that one. The Samurai Angler (Jack Angel) proclaims that this one is over the weight limit. NO?! REALLY?! So head back to the cottage as the RV is still springing seaweed as Disney-Aussie decides to stop animating it because it was becoming as much of a nuisance to animate as it was to Donald trashing in it. I don't blame either one.
So we pan west to see a red toolbox which is filled with non-animated fishing supplies and then see Donald climbing onto a big ass rock and casting a line right into the big ass goldfish bowl with Winston in it. Oh; this could be fun. Donald taunts Wintson with the line and Winston finally sells and the power of suggestion forces Donald to smack right into the glass with a good bump. HAHA! Winston then spits and Donald slides down just as Daisy and Gil come out. UH OH! That's a no-no Donald! Gil notices the fishing pole and panics like mad. Gil comes over and blows off Donald as a mean nasty person who has upsetted Wintson even though Wintson is no selling everything. Winston reminds me of another fish who has that kind of face as her normal face. I can't quite put my Sthumbellsea on know it might be. Daisy grabs the fishing pole and reminds Donald that he is supposed to be fixing the RV so they can get out of here and Donald sells and goes back to the van instantly. Gil panics as he consoles Winston because Daisy will make him happy; but Donald is a menace to him and must be eliminated as Gil gets all heelish on us for the first time in this episode. They actually did a good job building Gil to this point too. So we head back with the Samurai Angler fishing on the river with the nephews. The nephews thank SA for his services and SA just sezs "Yap" and walks off. The nephews follow him asking him questions which we already knew about him and he keeps saying yap. Then he end arounds him proclaiming that the river never dries up and the nephews are shocked. I betcha he just said that to stop them from stalking him. I don't blame him for that at least. So they ponder this over and then we scene change to some mapping which involves two lines which go east and then south. One of the nephews uses a stick to cross out the east line to indicate where the Samurai Angler bailed them out. So they deduce that SA must be fishing in a spot where the river doesn't dry up which is downstream which they circle around.
Logic break time: Remember that sequence of events and the map? Well; instead of going downstream like they should be because the circle is further down; they take Louie and dunk him into the water right at the right angle where the river changes direction. That's the first major logic break of the episode nearly 14 minutes in. Louie looks underwater and notices the exact same drain plug that we saw as a trapdoor in Return of The T-Squad; which opens up and the nephews get sucked in and whirlpooled. Ummm; yeah whatever. I will give the nephews credit for their mapping skills; but not their reading comprehension skills though. Those still suck. So we head back to Winston as Donald has the smallest fishing net ever because when it comes to fishes; size doesn't matter in Donald's bubbley little fantasy. Winston still doesn't sell as Donald is standing literally on the tip of the rail of the ladder which makes Jeff Hardy look like a wuss. In comes Gil wheeling a lift containing the Teddy Ruxpin scuba gear. Well; the rejected model from that show; since the helmet has a much flatter front and the edge is painted gold. Gil grunts to Donald as Donald turns around and realizes that he is so BUSTED~! Gil doesn't seem to care as he has brought this to Donald as a present. He calls it a Fishing Facillatater (?sp) as Donald is as confused as I am. It looks more like a spacesuit than a fishing suit. So Gil talks about the biggest fishes being in deep water and then crashes the suit into the ladder which Donald free falls and gets stuffed into the open suit (Gil removes the helmet natch and then slams it back on when Donald is stuffed in the suit natch.). Gil comes over and proclaims that Winston is giddy and he...you guessed it.
So we head back to the nephews inside a pipeline bopping down the (moral) sewer; until they see a ladder conveniently placed out of nowhere. The nephews grab the ladder and climb up to a rather large kind of porthole and flop over it onto the grass. Louie cannot see as his hat has expanded over his eyes somehow. Louie pushes the hat out as the nephews open their eyes and they are in shock because they are back behind the cottage. The nephews then notice that the big ass pipeline is being connected to a mountainside in the background. Dewey proclaims that the plot thickens and like the smugasses that they are; they ruin the dramatic effect by doing the "WAHWAHWAH" sound. For goodness sakes guys; let the music communicate the effect. Even the public domain music players need to eat once in a while. So we head to a shadowy cave (I think) as Donald is on a large diving board and he cannot move as he protests this outrage. Gil pulls the board from under him and Donald free falls into the underground lake and onto the bottom of said lake on his feet. Gil also reminds Donald that he filled the boots with cement thus turning full heel on Donald. I love this Gill fellow. If only Seymore had done the same to Baloo and Kit; he might have gotten away with his cruel animal trainer antics. Donald gulps and that ends the segment nearly sixteen minutes in. Unless something really awful happens; this might be on track to be the first thumbs up episode of the series...WAH! WAH! WAH! POW! OUCH! Ummmm...Yeah; I'm a hypocrite, what was your first clue?
After the commercial break; we head back to the cottage as Gil bounces down the wooden staircase (which pretty much shows that Gil isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer since it extends to the very mountain the big ass pipeline is) having the most joy I have ever seen since TaleSpin fans found out that the TaleSpin DVD sets were real. Daisy then shows up and ask where Donald is and Gil overdramatically claims that he went out fishing. Daisy then points out that his fishing pole is at the RV. So Gil proclaims that he went croutogganing which is tobogganing and crouton tasting and then he panics and asks her if he is a horrible liar. Ummm; I have heard a lot worse from the nephews, so no Gil. So Gil has evil intentions as he grabs Daisy and cradles her in his arms as he bounces up the stairs. Man; those feet of his have super balls or something. I haven't seen this much bouncing since Gummi Bears, nor Huey from Send In The Clones. So we see that the entrance to his surprise birthday present is an outhouse complete with crescent shaped hole in the door; which makes me laugh for no reason whatsoever as he opens it. We head inside and notice a lever and the end of said lever has a brass plated fishbowl with a castle and several other stuff in it. Daisy tries to point out that Winston would not fit in there as Gil laughs this one off claiming that Daisy has such a sense of humor. Problem is; I don't think she was kidding you Gil. Gil pulls the lever (WRONG LEVER!) and we get the rumbling of doom commencing. We head to the top of the mountainside as the nephews look around and Huey proclaims that there is something fishy about this mountain. NO?! REALLY?! Huey knocks on mountain and proclaims that it's hollow as the mountain cracks open like a fortune cookie and the nephews get WARNERED and they splash off-screen. We cut back to Daisy and Gil as the rumbling continues some more as it's clear that there is a golden curtain in front of the ducks. Nice mature lighting there guys. So Gil pulls down the curtain and we see a giant ass fish bowl complete with the stolen castle, bridge and an awesome mature lighting effects on the pan shots. I'll give WD-OZ this; they are having a good time animating this episode.
Daisy then is shocked because that castle is Basques Castle which even Gil doesn't even bother to deny. And then Winston shows up in one of those cooky logic breaks because even Daisy is asking if this Koi Fish is a flying fish. Gil blows it off calling it silly as apparently; the entire hut has exploded because all the golden lighting effects are gone and we have a far shot of the bowl sticking out like a sore thumb complete with the piping and such. Daisy reaction is so priceless as well as the quote...
Daisy: You put an historic landmark in a fish bowl?!
Gil:
{nods about a half dozen times.} The world's
biggest fishbowl. Only the best for my Winston!
You know this episode is feeling it when Kath is acting instead of shooting like it was with Recipe For Adventure. Gil also points out that he is the owner of the castle and the bridge as Winston takes laps and no sells everything. Daisy then notices Donald Duck stuck on the floor of the fishbowl in the suit and gets on Gil's case about it. Gill assures her that Donald is fine and he's not trying to kill him; thus turning into sad babyface mode again. Daisy then points out that Winston is NEVER happy and Gil turns around and panics proclaiming that he gave Winston everything...and then he stops and teases a dramatic crying spot and then executes it admitting that Winston is not happy and screams where he went so wrong. You can guess the finish a mile away now. So we cut to the top of the water of the giant ass fish bowl as we see the nephews shrugging their shoulders as they figure out that this explains the missing river and then they swim over to a cork with a pipe on the surface of the water and hear Donald's screams for help. The nephews proclaim that they will save their uncle. Now; anyone knows watching a Quack Pack episode means seeing the nephews push the crappy button; and here's a perfect example of it: The nephews swim underwear and head to the suit as Donald is getting hot and apparently he is starting to fear enclosed spaces now. The nephews instead of asking Donald about the suit nor Donald telling them that Gil put cement in his boots; the nephews pop the glass part of the helmet and swim up while Donald tries to swim up; but the cement prevents him from getting out. Now granted; this can be considered a logic break because we didn't see Gil pour cement into the boots and Donald is too short to get his feet into said cement which probably harden by the time he fell on the bottom. Still; this whole spot is so stupid and it's goodbye first thumbs up episode, so close...so damn close and yet so far.
Although the purpose of this is to finally get Winston to sell something over than boredom as he races to Donald (who has stop selling the fact that he is underwater; but that logic train died a long time ago anyway) and headbutts a nearly dead Donald Duck out of the suit (which renders the cement stuff pointless) and Donald is pinballed and Winston bops up allowing Donald to lie on him and the nephews when Winston rises to the surface. The nephews cheer and Donald thanks Winston for saving him and Winston smiles for the very first time. And now Gil is PISSED...and I do mean PISSED. Daisy blows him off and wants Gil to just get them out of the fishbowl even asking to say please. Gil decides to obey and goes to the conveniently placed wheel and tries to opens it; but the wheel comes off and now there is too much water, going too fast. Gil makes the mistake of invoking the pointy finger of death on the fishbowl while the fishbowl is under too much pressure and it cracks and breaks. Gil bails down the steps and Daisy is so stupid that she stands RIGHT THERE and takes the water cannon of death right in the kisser. Seriously; Daisy didn't move an inch when that happened. BS&P? What BS&P? So we get the flooding spot with the RV as somehow the nephews are inside despite on the next shot we see Winston, the nephews and Donald doing the whirlpool spot. Okay; maybe it was Daisy and Gil in the RV. Oh; I watched it again and it was Gil grabbing Daisy and racing to the RV in time before the water cannon was done. So it was BS&P'ed. Dammit! The fish and boys get shot out of the water cannon and we do the water slide spot as the glass completely shatters and the castle conveniently sits right on the mountain where it was at the beginning of the episode which makes no sense since we already seen the place in the beginning and there's no way the castle could have been there. Dumb! Dumb! DUMB! Gil and Daisy are on the roof of the RV as Gil still continues to bring on the funny by crying that Winston had drowned which Daisy gleefully retorts for me. HAHA!
Daisy is more worried about the males as Gil tells them that she need not worried because we see Winston bouncing on the water with the nephews and Donald. Remember that the entire area is underwater now. Gil oversells it like mad and then faints and it is so funny because he faints with his beak open and his teeth out on the bump. I'm SHOCKED Seth Macfarlane hasn't stolen this one yet. So we see Winston jumping up and down some more and he's so happy as we scene change to a shot in front of the castle as Daisy is consoling Gil that this is difficult; but it's for the best. Gil finally agrees with her because she has a new friend which is a green caterpillar in his hands and Gil still thinks it's happy despite no selling. Yeap; he's still nuts, but he is taking baby steps towards building a more reasonable future for himself and his pets; so he's no longer a heel. Gil hops back into the castle as Daisy declares him a lost cause. Then we see the knight from the beginning of the episode on horseback and the webfeet clearly show that it's Donald as she sweeps Daisy off her feet and she enjoys it. Boy; does this thrust a huge hole in Nightflight's theory doesn't it?! Donald calls her toots; Daisy giggles about her Prince Charming; the nephews are near the RV as Dewey opens the door and a bunch of fish bury the worst nephews in a fish tomb. HAHA! So we head to the flooded region BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset) as we see in the rowboat; the Samurai Angler (I personally wished they had forgotten about him) is sleeping while fishing which is a bad combo as Winston arrives and hooks himself on the fish hooks and then bails stage right as SA wakes up and holds onto the fishing pole and we are surfing on the flooded valley of doom in the background to end the episode at 21:13. Very good episode marred by a really bad logic break near the finish and a few crappy moments from the nephews as usual. Gil provided the heat, Winston provided the good finish, Daisy provided the counter point, Donald provided the pacing and the nephews provided pictures of themselves. Samurai Angler provided nothing. *** 3/4 (75%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; I got to admit, this is the "best episode of the series" candidate with Need 4 Speed. I thought this would be an okay episode and I ended up being one of the more entertaining episodes in Quack Pack; and in a good way I might add. Sure; I'm disappointed that this episode didn't get over the **** hump; but at least it brought the goods for a change. Gil was the star of the show and I really, really loved him for being the crazy tweener who loves Winston; but goes at it in the wrong way like a misguided soul. They also built up Gil's character nicely as Donald provided all the funny spots (which Gil also did to keep pace) and Daisy was a great straight duck to Gil's antics; including the climax when the payoff to the whole Winston angle came before us. I thought Gil's character design was great and the whole plan was charming on a level of comedy. The downsides were once again the nephews finding a way to make me strangle them near the finish with trying to save Donald Duck by making it worse on Donald. For once; I would have just let it go because Winston would have done the same thing either way. Also; the gaping logic break at the end with the castle annoyed me along with the Samurai Angler which went nowhere and caused another logic break with the river map the nephews drew. Otherwise; this was a really good episode and it only serves to show just how stupid Disney was when they released "The Best Of Quack Pack" when none of the three episodes were as good as Leader Of The Quack, Koi Story and Need 4 Speed. Sadly; this is the exception rather than the rule because the next rant is Shrunken Heroes featuring the PETA approved episode and Louie acting like a member of ELF. Then we have Gator Aid and IOU A UFO which might be better; but I'm dreading Shrunken Heroes because this episode will make me rethink Aqua Ducks and even All's Whale That Ends Whale.
Oh well; in life, a little crap must fall. I hope to have the video of the Fish Hooks' version of Koi Story ranted on to see how it compares to this one. So........
Thumbs in the middle pointing up for this episode and I'll see you next time.