Darkwing Duck, Season Flargle, Episode Ten: "Bad Tidings"

Hmph.  Okay.  Here we have an episode where DW has to team up with this other shush agent, a Russian bear-person named Grizzlikof--SHUSH's version of Illya Kuryakin.  He's appeared before, but I never got any very strong impression of him.  They need to stop Steelbeak and co from using the threat of their tidal-wave-making machine thing to extort a bunch of dollars from people.  Right.

So…giving DW a foil like this is kind of a cool idea in theory, but I must say, I kind of hated this episode.  The idea is that Grizzlikof is all by-the-books and stuff!  And Darkwing's all spontaneous and stuff!  What'll happen when these guys have to work--record scratch--as a team???  In fact, what'll happen will be that it will be super-annoying as DW fucks everything up and tries to get out of doing any work and is generally quite unpleasant about the whole thing and the learn-to-work-together business is very forced and predictable and insincere, and Steelbeak's efforts to sow dissension between them are pretty dumb.  Also, the way it lurches from a desert island setting to the moon is jarring.

Seriously, man, the writing is leaden and I've never liked DW less.  Here's a bit that's a good example of a failing the show sometimes has--this refusal to trust the audience enough not to laboriously spell out jokes: "I'd hate to be marooned on a desert island with him.  Oh yeah…I AM marooned on a desert island with him!"  The entire second sentence there is totally unnecessary.  A pregnant pause after the first one, and you're done, or at most, leave it at "oh yeah…"  Kids aren't dumb!  Well, okay, they kind of are.  But they're not that dumb!

Hmph.  Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but fuck this episode.

Stray Observation

-Well, at least when they divide the island in two, it makes me think of this classic bit: "My side of the woods abounds in natural scenic splendor!  Your side wallows in decay and filth!"