Okay, time to finish this up! In this
second-last episode, Fell'n'Shell (as I've decided I'm going to call
them) have the special caballero emblem things, and they're off to
the secret...place beneath Sheldrake's mansion (he seems as unclear
about it as I am) to do bad...stuff. It IS a little vague. The
caballeros have to stop them, but it's harder because Donald and
Daisy have been spirited off to Shangri-La to repair their
relationship and Donald has to deal with his anger issues. But!
They improvise a cool-looking cannon thing to break down the barrier
(really, should you be able to DO that with just brute force) and
then Donald solves his problem (FOREVER!) and he's BACK, baby! To be
continued! Oh, and a mini Scrooge cameo, albeit one where he doesn't
act anything like you'd expect Scrooge to.
Right. As I said the Fell'n'Shell
stuff isn't that clear or that...interesting to me. The stuff with
two thirds of the caballeros and the rest of the ensemble is...well,
it's fine, if not mind-blowing. I like when AMJ are like "watch
out for those guys! They're really tough!" and Xandra just kicks
the shit out of them like it's nothing.
Still, the meat of it is the Donald and
Daisy stuff. YES, there's a yeti song about Shangri-La! It's okay!
But the main thing is, you can only leave when ALL your problems are
solved, so Donald has to solve his anger problem. Hmmm. Now,
undoubtedly, this feels a bit forced: sure, he has these issues, but
I feel like they only really manifest themselves here because the
show needs them to, but because they work in any natural way. His
getting mad over being offered a drink seems...dubious, and EVEN
though it's pretty funny (albeit predictable) for him to violently
tear to pieces the pillow that represents "slightly frustrating
occurrences," I did wonder.
NONETHELESS. The psychedelic sequence
where he confronts his issues is pretty cool, and feels more like the
original movie than anything else we've seen in this series. And
goddamn, people: "Donald! W-where are you going?" "To
my destiny..." (leaves, comes back and kisses her on the mouth).
YES. THAT IS SO DAMN GOOD. Thank you, show, for giving him that moment.
Inevitably, I have to note that the only way New Ducktales could
give Donald a moment of coolness was by making him into a completely
different character. THREE CABALLEROS EFF TEE DOUBLE-YOU.
I was personally relieved that the Donald/Daisy dynamic here did not focus on "I have to keep my Caballero Secret Identity secret from you to protect you though your young nieces are in on it and even take part in villain-fighting." I liked the psychedelic sequence, and was willing to go along with the somewhat forced anger-managing thing 'cause it was fun. Plus, yetis. Yetis Always Add Value. They're like giant sea turtles that way.
ReplyDeleteActually, Scrooge is acting pretty consistent with his 1987 Ducktales counterpart here. Which is, burst into helpless tears in the face of defeat. Which happened a bit too often on that old show.
ReplyDeleteMan GeoX look at you! You on a row! Review BOOM after Review! Your like some unstopable machine!
ReplyDeleteI would say Scrooge bursting into tears over his money is perfectly in character... Very missed in the new DT too where he's too cool to cry at things (except for manly manly tears. quiet Dramatic manly tears in his eyes. no bawling allowed)
ReplyDeleteOK, Lieju, you got the biggest laugh out of me this go-round! Agreed on the DT2017 front.
DeleteI guess I'd expect him to be fighting-mad while the money is being taken, and then to bawl about his poverty immediately after.
Oh, and this episode had some nice colors!
ReplyDelete