Watching another episode out of order, because this introduces the Quackerjack villain, who appears in the next chronological episode. Got it? Okay.
He's a deranged jester. He wants revenge of some sort because this videogame called Whiffle Boy drove his toy company out of business. Wait a minute--one videogame drove him out of business? No doubt the videogame industry has had some negative effect on sales of more traditional toys, but this still doesn't make a great deal of sense.
…but whatever. It happened, and it made him crazy, evidently. He's kind of menacing-looking for sure, but I have to say, his derangement seems like kinda weak sauce compared to Megavolt.
Anyway, this here Whiffle Boy game is one of those weird cartoon looks-nothing-like-any-videogame-that's-ever-been-produced-in-any-era things (and it plays with a 2600-type joystick, to further confuse the issue). The same sort of thing that appeared in Ducktales from time to time. It's some sort of platformish thing where you fight weasels. It's not at all clear to me how something so seemingly mundane could be so popular that random cops talk it up and that it has its own championships, let alone that it drove a company out of business. Nonetheless, both Gosalyn and Drake are obsessed with it, and they'e both entered a competition (along with exactly no one else, it appears). Naturally, they have interpersonal tension, along with the predicted Quackerjack-related tension. There's one somewhat unfortunate bit where Drake orders her not to participate, and she threatens to reveal his Secret Identity. I feel like that's a bridge too far; the sort of thing that really can't be part of their arguments if we're supposed to accept that they really love each other. Blah.
Anyway, DW gets sucked into the videogame along with Crackerjack, and the usual sort of hijinx ensue, and that's about that.
Stray Observations
-"Discuss the President you admire most and why. George Washington! He invented the dollar bill; THAT'S history!"
-"My gloves! I can't play without my power gloves!" I love the power glove. It's so bad.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Eighteen: "You Sweat Your Life"
Sweat my youth away, with the rules we have to play...
In this here episode, DW and LP catch these two crooks, a big dog and little dog, robbing a museum. Transpires they're working for an old guy named "Jock Newbody" who runs a health club and is looking to obtain a feather from "a true and pure hero." Also, the hero has to be a bird, apparently. DW goes to investigate, but his plan is complicated when Herb and Binkie Muddlefoot insist on coming along.
This episode had its amusing moments, but it also had more than its share of "guh? huh? wuh?" moments. Like, if Drake's supposed to be undercover, why does he appear in full DW costume almost immediately after getting to the club? And shouldn't Jock have an actual evil scheme of some sort beyond "I want to be young. Also, I'm going to kill you, just 'cause?" And we're really supposed to believe that Herb remains blissfully unaware of DW's true identity after they've been welded together at the wrists? And how come they magically come unattached as soon as they fall into the elixir? And I thought you had to drink it to de-age, not just fall in it?
I dunno...you can attribute some of this to the plain ol' nature of the show, I suppose, but it just keeps piling up, and ultimately it made for a somewhat unsatisfactory viewing experience for me. I did like DW and Herb having to work together, though, unsurprisingly, this was rather underdeveloped. And Binkie plays almost no role.
At any rate, I think my thesis that quality of villain directly correlates with quality of episode has yet to be disproven. And Jock ain't much of a villain.
In this here episode, DW and LP catch these two crooks, a big dog and little dog, robbing a museum. Transpires they're working for an old guy named "Jock Newbody" who runs a health club and is looking to obtain a feather from "a true and pure hero." Also, the hero has to be a bird, apparently. DW goes to investigate, but his plan is complicated when Herb and Binkie Muddlefoot insist on coming along.
This episode had its amusing moments, but it also had more than its share of "guh? huh? wuh?" moments. Like, if Drake's supposed to be undercover, why does he appear in full DW costume almost immediately after getting to the club? And shouldn't Jock have an actual evil scheme of some sort beyond "I want to be young. Also, I'm going to kill you, just 'cause?" And we're really supposed to believe that Herb remains blissfully unaware of DW's true identity after they've been welded together at the wrists? And how come they magically come unattached as soon as they fall into the elixir? And I thought you had to drink it to de-age, not just fall in it?
I dunno...you can attribute some of this to the plain ol' nature of the show, I suppose, but it just keeps piling up, and ultimately it made for a somewhat unsatisfactory viewing experience for me. I did like DW and Herb having to work together, though, unsurprisingly, this was rather underdeveloped. And Binkie plays almost no role.
At any rate, I think my thesis that quality of villain directly correlates with quality of episode has yet to be disproven. And Jock ain't much of a villain.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Darkwing Duck, Season Eleventy Billion, Episode Four: "Fungus Amongus"
Darkwing's got a girl-friend! Darkwing's got a girl-friend!
Well…only in a kind of notional sense at this time, but this remains a cool episode that adds a new dimension to the show. The idea is that someone--or something!--is stealing pizza toppings around the city. "The only toppings that haven't been grabbed are green peppers and mushrooms," Darkwing asserts, which suggests both that there are a LOT of toppings that were stolen off-stage, and that he has an encyclopedic list of every topping ever in his head. Well, that's superheroes for you.
Anyway, it seems a sinister horror-movie-ish cabal known as "Macawber Mushrooms Unlimited" is responsible for this deviltry, and there's a nice segment with DW exploring the house, complete with a physics-defying Escher-type room. And then, the head of the board, Morgana Macawber herself--a kind of Vampira (or Morticia Addams)-type--shows up. I like the way she glides rather than walking.
There's a convoluted and improbable plot involving the pizza thing, of course, but the main thing is the Darkwing/Morgana dynamic, which is surprisingly sexy for a show of this type. She's cool, she knows badass magic, and I very much like the fact that she isn't exactly reformed at the end--though we'll see how that plays out down the line.
In addition to just liking the idea, it seems to me that the writing on this episode was just more memorable than usual--I found myself jotting down a fair few lines as I watched. The show's never been exactly bad so far, but it has had some uninspired moments. Episodes like this represent the sort of thing it should be going for every time.
Stray Observations
-"You've got more fungus on your little finger than most people have in their whole heads!"
-"Perhaps we could get together again sometime! I could share facts about spores and slime molds!" "Ah, I'd like that! Sort of."
-"There is no market for grub and cockroach pizza!"
"Gee, DW--sorry about your girlfriend being a fiendish bloodsucking creature from the netherworld."
"Oh, Darkwing--if you insist on having principles, our relationship is doomed!"
Well…only in a kind of notional sense at this time, but this remains a cool episode that adds a new dimension to the show. The idea is that someone--or something!--is stealing pizza toppings around the city. "The only toppings that haven't been grabbed are green peppers and mushrooms," Darkwing asserts, which suggests both that there are a LOT of toppings that were stolen off-stage, and that he has an encyclopedic list of every topping ever in his head. Well, that's superheroes for you.
Anyway, it seems a sinister horror-movie-ish cabal known as "Macawber Mushrooms Unlimited" is responsible for this deviltry, and there's a nice segment with DW exploring the house, complete with a physics-defying Escher-type room. And then, the head of the board, Morgana Macawber herself--a kind of Vampira (or Morticia Addams)-type--shows up. I like the way she glides rather than walking.
There's a convoluted and improbable plot involving the pizza thing, of course, but the main thing is the Darkwing/Morgana dynamic, which is surprisingly sexy for a show of this type. She's cool, she knows badass magic, and I very much like the fact that she isn't exactly reformed at the end--though we'll see how that plays out down the line.
In addition to just liking the idea, it seems to me that the writing on this episode was just more memorable than usual--I found myself jotting down a fair few lines as I watched. The show's never been exactly bad so far, but it has had some uninspired moments. Episodes like this represent the sort of thing it should be going for every time.
Stray Observations
-"You've got more fungus on your little finger than most people have in their whole heads!"
-"Perhaps we could get together again sometime! I could share facts about spores and slime molds!" "Ah, I'd like that! Sort of."
-"There is no market for grub and cockroach pizza!"
"Gee, DW--sorry about your girlfriend being a fiendish bloodsucking creature from the netherworld."
"Oh, Darkwing--if you insist on having principles, our relationship is doomed!"
Monday, January 2, 2012
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Seventeen: "Bearskin Thug"
An oddly-structured episode, this. The first third concerns Drake's efforts to get ready for a camping trip in spite of the extremely recalcitrant Gosalyn's resistance. The second third is them out there in the woods engaging in various low-level hijinks. There's a giant killer bear around that's scared off all the rangers, but that doesn't really feel like a central conflict or anything. Then, the Muddlefoots (seriously, I have to force myself not to write "Waddlefoots." This may be because Gosalyn's original last name was Waddlemeyer, but really now, how long should a minor thing like that be sticking in my head…?) show up, for no particular reason. And then, finally, Steelbeak and a few FOWL agents show up out of nowhere with a fiendish(?) plan to hide missiles in trees. Drake doesn't turn into Darkwing until the last three minutes of the episode.
It's kind of jumbled, really. I kind of prefer the earlier bits, where it's just a bunch of slapsticky dicking around (though the opportunity to say anything interesting about Drake and Gosalyn's relationship is pretty much squandered). The entire bit with Steelbeak feels extremely rushed and perfunctory, as well it might when it only has five or six minutes to play out from start to finish, and I cannot help but note that DW never actually foils their plot, per se.
The episode has its moments, sure, but I think there's a danger here of writers using the fact that the show is so much more malleable than Ducktales as an excuse not to bother building even minimally cohesive stories, which is not to the viewer's benefit.
Stray Observations
-I think this is the first Launchpad-less episode.
"Let's see…bear…trees…Steelbeak…Gosalyn…nuclear missiles…more trees…"
It's kind of jumbled, really. I kind of prefer the earlier bits, where it's just a bunch of slapsticky dicking around (though the opportunity to say anything interesting about Drake and Gosalyn's relationship is pretty much squandered). The entire bit with Steelbeak feels extremely rushed and perfunctory, as well it might when it only has five or six minutes to play out from start to finish, and I cannot help but note that DW never actually foils their plot, per se.
The episode has its moments, sure, but I think there's a danger here of writers using the fact that the show is so much more malleable than Ducktales as an excuse not to bother building even minimally cohesive stories, which is not to the viewer's benefit.
Stray Observations
-I think this is the first Launchpad-less episode.
"Let's see…bear…trees…Steelbeak…Gosalyn…nuclear missiles…more trees…"
Friday, December 30, 2011
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Sixteen: "Can't Bayou Love"
Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filet gumbo…
This one introduces a new villain, this pint-size backwoods creole named Jambalaya Jake, who doesn't really seem to be a supervillain per se, so much as some random dude with the twin powers of hyperactivity and having-a-pet/sidekick-alligator, Gumbo (who is mostly mute, but, being something of a gourmand, can still say "yum yum"). He's entertaining enough to watch, and the incidental music gets all zydeco-y when he's doing his thing, which is cool.
He doesn't really have much of an evil plan or anything (as I said--not really a supervillain). He's basically just come up to St. Canard because he'd heard tell that it was "easy pickings" for random acts of larceny, and he gets annoyed at Darkwing for getting in his way.
What he does is, he kidnaps Launchpad and ties him up with explosives strapped to him, to lure Darkwing out. This works, but, obviously, plan-foiling-type stuff happens. But here's my problem with this: it's made very clear that Jake is going to kill Launchpad if he sets the explosives off. But when DW rescues him, big surprise, he accidentally sets them off himself, and does anyone die? What do you think? Obviously, the reality here is much more elastic than it is in Ducktales, but that notwithstanding, I still don't think it's a good idea to make it explicit that even if the villains' nefarious plans go exactly as they're meant to, they don't work. I mean, way to make the show absolutely weightless. C'mon.
This one introduces a new villain, this pint-size backwoods creole named Jambalaya Jake, who doesn't really seem to be a supervillain per se, so much as some random dude with the twin powers of hyperactivity and having-a-pet/sidekick-alligator, Gumbo (who is mostly mute, but, being something of a gourmand, can still say "yum yum"). He's entertaining enough to watch, and the incidental music gets all zydeco-y when he's doing his thing, which is cool.
He doesn't really have much of an evil plan or anything (as I said--not really a supervillain). He's basically just come up to St. Canard because he'd heard tell that it was "easy pickings" for random acts of larceny, and he gets annoyed at Darkwing for getting in his way.
What he does is, he kidnaps Launchpad and ties him up with explosives strapped to him, to lure Darkwing out. This works, but, obviously, plan-foiling-type stuff happens. But here's my problem with this: it's made very clear that Jake is going to kill Launchpad if he sets the explosives off. But when DW rescues him, big surprise, he accidentally sets them off himself, and does anyone die? What do you think? Obviously, the reality here is much more elastic than it is in Ducktales, but that notwithstanding, I still don't think it's a good idea to make it explicit that even if the villains' nefarious plans go exactly as they're meant to, they don't work. I mean, way to make the show absolutely weightless. C'mon.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Fifteen: "Hush, Hush Sweet Charltan"
Tuskernini has returned. I don't know about that name--a director-themed villain with a name that puns on the name of a guy who wasn't a director? How much thought went into THAT? How about Godaardvark? That's a villain I could get behind.
Still, the name is the least of our concerns, really; he's just not a very interesting character. Here, he's pretended to go straight so he can make a movie that's such a big flop that it destroys AF Erret's studio, allowing him to buy it cheaply for the oil underneath the property. Um…is the excitement killing us yet?
Anyway, Darkwing interferes and figures out and then ruins the scheme, while Gosalyn and Honker dash around and...you know, this isn't exactly a tightly-plotted episode, is it? I'm frankly not terrible impressed, although there is one fun bit where DW and LP are doing exposition while performing ad hoc scenes to make the suspicious security guard think they're just run-of-the-mill actors.
Stray Observations
-And there's a washed-up actress name Gloria Swansong, who, however, does not appear to be the same washed-up actress named Gloria Swansong in Ducktales' "Uncrashable Hindentanic."
-Tuskernini's assistants are penguins. It's not made explicit or anything, but I assume this is for reasons of zoological proximity, in which case it falls on me to point out that walruses are arctic and penguins are antarctic.
-"You oughta sue for definition of character!"
-"And the aliens...I JUST DON'T KNOW!"
Still, the name is the least of our concerns, really; he's just not a very interesting character. Here, he's pretended to go straight so he can make a movie that's such a big flop that it destroys AF Erret's studio, allowing him to buy it cheaply for the oil underneath the property. Um…is the excitement killing us yet?
Anyway, Darkwing interferes and figures out and then ruins the scheme, while Gosalyn and Honker dash around and...you know, this isn't exactly a tightly-plotted episode, is it? I'm frankly not terrible impressed, although there is one fun bit where DW and LP are doing exposition while performing ad hoc scenes to make the suspicious security guard think they're just run-of-the-mill actors.
Stray Observations
-And there's a washed-up actress name Gloria Swansong, who, however, does not appear to be the same washed-up actress named Gloria Swansong in Ducktales' "Uncrashable Hindentanic."
-Tuskernini's assistants are penguins. It's not made explicit or anything, but I assume this is for reasons of zoological proximity, in which case it falls on me to point out that walruses are arctic and penguins are antarctic.
-"You oughta sue for definition of character!"
-"And the aliens...I JUST DON'T KNOW!"
Monday, December 26, 2011
Darkwing Duck, Season One, Episode Fourteen: "Trading Faces"
Mmm, okay. Let's try to get this thing back into gear. I could blame my month-long pause on that whole L&T marathon at 'tother place, and you'd probably even believe me, but let's face it: the reality is, it's just laziness on my part. "Too lazy to watch cartoons?" APPARENTLY, YES. Well, also, I was binging on Homeland, which is a problematic show in some ways but still pretty riveting. But now I'll try to get back into a regular schedule.
This is the show's body-swap episode--with, you must admit, a singularly uninspired title. Whee! Specifically, DW gets some sorta machine thingie that's supposed to transfer data from his base to his ship thing the name of which I forget, only somehow, it actually switches his mind with Gosalyn's and Launchpad's with Honker's. That's science for you. Whatareyagonnado? Unfortunately, this comes just as FOWL, as represented by Steelbeak, are cooking up a new plot: to hold the world ransom and destroy it by stopping it from spinning unless the world's governments fork over one hundred trillion dollars!!! You know, guys, that money's not actually going to be of much use to you if you've utterly destroyed every economy in the world to get it. Or maybe that's the idea? Who knows what motivates FOWL?
I do like Steelbeak here more than in his first appearance. Still…well, I know there's not a lot of currency complaining about diabolical plans to Destroy The World™, as that's just kind of par for the course, but really now: for this threat to have any force, Steelbeak would have to be quite literally an insane, suicidal nihilist, which I don't get the impression is meant to be the case.
So anyway, the various people in various bodies gotta work to fix things. DW is pretty adorable in Gosalyn's body, though it must be said that, pigtails notwithstanding, when he's in costume (which is most of the time) he basically looks more like Young Darkwing than a whole different character. Honestly, I would've been happy to see more time spent on the characters trying ineptly to adapt to their new situations. But hey, it's all good--not in the ranks of all-time great episodes, but still pretty good. I think Honker's fast becoming my favorite character. I really like his sort of fatalistic acceptance of being involved in crazy hijinx that are way above his pay grade.
This is the show's body-swap episode--with, you must admit, a singularly uninspired title. Whee! Specifically, DW gets some sorta machine thingie that's supposed to transfer data from his base to his ship thing the name of which I forget, only somehow, it actually switches his mind with Gosalyn's and Launchpad's with Honker's. That's science for you. Whatareyagonnado? Unfortunately, this comes just as FOWL, as represented by Steelbeak, are cooking up a new plot: to hold the world ransom and destroy it by stopping it from spinning unless the world's governments fork over one hundred trillion dollars!!! You know, guys, that money's not actually going to be of much use to you if you've utterly destroyed every economy in the world to get it. Or maybe that's the idea? Who knows what motivates FOWL?
I do like Steelbeak here more than in his first appearance. Still…well, I know there's not a lot of currency complaining about diabolical plans to Destroy The World™, as that's just kind of par for the course, but really now: for this threat to have any force, Steelbeak would have to be quite literally an insane, suicidal nihilist, which I don't get the impression is meant to be the case.
So anyway, the various people in various bodies gotta work to fix things. DW is pretty adorable in Gosalyn's body, though it must be said that, pigtails notwithstanding, when he's in costume (which is most of the time) he basically looks more like Young Darkwing than a whole different character. Honestly, I would've been happy to see more time spent on the characters trying ineptly to adapt to their new situations. But hey, it's all good--not in the ranks of all-time great episodes, but still pretty good. I think Honker's fast becoming my favorite character. I really like his sort of fatalistic acceptance of being involved in crazy hijinx that are way above his pay grade.
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