[7.4/10] This one isn’t quite as strong as the premiere, but I like how this is half about the end of the Gargoyles’ time in Scotland a thousand years ago, and half about the beginning of their time in present day New York.
In Scotland, the conceit for how all of this happens is a little contrived. The Magus already seems like a shady dude to begin with, so him blaming the Gargoyles for the princess’s death, which he hasn’t actually seen, seems unnecessary as a motivation for him turning them to stone permanently. It’s also awfully convenient that the Viking guy just so happens to burn the page with the counter spell.
That said, I really like Goliath’s pathos and overall characterization here. His sense of losing the woman he loves, losing all of his comrades, and even losing his chance for revenge is palpable and helps you to understand the depth of his mourning and anger here. His pain justifies his desire to be sentenced to centuries of stony living death alongside his fellow surviving brothers, rather than go on living in a world where he’s lost so much.
The wake-up call in New York makes for a great counterpart. I compared this to Batman: The Animated Series, and that’s particularly acute in the superlative scenes where the Gargoyles awaken from their slumber, flanked by cloudy skies and moonlight. The animation is striking and the score throughout the show helps add to the tension and momentousness of it all. There’s warmth in the reunion of the surviving Gargoyles as well, providing a counterpoint to Goliath’s crestfallen resignation to suffering the same fate as his comrades.
This episode also introduces Xanatos, a character I know enough about by reputation not to trust. But with Jonathan Frakes voicing him, the character does come off convincing and persuasive. He’s got that “Help me help you” manipulative corporate tone down pat, and his pitch to Goliath that they could help one another has an allure. That said, I appreciate that after all he’s been through, Goliath’s discovered a Demona-like mistrust of humans. The show earns that through its storytelling over these two episodes, and his perspective is more piercing because of it.
The only part of this that washed off me was the action. To be fair, it takes some really well done action to truly catch my eye, but there wasn’t much exciting about watching the Gargoyles taking on some generic 1990s body armored mercs. There’s some juice to the team not knowing what to do with modern weapons like grenades and the like, but for the most part, the heist and combat routine feels like filler.
All-in-all, though, I’m still enjoying the setup here, with the character development for Goliath in particular remaining a highlight, as Gargoyles starts to bring its premise into focus.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-15T22:40:23Z
[7.4/10] This one isn’t quite as strong as the premiere, but I like how this is half about the end of the Gargoyles’ time in Scotland a thousand years ago, and half about the beginning of their time in present day New York.
In Scotland, the conceit for how all of this happens is a little contrived. The Magus already seems like a shady dude to begin with, so him blaming the Gargoyles for the princess’s death, which he hasn’t actually seen, seems unnecessary as a motivation for him turning them to stone permanently. It’s also awfully convenient that the Viking guy just so happens to burn the page with the counter spell.
That said, I really like Goliath’s pathos and overall characterization here. His sense of losing the woman he loves, losing all of his comrades, and even losing his chance for revenge is palpable and helps you to understand the depth of his mourning and anger here. His pain justifies his desire to be sentenced to centuries of stony living death alongside his fellow surviving brothers, rather than go on living in a world where he’s lost so much.
The wake-up call in New York makes for a great counterpart. I compared this to Batman: The Animated Series, and that’s particularly acute in the superlative scenes where the Gargoyles awaken from their slumber, flanked by cloudy skies and moonlight. The animation is striking and the score throughout the show helps add to the tension and momentousness of it all. There’s warmth in the reunion of the surviving Gargoyles as well, providing a counterpoint to Goliath’s crestfallen resignation to suffering the same fate as his comrades.
This episode also introduces Xanatos, a character I know enough about by reputation not to trust. But with Jonathan Frakes voicing him, the character does come off convincing and persuasive. He’s got that “Help me help you” manipulative corporate tone down pat, and his pitch to Goliath that they could help one another has an allure. That said, I appreciate that after all he’s been through, Goliath’s discovered a Demona-like mistrust of humans. The show earns that through its storytelling over these two episodes, and his perspective is more piercing because of it.
The only part of this that washed off me was the action. To be fair, it takes some really well done action to truly catch my eye, but there wasn’t much exciting about watching the Gargoyles taking on some generic 1990s body armored mercs. There’s some juice to the team not knowing what to do with modern weapons like grenades and the like, but for the most part, the heist and combat routine feels like filler.
All-in-all, though, I’m still enjoying the setup here, with the character development for Goliath in particular remaining a highlight, as Gargoyles starts to bring its premise into focus.