Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Awakening Part 3

Welcome back to Gargoyles everybody. As you may recall, last time, the Gargoyles were revived in New York City thanks to Billionaire David Xanatos spreading around enough simoleons to move an ancient and supposedly haunted medieval castle to the top of his skyscraper because penthouses are for the weak and unimaginative. Anywho, shortly after fulfilling a prophecy to acquire his own personal army of mythical beasts, or as Xanatos calls it, Friday, the place is robbed by some high-tech thugs and Xanatos fights them off with a laser beam and his Gargoyle friends. This is also Friday.

We open with Detective Elisa Maza investigating the disturbance, Xanatos’s assistant Owen stonewalling her with a poker face that would make Lady Gaga fold her cards and run away screaming. Elisa, who didn’t get to be a New York City Detective by being stupid, knows Automatic Weapons when she hears them and isn’t buying Owen’s story about a generator explosion for a second. Xanatos himself steps in and gives a more accurate account of events, though obviously leaving out the part about the thousand-year-old Gargoyles. Not because he doesn’t think anyone will believe him, no, any man who will sink Billions into sticking a medieval castle on top of a New York Skyscraper on a whim has long past the point of caring if people think he’s crazy. Xanatos has just never been one to share his stuff, and that includes the winged monsters that came with the castle. (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) Elisa buys his story but is more than a bit put off by Xanatos’s arrogance, especially when he compares someone stealing his tech to a foreign invasion. That’s absolutely ridiculous, Xanatos has more money than most governments. Meanwhile, we get the prerequisite fish out of water montage of our heroes interacting with 20th century things and not understanding them. It’s cliché, but but it doesn’t last too long, and the bit where Broadway gets locked in the freezer was kind of funny. Elisa is shown out of the Castle, but catches a brief glimpse of one of The Gargoyles and decides that she needs to fnd out exactly what’s going on in here. Venturing deeper into the castle, the very spooky castle I might add, Elisa runs into Bronx. Presumably having seen Ghostbuster and not wanting to get possessed by Zuul, Elisa pulls out her gun only to have it destroyed by Goliath. Terrified, Elisa backs away only to fall off the side of the building. Goliath saves her from winding up Street Pizza and introduces himself.

“My Kind have no Names. But you Humans call me, Goliath.”

When Elisa asks if there are more like him, Goliath, in an excellent line read by Keith David, responds “Barely.” It’s also here where we learn that Gargoyles can’t actually fly. Their wings instead function much like hang gliders allowing them to glide on currents of wind, however, since there aren’t any currents strong enough to bring them to the top of the building, Goliath will have to give Elisa a Piggyback ride as he climbs up the side. Once they reach the top both have questions about the other so Elisa explains her purpose at the castle and Goliath explains the backstory of him and his clan. Speaking of, the others arrive and introduce themselves to Elisa, who tries to explain some of the nuances of the 20th century. Sensing that dawn is approaching, Goliath tells Elisa to leave but agrees to meet with her the following night, Elisa having offered to act as the Gargoyles guide to New York City.

However, before the sun comes up, Goliath is called into Xanatos’s office. It seems that the bad guys stole three discs from the tower. Xanatos explains the concept to Goliath by likening the discs to magic talismans containing hundreds of spells. Whatever is on those discs, it’s vitally important that Xanatos get them back, and he can’t go to the police given what could happen if the world at large learned of the existence of Gargoyles, so Xanatos is requesting Goliath and his clan help steal back the discs. We also learn that the thugs were hired by a rival company called Cyberbiotics and are keeping the discs in three separate locations, a private island, an underground base and an air fortress because apparently Xantatos is not the only multi-billionaire in New York who lives it up like a super-villain. Goliath is unwilling to risk the lives of his remaining clan, but Xanatos asks that he think it over. After Goliath leaves, a shadowy figure confronts Xanatos, but Xanatos reassures them that everything is going according to plan. That’s David Xanatos for you, always ten steps ahead of everyone, sometimes even himself.

That night after another kickass sequence of The Gargoyles waking up, Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway decide to go exploring the city to learn about their new surroundings while Goliath goes to meet with Elisa. Hudson following along to make sure it’s not an ambush. Elisa decides that she needs to call this other Gargoyle something, and despite his annoyance over the human obsession with naming things, he eventually gives in and takes the name of the nearby river, hence, Hudson. Goliath agrees to take Elisa gliding and the two briefly share a flirty glance. The judgmental look from Hudson soon after got a huge laugh out of me. Knowing Goliath is safe Hudson returns to the castle to keep it safe and also have a brief fight with a reclining chair. Over the course of the tour, Goliath is mystified by the marvel that is New York City, Elisa remarking that while she’s used to it, New York is pretty impressive to an “out of towner” as she puts it. Over the course of their tour, Goliath assists Elisa in stopping a mugging. One of the mugging victims is also played by Marina Sirtis, take a shot. Elisa leads the muggers into an alley where Goliath is waiting for them. You have to admire the balls on this one guy. He sees a seven-and-a-half-foot tall purple monster with wings, claws, fangs and the muscular build of two Scott Steiners glued together, and instead of shitting himself and running for the hills like a normal person, he just charges at him with a lead pipe. I think we just found the man who coined the term “Yolo.” Courage is not rewarded in this case however as Goliath makes quick work of the thugs, Elisa suggesting his protection may do the city some good.

Meanwhile, the trio are having a blast discovering the wonders of the city, Lexington in particular finding himself fascinated with modern day technology. Speaking of, Lex spots a nearby Motorcycle and goes in for a closer look, inadvertently scaring the rider off the bike. Lex then tries to take a joyride and ends up crashing the thing into a wall and causing an explosion, Brookyln comically stating that they probably shouldn’t tell Goliath.

Back with Elisa and Goliath, the two are strolling through central park and appear to be bonding. However, the bonding doesn’t last as Goliath is hit with a tranquilizer dart and the pair are surrounded by the goons who attacked the castle last episode.

This episode’s primary purpose is to establish Elisa as a character. She’s quick, adaptable and a great guide for the Gargoyles as they adapt to their new surroundings. The chemistry between herself and Goliath is already on display and it will only develop further as the series goes on. This episode also has a few nice tidbits like the revelation that Gargoyles can’t actually fly and Hudson finally getting his name. There’s also mystery with Xanatos’s mysterious partner, or at least there WOULD be if we couldn’t clearly see that it’s Demona! More on that tomorrow I guess.