Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Revelations

Welcome back to another exciting episode of Gargoyles

Our episode opens with a very frustrated Goliath falling into a room full of booby traps while a mysterious voice taunts him over an intercom. As Goliath is about to be turned into Gargoyle hash courtesy of a giant spinning Ginsu machine, we see that our hero is being watched from a control room by a sinister looking old geezer. No, not Halcyon Renard, though I see why you’d think that, the man looks like freaking Dracula, it’s a different sinister looking old geezer. Joining the geezer is none other than Matt Bluestone. Wait, what the hell is Bluestone doing there? Well, he seems to be wondering the same thing, or at least that’s what Matt’s internal monologue tells us.

We flash back to a couple days ago where Matt is meeting with his old FBI partner, Agent Martin Hacker, whom we’d previously met in The Silver Falcon. Like in that episode, it seems that Matt has enlisted Hacker to look into a lead on the Illuminati for him. Hacker thinks Matt is crazy to even still be looking for the Illuminati since that’s what got him kicked out of the FBI, but Matt is insistent so Martin shares what he’s found. Unfortunately, following up on this new lead will have to wait since it’s almost time for him to go on shift. At the precinct, Matt is waiting for Elisa but she’s nowhere to be found. Matt finds Elisa clearly having just come from a visit with the Gargoyles. When Matt asks where she was, Elisa makes up a lame excuse about a flood in the ladies room. Through Matt’s narration, we learn that he knows she’s lying. Elisa passes on checking out the lead, since she doesn’t believe the Illuminati exists any more than anyone else who Matt has shared his theories with. Okay, seriously, Elisa, your best friend is a seven-and-a-half-foot tall winged purple monster and in the time that you’ve known each other you’ve fought undead cyborgs, immortal Scotsmen and werewolves. You’ve been turned into a Gargoyle yourself, you’ve seen your brother mutated into and electric tiger monster and most recently, you were affected by a magical spell than turned the entire island of Manhattan to stone. So, I ask you, is the idea of the Illuminati Society really that hard to believe?

Anyway, Matt follows up on the lead that Hacker looked into for him. I guess Mace Malone, the gangster who Matt was investigating back in The Silver Falcon, has a stepson in witness protection. Matt talks to the Stepson, Jack, at a health club and we quickly learn that that Jack doesn’t really hold his stepfather in particularly high regard, calling Mace a bum every chance he gets. By the way, old Jack here is voiced by Ed Asner who also provides the voice of Hudson. That’s not terribly important, I just felt like pointing it out. Anywho, Matt shows Jack a picture of someone who looks like Mace Malone attending his mother’s funeral and Jack confirms his identity and tells him where he can find his mother’s grave.

Later on, Matt, having grown suspicious of Elisa, has made his way up to the Clocktower. It’s not dusk quite yet so no Gargoyles, but Matt is still annoyed to discover his partner’s clearly been hiding something. Elisa tries to convince Matt that this place is actually her secret hideaway, but Matt’s not buying it. However, the sun’s about to go down so Elisa rushes Matt down the stairs. Anywho, Matt tells Elisa that, after investigating the cemetery that Mace’s ex-wife was buried in, he’s learned that someone leaves a flower on her grave every Thursday. It’s a long shot, but Matt thinks it’s worth checking out.

At the cemetery, we see the same sinister looking geezer we saw at the beginning leaving a rose on a grave, and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is Mace Malone. Matt confronts Mace and even shows that he’s figured out his connection with the Illuminati Society. It seems Mace acted as the major connection between the secret society and the world of organized crime. I should mention that Mace here is voiced by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. That’s probably not a name you’ll recognize right away, but if you imagine Mace with an English accent, you may recognize the voice as that of Alfred Pennyworth from Batman the Animated Series. Anywho, Mace denies Matt’s accusations at first, but when Matt points out Mace’s Illuminati tattoo, it’s clear that Matt’s got him dead to rights, causing Mace to smile. It turns out the Illuminati has been aware of Matt for a while now and has been impressed by his perseverance despite all the roadblocks they’ve put in his path. Mace says that the society is even willing to offer Matt membership, provided he passes a test. And, as a show of good faith, Mace even shares a bit of information with Matt, information courtesy of David Xanatos, one of their lower echelon members. By the way, I can’t help but laugh at the slightly condescending tone in Mace’s voice when he refers to Xanatos as one of their low tier members. Yeah, whatever you say Mace. I’m sure if Xanatos saw your little secret club as anything other than a means to an end, he’d be running the whole operation by the end of the month and your old ass would be in a dungeon somewhere where you’ll be used to test a magic potion that’s supposed to grant immortality but will actually turn you into a tree or something. But Xanatos isn’t what’s important right now. What is important is the fact that the information pertains to Elisa and her connection to the Gargoyles, confirming Matt’s suspicions that his partner has been lying to him.

That night, Elisa and Matt are on shift together and Matt insists on driving. Matt’s feeling hurt, betrayed and angry at Elisa’s deception, so he’s clearly not in his right mind when he floors it like a maniac along the side of a cliff. As the car is careening out of control, Matt says that this is the end of all the lies. Either her Gargoyles come and save her or they both die. It’s a bit extreme, but it does get the point across that Matt is pissed about being lied to. Elisa manages to wrestle control of the car away from her crazy and stressed out partner but Matt still wants Elisa to tell him the truth, yelling at the sky demanding that the Gargoyles show themselves. When he gets no response, Matt finally calms down and thinks that this is the part where Elisa tells him he’s acting like a nutcase. However, Elisa, clearly seeing that Matt feels hurt, comes clean and even arranges a meeting for Matt with the Gargoyles the following evening. That day, Matt meets with Mace again to tell him that his information was accurate and he’s decided to take the Illuminati up on their offer. Mace hands Matt a key and says that all Matt has to do is bring them a live Gargoyle and he’s in. That evening, Elisa takes Matt up to the Clocktower where The Gargoyles are just waking up. The Gargoyles seem happy that Elisa’s finally seen fit to bring her partner in on the secret. As the Gargoyles fill Matt in on their story. Matt agrees to keep the Gargoyles’ secret in exchange for a favor from Goliath. Goliath doesn’t believe that trust is a commodity to be bartered for, but still agrees to hear Matt out. According to Matt, It seems that Mace Malone had an office in an abandoned hotel. All the street level entrances are sealed off, but with Goliath’s help, Matt may be able to enter through the roof. Elisa wants to come along, but Matt insists that he and Goliath go alone.

When they reach the hotel, Mace presses a button and Goliath and Matt fall down separate chutes. Goliath’s chute leads him to the room full of booby traps we saw at the beginning while Matt ends up at the control room door, claiming he lost the key Mace gave him while his was falling. Good thing he didn’t fall down the wrong chute as those keys are the only way to safely navigate this place. As we pick up where we left off at the beginning, we’re properly introduced to The Hotel Cabal, one of the coolest concepts this show has ever presented (even if they did get the idea from an old British spy show). Essentially, the hotel is a very unique type of torture device. Each room is filled with booby traps, dead ends and false exits. The idea is to have the “guest” wander the hotel for however long it takes for their mind to finally break (provided they survive of course). When and if their mind eventually does break, they’ll spill all of their secrets to the Illuminati. Very cool. Anywho, Goliath is tougher than the average guest of The Hotel Cabal and manages to muscle his way through most of the traps, but he still has no hope of escaping without a key. While explaining things to Matt, Mace looks away from the monitor for a brief second only to find that Goliath has disappeared. Mace looks through the security cameras in the adjoining rooms and, hold up, there’s a room full of sharks in this hotel!? Aw man, why couldn’t we see Goliath in the shark room!? I wanna see a Gargoyle wrestle a shark god dammit!! Anywho, an alarm goes off and we see that Goliath has been moving safely from room to room. That can mean only one thing, he must have picked up Matt’s key. Well, Mace has officially lost control of the situation, so there’s only one thing to do, grab a rifle and blow Goliath to kingdom come. Sure, the Illuminati won’t be happy about Mace wasting a Gargoyle, but any reprimanding he’ll face for it will be nothing compared to what the society will do to him if he allows someone to escape The Hotel Cabal. Mace manages to find Goliath climbing up an elevator shaft and takes aim at him through a one-way mirror. However, Matt reveals that he’s been playing Mace the entire time and that he gave Goliath his key before they got there. Matt tackles Mace through the mirror and both fall, Mace not noticing that he dropped his key down the shaft. Goliath saves Matt and Mace climbs back up to shake his fist at them before being doomed to a fate of wandering the halls of a booby-trapped hotel until he either dies or goes insane.

Back at the Clocktower, the sun comes up, the Gargoyles turn to stone and Matt has evidently earned Goliath’s trust. As he and Elisa make their way back down to the station, Matt asks Elisa why he kept this secret for so long. It turns out that it was never because she didn’t trust Matt. Having the Gargoyles in her life made Elisa feel special, and while it may seem petty, she wasn’t willing to share that with anyone else just yet. Matt understands. Back when he was at the bureau, his obsession with the Illuminati caused people to think he was a nutcase, but at least he stood out because of it. As Matt leaves the precinct, he runs into Martin Hacker again. Turns out Hacker knows all about Matt’s little adventure last night, revealing that he’s been with the Illuminati all along. Since his days at the bureau, any time Matt got close to the truth it was Hacker’s job to send him off on a wild goose chase. Hacker believed that the stepson connection was exactly that and had no idea it would actually lead Matt to Mace. Matt’s about ready to knock Hacker flat on his ass, but Hacker only tells him that he’s passed the test and gives Matt an Illuminati pin, signifying that he’s earned his membership. Matt vows that the he’ll expose the society one day as Hacker walks off.

This episode holds a very special place in my heart, mostly due to how cool a concept I find The Hotel Cabal to be. Something about an old hotel that’s actually a maze designed to break your sanity is just incredibly cool to me. I remember when I re-watched this episode while I was in college. At the time, I had a couple classes in an old arts building. The layout of the place was so confusing that at times it felt like a maze, so I nicknamed it The Hotel Cabal. I also really appreciated Matt Bluestone getting his own episode. While he’s a bit obsessive, he has proven himself over time to be a loyal partner and a good cop, so I’m glad Elisa finally brought him into the fold. Seeing things from his perspective was something unique for the show and I enjoyed it a great deal. Anyway, enough of all that, I have a very special announcement to make. Tomorrow, we’ll be covering Double Jeopardy, my Favorite Episode of Gargoyles! Join me tomorrow, it’s going to be a good one.