Wes's Guide to Gargoyles: Hunter's Moon Part 1

It is with both great excitement and a very heavy heart that I welcome you to Hunter’s Moon, the start of our three-part Gargoyles series finale.

Our episode opens up to a Flashback to Scotland 994 A.D. shortly after the massacre at Castle Wyvern. We see the same scene from City of Stone where Demona(Marina Sirtis, Take a Shot) slashed the face of young Gillecomgain. However, this time around, we see a little more after Demona leaves. Apparently Gillecomgain’s dad was kind of a dick and yelled at him for crying. Gillecomgain says that Demona was like a Demon, and that she and all her kind will pay for what they did. There you have it folks, scratch one child and they’ll grow up to become some twisted combination of Hitler and Deathstroke.

We cut to modern day where Elisa, undercover in her “Sally” disguise, is accosted by some particularly creepy street thugs. Elisa eludes them by jumping onto the subway train. The thugs follow her on to the train, but the Gargoyles arrive, making an especially cool entrance, and make quick work of the bad guys. Unfortunately, the others on the train seem to be more afraid of the Gargoyles than they were of the thugs. Looks like our heroes use some help in the PR department. In any case, Goliath and Elisa share a loving embrace as the clan flies back to the Clocktower, everyone agreeing that the life they’re living is a good one. Uh oh, everyone knows that that’s code for “Shit’s about to go down.”

At the precinct, Elisa has received new orders from Captain Chavez. Apparently, Elisa’s been assigned a temporary new partner who has just transferred to New York in the hopes that she’ll show him the ropes. Elisa is totally against this idea until she’s introduced to her new partner, Hottie McSexypants, I mean, Jason Conover, Jason Conover is what I said. Elisa and her new partner go out on patrol and they seem to immediately hit it off. Jason is very curious about some of the urban legends of New York like alligators in the sewers and such. However, when asked where he came from, Jason is intentionally vague about it. Well, that’s a crimson red flag if ever I saw one. Anywho, Elisa and Jason are called to a break-in at a Xanatos warehouse where some thugs in ski-masks are stealing some kind of chemical. A high-speed chase ensues until Jason reveals himself to be quite the crack shot, shooting out the thieves’ tires and cornering them in central park. As the bad guys are hauled away Jason and Elisa jokingly refer to each other as “Bonnie” and “Clyde” respectively before Jason offers to buy Elisa a cup of coffee. Oh good lord, they’ve known each other for two hours and they already have pet names, and cute ones at that.

Elsewhere, a woman named Robyn Corey is being interviewed for a personal assistant job by a Ms. Dominique Destine of Night Stone Unlimited. If you were paying attention during Sanctuary, or just paying attention to Ms. Destine’s voice, you’ll recall that this “Dominique Destine” is the false name used by Demona for her human persona, kinda like her Clark Kent. Seems that the scheme to start up her own company back in Santcuary was one that Demona actually followed through on. We also learn here that Demona is the one behind the heist on Xanatos’s warehouse as one of the thieves bursts in telling her they were unable to get the chemical, DI-7. Demona is ready to rip this guy a new asshole, but since the sun is about to go down, Demona, not wanting to blow her cover, simply tells him to get out before she transforms into her Gargoyle form.

Over at the Castle, Matt Bluestone, investigating the robbery, is questioning Xanatos (Jonathan Frakes, Take a Shot) about the chemical that was almost stolen. We also get an absolutely adorable scene of Xanatos playing with baby Alex. It seems that David has really taken to fatherhood and this scene just melts my heart. According to Xanatos, DI-7 is little more than an extremely potent disinfectant, not exactly something worth stealing unless you have an exceptionally dirty house to clean. Yeah… hey uh… Xanatos, any idea where I could score some of that? Bluestone doesn’t believe that Xanatos is telling the whole truth and tells him that if he finds out there’s more going on, he’ll be back. This leads to Xanatos asking baby Alex if he can say “harassment.” Awww, isn’t that cute? I really hope that a rogue computer program that thinks its Baby Alex’s father controlled by an embittered Gargoyle Cyborg doesn't kill him in forty years. That would suck.

At the Clocktower, our heroes awaken from the Stone sleep and Elisa is there to greet them. Elisa tells the story of her adventure with her new partner. It’s clear that Elisa is quite enamored with Jason much to Goliath’s visible jealousy. However, the real point here is that whoever hit Xanatos’s warehouse is likely to do so again. The Gargoyles split up and stake out the two locations where Xanatos is keeping the DI-7.

Back with Xanatos, a reporter named John Carter has arrived to conduct an interview with Xanatos about how dope it is to own a castle on top of a skyscraper. Frankly, I’m shocked that this is the first one we’ve seen. However, Mr. Carter seems particularly curious about Gargoyles and the supposed sightings thereof throughout the city. Xanatos doesn’t show his hand, but it’s clear that he’s not buying Carter’s bullshit for a second. Once Mr. Carter has left, Xanatos checks his security footage to see that Carter picked up a piece of Stone Gargoyle skin, likely left behind by the Gargoyles when they were still living there? Um… does this mean Xanatos doesn’t have a janitorial staff for the Castle? Xanatos is a man who likely takes pride in his status symbols so I find it rather hard to believe that he doesn’t keep the place spick and span. Is this why Xanatos needs all that industrial strength disinfectant? Anywho, Xanatos is concerned that Mr. Carter may pose a problem for our friend Goliath.

Speaking of Goliath, he, Angela and Hudson are busy staking out one of Xanatos’s warehouses. What they find is something a lot worse than thugs in ski masks, but rather, a massive airship containing three nasty looking customers wearing the Hunter’s iconic slash mark mask. I’m going to be honest, the hunters here are actually kind of cool, but I absolutely hate these outfits. I mean, Jesus Fucking Shoulder Pads, these guys look like they just walked out of a bad 90’s comic, what with the excessive pouches and the gaudy color scheme. Who’s their tailor, Rob Liefeld? Whatever, the Hunters seem to have mistaken Angela for someone called “The Demon” (no points for guessing who that is) and seem surprised to see her accompanied by two other Gargoyles. Well, in any case, the Hunters attack and a sweet battle ensues. The Hunters seem to possess a wide variety of weapons including net guns, exploding boomerangs and a cool robot falcon. One of the Hunters blasts Angela with a powerful electrical net and causes her to fall off a building. The hunters retreat, realizing that they haven’t found the one they’re looking for but still satisfied at having taken out Angela. Seems these guys have a strict “The Only Good Gargoyle is a Dead Gargoyle” policy.

Elsewhere, Brooklyn and the others are staking out the other warehouse which is soon robbed by Demona. I guess if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. Three young Gargoyles try to take her on, but Demona is packing some serious heat. Brooklyn and Demona go at it one on one for a while until a fire breaks out and the building goes up in flames, our heroes barely escaping and Demona getting away with the DI-7. Our episode ends with our heroes regrouping at the Clocktower and Angela still in really rough shape. With dawn hours away, it’s looking like she might not make it and so Goliath swears to make the Hunters pay with their lives for what they’ve done.

As per the norm for multi-parters, we’ll be saving the analysis until the end. Join me next time for Part 2 of Hunters Moon.