[7.3/10] Half of “Temptation” is great. THe episode sets up Demona as the devil on Brooklyn’s shoulder well. After an experience where humans reflexively hate him for what he is, not who he is, she guides him on a tour of the worst of humanity. She hints she’s had more time to observe humans that Brooklyn has, pointing to our cruelty both personal and societal, to suggest we’re not worth saving or protecting. She claims to want to help Goliath see the light, and in a nice bit of continuity, even points to Lexington’s experiences in the last episode. It’s a compelling pitch, one bolstered by her willingness to save Brooklyn's life from a biker gang.
In truth, it made me think that Gargoyles was leaning into the complexity of its characters’ perspectives again. There’s a fair case to be made for the human ills Demona points to. Grappling with that, with the flaws of modern society (or the modernity of 1994 at least) would give the show plenty of room to contend with the best and worst of our community.
But from there, the episode turns into a pretty standard villainous trick story. Demona obviously didn’t want to help Goliath, but instead turn him into her slave with a magic spell. The ensuing, inevitable fight between her, Goliath, and Brooklyn is perfectly fine, but also pretty generic. The cool dark styling of the series and the fantastic score help heighten these moments, but without much in the way of character stakes, they can only do so much.
Narratively, Brooklyn also trusts Demona rather quickly for someone who previously tried to kill him, and buys her lines a little too easily. So that complexity just gets flattened as soon as Demona’s speech is over, and suddenly we’re just in rough-and-tumble comic book land. There’s some mild cleverness to Elisa solving the mind control spell by using it to order Goliath not to be under mind control anymore, but it’s thin gruel, plot-wise. For that matter, Brooklyn’s new motorcycle and outfit scans as a little too toyetic for my tastes (though it’s worth a solid laugh line at the end of the episode when he tells Lexington it blew up).
There is the slightest thematic meat in the finish, with Brooklyn learning that Gargoyles can be just as duplicitous and vicious as humans, and in Elisa’s solution and Goliath’s forgiveness, both can be just as resourceful and gracious. This episode just finds itself struggling to match the complexity and intrigue of its strongest stretch, leaving the rest of the episode wanting by comparison.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-21T23:08:53Z
[7.3/10] Half of “Temptation” is great. THe episode sets up Demona as the devil on Brooklyn’s shoulder well. After an experience where humans reflexively hate him for what he is, not who he is, she guides him on a tour of the worst of humanity. She hints she’s had more time to observe humans that Brooklyn has, pointing to our cruelty both personal and societal, to suggest we’re not worth saving or protecting. She claims to want to help Goliath see the light, and in a nice bit of continuity, even points to Lexington’s experiences in the last episode. It’s a compelling pitch, one bolstered by her willingness to save Brooklyn's life from a biker gang.
In truth, it made me think that Gargoyles was leaning into the complexity of its characters’ perspectives again. There’s a fair case to be made for the human ills Demona points to. Grappling with that, with the flaws of modern society (or the modernity of 1994 at least) would give the show plenty of room to contend with the best and worst of our community.
But from there, the episode turns into a pretty standard villainous trick story. Demona obviously didn’t want to help Goliath, but instead turn him into her slave with a magic spell. The ensuing, inevitable fight between her, Goliath, and Brooklyn is perfectly fine, but also pretty generic. The cool dark styling of the series and the fantastic score help heighten these moments, but without much in the way of character stakes, they can only do so much.
Narratively, Brooklyn also trusts Demona rather quickly for someone who previously tried to kill him, and buys her lines a little too easily. So that complexity just gets flattened as soon as Demona’s speech is over, and suddenly we’re just in rough-and-tumble comic book land. There’s some mild cleverness to Elisa solving the mind control spell by using it to order Goliath not to be under mind control anymore, but it’s thin gruel, plot-wise. For that matter, Brooklyn’s new motorcycle and outfit scans as a little too toyetic for my tastes (though it’s worth a solid laugh line at the end of the episode when he tells Lexington it blew up).
There is the slightest thematic meat in the finish, with Brooklyn learning that Gargoyles can be just as duplicitous and vicious as humans, and in Elisa’s solution and Goliath’s forgiveness, both can be just as resourceful and gracious. This episode just finds itself struggling to match the complexity and intrigue of its strongest stretch, leaving the rest of the episode wanting by comparison.