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The Silver Falcon
Synopsis | Review by Juan F. Lara | Review by Todd Jensen
Overview
- Broadway loves gangster movies
- Matt dissappeared, and Elisa goes to search him
- Broadway follows Elisa, trying to help her
- Broadway shows that he learned how to read by deciphering a note that leads him to Elisa after she has met Tony Dracon
- When stopping Tony Dracon from escaping, Broadway again proves that he likes gangster films by actually re-playing a scene he just viewed the night before, word by word
Synopsis
by Niki Boultinghouse
Act I
In a dark alley, Elisa Maza's Partner, Matt Bluestone, opens a padlock with a key. As he walks in, a bright light floods the entire area. Anthony Dracon steps out of the blinding light.
Gunfire. Broadway is watching an old gangster movie at Elisa's apartment. He recites it, word for word, as the villian is caught and brought to justice by the hero. Elisa is talking on the phone with her boss, Chavez, about the disappearance of Matt, who Elisa thinks has taken a bit of personal time to search for UFO's. Convinced that Matt is not playing around, Chavez asks Elisa to go check on him. Elisa agrees and heads out. Broadway meets her by the door, confirming Matt's disappearance. Elisa tells him that the way he was absorbed in the T.V. she didn't think he could hear her. He tells her that ears like his don't miss too much. As she leaves she suggests that Broadway go back to the tower to watch a movie. He says that Brooklyn and Lex have dibs that night, and clearing his throat cautiously, he asks if he can go with Elisa to check on Matt. She laughs and says she does not need two partners to worry about, and for him to go home.
At Matt's apartment, someone is going through his things. Outside the window, Broadway waits in a trenchcoat, ready for action. Elisa knocks on the door, calling for Matt. The invader turns toward the door, aiming straight at whoever might come in. Elisa checks above the door sill and finds a key, and starts to open the door. Seeing the danger to Elisa, Broadway breaks in, picking up the thief before he can shoot. Just as Elisa opens the door, she see's a figure speeding toward her and ducks. She stands up, watches the man in the hall as he leaps up and runs, then draws her gun. Broadway jumps in her line of fire, telling her he has her "covered', and chases after him. Obviously fuming, Elisa follows. The man barely gets inside the elevator before Broadway gets to him, and is on his down when he hears and see's the gargoyle land on the top of the box. Ripping the top off, Broadway reaches down and grabs him, then tosses him up and out, causing Elisa to duck again. He comes out of the elevator shaft, and Elisa angrily tells him to pick the man up and follow her. Back in the apartment, Elisa removes the man's mask. Seeing it is no one she knows, she bets he is a pro, and takes a slip of paper out of his jacket. She finds that it is from Matt's calender on the desk, and continues searching for any further clues. Broadway suggests that they may find something on the computer, and reaches to turn it on. The thief shouts "Don't!" but is too late. Broadway picks up Elisa and the man and leaps out, just as the computer explodes, destroying the apartment. Broadway rolls over the edge and grabs the side. Elisa helps him climb back up, but when they look around for the man, he is gone. Elisa tells Broadway to go home, then reads the note off Matt's calender. It says "Hacker--10pm--Cleopatra's Needle". Elisa checks her watch and sees that she has just enough time to make it. Broadway again insists on going, but as before, Elisa tells him to go home. He apologizes for the bomb, tells her that it proves how dangerous the case is. She tells him that it is no place for amatures, and he tells her that the "pro" had worked alone and it was nearly fatal for him. Elisa seems to finally agree.
At Cleopatra's needle, Elisa meets Hacker. Surprised, she learns that he was Matt's old FBI partner, who was helping Matt out by tracing a note, for old time's sake. He tells Elisa that Matt's "obsessions" with the Illuminati cost him his FBI job; and that Matt believed that the note he gave him was linked to them. Elisa informs him that Matt has disappeared. The note he authenticated for Matt is from the 1920's, and is for a D.D., and written by a Mace Malone. In the shadows, several figures appear, watching the conference from afar. Elisa reads the note, saying that Mace was "enjoying" the silver falcon. Neither Elisa nor Hacker know anything about the note, Mace, or D.D., so Elisa decides to check out the 70 year old address for any leads. Hacker offers his help, but Elisa refuses. As Hacker leaves, Elisa is approached by the men in the shadows. The leader, the thief in Matt's apartment, says "Payback time" and pulls a gun on her.
Act II
Elisa shouts for Broadway, "Now Broadway, now!" and he immediately responds. Two of the men are knocked down by Broadway and one runs. Elisa stops him and he throws his gun to the ground. Still playing out his movie fantasy, Broadway picks the two on the ground up, and says dramaticly "Go ahead boys, knock yourselves out!" as he hits their heads together. Behind him, a car speeds around the corner. Elisa watches as the car slows enough to pick up her man, and then shouts at Broadway to look out. He see's the car coming toward him, and leaps up, ripping the coat to let his wings through. He lands safely, and asks Elisa how they are doing. She says "Not to hot..." and tells him that their "friends" might have overheard enough to get to the address first.
G.F. Benton C.P.A. 45-D - The address on the note had not yet been approached by the enemy. Elisa knocks on the door and an old man answers. Thinking her to be a customer, he tells her to come back, but she shows her badge and asks to come in. He lets her in, and when she asks his if he knows the apartment's history, he says he does and that he is a "Mace" buff. As Elisa looks thoughtfully out the window, he mentions that another redheaded young man had come in the night before asking the same questions she was. Anxiously, she asks if his name was Matt Bluestone. He says it was. Elisa picks up a picture and looks at it. The old man tells her that it is a picture of Mace and someone unidentified. Elisa sees the initials D.D. on the man's lapel, and asks where the photo was taken. He tells her that it was taken at the Silver Falcon Night Club, which was torn down long ago. She grabs the man's coat and shoves him out the door. He asks what is going on, and she hurls a list of things for him to do, including getting out of the apartment, and calling her chief for backup for her. He simply looks after her and waves.
At the once successful night club, Elisa and Broadway come to the same door Matt had. Broadway easily tears the padlock off the door and they go in. They see Glasses, who Elisa reminds Broadway is Dracon's right hand man. At the mention of Dracon, Broadway grows angry. Elisa hushes him and they keep watching. They see Matt tied in a chair off to the side, blindfolded. They don't notice Glasses whisper to the other two men that their "...overdue guests..." have arrived. The three men turn and set off a bomb above Broadway and Elisa, burying them in debris. Inside, Elisa coughs and hopes that Broadway's strong claws can get them out. He answers that that is not likely. As he holds up the pile of wood and dirt above them, Elisa turns and sees he has turned to stone.
Act III
Elisa apologizes to the statue as she knocks down extra debris to help cover him throughout the day. She then starts to dig her way out. Glasses tells Matt how they were ordered to bury his partner with the note when she inevitably arrived, and that they had done so. Undaunted, he tells Glasses that he has a flaw in his plan, that Elisa might not have the note at all. Momentarily worried, he thinks about it. Before he can get too concerned, Elisa struggles free. Glasses pulls her out, and takes the note out of her jacket, tearing it up. Anthony Dracon arrives and tells the men to get busy digging into the club's underground safe. As they do so, Matt mocks Dracon, asking him if he will come out ahead with the expense of blowing open the safe. Dracon tells Matt that the "uncut stones" in the safe that his grandfather and Mace stole are worth millions. Matt explains to Elisa about D.D., Dominic Dracon, Anthony's grandfather, and the jewel heist they pulled. He also tells her how he came across the letter from Mace to D.D. in Dracon's files, and how he thought it implied the Illuminati. He apologizes for not bringing her on on it, and she tells him that things like that happen, thinking of her own secrets. When Dracon's men reach the safe, they blow it open. Inside, Dracon picks up a note. It reads "Right idea, wrong falcon -Mace". He gets angry, but Elisa tells him that she knows where the jewels are, and for an even exchange, she and Matt's freedom, she will take him to them. Curious and out of options, Tony agrees. Elisa says to avoid suspicion, they will wait until dark, and they leave.
At dusk, Broadway again comes to life. He climbs out of the hole, and looks around for Elisa. Not seeing her, he gets worried. He finds the crumpled note from Mace on the ground and picks it up. Showing that he has been learning to read since the encounter with Merlin's scrolls (cf. Lighthouse in the Sea of Time) he struggles to sound out the words. He finally grasps it, "Right idea, wrong falcon" and heads out to find Elisa.
In Dracon's helicopter, Matt tells Elisa that even if they deliver, Dracon will not let them go. She agrees, and tells him she called for backup, silently hoping to herself that Broadway finds them. Elisa and Tony jump out of the helicopter onto the building Elisa took them to. She crawls out on a ledge and asks Tony what he sees. He says he see's Mace's apartment in the building not far away. She tells him that Mace had an incredible view,that if he looked out from the window, he might see what Mace saw, a falcon. She tells him that she had checked it out herself, seeing skyscrapers and a few gargoyles, and a huge figure of the falcon head that she was now edging out on. She leans over and pulls a bag out of the mouth. Dracon tells her to trust him and reaches out to her. "Trust you?" she asks sarcasticly. He asks what other options she might have, and in seeing Broadway below her, she jumps. Not knowing about Broadway, Dracon angrily goes back to the helicopter, saying to himself that they might be able to get some of the jewels off the street. From the ledge they are standing on, Broadway beams to Elisa that he figured it out, and Elisa tells him that she knew he could do it. She tells him to follow the chopper to help Matt and then climbs back upward to the falcon. When the helicopter lands, Dracon gets out and runs, and Matt knocks his other captor out, revenging his apartment. Dracon runs into an alley, only to meet Broadway. Swinging down on a fire escape, knocking down Dracon just like in the movie he had been watching the night before, Broadway plays out the rest of the scene. He pokes at Dracon, while he gives his "gangster" speech, then throws him down, knocking him out. Back on the building, Elisa is nearly over the railing when someone grabs her hand. It is Benton, the old man in Mace's old apartment. Not fooled at all, Elisa greets him "Hello Dominic!" Still holding her, he asks how long she had known, and she replies ever since Tony buried her, as he had been the only one who knew she was going there. Dominic explains his grandson's plan to get the remaining jewels from the safe after his own repeated failures. He reaches for the bag, but Elisa throws it out on the falcon. He crawls out to it while Elisa climbs safely over the railing. He gets to the bag and opens it. Inside are marbles, and another note from Mace. "Dominic, seems you still haven't learned that crime doesn't pay." it says. Elisa walks out to Dominic, and helps him up and back to the rail.
Elisa and Matt watch as The Dracons are taken away. Matt says Elisa pulled it off, and she says that THEY pulled it off. She looks up at the grinning gargoyle above her, and adds "partner".
Review
by Juan F. Lara
Wow, it looked like the creators were anticipating people getting tired at some of the formulaic elements of the series by now. :-) Excellent episode!
MAJOR SPOILER WARNING (This is a suspenseful episode with many plot twists that viewers should not know beforehand. So I strongly recommend for people not to read this review until they've seen the episode.)
Good Points
They featured only one Gargoyle here. I immediately thought about how "TaleSpin" and "Aladdin" would often have two or three characters go off on their own, allowing the series to have variety and focused character develop- ment. Similarly, the creators showcased the relationship between Elisa and Broadway here. At first I was worried that they'd turn into Miranda and Bonkers. (I rolled my eyes when I saw him in that trenchcoat.) But instead Broadway made himself very useful and cooperative to Elisa, while maintaining his childlike personality. That personality complemented Elisa's professional- ism and cleverness. I never expected that "Deadly Force" would lead to a plot- line focusing on these two characters.
Matt Bluestone also got to do more than just tag along for the ride, and we got some background info on his Illuminati ideas. I liked his somberness when he explained to Elisa what was really going on.
This episode has the best written script of any new season script so far, IMHO. At first I thought the whole episode was going to plagiarize "The X-Files". But then the action took a completely different turn, and I was as surprised as Elisa was when we found out the truth. The twist involving Domin- ic Dracon also surprised me. Also, the story had plenty of instances where I thought it would take a melodramatic turn: I waited for the scene of Dracon double-crossing Elisa pointing out that he only gave the "word of a Dracon", and I expected Dominic to fall to his death at the end. But none this happened, leaving me very impressed.
I liked the way they handled explanations in this episode. No villains reciting their evil scheme (except maybe Dominic), or rote descriptions of information to characters who should should already be informed, like the end- ing of "Leader of the Pack". This episode's explanations fit into the rhythm of the dialogue.
The episode also had great continuity details: Elisa kept her gun in a locked box, and Broadway had difficulty reading the message.
WD-Japan submitted its most consistently good work so far this season. The episode had a number of very well-staged scenes, like when they set off the booby-trap in Matt's apartment. Likewise the characters had complex facial expressions, such as Elisa's reaction when Broadway jumped into her line of fire.
Bad Points
Now I'M annoyed with the "previously" segments. This episode did not directly follow from any of the episodes featured in the prologue. So the prologue seemed very unnecessary. Even worse, the prologue gave away Dracon's involvement. So now I agree that they should discontinue the prologues.
Again with the clothes. The trenchcoat turned to stone along with Broadway. :-P
When did Dracon and his crew get out of jail from "Deadly Force" anyway?
So much headwhacking went on, but not one open-head injury. :-) I'm get- ting tired of people getting knocked out all the time.
Miscellaneous
I guess Elisa has gotten over her anxiety about jumping off buildings. :-) Also, I didn't know that she could scale walls.
I kept expecting Mace Malone (great sense of humor :-) to be a relative of Xanatos. If the Illuminati really does exist I can't imagine Xanatos having nothing to do with it.
Quotes
Matt: I jumped to the wrong conclusions about the Illuminati....and
worse,...I didn't bring you in on it. I'm sorry, partner.
Elisa: Hey, it happens sometimes.
Anthony: Look down, Sugar. You see any other options here?
Elisa: (spotting Broadway) As a matter of fact I do.
Elisa: Your word as a Dracon? I don't think so.
"The Silver Falcon" was an excellently written mystery that definitely did not fit into a routine.
Commentary/Review
by Todd Jensen
This is the first episode in the series in which Goliath never appears; indeed, the only gargoyle on stage throughout the entire story is Broadway, who teams up with Elisa to solve the mystery of the Silver Falcon (in a story clearly modelled in part on hard-boiled detective stories such as "The Maltese Falcon").
The episode draws on both "Deadly Force" and "The Edge". From the former comes Tony Dracon and his gang, with Broadway and Elisa opposing them again. (We even get an allusion to the central element of "Deadly Force", when we see that Elisa has carefully placed her gun away this time instead of just leaving it around where a visiting gargoyle could pick it up.) From the latter comes Matt Bluestone's almost obsessive pursuit of the Illuminati (in the process, we discover that Matt was once a member of the FBI before being kicked out of the Bureau over that same pursuit, a revelation that had many Gargoyles fans wondering whether the character was at all inspired or influenced by Fox Mulder in "The X-Files"!). The two elements blend together harmoniously.
I was initially disappointed (like Matt) to discover that the Silver Falcon case had nothing to do with the Illuminati after all, but found it still entertaining in seeing Elisa and Broadway looking over the clues and discovering the Falcon's true nature. It culminates in one of the most dizzying scenes in the series, as Elisa, Broadway, and the Dracons converge on top of the building from which the Silver Falcon sculpture juts out over the city; every time I see it, I still marvel at how Elisa, Tony Dracon, and his grandfather Dominic, can all be almost so casually walking back and forth on the narrow sculpture.
We get to see more of Broadway's loyalty to Elisa (no matter what the dangers are facing them on this adventure, no matter how many times Elisa urges him to just go home, he won't turn his back on her), and also something of his interest in detective work (not only the surface trappings such as the increasingly-demolished trenchcoat and fedora that he dons in the episode, and his defeating Dracon in a manner deliberately modelled on the black-and-white movie that he'd been watching at the beginning of the episode - quoting the movie detective's dialogue word for word! - but also being able to figure out, as did Elisa, what the real "Silver Falcon" is). Despite his enthusiasm for popcorn, he shows once again (as he did in "Deadly Force") that he's not just an eating machine.
"The Silver Falcon" is not an especially deep episode, as "Gargoyles" episodes go, but it makes an enjoyable romp for mystery and detective story fans.
Tidbits
Beginning in this episode, Tony Dracon now sports a white streak in the middle of his hair. According to Greg Weisman, this was to make him stand out better, since he'd thought that Tony had appeared a little too bland in "Deadly Force"; the in-story rationale was that the streak was due to his shock at encountering the gargoyles for the first time. (Greg briefly considered also giving Glasses a similar streak, but decided against it, simply because Glasses didn't need it; he'd stood out in a memorable fashion from the start).
Broadway's trenchcoat and fedora were partly inspired by the similar outfit of Ben Grimm aka "The Thing" from the Fantastic Four in Marvel Comics, who wore it to disguise his "monstrous" appearance when in public.
A line that rewards subsequent reviewings: Benton refers to Dominic Dracon in the 1920's photograph of him and Mace Malone as a "sharp-looking young feller" - which gains a certain amusing quality to it when we discover that Benton was really Dominic in disguise!
The notion of Benton being Dominic in disguise, incidentally, entered the episode late in its development; originally, he really was the CPA that he appeared to be. However, the production team realized that Elisa needed her own antagonist to face at the end (Broadway taking care of Tony and Matt of Pal Joey), and so added on the revelation at the end of Benton's true identity.
Broadway has begun taking reading lessons after "A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time", enough to read and understand Mace Malone's note to the Dracons (though he has some understandable difficulty in pronouncing the word "right").
Note that Broadway turns to stone in the daytime even while underground, without any exposure to sunlight. This illustrates that it isn't the sun that turns the gargoyles to stone, but (according to Greg) their internal biological clocks.