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The Dying of the Light
Synopsis | Review by Juan F. Lara
Overview
[Missing]
Synopsis
[Missing]
Review
by Juan F. Lara
One of the better "Goliath Chronicles" episodes so far, but one that still had a lot of problems.
Good Points
The two lead characters were what I liked most about this episode. By now I've grown to really like Hudson. So I inevitably felt sorry for him when his eye trouble started. Also, Jeffrey Robbins was a favorite minor character of mine whom I didn't expect to ever see again. So I was delighted when he reappeared in Act 2. The dialogue scenes between Jeffrey and Hudson were the best parts of the episode, with an excellent chemistry between both characters. Jeffrey's calm demeanor and cleverness made him the right person for proud and frightened Hudson to turn to.
This was the first "Goliath Chronicles" episode in a while to feature turning points in an old thread. I'm hoping that Hudson's eye treatment will continue in later episodes, reminiscent of the eps that had him learning to read. And I was glad to see Jeffrey find out that Hudson was a gargoyle. (Though his guessing this on his own caught me a little by surprise. He certainly couldn't have guessed before "Hunter's Moon". And I wondered what his reactions were when he first heard about gargoyles and realized that Hudson might be one.)
I liked the way Act 1 revealed Hudson's sight problems. When they showed the clip from "Long Way to Morning" I first thought (with dread) that the Archmage would return. Then they suddenly showed Hudson's vision going blurry, and so that clip accentuated the fear Hudson was feeling.
I also liked the final fight scene in Act 3. For once a fire DIDN'T burn down the building, :-) and it was fun to see Jeffrey get some action time.
Bad Points
Even so, the script as a whole was written too broadly. Every few minutes or so a character would lapse into an overly melodramatic line that they delivered like a sermon: There was "How could I have assumed the worst of man in you when you are truly the best?" and "The only difference between us is I've never quit fighting." Also, the scene when the PIT Crew leader first met Angela came off hokey. (She thanked her "for your work promoting tolerance".) (That scene also seemed unusually short, like it was shoehorned into the episode.)
The script also seemed pitched on a lower level than it needed to be. Right after the moment when Hudson's vision first blurred Hudson had to explicitly state that he hadn't been seeing well in weeks and couldn't bring himself to admit it. Then Act 1 abruptly ended the moment after Hudson said that he was "going blind". At those moments the episode felt like one of those "very special episodes".
The characterizations also tended to come off too broad. Hudson's "recklessness" in Act 1 was overdone. (Fortunately Hudson's characterization improved in his scenes with Jeffrey.) I liked the panic one of the Quarrymen felt when the lights went off. ("They hunt at night! They can see in the dark!") But apart from that, the Quarreymen were just a bunch of thugs, and so I didn't find the subplot involving them very interesting. Dr. Cornelia Stallman was deliberately written with a tendency to act silly. But she seemed too silly to be funny most of the time. But I still liked Kath Soucie's voicework for her, using her ubiquitous Daisy-Duck voice.
Hudson: Why do you please me so, only to devil me?
[Gee, Hudson's affinity for the television can really be unhealthy. ] :-)
Miscellaneous
Tress MacNeille played Dr. Carrie Benjamin and the PIT Crew leader, but wasn't credited at the end. (But the credits did list Johnathen Frakes, even though Xanatos didn't appear here.)
DYN: How did the PIT crew get a picture of Goliath? From the TV broadcast in "Hunter's Moon" maybe?
I wondered whether or not the shock from those heart massagers would've been enough to kill the Quarrymen. But then again, people are always getting shocked in "Gargoyles". :-)
Elisa: The Quarrymen busted up a group calling itself the PIT Crew.
"People for Interspecies Tolerance".
Broadway: Whaddaya know? We got a fan club.
[Such a curious coincidence that the show would have this line just when
alt.fan.disney.gargoyles has a thread about getting a name for "Gargoyles"
fans. Still, "the PIT Crew"....I don't think so. ] :-)
Hudson: If I'm to leave this world tonight, I'll be wanting company.
Hudson's stone sleep should heal the eye surgery the doctors did without them needing to do anything more.
And the Worst-Pun-of-the-Season award goes to Hudson for:
"Was nothing Robbins and I couldn't handle blindfolded."
and:
"There's more to being a warrior than...meets the eye."
My feelings about "The Dying of the Light" were similar to those for "Ransom". The episode still was substandard for "Gargoyles", but I liked Hudson and Robbins so much that I still enjoyed watching the episode.
Jeffrey: Hey, it wasn't hard to figure out, Hudson. Late night visits only.
Your accent. That smell.
Hudson: What smell?
Jeffrey: Well, you tell me. Sort of like old leather and concrete. Uh, but
in a good way!