Ed writes...

Hi there, Greg!

At the time of writing, you've just been going through rambles about past episodes, specifically the first 'AWAKENING' instalments. So here's my own views on it, responding to some of the points/questions you raised then. (For those that missed those rambles, they were dated 10-12 February and are presumably in the 'rambles' section).

Firstly, a little explanation of how I came to 'Gargoyles'. The first episodes I watched were World Tour episodes ending with 'THE GATHERING PART ONE'. I missed a lot around then; the only ones I do remember seeing for sure were 'EYE OF THE STORM', 'THE GREEN' and 'BUSHIDO', 'ILL MET' and 'FUTURE TENSE'. This interested me enough (especially with that Oberon cliffhanger) to keep my hooked, but Disney took it off-air after that. But when flicking through the television channels one morning I found what I thought to be a curious little medieval cartoon. The scene had Katharine and the Magus in the banquet hall.

I quite like sword and sorcery bits and pieces, and the initial impression I got was that it looked rather realistic. It did occur to me that it was similar to 'Gargoyles' although I don't know what tipped me off (possibly the music). Of course, when I saw Goliath walk in, I got really excited. :)

I think what did occur to me (although I'm not sure how accurately I can recall) is that he seemed to have more presence about him then. More menace if you will.

One interesting thing is how many tiny little scene contrasts I didn't pick up as being significant. You mentioned the hypocrisy of Katharine having dogs in the chamber but blaming the Captain for 'beasts in the dining hall', and Broadway's differing reactions to food as the different circumstances demonstrated.

What annoyed me most about these episodes were the darn "next time on Gargoyles" snippets. These always annoy me. It seems like:
(a) an excuse to pad out air time.
(b) an indication that the people that whoever added it didn't have enough faith in the power of their cliffhanger to leave it to stand alone.
(c) a spoiler in a lot of ways.
Who decided to include these?

My first reactions to Xanatos... well, I knew that he was suspect because I'd seen him in THE GATHERING. The character fascinated me, but obviously I knew that he had another motive. I always felt that the introduction betrayed that a bit as well...

As for the Demona shadow... well it did give it away somewhat. I must admit, I didn't recognise Demona at all. I'd cottoned on that Angela (although I couldn't remember her name then) was the daughter of Demona. I can't remember whether this was simply because their designs were so similar as to make it obvious, or because I particularly remembered this detail. It was painfully obvious that Demona was alive from the initial encounter. It was a fascinating twist, although it did dumb down the surprise. And because I knew that Xanatos was a bad guy, the connection wasn't too difficult to make.

That GMTV run lasted until UPGRADE (omitting REVELATIONS and DOUBLE JEOPARDY, but including TURF). I only realised far too late in the day that I should start taping it, but what I do remember from the initial run was that the characters did get confusing.

For example, when I first watched vows it was several months after AWAKENING and I'd forgotten what the Magus looked like. So naturally, I got the Archmage confused with the Magus quite a bit. In some ways, this might have been the advantage that I 'got on' the 'Gargoyles' fan ride at the World Tour. The scenario was fairly self-explanatory - three gargoyles and a human touring the world and sorting out whatever problems arose there. After I was fairly hooked into it (that 14-month GATHERING cliffhanger) I then found out the backstory. But it wasn't until I was able to tape them that I appreciated the continuity.

To this extent, I do wonder if - even though it's not popular amongst many fans - the World Tour was a well-timed addition.

That's enough from me - you're supposed to be the one rambling on this page. ^_^