A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Search Ask Greg

Search:
Search type:

Displaying 1 record.


Bookmark Link

Anonymous writes...

1. Timeline question: In "Enter MacBeth" when we see David in prison, Oct.
31 is circled on his calendar, which I took to mean that was the date of his release. However, in "Double Jeapordy" the date on the videotape footage of Owen gathering Goliath's genetic matieral was in November.
Wasn't David already out of jail and the gargs ensconced safely in the clocktower? Or am I all mixed up? 2. Also, and this sounds silly but I suppose it's a timeline question as well, but was Fox already carrying Alex when she and David became engaged? I don't want to read too much into Oberon's throwaway line about midsummer night dreams in "Gathering".... 3.
Comments that may lead to questions, or may not depending on how you feel... First of all, rewatching the series with a friend, both of us have realised--or in my case remembered--how the show stands out from most of today's animated series (with perhaps a few notable exceptions such as BTAS) in terms of the sophistication of the writing. The concepts addressed in the show, and the sublety with which they were handled are on a par with any live action series I've ever watched, if not better than many. For that, I really want to applaud the entire production, especially the writing staff. We're only up through "The Price" right now, and she has just gone slack-jawed at the storytelling devices employed, especially in "City of Stone" (which is my absolute favourite arc to date, so I'm utterly, utterly biased), not to mention the themes (trust, betrayal, loss, family relationships--both good and bad, genocide, hope, etc.) that ran throughout the series. Howevery, I was one of the people who apparently just didn't "get" the Sisters, and I guess for some reason I feel like I should defend my reasoning here. I remember, the first time I saw "CoS", and the subsequent "High Noon", being so impressed with the way the Sisters were used, and how complex their machinations, and at the time I was on the edge of my seat waiting to learn what their goals were. However, when we next met them in "Avalon" I felt... Somehow let down. They went from enigmatic figures who seemed to be neither "good" nor "bad" but somehow neutral--as if they were above simple concepts of good and bad, in the way of a force of nature, if that makes any kind of sense. Indiscriminate.--to petty, vengeful omnipotent flunkies of the Archmage. I could not imagine the events of "City of Stone"--the manipulation of so many lives, not just Demona's and MacBeth's, but all those *around* them for hundreds of years--as being simply an amusement to arrange "soldiers" for the Archmage's attack on Avalon. I *realise* that the fay are capricious and take great pleasure in their games, but this felt different. I just felt like it cheapened their characters, made them less interesting. And each subsequent appearence--"Ill Met..." and the "Gathering"--seemed to continue support the idea of the Sisters as petty and vengeful, this time as Oberon's flunkies rather than the Archmage. I realise that I only viewed the finished product--the aired episodes--and don't have all the bits that were cut for time constraints, or even all the discussion of the characters that went into the writing of the epidoes, and that *does* give me a different view of how they worked in the later episodes. But I still feel that the changes in their characterisation seemed abrupt and in my opinion anyway, detracted from my enjoyment soemwhat--not tremendously, but enough that I *did* notice it. Perhaps I simply read too much into "CoS." I don't want to whine about it, obviously--but this was always one of the character choices that I never really understood, and I don't want to beat a dead horse--having read the archives... :) But it does feel good to get some of this down in words on paper, or on screen, whatever. Tara O'Shea (uisgejack@aol.com)

Greg responds...

1. You're mixed up.
2. I wouldn't be a gentleman if I answered this question.
3. I've discussed this in detail before. I think you're responses are justified. But in my defense, I always planned the Sisters to be what they were. There was no change in direction. We feignted right and then went left on purpose from day one. We simply did a better job at tricking you into thinking something than we did at revealing something else later. As I've mentioned before, there are still many secrets about the Sisters that haven't been revealed. But the recipe for the Sisters included at least one part the Furies. And vengeance is a part of their collective character. I liked the irony that had them preaching against that in "City of Stone". But I understand if it didn't work for you.