Today’s Gargoyles retrospective is for “The Silver Falcon,” which aired September 12, 1995. Something of a sequel to the first season’s “Deadly Force,” it sees Elisa and Broadway team-up to find her partner Matt Bluestone, who has been kidnapped by her old enemy Tony Dracon.
1. Movie Love Affair
As the title aping The Maltese Falcon implies, this episode is a love letter to ’30s and ’40s film noir and gangster movies. The episode sees Elisa and Broadway following up on Bluestone’s personal investigation into the Illuminati, which we learn gangsters Mace Malone and Dominic Dracon (Tony’s grandfather) were members of during the 1920s, until Malone sold out Dracon and hid away a stash of diamonds he’d promised to share. Frankly the gangster backstory is so unlike what you’d expect to uncover of the Illuminati, that you must wonder if the episode was a script written for another show that got repurposed for this series.
2. More like Gargoyle, amirite?
Broadway is literally the only Gargoyle in this episode, his lone presence explained early on as being a result of Brooklyn and Lex hogging the Clock Tower’s VCR. So instead of watching whatever they wanted, he crashes at Elisa’s apartment to watch an old movie, where a Humphrey Bogart lookalike apprehends an Edward G. Robinson-style gangster.
He then proceeds to spend the whole episode wearing a fedora and trench coat, which is sublimely ridiculous, as is how he throws the tattered coat into a dumpster after similarly apprehending Tony at the end of the episode, like some old-timey character rubbing their hands and saying “that takes care of that.” It truly does feel like this episode was written for another show.
3. Cleopatra, Comin’ Atcha (Again)
To retrace his steps, Elisa goes to meet Bluestone’s old FBI partner at Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park, which leads to a big shootout with Dracon’s men. We just saw Demona climb Cleopatra’s Needle in the previous episode, and while I can only imagine what conditions the second season of Gargoyles was produced to get the show aired daily, it’s still shocking that the show’s staff had to settle for the same location in two back-to-back episodes.
4. Light Tension
During the episode, Elisa is captured by Dracon’s men, while Broadway gets trapped under rubble, and turns to stone when the Sun rises, delaying his rescue of her. So many episodes seem to just use the Gargoyles’ petrification as a punchline, interrupting arguments, so it was pretty cool seeing their weakness exploited as much, and having an adventure stretch out over two nights instead of being crammed into one.
It does raise the question though, why don’t Broadway’s clan brothers come searching for him? Was Goliath really still embarrassed after the events from the night before?
5. Balancing Act
Elisa realizes the Silver Falcon containing Malone’s treasure is one of the gargoyles (heh) on the Chrysler Building. Given how the art department portrays the Silver Falcon as having a big gaping maw, it was a little hard to believe Malone’s bag managed to remain inside for 70 years, but that was nothing compared to when Dominic Dracon (who must be in his 90s) shows up, and is spry enough to balance on the metal beam.
It’s a good thing he and Elisa have great wind resistance, because Broadway is nowhere to be seen after bringing down Tony’s helicopter.
Bonus thoughts:
– The scratch transition marks return in this episode.
– Elisa calls Dracon “Tony! Toni! Toné!”
– Broadway’s still learning to read after the events of “A Lighthouse in the Sea of Time.”
– Someone’s not gonna be happy finding the stone Broadway outside that window.
Next week, we’ll look at “Eye of the Beholder” and “Vows.”
