A sweeping, epic finale displays DuckTales at its best despite a rocky second half to the season
TV Reviews Recap
The last couple of episodes to DuckTales’ second season had me very worried for this finale, because they were too cluttered, too broad, and too awkwardly structured to get to their point–if they had one. Questionable motivations, disingenuous character beats, funky-executed drama, and narrative hiccups left me concerned how they would tie it all together. And really, “Moonvasion!” doesn’t really bother. As such, it’s really best as a delightfully exciting over-the-top one-off, an episode that pulls out all the stops to simulate the kind of epic season finale that only DuckTales could conceive. If you squint, you’ll notice those hiccups are still very much there. But at this point, the fact that DuckTales still managed to cull an enjoyable finale from the rocky second half of the season is, like the deus-ex Penumbra, a minor miracle.
“Moonvasion!” unfolds along two narrative tracks. The first is with Scrooge, who has to figure out and execute a dramatic rebellion with a squad of allies against Lunaris and his invasion. The second is with Della, who rockets Webby and her kids off to, supposedly, look for even more allies, but who is actually looking for a place to hide. Both narratives are, in execution, amazing, although throughout it all, you can’t help but get the sense that something is missing, that things aren’t as tightly interwoven and connected as they ought to be. The episode has our protagonists reuniting with a various bunch of classic allies (and Glomgold) from previous episodes, and while it’s great to see them and watch them prop up our heroes in the face of these dangers, they also feel arbitrary, an assortment of familiar faces to check off a cameo list than the welcome surprise of seeing these figures rallying together. Seeing Darkwing Duck appear is a treat, although no one recognizing him is disappointing, if understandable (and it is utilized in a smart way). Cousins Fethry and Gladstone appear, make their mark, and… that’s it. Duckworth is all but useless. Most of these people, after their battle to reach the mansion, disappear (I get some were captured but some of them, like Lena, should have at least tried to escape).
But the direction and overall story is suitably vast and engaging, which works to smooth over the rougher edges. It’s best to really strap in and enjoy “Moonvasion!” on its own, outside of the season proper. Even if it is a cameo checklist, it’s a fun one, and watching Scrooge rally the team at the table, after a bevy of terrible ideas, is a wonderful moment. Also fun is the battle royal along the streets of Duckburg, as Scrooge and his compatriots do battle with the Moonlanders. It’s a bit off to see the Moonlanders as such a threat though, since previously they seemed so incompetent and silly. I think the implication is they’re overwhelming Duckburg by sheer numbers, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of them. Plus, there’s no depiction of an army or any other forces fighting back, and it’s strange that an entire planetary invasion takes place entirely in one city (there are vague visuals to other locations, but they seem so sparse). It’s part of of the episode’s, and the season’s, struggle to flavor its developments, to explore deeper than what the strict confines of the narrative will allow. On that point, I find Lunaris’ motivation suspect: taking over the Earth is one thing, cliche but expected, but wanting the Earth to then rotate around the moon? I think there’s something to say about the pettiness of the personalities of wannabe dictators, and it tries to tie it to some vague calling from his father, but it’s also nonsensical, even in cartoon terms, and no one really questions Lunaris endgoal here. Killing Scrooge’s family, however, is specifically dark and needs no explanation.
Hence, Della takes Webby, Huey, Dewey and Louie off on what she claims is a way to find more reinforcements, but ends up being a place for she and the young ones to bunker down. There’s an inherent push-and-pull here that I think DuckTales struggles with the most: it wants to exalt this family’s absolute penchant to get into absurd, insane adventures, but it also wants to showcase the natural fears and dangers that come with all of that. For the first season, DuckTales tried to lampshade this in mostly comic, self-aware terms, which was decidedly hit or miss. In its second season, the show seemed to try and weave that into the narrative(s), but it rarely could get to any depth. Like, I don’t know how to square the Della who bounded into the Arctic with Dewey with the Della who is running scared here. I think the incident with Louie’s time-travel shenanigans was supposed to give Della a change of perspective, a new founded fear of the well-being of her children, but we never get an opportunity to really get into Della’s head, to really chart her inner conflict. We definitely see the aftermath of that conflict through–Della’s fear and desperation comes through with her every move, action, and decision. Props again to Paget Brewster for selling Della with every passionate line-reading, making her such a perfect addition to the cast.
We also finally get the one reunion we’ve all been waiting for: Della and Donald reunite on the island she crash-landed upon. It’s just as sweet and heartwarming and conflicting as when she reunited with Scrooge, and even if Donald is borderline crazy with a very familiar-looking watermelon totem as a companion (which the show uses so Donald can “voice” some ideas, another crutch the show uses to make Donald comprehensible), it doesn’t take away from the sweetness of the moment. It’s also telling that Donald, upon learning about everything that has happened sense he crashed back on Earth, is ready and gung-ho to go back and fight, but Della is still struggling. I think there’s something worth exploring with Della’s state of mind here: she reverts back to a behavior and a mentality that resembles how she acted when trapped on the moon. At the simplest explanation, she needs therapy. At the cartoon level, it’s just a revelation that she comes to and has to work through, and it’s endearing that it occurs with Louie. It’s probably the most we’re going to get concerning the lingering issues between Della and the green nephew, and compared to the overall season, it’s lacking. But the two do find some common ground and support with each other, Louie reciting the very lullaby she would sing to them as babies to help her overcome the fears that plague her.
In a kind of loopy twist, after Scrooge’s initial onslaught on Lunaris fails (in the kind of “villains have thought of everything” trope that appears everywhere), it’s Glomgold who comes through with an absolutely nutty scheme that works. It’s completely insane, but more importantly, it’s unpredictable. It’s also clever though–not only does it absolutely keep Lunaris off his game, he actually manipulates things to get his fortune back (reverting that story element back to the status quo), and he places Scrooge in the costume of the richest duck’s hated enemy–Santa Claus. It’s a two-for-one bout of humiliation that also ends up saving the day, especially when Della, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Fethry, and Gladstone come riding in on Mitzy, the giant krill from Fethry’s debut episode. This then leads to an all-out space battle, with the Spear of Selene trading blasts with Lunaris’s ship (did the Spear of Selene have weapons before?). It’s an intense battle, amplified by an action-remix of the moon theme that just never gets old. When it looks like all is lost though, in comes Penumbra at the last moment to save them in what looked like a massive act of self-sacrifice. I’m not sure why/how Penumbra actually survived the act (S&P reasons aside), but it does allow for everyone to reunite back on Earth and congratulate each other on a job well done.
There is so much to like and enjoy about this modern iteration of DuckTales. The animation is gorgeous. The music and sound design is perfect. The casting is absolutely impeccable. Its flaws, however, feel very much part of the narrative nature of its approach, in wanting to explore its characters through its adventures while simultaneously commenting on them in some fashion. I don’t know if its a thread that this show, or any piece of entertainment really, can feasibly sew (is there any superhero movie or show that adequately comments on the moral/ethical implications of sueprheroism?): yesterday, Owlson ran off to do her own normal thing, and after all the events of today, we witness a secret cabal called F.O.W.L. express frustration at this Duck family and its penchant for near-disastrous adventures. (F.O.W.L. you may know is from the original Darkwing Duck and has been referenced before on this show, but the big reveal is that the shadowy head figures are Scrooge’s vulture stockbrokers!). It’s a solid reveal that hints at what’s to come for season three, and perhaps there’s something to say about figures desperate to maintain the status quo up against a group of people who thrive on new, exciting ventures into the unknown. (I have my doubts though, as it’s something the show has struggled with for two seasons now.) Still, if “Moonvasion!” can pull an absolutely stellar episode out its feathers despite the more messier elements that can bog this show down, then it’ll be worth it in the end–at the very least, we can see how it’ll bring all the Disney Afternoon’s messier elements together!
Stray observation
- Posted late today, sorry! I had a lot to say.
- I’m not sure why Della was so sheepish when she went to tell Scrooge the bad news about the Moonlander invasion. There’s no reason she would be mad at her about that.
- Darkwing Duck re-meeting Launchpad in the latter’s garage resembles the two’s first meeting way back in the original show.
- A somewhat dark, funny, meaningful moment is when one of the Lil’ Bulbs twists his head off before the nephew’s voice coming through him announces their location.
- Anyone else think Webby was a bit passive in this episode?
- I have some… issues with the characterizations that this show imparted on us for the last two seasons, but the second screenshot in the above essay? It’s perfect, even if Dewey is disappointed in the Donald comparison.
- It’s with a sad heart that I must announce that this will be the last DuckTales review for AVClub. It’s been an honor, and a small miracle, to be able to have journeyed along two whole seasons with you all, and I do hope you enjoyed the show and these reviews all along the way. There’s a (small) chance for periodic drop-ins, but that’s it for the episodic stuff. Thank you all again!
50 Comments
“Moonvasion” is the kind of season finale I like where everybody pitches in & the least essential episodes become relevant. This show continues to give me everything I need out of a reboot.
The navy certainly didn’t teach Donald survival skills.
I appreciated how unconventional Lunaris’s motive & plan was, yet Penumbra might’ve felt more organic as the big bad over his surprise heel turn.
After watching him utterly fail so often, it’s rewarding to witness Glomgold’s big win.
The Funso Fun Zone walrus is The Phantom Blot? Since the Rescue Rangers will appear, I was expecting Fat Cat as well.Boo to the end of regular recaps!
That was a fun end to an entertaining, and uneven season.I was wondering when Donald was gonna show up; I 100% forgot how he escaped from the Moon. I too am a bit annoyed by their constant “He sounds funny, think of ways he can’t talk” thing they do, but the Mickey Melon was a cute gag and fun way to work him into the show in some manner (I’m not sure if the gag was that he was recreating Mickey because he knows him, or it’s just a new invention of his mind). And Punumbra was the same thing; she seemed like a big deal in all the set up episodes, but only comes in the last two minutes or so. And I can get behind the Launchpad thing if something comes of it.And a shame about this being your last review; I always like reading your thoughts on animations and such.
The moment you wonder if the whole mouse universe is just a figment of an understimulated Donald Duck´s imagination
I’m not sure we’re supposed to know (yet) on Mickey Melon. Have you seen the rumor that doing the Donald Duck voice is hard on the current voice actor and they’re having to write around that more than the usual Donald hard to understand conceit.
“I’m not sure why Della was so sheepish when she went to tell Scrooge the
bad news about the Moonlander invasion. There’s no reason she would be
mad at her about that.”They only have the means to invade in the first place because they copied her technology.
“Did the Spear of Selene have weapons before?” No, but the moon copy of it built for the invasion did.
Steelbeak is an interesting add; and didn’t Darkwing have an operatic walrus villain as well? I think he did. Tuskanini, I think his name was. So bring on FOWL — but I wish you were here to recap it!
So many great moments in this ep! “There’s only 5 of us left.”“Make that 4. I See that things are lost here so I’m going to go prepare the afterlife for you.”“Did anyone else find it reassuring that he exited downwards?”***“About time you got back you slacker!”Donald’s anger grows“Oh, so he wasn’t on a cruise?”***So many great moments from the Bulbs – from the Bulb suicide to preserve the secret location, to the bulb scared to perform his duty being slapped and thrust into the world, to them over-running Huey. ***“Dewey-ex-machina”***Scrooge revealing he’s not Darkwing Duck to applause and compliments of “Great entrance” from the invading aliens. ***Wilson the Watermelon being voiced by the Mickey from the Disney shorts (2017-2019)
Della freaking out/losing it and then “see you real sooooooon” had me laughing so very very hard. The absolute absurdity and hilarity was simply perfect.Also, Steelbeak!
I really liked how Steelbeak looks in the animation style. I’d say I want Rob Paulsen for the voice, but I trust this team if they go a different route.
When you hear the sound of Lil Bulb breaking. Oh man.That might be the best Dewey pun yet.Scrooge as DW was one of the highlights of the episode for me.
Misread DW as Doctor Who initially & was like Tennant will always be the Doctor.
I totally called Scrooge’s BoD being FOWL leaders way back in the middle of season one. I feel so good about that!
I was hoping for more a Kevin than a Sean, but he was definitely a Sean. Nice call, I didn’t even suspect it.
In the pilot when they introduced the board as literal vultures I thought that was just a fun joke, and I figured F.O.W.L. would also be just a side thing. So happy to be wrong. Everything about the reveal made me happy. I’m still geeking out about it.
I’m really gonna miss these Ducktales reviews. AV Club has been my go to site. What I love is that you treat it SO seriously and it allows this show t shine and stand among adult shows, so thank you for all the reviews you’ve done!
Was a real treat to read episodic reviews for this show, thanks Kevin!I’m utterly shocked by the sheer size of the voice cast in the end credits. Being a double episode I’m sure there were ways to stretch the budget to make this happen, and maybe they went lighter on the number of voices per episode throughout the season in anticipation of this one. But man, every ally got a line, including Zeus, Amunet, and a few others that easily could’ve been non-speaking. Well done.This show has come a long way since season 1 where it often tried to lean towards being subversive/ironic at the expense of providing an actual adventure for the characters. This is a jam-packed episode with almost too many great individual moments to call out. Loved hearing the Moon theme re-orchestrated as an action cue, and the FOWL tease at the end with the assorted rogues is a great setup for next season. Hats off. Favourite quote: “OK, that might have been me, none of us really know any more.”
The cast credits were insane. But they did save some money though: Chris Diamantopoulos as Darkwing Duck (or rather: Drake Mallard), Storkules and Mickey Melon. Chris has been doing Mickey since 2013 and he does a awesome job at it! So 3 voices for the price of 1.
Ah! I didn’t realize Chris had performed Mickey in other series. He sounded spot on.
Mickey Melon was the biggest laugh out loud moment of the episode, hands down.
Really enjoyed a lot of the other bits already mentioned, but definite shout out to the suicide pill using Lil Bulb and the clone army plan.
Launchpad’s crush is both adorable and understandable. If a girl said “I could destroy you” to me, I’d be instantly in love.
Gonna miss these recaps, whenever we get the next season.
There’s been a running gag throughout the show of viewers seeing the tale-end of one of Launchpad’s various dates with exotic …women. I think this might be the first time we’ve seen the front end with him asking a girl out.
I totally forgot about this! I know there were others but there was that whole offscreen quest during House of the Lucky Gander.
Oh man the Lil Bulb sacrifice got me in the feels.I knew Gyro having a clone army would eventually come in to play. That bit in the time travel episode was just too specific.
she reverts back to a behavior and a mentality that resembles how she acted when trapped on the moon.
Except, she never acted like this on the moon. So while it makes sense psychologically that her trauma would be a thing, it doesn’t track with what the show has presented thus far.
Yes, the finale was ‘big.’ But it was also kind of a mess, and I don’t even know where to begin. The weirdest thing is Kevin even seems aware of this, pointing out a litany of the problems here, but gave it an A- anyway. Glomgold, you crazy sonfabitch, you’ve done it again!(post script: I’ll miss these reviews)
I loved that Dewey still had a grudge against Donald for not naming him Turbo. Glomgold actually saving the day with his completely illogical plan that made a logical mind like Lunaris couldn’t fathom was hilarious. Also, someone needs to Kickstart Sharkas. Why does AV Club keep getting rid of the recaps for all of the good cartoons?
Are they even covering any cartoons at this point besides Steven Universe? AV Club readers who like cartoons are out of luck…..
As far as I know Bob’s Burgers reviews will be back, though that show’s aimed at rather a different audience.
They tried to cancel Adventure Time. Never forget!
Oh, I haven’t. The comment section for the “Music Hole” review was not a happy place.
They were pretty much the only site covering it. Now, well, there’s this: https://adventuretimereviewed.wordpress.com/ . At the time though, it looked like they were leaving us in the cold. They could have at least thrown up a discussion board or something-it would have gotten a lot of clicks.
I don’t believe they are technically covering Steven Universe episodically anymore either. The reviewer for the season finale (not the movie that aired last week) said something about it likely being the last one.
My guess is someone up the management chain thinks non-adult focused cartoons aren’t in the wheelhouse of what content they want to focus on. That and/or non adult cartoons are not getting the page view numbers they want which might actually be true. While there is an audience of adults that do watch kids oriented programming like this, I can’t imagine its very large. So I wouldn’t be all that surprised if those types of shows do low numbers here and thus get cut. One of the many reasons it makes you miss the days of the old AV Club, where they just did a variety of shows they enjoyed and weren’t crunching content numbers
Yeah that would explain a lot. It’s a real shame since there are still some great cartoons out there that deserve more coverage.
You owe me 11 years of TURBO!!!
Some similarities with the alien plotlines between Ducktales & Milo Murphy’s Law?
Even though Ducktales has F.O.W.L., there’s no group of evil vultures that is better than Mzingo’s Vulture Parliament on The Lion Guard. They’re hysterical with every single action having to be put to a committee vote or creating a subcommittee to investigate. It’s even more hilarious when you discover that a flock of vultures can be called a committee.
Sad there will be no reviews going forward. It was fun reading them.The first half I enjoyed, but didn’t love. The fight was neat and seeing the various characters together and interact is always fun, even if it was a bit annoying that taking over Duckburg meant taking over the world. Given how vocal I’ve been about my dislike of how they interpreted Darkwing on this show, seeing him ignored and thrown aside like that made me laugh. It was the first time I was glad Jim Cummings wasn’t voicing the character anymore. However, I had a few minor qualms. Near the beginning, when we had the close-up with Scrooge, his neck was WAY too long. Also, Louie makes an offhand remark that the previous episode was a week ago. I know it’s a meta joke (that failed due to how Disney aired the season), but given that Della learned of the invasion that episode, it implies she waited an entire week to tell Scrooge about the invasion, which is weird.The second half? AWESOME. Flintheart taking over the episode came out of nowhere, but given that I absolutely adore this show’s take on Glomgold, I was all for it. Every single second he was on-screen was brilliant. Donald coming back is always welcome, and I preferred this episode’s method of dealing with his voice over randomly having him voiced by War Machine for 10 minutes, but I was a bit annoyed he didn’t get to actually do much. Because it took so long for the gang to regroup together, Donald just kinda sat there and let Della and Scrooge take the lead. His back-and-forth with Della at the controls felt like it was leading to something, but it didn’t really. Still, at least we DID get plenty of Donald and the kids didn’t take over the finale like last season, so I’ll take my wins where I can get it.
This review has some nonsensical criticism/questions that make me think you were only half watching the episode.
“is there any superhero movie or show that adequately comments on the moral/ethical implications of sueprheroism?”Yeah, it’s called The Venture Bros.
This season was great, but uneven. The sidelining of Donald didn’t make sense in light of the Season 1 finale. Thank you for the recaps.
Great finale! Unfortunate that the AV Club is dropping coverage, but I’m pretty surprised they covered Duck Tales at at all.
“is there any superhero movie or show that adequately comments on the moral/ethical implications of sueprheroism?”-Uh…Yes.Daredevil, The Punisher, Black Lightning, Black Panther, The Umbrella Academy, The Flash, Supergirl, The Gifted, The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Iron Man Trilogy, The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Man of Steel, Kick-Ass, Logan, Wonder Woman, Batman the Animated Series, every Spider-Man movie ever made, and a partridge in a pear tree.To be sure, this was a weird thing to ask.
Yeah, there have been plenty. I guess YMMV on what constitutes “adequately”?
I think he just went with the question because this is a Disney show and they have a wonderful way of just completely enveloping the viewer into their content.But their is some merit to the question given the context, for instance my favorite line following a Gyro clone getting zapped:“Ok, that might’ve been me, none of us really know anymore.”That line was friggin hilarious! But it being about amoralism cloning is so curious that what other film or show do you hear something like that AND can spoof the answer so well?
So does that mean we’ll be hearing Mark Evan Jackson more often? Cause this is already a great Thrilling Adventure Hour Reunion show.
Aw – sad to hear this is the last of the regular reviews, but thank you for them!And, yeah, boy, what a way to end the season. Between the various plans, a few surprisingly dark jokes, some underwhelming story points and some that worked, and that indeed perfect screenshot, it was kind of all over the place, but I still had a lot of fun. Loved how they brought back Donald – Mickey Melon is a creative, funny way to write around his voice since they still feel so strong a need to do so. As discussed previously this in no way means he’ll be featured more often. I can rewatch that scene of Scrooge getting misty-eyed over him and Della bickering and dream, though.Some other bits I liked that haven’t been mentioned yet:- Scrooge bouncing on his cane like in the video game- The harpies!
– Manny’s galloping being translated as “Running! Running!”
– Gladstone finding and eating Mickey Melon actually coming in handy later on
*zap*“Don’t worry, THAT was a clone!”*zap*“Ok, that might’ve been me, none of us really know anymore…Charge!”LOL How many shows, movies, and stories could have been solved if they had the same amoral confidence as Gearloose!
My husband and I geeked out completely when Scrooge defeated enemies by using his cane as a Pogo stick, straight out of the DT video game.Sorry to hear these reviews are ending. I really enjoyed them.
I saw about the pogo thing on Twitter and just had to rewatch. So sad I missed it on first viewing.
I did the same thing!
Ohhhh! I will really miss these articles. Everytime I watch a Ducktales episode I come here to read them. They help me to enjoy what I have seen even more. Thanks Kevin, and I hope to read you soon in other things.About the episode, it was completely fantastic, but I am very curious about that FOWL.And I was sad for the brave light bulb 🙁