Eye of the Beholder

"Eye of the Beholder" is the twentieth televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the seventh episode of Season 2. It originally aired on September 13, 1995.

• Produced by: Frank Paur, Greg Weisman
• Written by: Steve Perry
• Story Edited by: Michael Reaves
• Directed by: Frank Paur
• Animation by: Walt Disney Animation Japan
• Backgrounds by: Tachiko Kimura, Jade Animation Productions
• Additional Production Facilities: Nakamura Production, Studio Robin, Light Foot, Studio Cats, Takahashi Production, Jade Animation Productions

Summary

Main Plot

Fox receives the Eye of Odin as an engagement gift from Xanatos and is transformed during the full moon into a werefox, and is in danger of dying from heightened metabolism. Xanatos enlists the help of Goliath and Elisa to stop Fox from rampaging through the city and get the Eye off of her. Fox crashes the Halloween block party and leads Xanatos, Goliath and Elisa to a rooftop. The werefox lunges at Elisa but is intercepted by Goliath, who pushes her against a large electric sign allowing Xanatos to pull the Eye off her and return her to normal.

Subplots

Xanatos proposes to Fox in a business-like manner, believing he is incapable of true love. When Fox is in danger he realizes he does have feelings for her, and his true motive is to save her life rather than to reclaim possession of the Eye.

Elisa confronts the werefox rampaging for food at Mr. Jaffe's shop. Fox runs away when the police arrive and Elisa informs Goliath of the creature, who is concerned over Elisa's safety when he's not around.

Fox had been transforming into the werefox for a few weeks before Xanatos realizes what's going on and attempts to remove the Eye of Odin from her. Owen shoots her with a tracking monitor dart before she escapes the Eyrie Building. Xanatos then lures Goilath and Elisa to a meat factory where Fox is and confesses the truth to them when he's unable to remove the Eye. At first they refuse to help, but eventually Goliath, understanding what it's like to lose a loved one, relents and teams up with Xanatos.

The gargoyles have been looking forward to Halloween because it's the one night of the year they can go out amongst the humans. The trio dress in costumes for the block party, and Elisa, dressed as Belle, shares a dance with Goliath.

Goliath takes possession of the Eye of Odin from Xanatos, who assumes it's a trade for Fox's life.

The Story

Previously on Gargoyles

• Recaps: ("The Edge", "Leader of the Pack")

Act One

October 1st, 1995: David Xanatos and Fox, having donned their finest evening wear, sit at the heads of a long dining room table as Owen Burnett serves them tea. As Fox sips hers, the silence breaks as Xanatos suddenly says "marry me." Fox asks if he's serious before Xanatos rises from his chair and approaches her. "We're genetically compatible, highly intelligent, and have the same goals" he says, explaining why it makes perfect sense to get married. Fox agrees but asks about love. Xanatos replies that he thinks they love each other "as much as two people such as ourselves are capable of that emotion." He takes her hand and approaches who opens a box. Fox is awestruck by the gift inside and accepts the proposal.

October 30th, 1995: Elisa Maza exits a costume shop and places her acquisition in the backseat of her car when an inhuman shriek echoes through the block, coming from the General Store. The window shatters as a magazine rack is thrown through it; Mr. Jaffe bursts out of the front door and runs across the street; horrfied by whatever is still inside his shop. Elisa draws her gun and enters the now blacked-out store. The sounds of more products being thrown the ground and glasses shattering draws her in. She rounds an aisle and finds it empty. She spots half eaten food and packages being tossed out of another aisle and approaches with caution as a carton of eggs shatters on the floor. She comes around the corner and gasps at the sight of a red-furred beast ripping meat off of a leg of ham. She points her gun and shouts "freeze" but the beast darts down the aisle and comes around, surprising Elisa and knocking her gun from her hands. Elisa dodges a strike and falls against a stack of flour bags. It picks her up as Elisa strikes it in the face with flour. It cries out as it drops her. Elisa crawls away, grabs her gun, but more cop cars arrive and the creature has vanished.

Moments later, more police as well as the press are on the scene. Elisa towels flour out of her hair as Morgan Morgan approaches her and mentions that he hasn't been able to get through a shift all month without mopping up after that thing. Elisa agrees that every night is trick-or-treat in the Big Apple. Travis Marshall goes on the air reporting that the creature was first sighted on October 4th and since then the frequency has increased dramatically...

... Xanatos shuts off the TV, concerned over yet another sighting. Fox then enters the office, bundled up in a trenchcoat that she's holding tightly closed. Xanatos asks where she's been hiding herself. Fox nervously lies and says she was out taking a walk. Xanatos follows up by asking if she was wearing his engagement gift. Fox insists she never takes it off before exiting the office saying she's feeling sick. Xanatos turns to Owen and says it's time for Plan A.

October 31st: Across the city, trick-or-treaters are out and about as the sun sets and the Manhattan Clan awakens at the Clock Tower. Lexington exclaims that tonight is Halloween, Brooklyn and Broadway can hardly wait... they can walk around the streets and nobody will know who they are or what they are. Elisa steps out onto the balcony to talk to Goliath. After hearing her story, Goliath takes her hand feeling guilty because he should have been with her. But Elisa tells him that he couldn't anymore than she could be there guarding him all day. She assures him that it helps to know somebody cares.

At the Eyrie Building, Fox stands at the window of the master bedroom staring out at the moon... waiting for something. She is startled as Xanatos enters asking for her engagement present, saying he wants to have it engraved. Fox protests that she can't bare to part with it but Xanatos holds out hand saying he'll have to insist. Suddenly, the jewel around her neck starts glowing, as do her eyes. Red fur sprouts on her arms, her fingernails extend into claws. She breathes heavily and claws at the jewel around her neck. She cries out as her body changes shape, exploding from the trenchcoat. Xanatos watches in shock as the werefox stands before him and approaches with murderous intent.

Act Two

Xanatos draws a tranquilizer gun as the werefox advances upon him. "I thought so," he says before taking his shot, nailing her in the shoulder. But the dart barely slows her down and she knocks the gun from his hand before grabbing Xanatos and pinning him down on the bed... her intent animalistic if not murderous. Xanatos calls out to Owen who bursts in and fires another tranq at the werefox, nailing her in the upper back. The werefox roars as Xanatos escapes her grasp. The two men make a failed attempt to overpower her, but she knocks them aside and exits the master bedroom making her way to the elevator. She forces the doors open and climbs down the shaft, deep below the castle into the upper floors of the building. Elevator doors burst open where Bruno and his security force await in full tactical gear. They fire more tranqs at her, but the werefox makes short work of them before escaping... her roars echoing through the skyscraper.

Owen stands before the monitor in Xanatos's office reporting that the tracking monitor he shot her with is working, Fox has left the building. Xanatos had hoped to accomplish things the easy way. Owen continues to report that according to he monitor, Fox's metabolism is operating at an accelerated rate, if it keeps up her system will burn out by morning and she'll die. Xanatos muses that had he known the Eye of Odin had that kind of power, he'd never have just given it away. He shrugs it off as "spilt milk" and suggests moving on to Plan B. But as he turns away from Owen, his face betrays his worry. Owen picks up the phone and dials a number... and not too long afterwards, Elisa approaches Goliath in the library telling him that she just got an anonymous tip about where to find the creature that attacked her earlier. Goliath puts down his book about werewolves and accompanies her.

Having since donned his exo-frame, Xanatos flies across the city towards the financial district, following the signal. He tracks the werefox to Felice's Meats where, just as he predicted, her accelerated metabolism forces her to eat almost constantly in order to maintain energy. He enters the butchery where hundreds of pieces of meat hang from hooks, armed with a weapon he is hoping will finally tranq her. But the werefox hears him coming and gets the drop on him, mauling his armor and greatly damaging it. Xanatos is forced to lose his helmet but the werefox attacks again, knocking him backwards. For but a moment, Fox regains control and gazes down at him, but the Eye's affect reasserts itself. The werefox leaves him and jumps from the window to the loading platforms below.

The werefox stops to catch its breath as Goliath soars down, Elisa in his arms and kicks the werefox to the ground. The two grapple and Goliath manages to overpower the beast. He and Elisa approach to find out more about it when Xanatos lands behind Fox in his damaged armor. Elisa demands to know why he's here and he tells her that it's a private matter. The wound of Derek's mutation still being fresh, Elisa assumes it's another one of Xanatos's mutated victims as he reaches for the Eye of Odin. But magical energy explodes from the eye shocking Xanatos and he topples backwards. The werefox is again on her feet and attacks Goliath. Goliath tries to make peace "If Xanatos is your enemy then, believe me, we are your friends!" But the werefox doesn't respond and vanishes into the night. Elisa pulls her gun on Xanatos determined to bring him in, but he just rockets back off to the castle. Goliath approaches Elisa, who believes the creature was human once, just like her brother. Xanatos "clearly wants the jewel around her neck. We need to gather all of the gargoyles to make sure we get it before he does." But Goliath pauses, believing he's figured out Xanatos's game.

Xanatos lands at the castle and is greeted by Owen, observing that Plan B wasn't entirely successful. Xanatos agrees but "Plan C is in place. Goliath and company are, as usual, determined to thwart me. They'll pull out all the stops to get the Eye away from Fox before I do," looking satisfied he adds "they'll do all of my work for me." But Owen is confused, failing to see how it would be any easier to get the Eye away from the gargoyles then from Fox. But before Xanatos can further explain himself, Goliath and Elisa land in the courtyard. His manipulations have failed and Goliath snidely supposes that Xanatos doesn't have a Plan D.

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles	Humans
Goliath Lexington Brooklyn Broadway Hudson (No Lines) Bronx Demona (Mentioned Only)	Owen Burnett Fox David Xanatos Elisa Maza Mr. Jaffe Morgan Morgan Travis Marshall Commandos Bruno Talon (Mentioned Only) Vinnie Grigori Careless Jones (First Appearance) Man in the Werewolf Costume (First Appearance)

Places	Magic	Miscellaneous
Felice's Meats	Were	Halloween 'Giants of Finance'

Quotes

• "Marry me."

"Are you serious?"

"We're genetically compatible, highly intelligent, and have the same goals. It makes perfect sense to get married." - Xanatos and Fox

• "I fail to see how it would be any easier to get the Eye from the gargoyles than from Fox." - Owen

• "Your manipulations have failed, Xanatos. I don't suppose you have a plan D?" - Goliath

• "I have no more love for Fox than I have for you. Even if what you say is true, why should I help her?"

"Because you know what it means to lose someone you love." - Goliath and Xanatos

• "Come on, I've wanted to stroll down the city street with you for a long time." - Elisa

• "If Xanatos speaks the truth; if someone like him can love, perhaps there still is hope for this world." - Goliath

• "How did you find us?"

"Old habits die hard." - Elisa and Xanatos

• "So now you know my weakness."

"Only you would regard love as a weakness." - Xanatos and Goliath

• "Actually Mr. Xanatos, I believe he's right; you've never looked more heroic."

"A momentary lapse, I assure you." - Owen and Xanatos

Continuity

This is a good episode for incidental characters: in order of appearance, we have Mr. Jaffe (whose grocery store is attacked by Fox near the beginning), Officer Morgan, Travis Marshall, Bruno and his commandos, and Brendan and Margot in their second appearance in Gargoyles (with Fox and Goliath both jumping on the hood of their car as they watch in astonishment). And one of the crowd at the Halloween block party, judging from his voice, is clearly Vinnie (for once, having a pre-"Vendettas" encounter with the gargoyles that doesn't wind up disastrously for him - assuming that he didn't have any comical misfortunes when Fox showed up and broke up the party).

Elisa alludes bitterly to Xanatos' mutation of Derek into Talon from "Metamorphosis" (one reason why she is so reluctant to help him in this episode).

Xanatos places another tracking device on Goliath, commenting when it is revealed, "Old habits die hard". He had previously done the same thing in "Awakening: Part Three". (This episode plays fair in having Xanatos place one hand briefly on Goliath when the latter shows up with Elisa in Castle Wyvern, giving him the opportunity to plant the tracer.)

The Trio all have their own Halloween costumes, appropriately chosen. Broadway wears his trenchcoat and fedora from "The Silver Falcon" again (in light of all the destruction that his outfit underwent in that episode, these would have to be a look-alike replacement). Brooklyn wears a pirate outfit, fitting his swashbuckling nature, and Lexington dresses up as an old-fashioned airplane pilot (straight out of the time of World War I flying aces and Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight), as an echo of his ambitions in "Her Brother's Keeper".

For Halloween, Elisa dresses as Belle from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast (this is the only explicit reference in the series to that movie, which served as an inspiration for Elisa and Goliath's relationship). The following Halloween, shown in "Masque" and "Bash", Elisa dresses as another Disney heroine: Jasmine from the film Aladdin.

David Xanatos and Fox appear together for the first time since "Leader of the Pack", in which it was revealed that they were in love, and in this episode Xanatos proposes marriage. The wedding takes place in the following episode, "Vows"".

The Eye of Odin, Fox's engagement gift, appears for the first time since its introduction in "The Edge", and for the first time it is revealed that it has powerful magical properties. This foreshadows the Eye's later appearances in "Avalon" Part Two, "Avalon" Part Three and "Eye of the Storm".

At the end of the episode, Goliath takes the Eye of Odin for safekeeping. It will remain in the clock tower until "High Noon".

Tidbits

There is a small animation nit when the transformed Fox is attacked by the Commandoes outside the elevator shaft. As the scene shifts, the Commandoes' headgear switches from all grey to all red and back again.

Elisa's dressing up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast for Halloween is a reference to her relationship with Goliath and shows the first instance of her dressing up as a Disney Princess (the second being in "Masque" where she dresses up as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin). Shortly before Elisa is seen in costume, a crowd of people in Halloween costumes includes a man wearing a coat very similar to that of "The Beast" and appears to be wearing some sort of animal mask suggesting that this is intentional.

Despite several superficial similarities (not least the existence of an immortal Scotsman in the Gargoyles universe, and the Goldencup Bakery Building), this episode contains the only confirmed, intentional references in Gargoyles to the film Highlander, when the sign (which says "Mercury Building") explodes behind Fox at the end of the episode. [1][2]

Though non-canonical, the Disney Adventures' story "All Hallows' Eve" follows this episode.

DVD Release

• Gargoyles: Season Two, Volume One

Links

• Background Memo
• Greg's Ramble
• Extensive Synopsis and Review

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