Hunter's Moon Part One

"Hunter's Moon" Part One is the sixty-third televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the fiftieth episode of Season 2. It originally aired on May 13, 1996.

• Supervising Producers: Frank Paur, Greg Weisman
• Written by: Michael Reaves
• Story Edited by: Michael Reaves
• Produced & Directed by: Dennis Woodyard
• Animation by: Animal-Ya
• Backgrounds by: Animal-Ya, Morning Sun
• Additional Production Facilities: Morning Sun

Summary

Main Plot

Elisa is temporarily partnered up with the Hunter, Jason Canmore, who is posing as a detective to find out more about the gargoyles. While patrolling in Elisa's car, they happen upon thieves stealing DI-7 from a Xanatos Enterprises warehouse, and a car chase ensues. The thieves are arrested, but one escapes and informs Demona, (as Dominique Destine), of what happened. Elisa seeks the clan's help in guarding the two locations where the chemical is stored. The trio and Bronx encounter Demona at one of the warehouses, and she retreats with a canister of DI-7. Goliath, Hudson, and Angela keep watch at the second location, and are attacked by a trio of Hunters who have expected to find Demona there. Angela is badly injured in the fight, and Goliath swears vengeance.

Subplots

Gillecomgain is established as the first Hunter when Demona scarred his face, as was shown in "City of Stone" Part One. Gillecomgain's father is introduced, showing himself to be a cruel man, but correct in suspecting the culprit was a rogue gargoyle. Gillecomgain swears vengeance upon the whole gargoyle race.

The gargoyles aid Elisa in foiling a robbery on the subway by three street thugs. The passengers seem more afraid of the gargoyles than they are of the criminals.

The three Hunter siblings infiltrate the 23rd Precinct, Nightstone Unlimited, and WVRN news station, and use different last names.

Elisa is immediately smitten with Jason Canmore. Goliath is jealous when he realizes that Elisa is attracted to Jason.

Demona is posing as Dominique Destine during the day, and is head of Nightstone Unlimited. She interviews Robyn Canmore and makes her her personal assistant, unaware that Robyn is a hunter. After the thief tells Demona about the DI-7 fiasco, Demona decides to get the chemical herself.

Matt Bluestone interviews Xanatos about why anyone would want to steal DI-7. Xanatos is afterwards visited by Jon Canmore-posing as a news reporter from WVRN. He asks Xanatos questions about the gargoyles that were gone from the parapets, and takes a piece of stone skin off the ground. Xanatos speculates that Canmore will cause trouble for the gargoyles.

After the Hunters attack the gargoyles, Jon Canmore expresses his concern that all gargoyles might not be evil like Demona is, but Jason vehemently denies this.

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles	Humans	Others
Demona Goliath Lexington Angela Broadway Bronx Hudson	Gillecomgain Maíl Brigti (First Appearance) Elisa Maza/"Salli" Street Thugs Construction Worker Margot Yale Brendan Quarters Sarah Browne (No Lines) Lois Art (No Lines) Morgan Morgan Matt Bluestone Maria Chavez Jason Conovor (First Appearance) Demona's Henchmen Jogger (No Lines) Robyn Correy (First Appearance) Dominique Destine David Xanatos Alexander Fox Xanatos Owen Burnett Jon Carter (First Appearance)	Raptor (First Appearance)

Places	Objects	Media	Miscellaneous
Xanatos's East River Warehouse Xanatos's Chemical Plant	D/I-7	WVRN	Hunters' Airship

Quotes

• "She was a demon, and she will pay for what she did. She and all her evil race." - Gillecomgain

• "Great idea, Brendan. 'Ride the subway. Meet interesting people.'" - Margot

• "Hey, nobody messes with my best friend." - Elisa

• "My mechanic's gonna love this." - Elisa

• "You're lucky I treat my employees with compassion...NOW GET OUT!!"- Demona/Dominique Destine

• "Well if you want something done right...Do it yourself!" - Demona

• "Good as new, I see."

"Yup, we call it the concrete-cure-all." - Elisa and Brooklyn

• "Alex, can you say harassment? I knew that you could." - Xanatos

• "What's your opinion on real live gargoyles in New York? Seems everyone has a friend or a cousin or a dentist who's seen one." - Jon Canmore

• "Thieves always return to the scene of the crime, lass. I learned that from the television."

"I thought you said I wasn't supposed to believe everything I saw on television." - Hudson and Angela

• "Let's blow this place before it does." - Lexington

• "The only good gargoyle is a dead gargoyle." - Jason Canmore

• "On my daughter's life, I swear I will hunt them down, and I will KILL them." - Goliath

Tidbits

Like "City of Stone", "Hunter's Moon" was originally intended as a direct-to-video release rather than part of the televised series.

Unlike the titles of the other episodes (which were colored blue), the titles of all three episodes of "Hunter's Moon" were colored red and yellow.

To mark its nature as a "season finale" (and, to a certain extent, a "series finale"), "Hunter's Moon" contains a number of deliberate echoes of Season One, particularly "Awakening", as part of the concept that one of the best ways to end a story is to bring in the motifs from the beginning. Among these echoes are:

• The gargoyles rescuing Brendan and Margot from the three street thugs. ("Awakening: Part Three")

• The fight with the three street thugs parallels the initial battle with the Vikings ("Awakening: Part One"), a quick and successful fight that the gargoyles are proud of. Brooklyn's minor injury that will be healed by his stone sleep during the day similarly serves as a counterpart to Goliath's own minor injury in his first encounter with Hakon.

• The end of Part One, with Angela's life hanging in the balance and Goliath's grief and anger over it, echoes the carnage of the Wyvern Massacre, in particular, Demona's apparent death in it and Goliath's bellow of sorrow and rage after mourning over what he believes to be her fragments.

• The Trio's inadvertent destruction of the warehouse during their fight with Demona serves as a counterpart to Lexington's equally inadvertent demolition of Vinnie's motorcycle. ("Awakening: Part Three") Brooklyn's question about who's going to tell Goliath about this similarly echoes his remark after watching the motorcycle go up in flames about how they'd probably better not let Goliath know about the incident.

• Xanatos mentions the Daily Tattler in his conversation with Jon Canmore. ("The Thrill of the Hunt")

• When Jason Canmore talks to Elisa about the various urban legends revolving around New York, he mentions "alligators in the sewers" as an example. ("The Thrill of the Hunt")

• Angela reminds Hudson that he'd told her not to believe everything that she'd seen on television. ("The Thrill of the Hunt")

• The warehouse robbery that Elisa and Jason foil takes place in the same docks as Tony Dracon's theft of Xanatos's particle beam accelerators at the beginning of "Deadly Force".

• Elisa's initial protest at being teamed up with Jason echoes her original protest at being partnered with Matt Bluestone in "The Edge" (though she accepts Jason as a partner much more quickly).

• Elisa and Jason's pursuit of Demona's thugs through Central Park may have been intended as an echo of Elisa being pursued by Xanatos's commandos through Central Park in "Awakening: Part Four".

This is another good episode for cameos by the incidental characters. The three street thugs that were introduced in "Awakening: Part Three" and reappeared in "Avalon" Part One now return again here, to be foiled by the gargoyles and Elisa. The panicked subway passengers include Brendan and Margot, Billy and Susan's mother from "The Thrill of the Hunt", Art and Lois from "Protection", and the construction worker from "Vendettas". Officer Morgan is one of the policemen who arrest the street thugs. Elisa and Jason pass the Jogger during their car chase.

When Demona is conducting her job interview with Robyn Canmore, she notes that Robyn has "references from Florence, Edinburgh, the Sorbonne". The opening flashback in Part One takes place in Scotland (though not in Edinburgh), the opening flashback in Part Two takes place in Florence, and the opening flashback in Part Three takes place in Paris (where the Sorbonne is located).

Elisa and Jason flirtatiously refer to each other "Bonnie" and "Clyde", a reference to the real life outlaw couple, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

Xanatos makes a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood reference when he says to Alex, "Can you say 'harassment'? [Alex gurgles here.] I knew that you could."

The name "WVRN" for the television station that Jon Canmore works for in his "Jon Carter" identity becomes of note when one recalls where else in the series one has come across a name with those four consonants in it.

Brooklyn quotes an actual "advertising slogan" for Gargoyles when he proudly describes himself and his fellow gargoyles as "stopping evil stone cold".

Elisa uses her blond wig from "Turf" for a disguise again.

DVD Release

• Gargoyles: Season Two, Volume Two

Links

• Background Memo #1
• Background Memo #2
• Greg's Ramble
• Extensive Synopsis and Review

<< Previous Episode: "Possession"

Next Episode: "Hunter's Moon" Part Two >>