Hunter's Moon Part One

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"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.


Crew With the Voice Talent Of


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.

The Story

Act One

Nighttime in a rural village of 994 Scotland. The horses are restless inside a barn and the reason soon is revealed. The gargoyle who will one day be named Demona is scrounging for food. Suddenly the barn door creaks open and a young human boy, Gillecomgain enters. "Who's there?!" he cries. There is no answer and he grabs a pitchfork. The gargoyle moves into the shadows, but cannot resist a snarl as her eyes glow red. The boy demands that the thief show themselves as he moves forward with the pitchfork in hand. He peers behind a haybale and the gargoyle leaps out at him. She slashes at his face and the boy falls to his knees in pain. While he cries and holds his face the gargoyle sneers at him, "That'll teach you humans..." Holding the meager scraps she has stolen, the gargoyle flees. Moments later, Gillecomgain runs from the barn in pain. His shoulder is grabbed by his father, Maíl Brigti. The man is irritated as he had sent the boy out for milk. Gillecomgain tells his father that something attacked him and shows the man his injuries. Maíl Brigti is not impressed and mocks his son as a baby for crying about simple scratches. He guesses the assailant was nothing more than a rogue gargoyle looking for food. "She was a demon," Gillecomgain declares, "And she shall pay for what she did. She and all her evil race." He reveals three long bloody scars across his face as he grimly looks out into the night.

Manhattan, 1996. Dead leaves rattle in the wind near a subway station. Waiting at the tracks below is a blonde woman. She is approached by three men who creepily ask her for money. The woman, frightened reaches into her purse and pulls out some cash and hands it to one of the men. She turns to move away and runs into another of the men. She is surrounded and asks the men what they want. They joke with her that they want several things, but will settle for a "first date". The subway train finally arrives and the woman leaps inside. Taking a few deep breaths and having a seat, she looks around at the other passengers. A Construction Worker reading a newspaper gives her a friendly nod and the woman smiles back at him. However, the three thugs have boarded the train as well and enter the car. As one of the men reveals a large firearm, the passengers react in fear and annoyance. Another of the thugs pulls out a large bag and the men announce that they are taking up a collection and that everyone should give up their valuables. They start moving through the train car. Two passengers, Margot Yale and Brendan Quarters bicker as they toss their purse and wallet in the bag. The subway exits a tunnel and moves along an open-air trestle. Five gargoyles glide in over the train. Inside, the humans react to the sudden noise and damage as the gargoyles land on the train car's roof. The interior lights flicker and go dark seconds before Goliath uses his claws to rip a hole in the car's ceiling! He growls at the thugs as his eyes glow brightly. The men waste no time firing their weapons upwards into the hole, but Goliath has disappeared. Suddenly his hand reaches in and grabs one of the thugs and pulls him upward into the night. Nearby, Brooklyn also rips a hole in the ceiling. The remaining armed criminals immediately fires at him and hits! Brooklyn falls backwards in pain, holding his arm. Goliath sees that his Second has been injured and is furious. Angela lands near Brooklyn and begins tending to the injury and Goliath turns his attention back to the humans. He grabs a second thug and pulls him upward. Holding the man high he growls. The man is terrified. Broadway and Goliath hang the two men by their coat collars off the side of the train car. The men are alarmed to see the train tracks rushing by below their feet. Goliath leaps through the hole into the car and moves forward. The final thug rushes up behind him and holds a gun to his back. "Tough luck, handsome," the man jeers. The blonde woman wastes no time and slams herself into the thug. As the man crashes into the gargoyle, the woman's blonde wig falls off revealing her to be Elisa Maza! Goliath grabs the man and slams him into a wall. "Tough luck, indeed," he snarls. He turns to look at the train passengers. They are terrified to look at him and warn him to stay away. One woman stands in a panic and then faints into the arms of her husband. The Trio and Angela watch the scene play out from one of the holes in the roof. "we've still got a little P.R. problem..." Brooklyn jokes as Angela finishes dressing his arm wound. Goliath turns to Elisa and thanks her for her aid. They embrace and she tells him that "no one messes with my best friend." He steps away from her dejectedly and tells her that they will be in touch soon. Elisa watches as he climbs up to the train car's roof. The five gargoyles open their wings and glide away just before the train re-enters a tunnel.

The train pulls into the next station and Detective Matt Bluestone and several NYPD officers, including Morgan Morgan are waiting. Spotting the two thugs hanging on the side of the train, Morgan jokes that the "air conditioning must be broke". The men are quickly arrested as the doors open and the passengers rush out. They are panicked about "monsters on the train" and Margot Yale tells Bluestone that it was "those gargoyle creatures". They beg for protection in case the gargoyles return. Elisa walks out of the train and Bluestone greets his partner. He laughs and guesses that she must've had a little help on this case. "Just some concerned citizens," she tells him, "with wings..."

Goliath, Angela, and the Trio continue their glide home. Lexington laughs about the looks on the thugs faces when they arrived. Broadway agrees that they are very good at what they do. Brooklyn calls his clan the "defenders of the night" proudly. The five gargoyles arrive at the Clocktower where Hudson and Bronx eagerly await them. Hudson happily greets the lads "and lassie, of course" before noticing that Brooklyn has been hurt. Brooklyn assures his elder that it is a minor injury and it will heal when he has a stone nap. Goliath notices the coming dawn and tells the Manhattan Clan to take their places. Angela jumps up to her spot next to Broadway and tells him that they have a good life. Broadway agrees and adds that one thing would make it perfect. "Breakfast?" Lexington asks. Broadway asks how he knew and then turns to stone as the sun rises. The rest of the clan does as well.

Below, in the offices of the 23rd Precinct, Captain Maria Chavez meets with Detectives Bluestone and Maza in her office. She informs Elisa that she will be reassigned to day shift for a while. She needs Elisa to show a new transfer the ropes. Maza and Bluestone are stunned and begin to protest. Elisa insists that the Chavez is breaking up a great team "better than you know..." Chavez assures them that it is only temporary. And that it was not a request. She opens her office door to reveal Jason Conover. Elisa continues her protest, but then stops as she lays eyes on the handsome newcomer. She moves forward and Elisa and Jason introduce themselves as Bluestone knowingly smirks and shakes his head.

Later, Elisa and Jason are driving through the city in Elisa's Car. She asks what precinct he has transferred from and he replies that it is one in another city. She asks which city and he deflects by telling her it is a small one compared to this. He points out that a "town this size must take a lot of work to protect." Elisa laughs and agrees. It's more than a job, she tells him, it's a way of life. Jason says he has heard lots of stories about New York. Like alligators in the sewers. Elisa remarks that she could tell him stories. He smiles at her and tells her that he is all ears. They continue their patrol and as they pass by a warehouse near the waterfront an explosion suddenly rocks the car. Elisa turns the wheel towards a building with Xanatos's name on the side that now has a massive hole in one wall. Two masked men are fleeing the building towards a green van. Elisa slams on the brakes and she and Jason point their firearms at the men and demand that they freeze. The two men set down some canisters that they were stealing and put their arms in the air. "Freeze yourself." says a voice from behind Elisa. She and Jason look back to see two other men pointing guns at them.

Act Two

Elisa and Jason stand with their hands held high. Jason looks around and notices that the canister that one of the goons set down has a "Flammable" symbol on it. The two men holding guns at the police officers' backs tell them to "drop the hardware". Instead, Jason leaps to the side. The criminals begin firing their weapons at him. As Jason lands in a roll, he quickly takes aim and fires at the canister and it explodes! The two gunmen take cover and exchange fire with Elisa and Jason as the other two men grab an intact canister and jump in their van. The van takes off, swerves through the firefight and stops near the two gunman. They quickly board the van and the four of them take off. Elisa and Jason jump in Elisa's car and she begin pursuing them while telling Jason to call it in. The high speed chase moves away from the docks and into the city streets. As the car race around corners and down avenues, the men in the van fire shots at their pursuers. The two vehicles dodge pedestrians (and a horse!) and enter Central Park. Narrowly avoiding a jogger, the van goes off road and Elisa is right behind them. The men continue firing their guns at the officers and Jason takes a few shots back at them. The van struggles to maintain control and then veers on to a wooded hill. Elisa remarks that her "mechanic is going to love this" before turning the wheel to follow the van into the brush. Both cars have a rough time moving off road, but emerge on a paved area near Bethesda Fountain. A few more of the men's shots hit the hood of Elisa's car and Jason eyes the van's rear tire. He carefully takes aim and shoots. The tire bursts and the van loses control and careens off of an embankment. Several of the men and the canister are thrown from the vehicle as it lands with a crash on it's side. One of the men slams down to the ground near some foliage and makes a hasty escape as Elisa pulls her car up to the crash scene. The officers step out and point their guns at the three men in the van. "I said 'freeze'", says Elisa and the men hold hold up their hands. The canister lays on the ground.

Some time later, the three thieves, now handcuffed, are put into a police van as other officers work the scene. Elisa and Jason joke about their little adventure, compliment each other, and playfully call each other "Bonnie" and "Clyde". Jason asks if he can buy Elisa a cup of coffee.

That evening, at the Nightstone Unlimited Building, Dominique Destine is holding an interview with a woman named Robyn Correy. The former is impressed with Ms. Correy's credentials and references noting connections to Paris, Edinburgh, and Florence. Destine asks when Correy can begin a job as her personal assistant and Robyn replies that she can start "this minute, if necessary". She adds that she is not afraid of long hours and can work nights if required. Dominique tells the woman that she never works nights as she requires her... "beauty sleep". Suddenly, the door to Destine's office opens and a man runs in. He tells her that he and his accomplices ran into some trouble. He begins to say something about D/I-7 before Destine stops him and scolds the man for interrupting her interview. Her anger turns to a smile as she looks at Robyn Correy. She informs the young woman that she will start the following morning. Shaking the woman's hand she welcomes her to the "Nightstone Team". As Correy leaves the office, Destine angrily looks at the man and orders him to follow her. Destine presses a button on her desk and a bookshelf slides to the side revealing a hidden entrance to a vast war room. They enter and stop before a huge window revealing the sun setting among the skyscrapers. Destine asks for his report. The man stammers that they were unable to get what she asked for and tries to explain that the cops were involved, but Destine will hear none of it and interrupts him again to call him an "incompetent fool". She approaches him menacingly and he begs her to stop. She glances out the window at the sun getting lower. She snarls at the man that he is lucky she treats her employees with compassion before throwing the man to the floor and yelling at him to leave. The man stumbles away quickly and the secret door closes behind him. Destine laments that the "little people" always frustrate her. "Well," she says to herself, "if you want something done right..." The sun sets and darkness falls, Destine begins screaming in pain as she transforms into her true form: Demona! Her business suit is shredded by her transformation and the bursting out of her wings and tail and her shoes are destroyed. Nevertheless, she smiles and finishes, "... Do it yourself!"

Act Three

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles Humans Others


Places Objects Media Miscellaneous


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 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.
  • 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).

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

See Also

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