In the twenty-eighth episode of the second season of Gargoyles, THIS CONTINUES TO BE AN INCREDIBLY MESSED UP SHOW. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Gargoyles.Â
I thought I was ready for this show, and then after having my life ruined by it repeatedly, I thought I was more ready for it, and I’m never going to be ready for it.
I don’t even know where to start, y’all. This episode relies on: heavy serialization. Complex characterization. Emotional depth. Heartbreak and tragedy. It’s the culmination of like TEN PLOT LINES, and I feel like a steamroller just ran over me. THE ENDING IS SO DISTURBING, WHAT HAVE Y’ALL DONE TO ME.
Let’s start with that first arresting and jarring image: Demona, disguised in her human person, walking arm-in-arm with Macbeth. Since the two of them were first cast out of Avalon, I’ve been wondering how they’d come back into the story. Given that their memories of their experience there were removed, I was also interested to see how they’d resume their bizarre relationship. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. Of course, there are multiple layers and levels of manipulation occurring in “Sanctuary,” the first being Demona’s scheme to get Macbeth to marry her. Why? I had no idea, and even considering the Avalon memory wipe, I couldn’t formulate a theory. At heart, Demona has no real desire to kill Macbeth, at least not as strongly as Macbeth wants the reverse. She’s fine being immortal (relatively speaking), since she’s more interested in power and dominating over humans. So, why marry a man she not only hates, but is eternally linked to her anyway?
I’d like to definitively state that Thailog has fooled me twice now. T W I C E. His appearance here surprised me, but his initial plan made a whole lot of sense to me. Of course he would conspire with Demona to steal Macbeth’s wealth. I actually mentally reminded myself that Thailog, programmed with Xanatos’s mind, had a predilection for money and ambition. The fortune he had amassed previously wasn’t enough, especially if he still wanted to confront Xanatos. So: VERY SENSICAL PLAN, if diabolical, since it involved tricking Macbeth into believing he’d fallen in love with “Dominique.” Demona would get to fool her sworn enemy and imprison him FOREVER, so this worked out in her favor.
What I didn’t expect was a genuine love in either Demona or Macbeth, though for different people. Macbeth fell for Dominique, and he fell for her hard. (I suppose Goliath’s point about the silver lining of this all still applies. At least Macbeth knows that after nearly a thousand years of living, he can still fall in love with someone.) But, as far as we can tell, Demona actually fell for Thailog, too. I thought their relationship was one of convenience rather than affection. However, that was only the case for Thailog, who set this entire disaster up so that Demona and Macbeth would kill one another and leave him with their collected fortune. AGAIN: I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HE WOULD ONLY LOOK OUT FOR HIS OWN BEST INTERESTS. IT’S LITERALLY WHAT HE DOES. I should have known that he would betray everyone if that meant that he’d end out on top. What I did not anticipate was Demona sticking with him despite this. Well, I should note that it’s possible that she simply didn’t believe the claims that Elisa made; she has no reason to believe Elisa. Yet it’s still so disturbing because Demona doesn’t take shit from anyone. She’s truly smitten with Thailog if she’s unwilling to see him for who he is, and Thailog, much like Xanatos, is perfectly fine using and manipulating her as long as he can.
And then there’s Angela. Amidst this complicated and messy drama, she comes to learn that Goliath once loved Demona and that Demona is her biological mother. It makes sense to me that she fixates on her parents, though. Despite that she’s grown up among gargoyles, she’s never lived with a clan like Goliath has. Their cultural system of family is new to her, so she has latched on to her “parents” because they’re the only representations of a family to her. Look, I relate to this a lot as someone who was adopted and once got to meet my biological mom. It wasn’t a magical, meaningful experience either, and I left it feeling drained and confused. Angela is heartbroken that her parents no longer love one another, and I imagine there’s a whole separate group of people who could relate to that, too.
This is a heavy episode, y’all, and it’s handled with excitement and respect. THIS SHOW IS SOMEHOW REAL.
The video for “Sanctuary” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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