In the forty-third episode of the second season of Gargoyles, I cannot deal with this episode, and it’s all your fault. Yes. You. If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Gargoyles.Â
Trigger Warning: For death, poverty, and ableism.
YOU ALL DID THIS TO ME, WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED.
- I can’t.
- This is perhaps the most fucked up time travel story I’ve seen in a long time
- Children watched this.
- Adults watched this.
- EVERYONE WHO WATCHED THIS WITNESSED NEARLY EVERY CHARACTER DYING TRAGICALLY ON SCREEN.
- And then the climax of this nightmare is not, “Oh, it was all a dream, don’t worry!”
- NO, IT’S THE MASSIVE SUGGESTION THAT THIS FUTURE WAS A GLIMPSE OF THE REAL THING.
- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME
- Can we talk about how brutal this episode is and why it is designed that way?
- Until the reveal of Puck, I had no theory as to why the Avalon magic had sent Goliath and the team forty years into the future. If Goliath wasn’t going to use the Phoenix Gate, then what was so important about events that happened in a time period so far away? I could understand Avalon sending them to the past, but the future?
- I have to give this show credit: this is one of the most bewildering Mark Watches experiences yet. I almost can’t believe how quickly the plot twists and shocks rolled out in “Future Tense.” This episode drops us into a nightmare and never once gives a chance to breath or process anything that happens. We go from the reveal of a dystopic Manhattan to Xanatos’s guard robots to Matt Bluestone rescuing Goliath FORTY YEARS IN THE FUTURE. The worldbuilding done here might be sparse, but it’s incredibly effective. We learn how Manhattan’s residents are subject to daily patrols by a vicious security force, all while they wait for this inevitable “utopia” that Xanatos continually promises. Everyone lives in abject poverty. Manhattan is literally cut off from the rest of the world, surrounded by pollution, and a place of endless terror. And for what? An ego play. A chance for Xanatos to achieve the combination of supremacy and power he always wanted.
- And then we meet the people of the future. Brooklyn is still the leader, but he’s far more cynical. For what it’s worth, he’s also clearly in charge, a massive change from the reluctance we saw from him earlier this season.
- Broadway was seriously injured during one of many wars over the years, though I must provide some criticism of this. The writers invoke a trope (probably unknowingly) that’s common with blindness: the “alternate” version of a character in a dark world being disabled. Like that’s the worst thing a person can be is blind, you know?
- Lexington was made or willingly chose to become cybernetic, and my guess is the latter, given that he was the behind this entire Xanatos utopia. And really, that should have been my clue that this was all a trick: why would Lexington willingly do something so horrific? Why would he betray everyone he had ever known? And for what?
- But at the time, I bought this. It felt horrifying, but well-constructed. And that’s what worries me: a character like Puck probably could see possible timelines in the future. How much of this was a construction or a fabrication? How much of this was borrowed from things that very well could happen?
- I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MANY CHARACTERS DIED ONSCREEN AND HOW CASUAL IT WAS. Claw, Brooklyn, and Bluestone are murdered in a matter of seconds and then THE SHOW MOVES ON. Broadway’s death is just COMPLETELY UNFAIR.
- And yes, there’s technically the chance that none of this was real, but does it also mean that it doesn’t matter? In this context, I’m actually not sure, and it’s why “Future Tense” unnerved me as much as it did.
- I wasn’t ready for one goddamn second of this. LEXINGTON AND DEMONA WERE TOGETHER. CHAVEZ’S DAUGHTER WAS THERE. DEREK AND THE REST OF HIS CLAN WERE DEAD. EVERYTHING WAS THE WORST.
- I still can’t.
The video for “Future Tense” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
-Â Please visit my new site for all announcements. If you’d rather not have to rely on checking a website regularly, sign up for my newsletter instead! This will cover all news for Mark Reads, Mark Watches, and my fiction releases.Â
