In the thirty-ninth episode of the second season of Gargoyles, IT WAS ALIENS. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Gargoyles.Â
What isn’t a thing on this show??? Oh my god, ALIENS ARE REAL. There is an alien on Earth who was sent to protect it from the affects of a MULTI-GALAXY WAR. And this alien – named Nokkar and voiced by the PERFECT Avery Brooks – is the basis for the maoi on the island… which isn’t necessarily a great thing? It’s that trope where things of an indigenous population are attributed through fiction to someone else, which is one of the major problems I had with “Heritage.” Plus, “The Sentinel” does something far more insidious with its storytelling: it makes it seem like the Rapa Nui disappeared a long, long time ago, when the majority of residents of Easter Island today are descendants of the Rapa Nui.
So, let’s get that out of the way: the writers of this show intend good things with some of these stories, but they’ve got messy execution of those ideas. How many kids will watch this episode and believe that there are no Rapa Nui or their descendants left in the world? Of course, it’s a cartoon! With an alien! And talking gargoyles! You could argue that no one would believe anything from this show in any real sense. However, I’d argue that works of fiction that repeat tropes like this help to perpetuate misunderstandings. It wasn’t until I was in junior high and met someone Native that I learned that all the Native Americans in the United States weren’t dead. That seems like such a gross and absurd thing to state (I mean, it is), but it’s a pervasive myth, one that media and education enforces, either intentionally or accidentally.
If we put this aside, there’s still some neat character stuff between Goliath and Elisa. I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the whole galactic war idea. Like, it’s weird to say that maybe aliens are a bit too far? HOW CAN THAT BE THE LINE THAT THIS SHOW CAN’T CROSS? Thankfully, Nokar’s presence within the Gargoyles universe isn’t really about this (possibly ended) war. It’s more about how his mission to protect Earth nearly caused him to wipe out three members of a native species. In particular, his wipe of Elisa’s memories set in motion a conflict that felt very personal. Watching her interact with Goliath without her memory of their friendship was frustrating because… well, why should she have trusted him? Not only that, but her missing memory meant that she’d lost all the personal evolutions that she’d made along the way. One of the great things about Elisa is that she had learned to roll with the punches. She almost never reacts in shock or horror whenever she meets another creature or mythical being because everything’s relative to the gargoyles. Yet with the temporary amnesia in effect, she’s back to cynicism. Doubt. A desire to protect herself and other humans. Her instinct might eventually guide her back to Goliath, Angela, and Bronx, but throughout most of this, she’s defensive. Scared, even! And it’s such a fascinating look at a character who’s had her experiences for the previous year stripped from her. Who is she, then?
She’s still protective. Still loyal to humans. Still willing to help others when she senses that something’s wrong. And in the end, she trusts that her gargoyle friends are her friends, not some invasive force bent on destroying the world. I WAS FULL OF EMOTIONS, Y’ALL. Plus, Elisa pushes Nokkar towards the three humans who he might be able to form a friendship with, something he’d not done in centuries. SHE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT THE WORLD. And if there’s anything here that speaks to the beauty of Elisa, it’s this: Nokkar nearly destroyed her friends, and she still wanted him to find friendship.
UGH, ELISA RULES.
The video for “The Sentinel” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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