Elisa Maza is cutting in on Tony Dracon’s protection racket. But it’s all part of a sting by the police. That doesn’t make it any less dangerous for Elisa. It’s a good thing she’s got her own muscle: Goliath and Broadway. They’re more than strong enough to take out the gangsters. But are they aware Elisa is on a police mission, or do they truly want to work with Dracon and Co? Money and power are tempting for gargoyles too. Demona and Thailog have proven that. The appeal of being an antagonist is strong!
Miss the Protection episode review part 1? Read it.
Clean Up on Aisle 3
Glasses enters Jaffe’s store and knocks over some cans. Very intimidating. Matt says they’ll pay as long as they meet the boss, since there’s a chick going around making the same threat. This doesn’t make sense, since these people obviously aren’t with her, and the boss isn’t going to tell them anything more than what Glasses says. But whatever.
Meanwhile, at a dry cleaners, the store owners are refusing to pay Joey. When he leaves, they’re revealed to be Morgan and Chavez. Ok, so now we have a beat cop working a sting on organized crime? And the captain of the precinct is doing field work?
Elisa is schmoozing it up with Dracon: eating his fancy food and provocatively crunching on jalapenos. The Fancy Theme Music we usually get when Xanatos and Fox are acting more classy than usual plays.
The subject of the “flying monsters” arises. She says they’re not like humans, but she can handle them. The main problem with them is that “money and power” don’t appeal to them.
Outside, Goliath and Broadway are listening. They’ve had enough. They barge in. Goliath says that “money and power” actually sound pretty appealing. Broadway says they should hook up with Dracon because he “knows the angles.”
At this point, I have to say Goliath makes a better villain than Braodway, but then we already knew this thanks to Thailog. All the same, it’s fun to think how the protags would be in one of those reversed realities that the superhero stories are so fond of. You know, where the good guys and the bad guys switch roles? I also always enjoy the villains that are mirror opposites of the heroes. Remember Negaduck in Darkwing Duck? He’s my favorite DW character, by the way. I did not however like Bizarro in Superman.
Dracon tries to play it cool. He actually does a pretty good job. He’s even honest with Goliath, saying people might get hurt as the mobsters “take over the city.” G is fine with that as long as Dracon stays away from Elisa.
Dracon reaches to put a hand on Goliath’s arm to show he understands Elisa belongs to the garg, but Goliath has none of it.
Then the crew enters – and freaks out. Dracon calms them down, and they seem to accept the new alliance.
Side Note: It would be a great twist if Glasses turned on Dracon in a future episode. The lieutenant might be getting tired of Dracon always getting busted, and of getting his face busted by the gargoyles. I wonder what Glasses’s life is outside of “work”?
Now that things are straightened out, which was actually really easy, it’s time to hit the streets and drum up some cheddar. Yes, all the criminal-speak I know comes from watching TV, especially Breaking Bad.
Work the Street
At the dry cleaners, Joey tosses in a gas grenade that knocks out Chavez and Morgan. Then he leaves another bomb. Not so fast! Broadway steps in and takes out Joey and his reinforcements. Then B flies the bomb out over the river and drops it.
So…there weren’t any cops around watching the place? Even though two of their people were inside, one of them being the captain of the precinct? That place should have so many officers around there that you can smell the donuts a block away!
Elisa and Dracon head to Jaffe’s. They threaten Jaffe and Matt. And knock over cans, of course. Dracon blabs all about his protection racket and threatens them. Busted. Matt reveals his true identity.
Dracon takes Elisa hostage. What a surprise! Not. His guys come in and start laying down fire as he tries to make a run for it. But Goliath steps in and takes out the thugs. This gives Matt a chance to jump Glasses. Elisa kicks Dracon in the face.
You can’t keep a good gangster down, though! He whacks her with a bag of potatoes and takes off.
But Goliath is there to snag him. He flies up with him and chews him out. Um, verbally. G drops him from 1000 feet, then catches him. Dracon passes out.
The cops throw everybody in the backs of squad cars.
Perps and Peppers
Goliath, Broadway, and Elisa have a debrief session that morning on the clock tower. Elisa is impressed they guessed her mission with Dracon.
Goliath wonders why Dracon thought Elisa would ever turn to crime. Elisa says the corrupt always believe others can be corrupted. Yes, Detective, because they can. Everyone has their price. She admits that we all need protecting, and sometimes it’s ourselves we need protecting from. Good point.
In this ep, Dracon has shown that he didn’t learn at all from his previous experiences. And why should he? He’s out on bail (or something, since if he’s out on bail, that magistrate was unquestionably paid off), running a successful crime organization.
He’s cocky, and proud of it. The gargoyles still scare him, though. He was incredibly trusting of Elisa in this ep. Wouldn’t you be a little cautious? Yet he welcomes here with open arms and jalapeno jars. He even trusts the gargoyles. Elisa hangs a lampshade on the issue by saying the corrupt believe everyone can be corrupted. Fine. But that doesn’t explain why he was so easily won over. What, just because Chavez put her on administrative leave? This was all such an obvious set up. Or was it because he wanted her to be corrupt? How does somebody supposedly so street smart and crime-worldly wise not smell a trap?
Final Thoughts
Short review. Not sorry. Dull Episode. Ugh gangsters.
My main gripe is that Tony Dracon falls flat as an antagonist. I don’t mean he’s a pushover or doesn’t follow through on his threats. He does. Explosively. I mean the writers didn’t bother to develop him much. He’s a stereotypical mafia don but without the cotton balls in his cheeks. There’s nothing unique about him. You can predict all his moves.
So far we haven’t learned anything new about Dracon, or seen him in any situations different from his usual “directing crime and being a smart mouth” state.
That’s all just my take anyway. Is there anybody who counts Tony as their favorite character? No, really, I’d like to know. What is it about him that appeals to you?
It’ll be interesting to see if Dracon has learned anything from this adventure. Odds are he hasn’t.
Next week you’re in for a treat! The mutates are back, and so is Sevarius. But the Good Doctor is kidnapped! His abductor wants him to design a cure for the mutates. Did Talon take him, or someone else? Tune in next Tuesday for The Cage.
Thoughts? Comment!
That’s strange, I had written a comment and hit send. What happened? Okay, re-creating my thoughts.
I think you nailed my issues with Dracon when you referred to him as a High School geek pretending to be a badass. Now granted, not every villain can be or should be Xanatos and Demona, but he should have been a little bit more intimidating. A little more charismatic. I’m not sure what went wrong with Dracon, but he falls flat in ways other villains don’t.
Don’t get me wrong, Elisa needs her own enemies that aren’t tied to the Manhattan Clan, given her profession, but something about him seemed off, and I think you nailed it.
Personally, I love a well done crime story. Among my favorite movies are the first two Godfathers, Goodfellas, On the Waterfront, etc. Scorsese is one of my favorite directors, as is Tarantino. And, aside from Gargoyles, my favorite show is “Breaking Bad” (and “Better Call Saul” is already something special. But “Gargoyles” didn’t handle the organized crime elements as well as it could have. And I support those elements being present, considering what city they’re protecting. But could have been better.
Greg Weisman would do a much better job with underworld elements on “The Spectacular Spider-Man”. Tombstone was badass, very charismatic. Silvio “Silvermane” Manfredi was the old school gangster that Dracon should have maybe been. And Green Goblin? Awesome! And he counts, his goal was to seize control of the underworld.
Funny what you say about Glasses. Dracon wasn’t getting released from prison this episode, he was nailed. “Turf” shatters what remains of his operation, and Greg said Tony was done as a crime boss after this. But that he also wanted Glasses to emerge as a leader. I think the character is more charismatic, and definitely more intimidating. It’s definitely an idea I’m willing to give a chance.
Yes, Dracon is an idiot. Especially in this episode.
I hate it when that happens.
Agreed. I’m not expecting every antagonist to be Xanatos. Xanatos’s uniqueness is part of his appeal. And not everyone should be as ruthless as Demona. Antagonists like Macbeth and Sevarius are far removed from the former two antagonists, but they’re compelling.
When Dracon first appeared in The Silver Falcon (that’s the first ep I saw him in, since TD didn’t show Deadly Force), I was hoping for a clever young rock-star of a crime boss. One who shattered the stereotype of mafia dons. The fact that he had the guts to take on Xanatos by lifting his weapons (it was on the Previously, that’s the only way I knew at the time) pointed to a cunning criminal who “knew the angles,” to quote Broadway. But…no. Dracon gets played every episode. When Owen conned him into selling the guns back to Xanatos, Owen acted as if it was no more of a bother than going to the Post Office to get your package when you miss the delivery. Dracon’s believe-ability and threat level drop with each ep, since he always ends up arrested. It’s shades of comic book and conventional “cartoon” villains’ fates.
Crime stories are fine; it’s the gangster/mafia ones I don’t like. Trust me, BrBa and BCS are some of my favorite series. Talk about amazing villains!
You’re 100% correct: Gargoyles failed to do the gangster genre justice. I think it’s because the series isn’t geared for it. Facing obscenely rich guys who are using robots, armor, and phenomenal planning ability? Sure. Dealing with magic spells that turn the city to stone? No problem. Tracking down an immortal gargoyle and the fey she’s summoned and bound? Got it. But when you try to shoehorn in a mundane topic like organized crime, it just doesn’t mesh. The Silver Falcon was okay, but only because it used Mace and the scavenger hunt.
I haven’t seen it, so I’ll take your word on it. I should watch it, I know. And Young Justice. Maybe the Spidey-verse provided more freedom for Greg W?
Other than being the family business, I don’t know how Tony kept control of his gang. He’s like Draco Malfoy: a bully, not a leader. And he’s not even a really threatening bully. The idea that he’s remained in power for as long as he has strains belief. Glasses always was the capable one. I agree that Glasses has more style and seems more reliable than his twit of a boss.
It seems it’s a whole host of issues that make Dracon unsatisfactory as a villain, eh.