DuckTales: Let's Get Dangerous

October 20, 2020 11:12 AM - Season 3, Episode 12

Darkwing Duck gains an unlikely sidekick as he uncovers a dark conspiracy tied to the Missing Mysteries and one of Scrooge’s employees.

Folks, this is the big one. After teasing the rise of the rebooted Darkwing Duck for the past two seasons of DuckTales, the show finally delivers a special two-part episode centered around Darkwing, Launchpad, and the newly-introduced Gosalyn. My inner ten-year-old self was screaming through the entire show. There are some deep cut references here. Disney has the episode available to watch for free on YouTube and the DisneyNOW app.

Mythology Gags courtesy of TVTropes:

• Bushroot's new zombie-like appearance evokes the appearance of the dead husks of himself he left behind in the Darkwing Duck episode "Twin Beaks."
• The Ramrod device from "Darkly Dawns the Duck" appears. Instead of making things float, it is a reality altering device.
• In a flashback, Gosalyn is seen wearing her shirt from the original Darkwing Duck. She uses a crossbow frequently in the episode, an allusion to her Quiverwing Quack identity.
• Launchpad's collectable cards of Darkwing Duck villains are numbered with the exact episode numbers from the original series in which they each debuted.
• During his entrance in front of Taurus Bulba, DW says, "I am the scourge that pecks at your nightmares", which was the original fixed phrase that followed in the pilot before it became a Mad Libs Catchphrase.
• After being caught by Bulba, DW says, "Yep, yep, yep", which was a Verbal Tic he did in the original series.
• Solego’s Ciruit is the key to the Ramrod, which is really a device that accesses alternate realities, basically a crossover device. Solego was the main villain in The Legend of the Chaos God, a Cross Through story between Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, and Goof Troop that ran in Disney Adventures magazine in 1994. Louie also asks about setting the Ramrod to rubies, which is the gem Solego was trapped in.
• At one point, Gosalyn shouts, "Keen gear!", which was her Catch Phrase in the original series.
• There are multiple references to the Darkwing Duck opening sequence. From Mayor Owlson paraphrasing it asking for Darkwing Duck's help, to Dewey humming it as he sneaks past Bushroot's roots (with Bradford Buzzard pretending to play a saxophone), to the end of the title sequence being shown on the Ramrod before the Fearsome Four emerge.
• Gosalyn hums part of the "Little Girl Blue" song to an exhausted Darkwing as she tucks him in. A reversal of the scene "Darkly Dawns the Duck" when Darkwing and Gosalyin sing the song as he tucks her in to bed.
• Launchpad and Gosalyn gain entry into Bulba's building by dressing up as Darkwing's minor antagonists Jambalaya Jake (and Gumbo) and the Bugmaster, respectively. Quackerjack lampshades this by calling them C-string villains.
• Darkwing and Launchpad reference the episodes “Beauty and the Beet” and “Just Us Justice Ducks” from the original series, even using their correct real-world episode numbers.
• Scrooge, Huey, Dewey & Louie get sent to another reality... namely the original series episode "Catch as Cash Can", where Scrooge jumps around the kitchen repeatedly shouting, "A sea monster ate my ice cream!". When the four are rescued, Louie questions what "Quackaroonie" even means, and Dewey questions why their heads were so round.
• At one point the Fluppy Dogs are seen on the Ramrod's screen. Their show was about them using a crystal key to travel to different worlds, much like how the Ramrod works here.
• Bonkers has unpleasant encounters with each of the Fearsome Four. Fitting, as Jim Cummings voiced both the bobcat and Drake/Darkwing on their original shows.
• At 82 years young, once again, Michael Bell does the voice of Quackerjack, and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Banana Brain.

posted by Servo5678 (4 comments total)

Bonkers

wait
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:39 PM on October 20, 2020 [2 favorites]

Tribute, send-up, and continuation. Kinda nice to see the two series bridged further than a 'and Launchpad is on both these shows, ok' way. The times and broadcast standards being different now, the only thing that felt weird to me is that people actually get punched in this one.

Darkwing Duck is one of the great superheroes. A 1930s mystery man look, 1960s Marvel character flaws, and a dose of 90s satire.
posted by StarkRoads at 9:52 AM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Darkwing Duck is one of the great superheroes. A 1930s mystery man look, 1960s Marvel character flaws, and a dose of 90s satire.

And a duck.
posted by trig at 11:50 AM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

"Two out of four ain't bad." - Howard the Duck
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:56 PM on October 21, 2020