This episode mixes in a Junior Woodchucks merit-badge plot
with a threat to Scrooge’s fortune plot.
Put together, the plots are told well, but can seem a little too
familiar at times. With the Junior
Woodchucks, we see the usual conventions from the characters involved like
Huey, Dewey, and Louie showing great devotion to their troop and determination
to get more merit badges, Launchpad as their big-hearted
troop leader, and Doofus Drake not being very productive and mostly eating and
taking things too literally. Surprisingly, the standout character in this part
of the episode is Webby. While it is
very confusing as to how she’s suddenly become a Junior Woodchuck when she
wasn’t part of the troop in any prior episode, she has her own relatable arc in
a rare instance of being more than just a cute little girl. She only has one merit badge and longs to get
even more to live up to the standards her other Junior Woodchuck friends, and
her determination is easy to feel as she spends the episode researching how to
man a boat and turns out to know what to do the best in the group. Her skills are especially put to good use
in Scrooge’s part of the plot. It’s
about how one of his ships, the Lucky Duck, is attacked and destroyed by a sea
monster and has apparently swallowed the first mate, Quackerbill. If that’s not enough, all of Scrooge’s cargo
is free to be salvaged by anyone because its ship was sunk, primarily by
another one of the show’s incarnations of Pete, Dogface Pete. Of course, Scrooge is prompted to investigate
the truth behind the sea monster with his fortune on the line. From this description of this part of the
plot, that’s when the story becomes a little too familiar. Think about it, a ship carrying Scrooge’s
fortune getting attacked by what appears to be a sea monster. That’s about the same as what happened in one
of the parts of the “Catch as Cash Can” arc which wasn’t too long ago. It even includes a scene where Scrooge is
“swallowed” by the monster and everyone mourns him while trying to believe that
he may still be alive just like that one episode. By then, it would probably be easy to guess
that the sea monster is fake, and that’s just what’s revealed later on. I don’t mind the use of clichés, but
recycling plot points from very recent episodes is a bit ridiculous. There are some good twists though like
Dogface Pete, who Scrooge thought was responsible for the monster, turning out
to be sympathetic towards Scrooge by helping him try to beat it, and
Quackerbill turning out to be the monster’s true mastermind and using it to
salvage money from sunken ships, generic villain motivation as it is. Plus, the
fact that it’s cute little Webby who takes charge in the end and saves the day
for the Junior Woodchucks and Scrooge is an interesting resolution for the
conflict at hand, and the ending moment where she finally gets additional merit
badges is a great way to cap everything off.
Even if the some story points are recycled in parts, this is still a
solid episode fueled by notable character moments and a few good twists. 9/10
The Ranking:
1. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing
2. Catch as Cash Can Part 2: A Whale of a Bad Time
3. Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy
4. Back to the Klondike
5. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay
6. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck
7. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
8. Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales
9. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
10. Merit-Time Adventure
11. Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks
12. Scrooge’s Pet
13. Horse Scents
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Launchpad recounts a quest for "The Golden Fleecing" in therapy.
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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