Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Til Nephews Do Us Part (DuckTales Vol 3 Part 14) - 'Toon Reviews 25



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Till Nephews Do Us Part
Included on this DVD is the Season 1 finale to make this series suitable for syndication, i.e. the 65th episode.  There are more episodes to discuss after this though.  Marking such a milestone, you’d expect this episode to do something big.  While the main plot does mark huge moments for the featured characters, a few story decisions honestly don’t make it as grand as it could’ve been. 
Scrooge goes to an investor’s office to buy land in Malaria so he can search for the lost relish, that is to say land in Malaysia so he can find its lost relics.  There, he meets Millionara Vanderbucks, who agrees to settle a deal while getting intimate.  Scrooge sees something endearing in Millionara through their money conversations. 
If sounding obsessed over money isn’t suspicious, there’s Millionara’s behavior.  When she arrives at the mansion, she seems overly uptight especially with disgusted looks to the kids.  In other words, Millionara is a bad person and everyone except Scrooge is aware of this.  Because of this, it’s a big problem that Scrooge is too dumb to notice.  He’s greedy, but his good morality has always been key to his character.  Falling for Millionara and being quick to propose to her does no justice for him, and it’s unfortunate that this is the case to make the plot work. 
If that’s not enough, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby discover she plans to take over Scrooge’s fortune and get rid of the kids and mansion staff after the wedding.  This makes Millionara a one-dimensional greedy antagonist whose possible depth is a lie.  It makes it too easy to not want the marriage to happen and frustrating that Scrooge easily goes along with her lies. 
Since all the other characters agree that Millionara is no good, the episode’s later direction is pleasing.  The boys invite Millionara along on a quest for the lost relics of Malaysia.  In classic Huey, Dewey, and Louie fashion, they pull off many hilarious pranks in an attempt to coax her out of wanting to marry Scrooge.  My personal favorite is when they try to scare her as a made up tribe with fake masks, and an actual tribesman appears.  The pranks really stand out because unlike instances like their classic Disney shorts and a few times in this show, there’s a legit reason for them here.  It’s for the greater benefit of themselves and their friends. 
Unfortunately, the payoff puts all these pranks to waste.  As Millionara complains about the creatures and tribes, Scrooge is quick to find that the names don’t exist and uncover the boys.  For how resourceful they are, it’s disappointing that they didn’t use real names for the pranks.  It also begs the question why they don’t just expose Millionara with what they heard right there.  My best guess is so there could be a big gathering of the main cast with cameos of nearly all the past one-off characters for Scrooge’s wedding.  That at least makes this syndication marking episode something special.  Scrooge also sees sense when at the last minute. He deduces that Millionara only wants to marry him for his money and calls the wedding off. This is capped off by a crazy ending where Scrooge is chased away by his jealous old crush, Glittering Goldie suddenly appearing out of the wedding cake to chase Scrooge. 
In all, while the episode is a little weak in parts of the story and characters, it impresses significantly in areas and builds up to a fitting end scene for the first season.  It’s not the best way to celebrate reaching the big 65, but it still feels like something special.
B+

The Ranking
  1. Once Upon a Dime
  2. Duck in the Iron Mask
  3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
  4. Spies in Their Eyes
  5. Nothing to Fear
  6. The Uncrashable Hindentanic
  7. Dime Enough for Luck
  8. Duck to the Future
  9. Launchpad’s First Crash
  10. Jungle Duck
  11. Ducky Horror Picture Show
  12. All Ducks on Deck
  13. Till Nephews Do Us Part
  14. The Status Seekers

The next DuckTales review is on the start of the "Time is Money" arc where we meet Bubba the caveduck.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews from Hey Arnold, it's "Big Gino" and "Jamie O in Love."
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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