#no hate to Webby but she should not have been the central focus

[astro-duck]

The finale of DuckTales is deeply flawed

I don’t know if I’m alone in thinking this, but I’ve always wanted to explain this to someone.

It’s not all bad. It’s actually an enjoyable watch, it’s fun and charming like most episodes are. The animation is incredible, even more so then it usually is, there’s lots of great moments that are really beautiful. I also enjoy a fair few of the plot moments, the one that stands out most to me is Scrooge immediately surrendering to Bradford the second he threatens to kill Donald, saying “it’s not worth the risk.” Really, all of Bradford’s eventual surrender to petty villainy is well done.

I will likely end up making a post talking more in-depth about why the finale is great, but that is not this post. This post is strictly about the flaws in the plot of the finale.

A few important notes:

I am not a genius media critic, I’m an asshole on Tumblr. This is entirely my opinion and if you love this episode/this one is your favorite I am genuinely happy for you. I understand that it can suck to have someone criticize your favorite piece of media, and if you don’t want to hear this then I don’t want you to hear it either. (/gen)

I, as a person, am very resistant to change. I find it difficult to cope with extreme changes to form in the media I love. I tried to look at this from a non-biased perspective, and I think I did a good enough job, but I’m sure my personal bias slipped through the cracks very frequently.

The very final episode made me cry, despite all this. I cried because the end credits were so sweet and I cried because it was over. I was watching the end credits and I cried. So, that’s something.

I will refer to the three part finale as “The episode” throughout, because this is the easiest way for me to understand it. I will specify if I am talking about a specific part, but for the most time it is just “This Episode” or “The finale”

Actual Episode Criticism:

I think May and June were a terrible idea. I think that the reveal that Webby is a F.O.W.L clone of Scrooge was also a terrible idea. I think the episode has too many plot twists and characters thrown in and it means hardly anything truly meaningful happens.

I believe that May and June were a harmful addition to the finale and the overall canon of the show. Strictly speaking from a finale perspective, they are completely new characters who take up a large portion of the finale of a show, especially in the first part. The episode should not have centered around new characters, but instead been a grand final adventure with the existing characters all having their moments, but especially showcasing the McDucks.

They divert so much of the time of the episode away from other characters that nobody else really gets to shine. Huey, Dewey and Louie sort of get replaced by Webby, May and June. They feel like the new triplets because it’s literally Webby and two clones of her. However, instead of being three distinct personalities, they’re all just literally clones of Webby, personality and all. I have nothing against Webby, but I don’t think having three of her running around taking up 60% of screen time in the finale was good.

The “Webby is a Scrooge Clone” thing is dumb as hell. Especially because Webby calls Scrooge “Dad” at the end of the end of the episode. I’ll get in to this more in a second, but it sort of shits on the message that family isn’t blood. I don’t think Webby needs to see Scrooge as a father. It also doesn’t make sense that they made her a girl, even though trans Scrooge/Webby is a good thought, it’s not canonical.

This is also another twist that they shouldn’t have thrown in last second, because it’s such a large idea to flesh-out. I’m glad they kept it for the finale though, strictly because I would not have enjoyed the arc of Scrooge and Webby being Father/Daughter. Especially because it doesn’t make sense, like if May and June are “sisters” to Webby and they’re clones of her, wouldn’t Scrooge be more like a brother? At least save Webby calling him “Uncle Scrooge” for this grand moment at the end, if you’re going to go to this terrible twist.

These two plots shit directly on the face of whatever message the show was saying up to that point, that “Family is just the people who love you.” Because when May and June show up, Webby immediately begins calling them her sisters because they have the same blood as her. She goes directly against the wishes of the people who, up to that point, were her actual family. Just for two girls who are F.O.W.L spies and who she doesn’t know.

Webby being genetically identical to Scrooge also flies in the face of this a little, because it makes it so that the Papyrus appearing to her, and Webby and Scrooge being family, arguable as being because they are genetically related. This is not the point the show is trying to make, but it still is an argument to be made. Why do they have to be biologically related at all? Why can’t they just be family?

Especially because this show had, for a while, done such a good job portraying non-standard family dynamics. An uncle raising his sister’s kids? A grandmother raising her (adopted) granddaughter? Both in non-standard environments? We don’t often see things like this casually portrayed. But with the return of Della and the Dad-ification of Scrooge it almost feels like they’re saying families aren’t complete without a mom or a dad. Even though they aren’t saying that, it’s still there.

Gosh this post is getting long. Last thing, nobody gets any screen time. So many characters are in this episode, and they had 60 minutes to use them all, but so much of it was dedicated to Webby, May and June that it’s nearly impossible for anybody else to get a complete arc. Webby and Huey are separated from the rest of the McDucks for a while, which would be fine except they don’t even really get a proper reunion. Webby doesn’t get one at all, and Huey gets a quick “I’m so happy to see you, I used your book to find you.” Before they are immediately captured again. Most of the cast actually spends a large portion of the part just before the climax in cells, not being a part of the action.

I mean, Gyro has a few references yo feeling like he’s “losing his touch” before it’s never a big deal again. Della is mad that Donald is leaving but they don’t ever talk about it and then Della just decides it’s okay. Donald never interacts with May and June before deciding to take them on his boat with Daisy. B.O.Y.D, Goaslyn, Violet and Lena don’t really do anything at all, except for B.O.Y.D and Lena having some plot point that no one else really would have been able to do (Reprogramming the Gizmoduck armor and making the ship invisible.) I think that the addition of these characters feels forced, when they should have been a natural addition to a grand adventure finale.

Overall:

May and June are unnecessary and hinder the other characters relationships and I don’t think Webby should be genetically related to Scrooge because then it feels less like “Found Family”. I think nobody gets enough screen time except Webby and her clones, but I don’t think they should have been the focus of the episode.

I’m sorry this post was so long, remember that I don’t hate watching this episode. I just think that the finale of my favorite cartoon should have been handled better.

[violetlunette]

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

So there are a lot of lists stating cliches people hate and this is another one. If you like these, that’s fine, I just get irked when I see them myself and want to rant a little. This isn’t a top ten list, just a list of things I dislike. There won’t be any romance tropes here as they deserve and have their own list. Also, most of these are story telling tropes, so just a heads up. Anyway, let me know what you personally think and tropes you hate and why. Oh, and SPOILERS! Before warned.

Tropes/Cliches I Hate

Too Much Drama/Unearned Drama: My most HATED trope. Don’t get me wrong; I like drama okay, but if it’s over loaded or feels like it was just thrown in for by the writers I get frustrated. Yes I know that writers do that to keep people interested, but can’t they make it feel natural or earned?

I liked “Finding Carter’s” drama; This is a story about a girl who discovers she was kidnapped as a toddler by the woman she called mother all her life and being reunited with her birth family. The drama makes sense and is earned by the whole family; (SPOILERS)

Carter’s whole world is turned upside down so her attitude, while mean at times is understandable.

Taylor has spent her whole life terrified of disappearing like her sister and has had her fear fed by her parents, so has lived a sheltered life.

Their mom lost a kid which has affected her marriage so she started to sleep with her partner and was even planning to leave, however when she found Carter she didn’t want to break her family again. Hell, even the drama with the villain is understandable as Carter and Taylor came from her eggs/she was a surrogate mom who was sleeping with the father at the time. You can see why she might think the twins were hers and that she had a right to take one. This is great drama and I would have loved it, but then they had to give the side characters the angstiest backstories they could which distracts from the family at times and felt unneeded.

And I know; that what drama are about. Angst central, I know, but that’s why I don’t watch a lot of drama. At the very least I want it to be earned an in character or story.

The fifth book of Harry Potter did this fairly well as all the drama came from the characters and their actions. Sirius died due to Harry’s impulsive actions and Dumbledore want to keep Harry in the dark to “protect him.” And the drama hits all the harder because it’s something that could happen in real life (minus the magic stuff.).

A bad example is Gilmore Girls where they force the character April in with a bunch of random drama just to keep Luke and Lorelei apart. There was a legitimate way to put off the wedding; have Luke be afraid of rushing things and feeling like he’s the one who has to make all the compromises and give up things and he runs away for awhile. Hell, they could have kept the plot line of her jumping into bed with Christopher because as terrible as that was it was still a very Lorelei thing to do. But the plot with April and everything after? UNNEEDED AND UNWANTED.

We’re not together, but I’m Pregnant/The Baby Plot: Okay, I love babies—when I don’t have to change them or be woken up at 3:00 in the morning. They’re soft, cute, adorable, and squishy! However in TV the baby is usually born to a “will they won’t they” couple as a way to force them together when the writers made the audience believe they were separating them or for drama. News flash writers; if the only way you can keep a couple together is to throw a baby in the mix, then just give up on the pair!

Babies are used for like one arc to cause drama, then are tossed to the side with maybe a passing mention so it’s like what’s the point?

It’s a cheap way to keep a couple together. A child should NOT be a plot deceive to keep a couple together or create drama. Ross and Rachel were the worse along with Belle and Rumple; Ross and Rachel had fallen into a slump and the audience were starting to move on and look at other options for them so the writers thought they could yank us back by revealing they had sex and Rachel was pregnant. All this led to was the same slapstick they went through when they were together before and they never worked through the issues they had before, mainly that they were jealous, possessive, and vindictive except now they had a BABY.

With the Rumbelle the writers couldn’t decide what the hell they wanted with Rumple (did they want him to be evil or a hero), but knew his actions were pushing Belle (and the fans) away. So what did they do? Threw a baby into the mix with a whole contrived plot that was just—what? I mean, it COULD have worked, but not the way the writers did it.

Writers, people; IT IS NEVER A CHILD’S JOB TO FIX A COUPLE. A baby is not a plot device they are people and deserve more respect than they get. If a couple can’t stay together by themselves, then a baby is not going to help. All it does is trap two people and why would want a couple that’s forced together that way?

“We’re trying to protect ya so we ain’t telling ya shit” and Bad communication skills: How many problems in stories could be solved if two people just sat down and talked instead of keeping secrets. Like “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” If Dumbledore had told Harry that Voldemort could get into his head and could hurt people Sirius might be alive. And in a couple? I don’t need to list an example. You’re already thinking of a moment where a couple got into a fight because they didn’t just sit down and talk.

That being said I do like this trope as a potential reason for a hero being ignorant of their past at the beginning of a series as I like the hero from a muggle world. At the very least I want the person keeping the secrets to be called out on it.

Insane maniac pixie girl: This a low one as there are some I like, however I feel this character is over done lately and honestly I can only take so much of the personality. They’re always so loud, screaming all the time, squeaky, and have no sense of personal space. I mean, I like Webby and Mabel, but even then I can only take so much squealing. (I dunno, maybe I have sensitive ears.)

I’m not dead!: Disney gets away with this because the brought backs happen towards the end of the film and isn’t done time and again in the same movie. Compare to the Dragon Ball series were death is like a mosquito bite. Why should I care if they get hurt or the world dies? Just wish them back and everything is fine! Seriously, is anyone who watches DBZ concerned when a character gets hurt or dies still? It’s a cheap trick that feels like a “ha! Fooled you!” moment.

High school drama / Skewd Priorities: Okay when I say high school drama I mean focusing on a school dance when the world is at stake or worrying about whether or not a boy likes you when a murder is on the loose, or focusing on school junk when we as the readers want tto focus on the fantasy elements. This is mostly in YA dealing with kids, so some of this is understandable, but even so it’s not fun to read and even teenagers hate being portrayed like this (at least the one or two I know). When I  was teenager I liked the prom and stuff for quiet moments in stories, but NOT when there was a villain loose or danger was coming. Whenever that popped up I was like, ‘bitch wtf is wrong with you! Who cares about a zit when you have super magical powers.’ When I read a fantasy I want to focus on the fantasy elements, not school! School is boring.

Too Easily Forgiven: Forgiveness is wonderful thing, however it should be earned and you know some things can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven. For me it’s murder. Now if it’s between two warriors in a fight that’s one thing, but hurting or killing innocent civilians? No. No, no. Or hey, what if a person has been horribly bullying you or making your life miserable? Do you have to forgive, fuck no. Now I’m not saying you should seek revenge, but I’d rather they just choose that they don’t want to be angry and anymore and decide to move on.

Forgiveness should be earned when they’ve truly hurt someone and even if they feel remorseful, characters still have the right to be angry when they’ve been hurt or had someone they love taken from them.

All humans /muggles are bastards / idiots: Yeah, humans are assholes. We get it. No one knows how bad humans are than other humans, but you know what? Humans have done amazing things to conquer natural selection and the fact that other humans is humanity’s greatest enemy shows just how powerful the human race is. And not everyone wants to blow up shit, some of us work VERY hard to help and save everything we can and the rest are just trying to live our lives without hurting anyone. We may not be top dog, but we’re not bottom of the barrel either. And why should other races get put on pedestal as the woobie race or holier than thou? That doesn’t make them more interesting it just makes them annoying. I see this trope in almost every fantasy, can’t we switch it up a little?

magical speciesism / the blood must remain pure: Ignoring the real life implications this trope’s just been over done. Can’t we turn this around and have it that cross breeding between a magical and a human is considered the norm or a good thing? Switch it up a bit?

Ron the death Eater and Draco in Leather pants: This annoying enough in the fandom where we like to exaggerate and things we like and dislike, but in the actual show it’s insulting to the character AND the fans. If there’s something wrong with the character then the writers should make an arc to improve them, not drag the character through the mud.

On the other end if a character is an asshole you can’t just make them a hero suddenly and expect the audience to buy it. The characters have to earn their redemption.

And those are ten tropes I hate. How about you guys? What’s your thoughts? Do you hate them or am I alone? And what do guys hate to see in stories?