Some shows take time to build up their premise, crafting a molding its characters and plot to hopefully blossom after painstakingly setting up events to topple like dominoes. However, Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai obviously thinks that it has no time to spare considering the cackling, green imps of Joe Dante’s viciously funny, Christmas-themed cracker haven’t had an official outlet since 1990.
Thus the second epidode – ominously titled Never Feed Them After Midnight – rockets along at the speed of a Chinese firework as it insists on covering a lot of ground. Not only does it have to establish the fact we now have four new Mogwai to keep track of, but it has a shiny, new, arch villain to properly introduce. Can the show manage to bang all this out while still keeping Sam and Gizmo firmly in the centre of frame?
After the shock of discovering a Mogwai at a local circus, Sam Wing’s disbelief was stretched even further when he accidently got little Gizmo wet after inadvertently liberating him from his captors. While we all know the gnarly shit that goes down once you get a Gizmo moist, Sam is unfortunately playing catch up as the fluffy little creature started firing out four little hairballs all over the place which all grew into other, but shiftier looking Mogwai.
Sam’s parents are horrified at the turn of events, but matters take an weirder turn when it turns out that Grandpa Wing not only knows of Mogwai, but is privvy to all those incredibly important rules needed to keep them in their inert, cute state. Unfortunately, Sam is barely given any time to process any of this shit, thanks to the arrival of crooked-toothed treasure hunter, Riley Greene who is desperate to lay his hands on the Mogwai for his own sinister ends. Engaging and besting Grampa in a battle of magic, Riley captures Sam family as he escapes with Gizmo and the other, more mischievous Mogwai and tasks himself to get his new buddy back to the safety of the secret Valley of Jade.
However, those thinking that this will take up the majority of the series might want to think again as Gizmo’s four, feral siblings, led by the scheming Claws, make a break for freedom and break the most important rule of all, necking back some grub after the hour of midnight.
With the Mogwai entering their cocoon phase and Riley hot on his trail, things look grim, but thanks to a timely intervention from Erin, the evil wizard’s favoured henchperson, the two kids a Gizmo hope to make their escape.
But what of those cocoons…?
Well, after only two episodes, it’s clear that Secrets Of The Mogwai is a show that’s going to move like the clappers as, after a first episode which set up our leads, we charge headlong into the absolute worst thing that could happen once given ownership of a Mogwai. I have to say, I was genuinely surprised at how fast Never Feed Them After Midnight ploughs through Gremlins lore, especially the pains the original movie took to draw out the punchline to its tantalising premise. Not here though – in a little over twenty two minutes, we’re not only given the full rundown of the three major point of Mogwai care and introduced to the series’ human villain, but the four other Mogwai manage to escape from Sam, wreck a restaurant and eat before midnight. If I’m being honest, I maybe would have preferred the quartet of furry little trouble makers to get more screen time in order to get to know their individual personalities a la Mohawk, George, Lenny and Daffy from Gremlins 2, but the upside is that we’ll get to the green, titular, little bastards all the more sooner.
However, the most radical aspect about Episode 2 is that we now have a fully fledged human antagonist in the form of Matthew Rhys’ Riley Greene, who turns out to be a little more imposing than Polly Holiday’s cantankerous Mrs. Deagle or Robert Picardo’s Foster. Flamboyant, dastardly and drawing more than a few comparisons to Lo Pan from John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China, he’s thoroughly evil and his misuse of Chinese black magic provides some memorably creepy moments. Trapping the body of Grampa Wing (cheekily played by Lo Pan himself, James Hong) in a mystic pearl, Riley graphically dislocates his own jaw to ingest it, Grandpa and all, in order to obtain his vast Mogwai knowledge and it’s a nice hint that Secrets Of The Mogwai isn’t afraid to play a little rough when it needs to.
Also getting a little more screentime is Erin, the wiley street urchin who works with Riley in order to pay off some sort of debt, but while we get a blisteringly quick change of allegiance (told you the show was moving fast), she hasn’t had a chance to shine yet – but it’s still early days yet.
Sam and Gizmo’s bonding, while similarly fast tracked much like the Mogwai pupa stage, is still touching and deftly sketched with the moments where Sam defiantly points out that Gizmo deserves to give himself his own name because he’s a sentient being, or a moment where Gizmo pulls away in a panic from one of Sam’s tears proving to be especially poignant. However, as fun as this all is, I do hope the show pumps the brakes a little bit if only to build up their friendship into something more substantial than just instant, time saving, plot convenience.
Elsewhere, there’s some neat little jokes too, with a running gag about how henchmen can be jealous if their boss has a favorite (“You know how henchmen get.”) and Rhys literally chews his lines to draw out maximum sneer with every line – in fact, the Gremlins themselves may actually be hard pressed to match him for nefarious laughs when the final tally is in.
Once the breathless dust settles, and the episode segues into Jerry Goldsmith’s rambunctious theme after a gremlinized Claws wipes the frame, Secrets Of The Mogwai’s sophomore episode moves the story way further than you think it would whole establishing its enjoyably sardonic villain with style to spare. Will introducing the Gremlins so fast into the story circle round to bite the show in the ass at a later date (we still have eight episodes more to go, remember), honestly, it’s way too soon to tell, but the perky visuals and energetic story still mean we’re in a capable pair of claws.
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