We’re on Episode 4 of Gremlins’ brand spanking new animated series on Max and the show has thus far laid out all of its pieces nicely, with our heroes, villains and their respective goals cleanly explained and set up.There is one final piece left to explore, however and that’s the character of Elle, the streetwise urchin whose allegiances are as blurry as Mr. Magoo’s POV and it’s now her time to get the spotlight after her passive aggressive act of betrayal at the end of the previous episode.
How do we do this, you ask? Why, it’s time for another monster-of-the-week episode, of course, but never fear, as the adventure with the shapeshifting Odd-Odd proved, Secrets Of The Mogwai is rather adept at widening its supernatural world beyond shrieking green goblins and adorable puff balls with softball-sized eyes.
Elle continues on the quest to get the displaced Gizmo back to his homeland of the Valley of Jade after abandoning Sam and taking the Mogwai with her. Her motivations are sound, if a little harsh, because during their previous encounter with a strange creature that wanted to eat Giz in order to gain immortality, Sam froze up at a vital moment leaving his companion no choice but to ditch him due to a lack of confidence in his bravery.
However, not long into going it alone, Elle and Gizmo are caught in a rather serious rainstorm and, as we all know, travelling with a Mogwai when large quantities of water fall from the sky would prove to disastrous in record time, so the pair take refuge in a nearby inn run by the seemingly friendly Meng Po, a doting woman who wants all of her guests to be happy – only, there aren’t any guests, only staff who all claim to have just been hired and all insist they are far younger than they appear. By like, a lot.
Obviously, something is amiss and Elle manages to figure it out, but only after Sam catches up with them only to take a drink of Meng Po’s enchanted tea which wipes his memory clean and leaves him as just another willing member of the ever growing work force.
Meanwhile, sinister practitioner of black magic, Riley Greene is still figuring out what to do with his four (or should that be three and a half considering on of their number has been in still-living puke in a jar) captive Gremlins. Figuring out that they also have the same multiplying reaction to water as Mogwai, he realizes he has the potential to create an army from nothing, but how the hell would you control such an army? While Greene figures this out, Sam’s imprisoned parents hatch a plan to escape – but will any of this matter if Gizmo, Sam and Elle can’t escape Meng Po’s dangerous brand of kindness?
Don’t Drink The Tea is an episode that gives a fair amount of welcome screen time to the secondary characters of the show while simultaneously pushing Gabrielle Nevaeh Green’s complicated Elle to the forefront and the people behind the scenes use an unforgettable moment from the orginal Gremlins to fast track the duplicitous, scarf wearer into the realms of empathy.
Firstly, however, let’s focus on those side characters and after a quick glance at the credits at the end of the episode, I’ve finally found out the names of Claws’ Gremlin brethren. Noggin, Snout, Snout Jr. Bucky and Duckface may not be the kindest of names, but they certainly fit and their masochistic and sadistic tendencies are offset by the fact that Claws has figured out a way to escape their magical cell which reestablishes that there’s always at least one Gremlin nastier, smarter and more lucid than the rest a là Stripe and Mohawk. However, way more funnier than Noggin electrifying his butt on the glowing, green barrier is the continuing abuse Riley heaps upon his henchmen, one of whom, I recently found out, is voiced by none other than Zach Gallingan! “Don’t humanize yourself to me!” hisses the show’s big bad after one of his lackey dares to refer to himself by his real name – but this brief glance away from the main story also gives Ming-Na Wen and B.D. Wong an important chance to finally pitch in as Sam’s imprisoned parents.
Back to the main story and Amy Hill’s Meng Po is yet another playfully insidious guest villain with surprisingly complex motivations that helpfully keys into whatever drama needs to be leeched from the action and her tea, which draws awful memories out of people like purple pus from an infected wound is the perfect macguffin to get Elle to reluctantly open up about her predictably tragic past.
Being egged on to be and expert pickpocket by her parents as a small child isn’t anything new and neither is her folks subsequently abandoning her once Green catches her robbing him – however, Riley’s croening moment is one that references a moment from the 1984 movie that I never thought would make it into a children’s cartoon. Elle’s tragic, yet wonderfully absurd life story audaciously brings to mind that stand out moment where Phoebe Cates gives her infamous, jaw dropping speech about exactly why she doesn’t celebrate Christmas. As the story reaches its crescendo and Elle describes that the last she heard from her parents they were carried off into the night after stealing too many floating lanterns, she ends it with the tragicomic line: “Weeks later, a fishing net caught my mother’s left shoe. They never found the right one.”. Of all the original movie moments I thought this cartoon would reference, spiritually nailing that “And that’s how I found out there was no Santa Claus.” moment was delightfully unexpected and may actually be my favorite moment of the season so far.
And as for Elle herself. The episode does her proud, even if it doesn’t explain why she’s constantly wearing that giant, purple scarf, but not only to we get an origin story but she also gets some sparky back and forth with Gizmo and forgiveness from Sam.
Four episodes in and things are still going stron with the show’s good points multiplying faster than a Gremlin in a jacuzzi, but as we rapidly approach the midway point, it could be time for the show to let the A-plot off the chain and cut those chattering, spiteful Gremlins do their thing and literally tear the place up.
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