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‘DuckTales’ Un-Plucked – S2, Ep03: “The Ballad of Duke Baloney!”

Let’s face it, Glomgold in Ducktales (2017) has never been the most threatening of characters. In fact, he’s never made much sense. Up until about the last 5 minutes, you think this episode is going to be how the showrunners write Glomgold out. And that is when it all changes! In terms of character development, playing with expectations, rapid-fire humor and potential season-long storyline set ups, this is by far the most complex episode yet! So pull up your DVRs – or just click on the link below – and let’s get ready to take a Closer Look at Ducktales (2017) Season 2, Episode 3: “The Ballad of Duke Baloney!”

–WATCH HERE ON DISNEY XD –

Backstories & Set-Ups Done Right – Glomgold:

Just the fact that this episode was able to (1) explain Glomgold’s obsession with Scrooge, (2) reconcile Glomgold’s South African accent/ heritage and Scottishness, and (3) get us involved in Glomgold as a character is impressive enough. In one regard, we now see Glomgold as a sort of foil for Scrooge’s own origin story. Scrooge wanted to teach the kid self-reliance as he had once learned, but young Glomgold rejected it. (Then again, perhaps a dime in Scrooge’s time was worth more than it would be in Glomgold’s). Either way, this perfectly recalls the emotional “Secrets of Castle McDuck!” episode from season one while also solidifying Glomgold as someone who is concerned purely on the superficiality of being ‘the best’. And it might very well be in this regard where we once again see these two become foils for one another.

As the episode ends, we find Scrooge and Glomgold making a wager into seeing who the richest duck in the world is. Fans of the original series will immediately recall this storyline as one of the few multi-part episode arcs of the original, commonly known as the ‘Firefly Fruit Contest’. In this contest, Scrooge and Glomgold battle to see who is the richest and they pull out all the stops to find new treasure and steal the other’s (respectively). Though considering the complexity this new series puts into each episode, I can’t help but wonder if different situations will arise. For example, in the original, Glomgold hires the Beagle Boys to steal Scrooge’s money. Will we see that this season? Potentially, but as I said before, there’s a huge chance to see Scrooge and Glomgold become foils of each other once again; and it all involves a major story point of this series – Della Duck.

Toward the end of Season 1, we saw how Scrooge burnt a lot of his money in attempts to find Della, and at the very end of “The Shadow War” we see that she is in fact alive. What if this gets revisited in the finale/ climax of season two? What if Scrooge must once again choose between winning the contest and finding Della. While Glomgold is concerned with just winning, Scrooge will consider his family and could lose the contest if it means bringing his family back together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOzH0YQH4CU

Do I think the season will end on this note? No, of course not. Every good season finale needs a large lose and then a come from behind win – like how the family split before Magica took power, but then came back together. What if sacrificing the win and his money is just the penultimate episode? How could Scrooge come from behind with the win – or make up for the loss? Maybe it involves a larger than life new treasure. Maybe it involves Louie’s new company (that we saw him make at the start of the season premier). Maybe it involves another famous Ducktales storyline – the ‘Treasure of the Lost Lamp’. It’s way too early to tell which road they’ll go down, but each path looks great!

Things That “Quacked” Us Up – Easter Eggs, Quotes & More:

  • Usually Webby and Dewey are paired up, but seeing Webby and Louie paired was a nice change!
  • “Determination and a freakishly high tolerance for pain” might just be the best description of Glomgold ever!
  • “I came from the sea and I’ll die by it” is a very fitting foreshadowing as Baloney did in fact come about because of the sea and died (aka reverted to Glomgold) once again because of the sea
  • Nationality: The Most Scottish
  • Seriously, THAT DREAM SEQUENCE!
  • That shot of Scrooge and Glomgold climbing for the lamp is straight from the original opening.
  • New plotline/ story we need fleshed out now: What is the importance of that money clip?
  • Favorite Quotes:
    • “For the last time, there are no Reverse Werewolves!” (Louie)
    • “His life is like a haiku” / “Yah, it’s fake garbage that structurally makes no sense…” (Webby/ Louie)
    • “That’s exactly what he wants us to do and then surprise we’re trapped inside a volcano full of shark bombs” / …. “and that’s how we strap the bombs to the sharks” (Louie/ Glomgold/ Louie’s facial expressions)
    • “Flintheart Glomgold blows himself up on a daily basis. A simple brain injury is actually a step up.” (Scrooge)
    • “You must be a big deal if you’re referring to yourself in the 3rd person” (Young Duke Baloney)
    • “Wouldn’t that hurt your feet?” / “No sir, I’m too stubborn to know when I’m hurt!” (Scrooge/ Young Glomgold)
    • “Take that McDuck Boat, which I’m just now realizing was a metaphor for my hatred for Scrooge McDuck!” (Glomgold)
    • *Glomgold pulls out beard* “Was that in his pocket the whole time?” (Louie)
    • “Scrooge was hoping everyone would forget about Flintheart Glomgold, but I’m UNFORGETABLE!” / “You literally forgot yourself… and you were happy!” (Glomgold / Scrooge)

Previous Reviews:

 Episode S2-02     –      Episode S2-01     –     Season 1 Episodes