In Review: Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (S1 – EPs3 & 4) Always Buy a Ticket & Don’t Drink The Tea

Synopsis: In Always Buy a Ticket Sam, Elle, and Gizmo run into a shapeshifter while stealing a ride on a train. In Don’t Drink The Tea. Having spit up from Sam. Elle finds a Tea house run by a woman that gives people tea to make them forget.

The Stories

Both these stories do much to build on the show’s mythology as well as add some layers to the characters. In ‘Always Buy a Ticket’ Sam gets on at Elle for stealing, which she obviously finds a tad irritating given that if it were not for her. Sam and Gizmo would be on their own and would likely not get as far without her street smarts.  However, it is Sam’s brains combined with Elles street smarts that help them take on an evil shapeshifter who tries to eat Gizmo because eating a Mogwai grants you immortality.

Meanwhile, in Shanghai. Riley Green has the same plan in mind when he attempts to eat one of the gremlins that have taken on the deadly scaly form. Pretty soon Riley learns that it is only the Mogwai form of Gremlin that allows immortality. So no Riley Green is intent on going after Sam and Gizmo and has Sam’s parents riding along with him.

In ‘Don’t Drink The Tea’ Elle has gone off on her own with Gizmo and left Sam behind. However, when a rainstorm hits she must find shelter pretty quickly and comes upon an inviting building when a kindly old woman takes her in. While taking advantage of the woman’s hospitality Elle begins to suspect that all is not well, and her suspicions are confirmed when she meets Sam who has no memory of her or Gizmo. Eventually between them. Sam and Elle figure out that something in the old woman’s tea is causing people to forget who they are and where they are from.

Meanwhile, Riley Green and his henchmen make plans to leave Shanghai and try and beat Sam and Elle to the Jade Valley. But first Riley plans to starve the scaly gremlins in the hopes that they will be more open to suggestion and easy for him to control before leaving on the journey.

The Acting

As with last week’s opening chapters. The voice acting is strong throughout the episodes. Gabrielle Nevaeh fully commits to the role of Elle and the flashbacks revealing her backstory in ‘Don’t Drink The Tea’ are handled brilliantly. Added to this, Nevaeh does a great job of selling Elle’s story with her narration of the Flashbacks.

Matthew Rhys continues to channel his most evil voice work for Riley Green. The scene where he eats one of the scaly Gremlins is pretty gross.  We also get a little more from Ming-Na Wen and BD Wong Sam’s parents who are trying to escape from Riley Green by offering their medical services to one of his henchmen who has been bitten by a Gremlin.

Overall

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai continues to do a decent job of expanding on the mythology, which was first laid out in the films. The animation continues to impress as it maintains a retro feel that very much will work well alongside the films. I also enjoy the fact that we get to see a Gizmo that has yet to be corrupted by Hollywood movies such as Rambo and seeing the little furball embrace his courageous side on his own terms.