Episode 7: A Drop of Darkness
Original Airdate: October 26, 1991
Written By: Laren Bright and Kristina Luckey
Directed By: Don Lusk, Paul Sommer (Supervising Direction –
Ray Patterson)
The crew of the Wraith stands at the gunwale in choppy seas,
waiting for Ren to return from below the water. He returns just as Ioz is
prepared to dive after him and just as Tula is sensing “something”. Ren has located
the Fourth Treasure of Rule, hidden beneath the waves! It’s a pretty bauble and
everyone has to have a moment holding it to remark on its beauty and size.
Friendly insults and barbs are traded until Tula gets a bad feeling and
subsequently spots Dark Water. A sharply turned ship has Niddler drop the
treasure, where it bounces about deck. Ren and Tula try to catch it, almost
losing it overboard until Ren makes a heroic leap to save it.
A shadow crosses the deck of the Wraith from a balloon
flying overhead, which stops above the Dark Water. A pilot drops a bucket in an
attempt to retrieve some of the evil stuff and is almost pulled down as the
Dark Water drags it in. The balloon is then assaulted by the far-reaching Dark
Water, grabbing at the basket and reaching for the pilot.
Ren asks Niddler to help, which he reluctantly agrees to.
The Dark Water is particularly difficult, with Niddler needing help himself
when he gets tangled in the lines of the balloon. Ren uses a weapon to free the
monkeybird, who then saves the pilot just as the Dark Water pulls the balloon
under.
The pilot, an alchemist named Cray, introduces herself and
explains she’s using the Dark Water in her experiments. In meeting Ren, she
calls him ‘Primus’ and is overly excited to discover he’s a son of the king.
The Maelstrom arrives to interrupt the discovery of how Cray knows Primus,
which upsets Ren, as someone should have been on watch. Cray offers to help,
pouring a liquid into the sea, from which a fog erupts, covering the Wraith’s
escape from the Maelstrom. Cray offers sanctuary at her citadel, an austere
castle on a tiny rock island.
Inside, the crew is amazed at the size of the rooms and
furnishings. Tula is suspicious of Cray and her reasons for being so nice and
Ren demands information on her history with his father when she appears with
food. Cray tells Ren and the others that she was Primus’ favorite courtier
until he met Ren’s mother. Cray flew into a rage, never to return to the court
of Octopon, eking out a living at her citadel in solitude.
Later, at dinner, Cray continues to explain her need for Dark
Water in her experiments, which doesn’t sit well with Tula. Ioz also has little
desire to get mixed up with the stuff, until an extremely large offer of gold
has him and Niddler doing spit-takes. Ren turns her down repeatedly, as he
finds taking money to retrieve such an evil substance distasteful. Cray stalks
off in a huff when her final offer is rebuked. Tula senses trouble from the
alchemist and Ren ignores her.
Cray monologues to a locket with a picture of Primus in her
private chambers. It’s becoming fairly obvious that Cray has an obsessive
complex, particularly towards Primus. She’s also obviously setting up some
naughty plan, which plays out rather quickly.
The boys are all sleeping in one room, Tula in another. Cray
creeps in and ignites a bowl of leaves next to Tula, who wakes, only to pass
out from the fumes. In the morning, Ren and the others cannot wake her, and
Cray tells them if they get her the Dark Water she needs, she’ll give the
antidote over. Ren is amazed at the way Cray is treating him and his friends, though
she has no difficulty telling him he’s suffering for the sins of the father. A
bucket made of leviathan skin is given as a receptacle for the Dark Water and
the group needs to be quick; the longer Tula is out the harder it is to revive
her.
Niddler is used as a distraction for the Dark Water, armed
with the Fourth Treasure, so Ren can haul in a bucketful of the stuff. As they
get underway to return to the citadel, the Maelstrom surprises and swallows the
tiny Wraith into its maw.
Bloth’s pirates board the Wraith, though they are fought
off. Konk is ordered to flush the Wraith out when Ren uses the Dark Water to
scare off Bloth, which works effectively. With enough of the stuff left to
bring to Cray, the heroes return to revive Tula. Cray exits to mix her
alchemical concoction, using a single drop of the stuff to finish her potion.
She ecstatically imbibes the mixture, speedily growing younger as the seconds
tick. She’s excited with her new, younger exterior, believing she can relive
her past with Ren in the place of Primus.
Tula is reawakened by Ioz and Ren, who runs off to fetch
water for her. The reinvigorated Cray stalls him in the halls, though he doesn’t
immediately recognize the alchemist. As he does, Cray comes onto Ren full bore,
pledging to marry him as it’s their destiny. Ren is distressed and finally
takes offense when Cray calls him Primus.
Returning to his friends, Ren tells them of the problems
with Cray. She enters the room, shocking the others with her new look, while
Ren attempts reasoning with her. Cray isn’t capable of being reasoned with at this
point, wherein she pops a smoke pellet, distracting Ren enough to steal the
Treasures of Rule and locking everyone in the room.
Mantus and Konk arrive on their dagrons, having spotted the
Wraith at dock. In a brief exchange, Cray refuses to give up Ren and the
treasures, offering instead a bargain to be brought to Bloth. The pirate king
is dumbstruck by the bargain, but agrees to it for his own purposes. He is to
marry Ren and Cray.
Ioz picks the lock on the door, opening it to the sight of
Bloth on the opposite side. Brought as witnesses and prisoners to a decked-out
hall, the pirates of the Maelstrom wait to also watch the farce. Mantus walks
the bride down the aisle, where she begins to turn dark across her hair and
skin. As Cray lifts her veil, Ren remarks on her condition, which has her run
from the hall. Bloth chases Cray as the pirates guard our heroes. Cray tries to
reverse her condition and is interrupted by an angry Bloth. He destroys her
potions and mixes, ruining her hopes of salvaging whatever is happening to her.
She quickly begins deteriorating and falls to the floor. Bloth erupts in anger
and returns to the hall to kill Ren, though Cray creates one last reaction from
her chemicals before she collapses.
Bubbles of various size float about the citadel, created by
Cray. They start exploding around the structure, freeing the prisoners as the
pirates flee to save themselves. Walls and roof start falling in. Ren heads to
save Cray and the others return to the Wraith. Ren finds Cray on the floor of
her lab, melting ever more quickly than before. She hands Ren her marriage
bouquet, apologizing for her inability to let go of the past. Ren exits through
a window after she turns into a steamy puddle of black goo before the ceiling
caves in.
Ren lands on the Wraith after his Errol Flynn leap from the
citadel, which is pulling away from a rapidly disintegrating citadel. The
island finally mushroom clouds and disappears beneath the water. Ren is not
surprised to have recovered the Treasures of Rule, hidden in the bouquet. Cue
music.
Noy Jitat! Not
much new in the way of language for A DROP OF DARKNESS. A single noy jitat and
a couple of chongo longos, that’s the extent of it. Ren does make a remark on
the Mists of Malgar, whatever they may be.
Mutant Scum – No new
creatures this episode. Ren does use what looks to be a sand dollar to fire in
a crossbow when saving Niddler, which is kind of neat. Mostly, it’s the Dark
Water that makes up the strange, here.
When do We Get to
Eat? Niddler is completely unhappy to even be considered to help out when
Dark Water is near. He repeats such through the episode and yet does not
hesitate when Cray is about to be swallowed by the attacking Dark Water. Is he
cowardly or more than that? Either way, he’s still a hungry bird. He’s also as
greedy for money as Ioz is, which is fun to see.
It’s All in the Art –
There isn’t much new to see for episode 7. A bit more of the inner workings of
the Maelstrom are seen and the design of Cray’s citadel is quite amazing. Cray’s
deterioration due to the Dark Water potion is something different, too. It’s
either extremely bad animation or extremely experimental. I leave it to you to
figure it out, I’m still out on it. Either way, it’s still bizarre and
gruesome.
Hello and Goodbye –
To the incredibly warped Cray. You’ll never see her again and honestly? It’s
not a bad thing. Likely voiced by Darleen Carr (I have no confirmation on that,
though), she’s definitely a villain you really don’t feel sorry for at the end,
which says something for the writing here.
The first of what will be many message-driven stories, A
DROP OF DARKNESS does quite a bit for what it can in a half-hour. This is the
first time Ren’s mother is seen, much less any mention made of her. It’s the
first lengthy view of Octopon at its heyday. Other than previously seen
ecomancy, it’s the first time magic is used in any form. It’s the first real
focus on the evils of Dark Water, though they’re still extremely vague. My
recollection of the episode that it was good, if heavy handed. My rewatch view
retains that belief, adding this for an adjective: brutal. This one really
doesn’t hold back on how completely obsessed Cray is, and it isn’t pretty. Ren
is naïve and truly out of his league with the complexities of this one and it
only benefits him that Bloth is there to eliminate her from any future plots.
Cray’s melting into goo is brutal. Bloth’s cold-hearted
elimination of her is brutal, as is his disinterest in what’s happening to her.
The writers handling of the subject matter is equally brutal, as it pulls no
punches in even trying to make anyone but Ren sympathetic. Obsessive/compulsive
behavior isn’t a topic easy to get across to the kiddies and this one likely
pushes the boundaries of the definition of such. The bright and shiny “sail into
sunset” ending of the story does nothing but enforce the hideous reality of the
overall topic, particularly in retrospection. A DROP OF DARKNESS is just plain
mean and I like it. It’s a
breakthrough episode, especially in knowing that the general themes of the
program were softened to gain a younger audience, after the initial five episodes
were produced. I’m laying out a solid 3½ minga melons for episode 7. The only
detractors here are the lack of the main characters being involved as it
focuses more on Cray and her psychosis. A fine story, even as brutally mean as
it is.
