DuckTales Episode 8 Review: The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!

This DuckTales review contains spoilers.

DuckTales Episode 8

I have both a huge compliment and also a slight complaint about this DuckTales episode. It should have been a two parter. There’s so much going on and so much territory to explore that while it’s a ton of fun everything just seems so rushed we don’t get anytime to breathe.

Now anytime I say an episode should be longer is one hundred percent a compliment. There’s a lot of potential here, especially in how Toth-Ra/Sabaf is tricking Amunet and all the other mummies. There’s a subtle commentary on sham religions but it gets drowned out in all the jokes. 

Which isn’t a bad thing since, of course. The jokes are hilarious. “If I’m going to be sacrificed, I’m going to do it right!” But still, there was more to say with the culture of those mummies. After all, Scrooge and company are shattering their whole worldview in the span of a few hours. 

I’m not saying we have to get that deep on how a fake religion can twist people’s minds. DuckTales isn’t that kind of show (I don’t think) but it’s been able to handle sincere emotions so well there could have been a way to do it. With a two parter we could have fleshed out Amunet’s character a bit more and justified why the hell she’d follow Toth-Ra. 

Although this is also the kind of show that had about seven (hilarious) burrito jokes, which ultimately took care of the bad guy, so maybe I’m focusing on the wrong things.

I have been wondering just how much of a comedy DuckTales is.Obviously this episode is a tip of the hat to the adventuring side of the DuckTales franchise we’ve been missing the last few weeks. It even feels like an echo of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. It does have a lot of thrilling action sequences but at least here it’s all to benefit the jokes.

The last few weeks episodes had been slightly more lowkey affairs (okay, as lowkey as surviving a magical casino can be) so relying more on comedy in those cases made sense. With this being DuckTales‘ first big ADVENTURE episode since the premiere we’re starting to see just how important humor is to DuckTales even in the globe trotting episodes.

That’s not a bad choice since DuckTales can do humor so well but I hope the kind of drama that comes with an adventure doesn’t get drowned out. The sort of plots we’ve seen hinted at with Magica De Spell and Lena suggest the show can get serious when it needs to be.

This is not a total strike against DuckTales. It’s a series that, especially early in its run, may still be trying to figure out what sorts of stories it wants to tell. Perhaps this was just experimenting to see if they could pull of more of a farce. Maybe I was seeing a deeper story with the mummies that wasn’t intended. I mean, how seriously can you take these mummies after they do the Thriller dance with Dewey? Which was amazing, by the by.

I will say I’m starting to enjoy the Louie and Webby friendship more than any other on this show if only because Webby’s wide eyed enthusiasm for everything perfectly contrasts Louie’s “don’t give a cra-  OOO MONEY” attitude. Launchpad is a total scene stealer and I will forever be wondering how he managed to hang onto that many burrito’s. How effective is that tin foil in keeping them warm?

And you know what? This episode gets a billion points for the “how long you been running this pyramid scheme” line. That is genius on so many levels. If it can keep turning out quality content like that? I’m in forever. 

DuckTales Quotes To Make Your Life Better

– “Webby, PLEASE don’t tell me how to die!”

– “Ignoring the bad parts, see you in the treasure room!”

– “Ooo, a kidney!”

– ”I never thought I’d die in a pit of spikes. I mean, I always hoped.”

– “This is the dumbest rebellion I’ve ever been a part of.”

Shamus Kelley really needs a burrito. Follow him on Twitter!