Review: DuckTales “Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!”

Are you really my buddy?

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

Launchpad finally receives his driver’s license and goes with Dewey to show Scrooge, who is busy with Gyro and his bumbling intern, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera (Lin-Manuel Miranda). Out of happenstance, Mark Beaks (Josh Brener) unveils a new self-driving car/Uber robot called “B.U.D.D.Y.” that makes Launchpad’s new driving job feel threatened, So Launchpad challenges Beaks’ invention in a car race to prove the superiority of man over machine, but given Launchpads track record, it goes about as well as you’d expect…

Our Take

As shown in the promotional material, this retelling brings back another classic character in the form of “Gizmo-Duck” whom for those who don’t know, was a classic Superhero character in later seasons of the old DuckTales series who’s robotic abilities I can best describe as a cross between Iron-Man and Inspector Gadget, but with the idealistic boy scout attitude of Superman.

What stole the show for me the most, aside from the Gizmo-Duck scenes, was the opening alone which exceled as one of the best pieces of fanservice for anyone who grew up watching the “Disney Afternoon” Block during the early 90’s and it’s a nice touch in terms of striking such an emotional chord by tying it with Launchpad in some form given that Launchpad in the classic series, was a character who existed and later crossed-over in two shows from Disney Afternoon that kinda share the same universe, and makes sense in context.

While there are nice pieces of nostalgic in-jokes & references sprinkled throughout the proceedings, It’s strange that only Dewey seems the most present as opposed to his other two brothers Hewey & Louie, and while the Mark Beaks character (who’s an obvious Mark Zuckerburg parody), rears his pretentious head oncemore, he at least serves a purpose in moving the plot forward, even if his methods are morally questionable in places, and with the foreboding cliffhanger involving Mark foreshadows a subtle sinister side yet to be explored.

Overall, “Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!” was a well-made mix of old & new in terms of quality. It brought back some fan-favorites while finding new ways to keep things them fresh & different without making it distracting to what’s going on plot-wise. And as recurring characters, I look forward to seeing more Gizmo-Duck and Mark in future episodes.