Godzilla the Series: An Exercise in Over-Analysis

Episode 6 – Cat and Mouse

Plot: As New York City slowly but steadily rebuilds itself in the wake of Godzilla’s first “attack,” our pre-credit teaser finds an unfortunate homeless man beset by a giant, mutated rat.

Cut to…some mid-town restaurant, where Dr. Nick Tatopoulos and WIDF News Correspondent Audrey Timmonds attempt to have A Talk. You know, one of those annoying “Don’t You Think Its Time We Defined Our Relationship?” talks, gratefully interrupted by separate calls to both participants.

While Audrey and cameraman “Animal” Polatti chase down rumors of giant monsters making life hard on Bowery bums, Dr. Nick and H.E.A.T. deploy into the subway, where something is literally chewing its way through Con-Ed’s best-laid pipes, plans, and walls. The inevitable complaining and clowning around ensue, proving too much for H.E.A.T. Token Badass, DGSE Agent Monique Dupre.

Back at base, Monique tells Dr. Nick, ”I am tired of being the only professional on this so-called team.” Nick’s all-too quick to let his French Secret Service agent go but, “Alas," she says, "it is not your permission I require.”

Godzilla’s arrival paves over this potential team schism, once again almost crushing his nominal human companions as he climbs out of the East River. How he avoids that, or something similar (like sweeping them into the East River as he climbs over their heads, pushing walls of water ahead of himself) is a miracle of cartoon physics.

Further miracles abound as Godzilla peruse the first of the giant rats that’ll miraculously evade him throughout the episode, causing “comical” mishaps on par with old Warner Brother’s cartoons. For example: the rat (big as a small horse) manages to sneak its way uptown, where Audrey and Animal are on location, handing out cash for monster stories. Reversing to dislodge the rat from its perch on their Ford Newsvan’s roof, they succeed in backing right up the top of Godzilla’s foot—he having stealthily arrived on the scene without so much as a fleeing populous to proceed him.

In fact, the New York of this crazy, parallel dimension is eerily deserted, making it that much easier for three rednecks—Bill, Dale, and Earl—to sneak into the city with their pick-up truck full of rocket launchers (helpfully labeled “Army Surplus”). Finding Godzilla in the midst of his rat-hunt, lead-redneck Dale aims to bag the Big G, and succeeds only in re-destroying the Chrysler Building, which suffered so much during the summer of 1998.

Still, Major Hicks attempts to calm the City’s excitable Mayor (no longer named “Ebert”) with humanitarian caveats. “Our options are limited until the city is evacuated,” he says…riii-ight. I’m sure the Pentagon might have a thing or two to say about that, Major. For all their talk of “defense” and “honor,” I hear they’re still big on “acceptable losses” down there. I doubt they’d hesitate to give the green light with Godzilla on a rampage…in New York…again…Still, somehow, Hicks manages to buy H.E.A.T. the two hours necessary to track the rat to its subway home…or their home, as it turns out.

Yes, there’s a whole colony of giant rats quietly breeding below New York’s streets…what else is new? With the team separated by mass rat attack, it's up to Audrey, Animal and Randy to save Nick and Monique from the jaws of death. Meanwhile, above ground, Godzilla fights his own, over-long battle against ever increasing numbers of rodents, human and otherwise.

All threads align in an abandoned subway platform somewhere below the city, with Godzilla literally bringing the house down, leaving human Heroes and Rednecks alike trapped below ground. It's Audrey who leads Major Hicks to their burrow, saving the day. And all without resolving a single issue raised earlier in the episode. The credits find our lovers standing alone under a New York streetlight, right back where they began, going their separate ways.

Analysis

What should be a rip-roaring good time of an episode instead becomes a testament to the true limits of this series, pulling its punches at every turn. Few things were harder in pre-computer animation than crowd scenes, or the kind of complex visual effects we take for granted now a’ days. This episode, then, is a relic of late twentieth-century, the Age of Pokemon, when American imaginations were not so well acquainted with images of death and destruction, and we worried about the effects realistic portrayals of such would have on The Children.

The result is a—dare I say it—childish little romp that robs its audience of excitement by robbing its subject of dramatic weight. Nothings appears at stake here; so what if Nick paints nightmare word-pictures of a rodentine apocalypse? He and his little band appear to be the only people left in New York City anyway. Even without pressure from the area’s top reptilian predator, the rat’s will dissolve into cannibalism soon enough.

As always, I have my questions to fall back on. Like what keeps Audrey from cashing in on her…ahem…intimate relationship with H.E.A.T.? Nothing held her back during the movie, where she flagrantly abused Nick’s trust for the sake of her career. Should we assume her continued silence indicates growth, as a character? If so, it’s made her an even less-interesting figure, and she has every right to have an official Talk with Nick about the state of their relationship.

In the Tarot deck of Giant Monster Movie Protagonists there is no Major Arcana more superfluous than The Chick. You know the type. Faye Wray set the Golden Age standards for the role, with Momoko Kochi’s Emiko Yamane the first Chick in Godzilla history. It’s taken sixty years for stronger women to inhabit the role, attempting to flesh out its barebones requirements, the easy way being to combine The Chick with that other, often-superfluous Arcana, The Reporter.

Audrey is not the first Chick to play the dual role, but she is an uneasy mixture, a volatile chemical. Having literally no place in the show’s format or Nick’s life, her presence strikes a sour note in what was fast becoming a harmonious symphony of destruction. I am grateful that writer Steven Melching reversed the usual Cinderella role here, with Audrey coming to Nick’s rescue (leaving Godzilla to once again do all the work for none of the credit). But I’m also saddened that, after this, The Series’ creators would find only one other role for her to play—the role of Damsel in Distress.

Monique, for all her temporary bitching, at least has a role to fill, and skills to contribute to the team, and proves herself invaluable against the rats. She leaves the episode convinced H.E.A.T. is much better led than not, realizing what everyone in the audience already understands: only a sad sack like Dr. Nick could possibly control this unruly bunch of teenagers.

I very much include Godzilla in this. He comes off the worst for the whole episode, barred by children's television censorship from actually catching his prey. Wouldn't want an explosion of rat gore spoiling The Children's Saturday morning. I certainly hoped for it, and it was sadly disappointed. My snarky comments during the synopsis should reveal my feelings as well as anything...though I'll state it plain if there's any doubt: Cat and Mouse is a low point early in the first season of a show obviously hobbled at the gate.

Tune in next week for greener pastures, and the coming of Leviathan...