*Spoilers.*
Taking some time away today from the main characters/setting, and hopping back in time to catch up on the last ten years in the life of one Della Duck, a.k.a. the triplets’ mom. The question of what happened to her occupied a major arc last season, and we got a few answers there, but this episode is all Della, all the time.
Ten years ago, Della Duck took the Spear of Selene, an experimental rocket built by Scrooge, on its maiden flight, but disturbances knocked her off-course, crash-landing her on the moon. With the Earth in sight but so far away, Della fights tooth and nail to get home to her hatchling sons.
First things first: Della is voiced by Paget Brewster, who I first encountered as Frankie in the final season of Community, but who I’ve since learned typically makes anything she’s in better. Brewster does a fine job carrying this episode, which is nearly a monologue. There’s just enough action thrown in to keep things exciting, but for the most part, this is the lonely story of a very determined mother trying to get home.
It’s good to get to know Della, and it’s quickly clear why Scrooge and Donald think so highly of me. She’s both intrepid and tenacious, never giving up on ways to fix the rocket and return to Earth. Even as the series of video logs she records—planning to give them to the triplets one day—grows increasingly frazzled and desperate, she meets each obstacle head-on, ready to give it a run for its money. I like her roll-up-her-sleeves attitude, and I appreciate that, while she’s pretty incredible, the show makes her just flawed enough to keep her from feeling too superwomany. I love the moment when she decides to give up on the old rocket and build a new one from scratch. “I mean, how hard could it be?” she scoffs, opening up a scientific/engineering manual. “It’s just rocket science!” And a beat later, after she’s started to read? “…Oh, boy.”
My favorite part of this episode is probably the similarities Della bears with the other members of her family, including the boys, who she has yet to meet. Della’s lines and Brewster’s delivery share a lot of DNA with Dewey/Ben Schwartz. For shades of Huey, she still carries and consults her Junior Woodchuck guidebook. Like Louie, she’s good at recognizing patterns and piecing together the big picture of something. She shares Scrooge’s talent for treasure hunting/general adventuring, and when she’s frustrated, she doesn’t quite go full Donald, but her tantrums definitely look a bit like her brother’s. All of these touches are really nice and are a quick shorthand to get me invested in Della for herself, not just in how much she means to the other characters.
I do want to mention that, early in the episode, Della experiences an injury that results in her building herself a prosthetic leg (so, I mean, she’s not not superwomany.) Add another mark to the tally of ablebodied actors playing characters with disabilities. As always, I get that there’s more debate over this subject when it comes to voice-acting, but it’s still worth mentioning.
The episode isn’t wholly a one-duck-show for Della, or I wouldn’t be talking about it on Other Doctor Lives. There are a couple very brief appearances from David Tennant as Scrooge, first losing contact with Della on her initial flight and later unsuccessfully searching for her. Effective moments, but they’re so short that there isn’t really anything to say about Tennant’s performance here.
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