It’s a big question why more of the Ducks couldn’t make it for the show, especially Charlie, but the excuse that was given by those that did show up was initially pretty hurtful since the fallout between Bombay and hockey made it pretty clear that everyone thought that he’d given up. The one guy that was ready to stand by him for so long, Charlie Conway, apparently made it clear to the rest of his old teammates that Bombay wasn’t going to be there for them. But as this episode unfolded there were a few things that might have made your jaw drop simply because there’s no way in a sane and rational world that anyone would have thought that Bombay would have given up on hockey, or that Evan would have even considered going back to the Ducks. But hey, we don’t live in a rational and sane world all the time, and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is making that pretty clear. This episode had a lot of hope to it and a lot of bright spots, but there were a few moments that couldn’t be denied when it came to feeling the sting of betrayal. When thinking about it one can’t help but be amused that the fact that District 5, who would eventually become the first Ducks on record, in this story, would be held up as local heroes when all was said and done. But thanks to Bombay, the Ducks became a team that strove for greatness, and at some point forgot about being decent, caring people that wanted to play and have fun, and became all about winning without mercy and without consideration for others.
To hear that Bombay wasn’t even invited to the Ducks celebration when he was the guy that STARTED the first team, was kind of a huge slap in the face that a lot of people should have expected since the whole idea of the Ducks has been turned on its head since the first episode when it was evident that Coach T was a dictator that didn’t care that much about his players if they couldn’t perform. Plus, the harsh treatment he put them through after the Don’t Bothers scored against them once was more evidence that the guy was all about winning and less about the real spirit of competition. The fact that he tried to bring Evan back on the team was something that many should have seen as a guy that wasn’t just bringing back someone he thought could compete, but someone that had another angle he was trying to work. To Coach T, the Don’t Bothers are an abomination of a hockey team, and taking Evan away from them would likely get rid of the team a lot sooner. The fact that Evan took him up on a single practice to see if he could hang with the Ducks again made it clear that he was willing to do just about anything, though it’s a wonder if he had one of his players filming Evan on purpose so that the Don’t Bothers, who are tech-savvy and use Instagram quite a bit, would see it, or not is kind of hard to say. It would certainly make Coach T out to be a bigger snake than he’s already been seen as since the fact that any coach would employ such tactics is pretty low.
A bright spot to this episode was the emergence of several of the original Ducks, such as Fulton, Averman, Connie, Guy, Adam, and Kenny. It’s too bad that a few of the other Ducks couldn’t make it, but this bunch was great to see since even they didn’t really understand that Bombay had been blacklisted by the Ducks, his own creation. When they did find out they were quick to side with their old coach, which was definitely uplifting, and were even on hand to give the Don’t Bothers a few friendly pointers at Bombay’s request. But the dark point of the episode, and sadly the moment it was left on, was when Sofi saw Evan practicing with the Ducks on Instagram. Evan’s less than heartfelt explanation, which should have probably come much, much earlier, didn’t do anything to stem the feelings of the team, who turned on him quickly and without any hesitation at all as they skated off, making their displeasure known in a big way. The idea of course is that by the next episode or the one after that they’ll reconcile since Evan will realize what’s really important and will find a way to make it up to his team.
So far The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers has been an eye-opening show that still remains grounded enough to be entertaining. With four more episodes to go, it’s fair to say that it’s bound to get a little exciting.
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