History Recap / DuckTales2017S1E6TheHouseOfTheLuckyGander

--> "And though noble Aquarioon fell that day, his soul lives on for [[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords we are all Aquarioon]]."

** During Donald's flashback montage, the aftermath of the bank incident heavily implies that Gladstone ''let'' Donald get arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting so he could take all the credit for stopping the robbery, when all he really did was stand there while Burger Beagle tripped over Donald.

* ChirpingCrickets: The end of the episode has no sound other than the song of the Golden Cricket...which turns out to be just your average chirp you hear from a cricket. Just to add to the emptiness, the family is shown all bored out of their mind listening to it.

* ChirpingCrickets: The end of the episode has no sound other than the song of the Golden Cricket...which turns out to be just your average chirp you hear from a cricket.

* ChirpingCrickets: Much to Scrooge's disappointment and boredom, the song of the Golden Cricket turns out to be just your average chirp you hear from a cricket.

* ChirpingCrickets: Much to Scrooge's dismay and boredom, the song of the Golden Cricket turn out to be just your average chirp you hear from a cricket.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: While Scrooge, Donald and the kids help Gladstone, Launchpad goes to visit an old girlfriend. When it's time to leave Macaw, he is out of breath, wearing an eyepatch and ancient armour punctured by arrows, and carrying a baby panda in a basket on his back, having apparently battled a crime family and who knows what else with said old girlfriend. When Dewey asks what happened, he brushes it off as "tourist stuff."

* HowIsThatEvenPossible: Even Liu Hai is flabbergasted by the twenty dollar bill that suddenly appears to distract Gladstone from winning the race.

* ChirpingCrickets: The much-hyped golden cricket turns out to be just an ordinary cricket that's colored gold, much to the dismay (and boredom) of Scrooge and others.

* ChirpingCrickets: The much-hyped Golden Cricket turns out to be just an ordinary cricket that's colored gold, much to the dismay (and boredom) of Scrooge and others.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Admittedly, he was worried about Liu Hai finding out, but if he had just ''told'' his family what was going on, Gladstone probably could have escaped the casino with less hassle.
** PROVIDED he could HAVE told them without Liu Hai finding out about it. As Liu Hai himself pointed out, a direct telling them would have done just that--and made him more ready to fight them keeping Gladstone.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Gladstone wins two cars and invites Donald to play, Donald says that he doesn't want to gamble anymore. He says he knows that Gladstone is the CoolUncle, while Donald is the ButtMonkey and the harried caretaker, but Gladstone doesn't have to rub it in.

* UnstoppableRage: Donald weaponizes his temper once more, working himself up into such an unbelievable fury that he's able to steamroll through the obstacle course without stopping.
** To put it in perspective, all of his life Donald has been feeling inferior to Gladstone thanks to his bad luck even getting worse while Gladstone's gets even better when the two are together. So much that Donald has nothing nice to say about him before they catch up with Gladstone in Macaw, and it gets worse when the kids see Gladstone as a CoolUncle and take Donald for granted. Even playing the games with Louie and Gladstone shows Donald unable to get even a slight bit lucky. When he has to run the footrace against Gladstone, his now unbelievably impossibly bad luck (while Gladstone has unbelievablly impossibly GOOD luck) sinks Donald to a deep depression that his fatalistic "What's the point?" is heartbreaking, and he's in a bad place emotionally that he's ready to give up. Not even having Scrooge and the kids in danger could snap him out of it; he's already giving all he had and STILL Gladstone is way ahead without even a drop of sweat or a scratch on him.

** Only Louie reminding he's TheDeterminator helped Donald convert his sufferings past and present (and all the inner anger at the unfairness of it all) involving Gladstone into such an unearthly high level of an UnstoppableRage eclipsing the one in "Daytrip of Doom!" when all he did was beat down two Beagle Boys single-handedly in that episode. The level literally becomes an anger-based, not insanity-based, PowerBornOfMadness.

Liu Hai says he will release Scrooge and the family, but keep Gladstone as a prisoner. However, Scrooge convinces the demon that since Donald beat Gladstone in the challenge, he must be even luckier, thus Liu Hai should keep Donald as a prisoner instead. The demon accepts, releasing everyone except for Donald -- and within minutes, he releases Donald too and vanishes with his casino, as Donald's bad luck is practically poison to a luck vampire. Gladstone insists that him losing the bet was the luckiest outcome, so he is still the luckiest in the world (and a hero), but the rest of the family dismisses him. Gladstone begins considering that instead of relying on his good luck, he should get along in life with earnest work - but then a rich heiress shows up and sells him a golden yacht for $20, which makes him return to his old, lazy and smug self. Scrooge finally gets to hear the golden cricket - [[ShaggyDogStory which sounds exactly like a regular cricket]].

** Louie and Gladstone call out Scrooge for leaving Donald in the casino... only for Scrooge to reveal that his nephew was never in any danger; his natural bad luck would automatically get him kicked out.

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth:

* FrogMan: Some of the staff of the House of Lucky Fortune are anthropomorphic toads, including Toad Liu Hai himself.

Scrooge, Donald, and the kids make a detour from their latest adventure to visit cousin Gladstone Gander at the House of Lucky Fortune, a casino in [[UsefulNotes/{{Macau}} Macaw]]. Scrooge sees this as a side-quest to his real desire of glimpse the rare golden cricket. The nephews see this as a chance to hang out with their cool and charming Uncle Gladstone, despite Scrooge and Donald's distaste for their layabout, lazy, and undeservedly lucky relative.

At the House of Lucky Fortune, Louie and Donald decide to spend the evening with Gladstone, trying out the various games at the casino. Unsurprisingly, Gladstone constantly wins, whereas Donald constantly loses and gets more and more frustrated by being humiliated by his lucky cousin in front of Louie. Meanwhile, Scrooge and the other children try to find their way out of the casino to go and see the golden cricket, without luck. The owner of the casino, Toad Liu Hai greets them, and shows them various distractions to convince them to stay at the casino - including a water ballet show, a pair of jade-colored tigers, and an all-you-can-eat buffet. Scrooge seemingly gives up and tells Liu Hai to take him to the reception and book him a room - since the reception is always next to the exit. Donald, fed up with Gladstone, joins Scrooge and try to leave... but suddenly, a jade chain materializes around Gladstone's leg, the casino's walls and patrons turn into playing cards, and Liu Hai himself turns gigantic.

Liu Hai says he will release Scrooge and the family, but keep Gladstone as a prisoner. However, Scrooge convinces the demon that since Donald beat Gladstone in the challenge, he must be even luckier, thus Liu Hai should keep Donald as a prisoner instead. The demon accepts, releases everyone except for Donald -- and within minutes, he releases Donald too and vanishes with his casino, as Donald's bad luck is practically poison to a luck vampire. Gladstone insists that him losing the bet was the luckiest outcome, so he is still the luckiest in the world (and a hero), but the rest of the family dismisses him. Gladstone begins considering that instead of relying on his good luck, he should get along in life with earnest work - but then a rich heiress shows up and sells him a golden yacht for $20, which makes him return to his old, lazy and smug self. Scrooge finally gets to hear the golden cricket - [[ShaggyDogStory which sounds exactly like a regular cricket]].

* AboveTheInfluence: Neither Scrooge nor Donald are seduced by the attractions of the casino. Scrooge himself even implies he's all too familiar with tourist traps.

** Gladstone has alienated his family due to his selfishness. Even he seems to really see how bad it is until his IgnoredEpiphany.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Liu Hai's casino always manages to time its distractions ''just'' right to keep the kids and their Uncle Scrooge in the casino. Huey with his interest in natural phenomenon gets distracted by the floor-show "Aquarioon: The Sacred Waters of Aquarien", Dewey by the Jade Tiger, and Webby by the buffet table containing food from around the world including a fountain of chocolate.

* BlessedWithSuck: Gladstone's luck actually works against him here, since he's practically physically incapable of losing at the casino games, which causes him to call Donald in desperation that his bad luck can break his streak and allow him to escape the mystical entity feeding off of his luck. More subtly, Gladstone is ''so'' used to coasting through life via his luck that he has ''no'' idea what to do when it fails him, his other skills all but non-existent. Webby even notes that he might not be as lucky as he thinks he is.

* BrokenPedestal: By the end of the episode Gladstone has shown what a selfish, petty jerk he is, so the kids no longer think he is the "cool" uncle.

--> '''Liu Hai''': Imagine taco dim sum. Fettucine eclairs.
--> '''Scrooge''': Why would I want to imagine any of that?
* CryingWolf: It's subtle, but the reactions of Scrooge and Donald to Gladstone's less than imperiled circumstances (on first glance at least) imply that Gladstone has called on Scrooge and Donald before to help with emergencies that were not exactly emergencies.

* DomainHolder: Liu Hai can create physical illusions and reorder the interiors of his casino, but doesn't seem to have any power outside of it.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The House of Lucky Fortune is Gladstone's "house" in the sense of "casino", but also "place of residence" ([[GildedCage because he can't leave]]).
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Everyone escapes the House of Lucky Fortune thanks to Donald beating Gladstone at the race, and Scrooge tricking Liu Hai into taking Donald over Gladstone (then letting him go). Gladstone's conclusion is that [[ItsAllAboutMe he's the real hero]] because everyone benefited from him losing the race, which was a result of sloth and arrogance, not intent.

** Despite their strained relationship, both Scrooge and Donald harbor a deep dislike for Gladstone. Donald because Gladstone's always had great luck while he was BornUnlucky (and his bad luck got even worse when Gladstone was around with Donald suffering because of it) and Scrooge because he had to work hard to be successful while Gladstone just coasted off his luck.
** Everyone is furious with Gladstone for lying about why he needed their help. Scrooge still helps him, but afterword they leave him to go off with Scrooge.

* ExactWords: When Gladstone kept telling Donald, no, he ''didn't'' want to embarrass him, and, no, he ''didn't'' bring him here just to show him up in front of the boys... he was telling the truth.
* FauxlosophicNarration: The cirque de soleil like show on "Aquarioon" which impresses Huey is full of this:

** When Donald says Gladstone called them for help, Gladstone responds "I do need your help", only for his panda massager to stare back at him and Gladstone adds "spending my winnings!". (Mainly because this was a reminder to Gladstone he was being monitored by Liu Hai through the panda.)

* HateSink: Gladstone has very few redeeming qualities. He's a SmugSnake who rubs his privilege in everyone's face, he insults and belittles his family members, and endangers the lives of said family members to save himself. And at the end he has an IgnoredEpiphany, learning nothing from his adventure. The only positive thing that can be said about him is that even he seems to be upset when Scrooge seems to sell Donald to Liu Hai.

** The House of Lucky Fortune is a pretty accurate satire on how modern-day casinos market and prey on family consumers, with distractions for kids that keep adults bored and distracted enough to spend money on the games.

* ShaggyDogStory: Scrooge and the gang ''do'' get to see the fabled Golden Cricket at the end ... only for its song to be normal cricket chirps that bore everyone to death. Guess their little diversion was a blessing in disguise.

* LuckyCharmsTitle: The sign for the buffet is stylized to resemble Chinese characters, with "乃" and "七" used in place of the letters B and T.

* {{Jerkass}}: Gladstone can't stop rubbing his luck in other people's faces even when it's in his best interest not to. He doesn't even ''try'' to lose the final game.
** You can't blame Gladstone for going all out to win at the end, however. Under the rules, he would have been free of Liu Hai and Scrooge would have been forced to take his place.

* TrailOfBreadCrumbs: After the group gets lost in the casino one too many times, Webby tries to help by leaving a trail of food so they know where they came from. Unfortunately, Dewey Jr. eats it all.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Liu Hai seems to think ''everyone'' successful is completely dependent on luck like [[LazyBum Gladstone]] is. This leads him to [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu underestimate]] [[SelfMadeMan Scrooge's]] intelligence and honestly believe Donald was more lucky than Gladstone, because Donald beat him at one contest (where Gladstone was barely trying).