History Recap / DuckTales2017S1E6TheHouseOfTheLuckyGander

%%* BrickJoke: "Hey, $20!"

%%* CrackDefeat: There is absolutely no way Donald Duck can beat Gladstone Gander at a game of chance -- or is there?

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 a glimpse at the rare golden cricket, with an otherworldly song. 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. Eventually, 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 and weight materializes around Gladstone's leg, the casino's walls and contents, including the patrons, turn into playing cards, and Liu Hai himself turns gigantic.

Gladstone explains that Liu Hai is a "luck vampire", a demon who keeps him imprisoned and feeds on his good luck. Liu Hai wants to imprison Scrooge too, as he believes the luck of the richest duck in the world will be a delicacy, but Scrooge challenges the demon to a game, betting the freedom of his family on it. Liu Hai accepts the challenge, and creates a maze of cards, picking Gladstone as his champion and Donald as Scrooge's - whoever beats the maze first wins. Despite Donald's best effort, Gladstone still takes the lead. But as Donald is about to give up, Louie gives him a WorldOfCardboardSpeech, telling him that despite his bad luck, he always got through life because of his determination. Donald draws energy from Louie's words and from his anger towards Gladstone, rushes forward and wins the race.

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 seconds, 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]].

* AbstractEater: Liu Hai, who feeds off the luck of his patrons. He was a well-fed FatBastard with Gladstone, but only a few ''seconds'' with Donald cause him to become emaciated.

%%* InnOfNoReturn: A non-fatal version.

* 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]]). It's also the name of the casino.

* {{Jerkass}}: Again, Gladstone Gander. He can't stop rubbing his luck in other people's faces even when it's in his best interest not to. Furthermore, he doesn't even ''try'' to lose the final game; while granting that he's not exactly unjustified in wanting to get out of there, his blithe willingness to throw Donald, Scrooge and the others to Liu Hai to save his own neck when the only reason they're in that position was because they willingly came to help him doesn't exactly earn him sympathy points.

* RealityEnsues:
** No, tigers do not make good house pets and heaven forbid they are sold to children. Fortunately, they were only illusions conjured by 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 and attractions.
** Far from treating him like a king, any ''real'' casino would have ''banned'' someone as lucky as Gladstone Gander (casinos may cater to high rollers who lose as much as they win, but they could make no profit from a customer who ''literally'' never loses) -- so, of course, this casino is not real.

* {{Jerkass}}: Gladstone can't stop rubbing his luck in other people's faces even when it's in his best interest not to. Furthermore, he doesn't even ''try'' to lose the final game; while granting that he's not exactly unjustified in wanting to get out of there, his blithe willingness to throw Donald, Scrooge and the others to Liu Hai to save his own neck when the only reason they're in that position was because they willingly came to help him doesn't exactly earn him many sympathy points.

* HateSink: Much like in the comics, Gladstone Gander. He's a SmugSnake who rubs his blessings 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.

* HateSink: Gladstone has very few redeeming qualities. He's a SmugSnake who rubs his blessings 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.

* BitingTheHandHumor: Huey's criticism about how wasteful the water show is could be seen as a dig towards Disney's various nighttime shows using tons of water such as ''Theater/{{Fantasmic}}'', ''Ride/WorldOfColor'' or ''Ride/RiversOfLight''.

* BrickJoke: "Hey, $20!"

* CrackDefeat: There is absolutely no way Donald Duck can beat Gladstone Gander at a game of chance -- or is there?

* EpicFail: Donald tries to win a game where he has to guess how many fingers a toad is holding up by constantly betting ''twenty-seven''. There's bad luck, and then there's just Donald's regular foolishness.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: In a flashback, Donald was put in jail just for stealing $20 he didn't know was from a robbery.

* InnOfNoReturn: A non-fatal version.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Downplayed, but there's just something satisfying about watching Gladstone take a ballistic Donald to the face at the end of the episode.

* RebuiltPedestal: The nephews look up to Uncle Donald again when he tries his hardest to beat Gladstone in the climactic footrace, especially when Louie reminds Donald that his inability to know when to give up is what makes him successful. At the end, Donald is warmly hugged by the boys and Webby, as they know Webby's claims of him being "one of the most daring adventurers of all time" weren't false.

* TookALevelInJerkass: The nephews are a bit more scathing about Donald's lack of cool than they normally are.

* EpicFail: Donald tries to win a game where he has to guess how many fingers a toad is holding up by constantly betting ''twenty-seven''. There's bad luck, and then there's just foolishness.

* MalevolentArchitecture: If Liu Hai doesn't want you to leave, the Casino warps space and time to make the exit impossible to find. Scrooge manages to outwit this by pretending he wants to rent a room, making the front desk appear, which is always right next to the front door.

* RunningGag: Gladstone finding $20 bills everywhere he goes, even during the final game.

* [[GRatedDrug G-Rated Game of Chance]]: The episode is set at a casino, but as it [[AnimationAgeGhetto is a kid's show]], the games shown are Pachinko[[note]] Not ''[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial technically]]'' a game of chance, but one that [[LoopholeAbuse often becomes one in Japan]][[/note]], a wheel-spin and even "how many fingers am I holding up?". However, playing cards are used as a constant motif in the episode (and Scrooge does name-check Pai Gow as well), though nobody is actually shown playing.
** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as the kids are shown to be accompanied by Scrooge and/or Donald at all times, who are far more conscientious chaperones than Gladstone and would likely steer them away from the more hard-core gambling. Scrooge continually steers the kids away from all attractions and Liu Hai tries to tempt them with things kids would find more appealing (shows, exotic pets, buffets, etc), and Donald accompanies Gladstone and Louie specially to ensure the visit isn't too bad an influence (thus why they use only G-rating gambling games). Louis practically lampshades this after Donald storms out in a huff, claiming that now that he's gone they can hit the "big leagues."

* KickTheDog: Gladstone is apparently okay with his family (including the kids) becoming slaves forever to Liu Hai in his place and doesn't even attempt to TakeAThirdOption. Although even he seems taken aback when Scrooge willingly -- even eagerly -- seems to offer Donald as a slave in Gladstone's place.

** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as the kids are shown to be accompanied by Scrooge and/or Donald at all times, who are far more conscientious chaperones than Gladstone and would likely steer them toward the tamer attractions. Louie practically lampshades this after [[OverprotectiveParent Donald]] storms out in a huff, claiming that now that he's gone they can hit the "big games."

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Gladstone's personality and charm is somewhat smarmy and phony throughout the episode, but a glimpse of his true nature becomes apparent when, after Donald storms off and Louie suggests they hit the really high-rolling tables, Gladstone rudely snaps that he needs Donald, not Louie.

--> '''Liu Hai''': Imagine taco dim sum. Fettucine eclairs.\\

* 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 phenomena gets distracted by the floor-show "Aquarioon: The Sacred Waters of Aquarien", Dewey by the pet Jade Tiger, and Webby by the buffet table containing food from around the world including a fountain of chocolate.
* AdviceBackfire: Donald's advice to the nephews that family must help family comes back to bite him when they insist on helping Gladstone.

** Scrooge pretends to want a room to get the manager to lead him to the check-in desk, as it's usually next to an exit.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
** Gladstone's personality and charm is somewhat smarmy and phony throughout the episode, but a glimpse of his true nature becomes apparent when, after Donald storms off and Louie suggests they hit the really high-rolling tables, Gladstone rudely snaps that he needs Donald, not Louie.

** Everyone is furious with Gladstone for lying about why he needed their help. Scrooge still helps him, but afterwords they leave him to go off with Scrooge.