Courage the Cowardly Dog
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Courage the Cowardly Dog

Queen of the Black Puddle is part one of the ninth episode of Season One, preceding Everyone Wants to Direct.

The episode was produced in 1999 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on January 21, 2000. [2]

Synopsis[]

A seductive queen materializes from a puddle and infatuates Eustace. With Muriel heartbroken at the loss of Eustace, Courage must dive into the depths of the Queen's lair and save him despite his fears.

Plot[]

Eustace, Muriel, and Courage are sitting in the living room during a thunderstorm when Eustace deliberately frightens Courage for a laugh. While outside, Courage notices that strange puddle has formed outside the farmhouse. Upon closer inspection, Courage sees his reflection in the puddle transforms into a strange yet beautiful queen who hisses at him with a mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Terrified, Courage attempts to convince his owners of what he saw but Muriel merely dismisses it saw a fish. Later that day while Muriel and Eustace relaxing in the living room, the strange Queen materializes in Eustace's tea and begins calling his name which mesmerizes him. By the time Courage shows Muriel the the Queen, she disappears again. However, Muriel begins to become concerned at Eustace's peculiar behavior.

Muriel tells Eustace to fix a leak in the ceiling to which he begrudgingly agrees. The Queen materializes in the leak inside one of the water droplets and continues beckoning Eustace. Eustace falls under her spell and a frightened Courage shows Muriel, who worriedly observes the daze that her husband is in. She tells Eustace to go to bed, and while he is taking his bath the Queen materializes again in the bathtub, this time beckoning Eustace to join her down the drain. Muriel is alarmed when she finds Eustace with his head stuck in the drain and concludes Eustace must visit the doctor first thing in the morning. That night, the Queen slips into the Bagge's bedroom and kidnaps Eustace while Courage watches in terror from the window as they disappear into the puddle outside.

The next morning, Courage finds a despondent Muriel and begins crying over Eustace who thinks that he has run away. After Courage's failed attempts to cheer Muriel up, Courage realizes, to his dismay, that the only way to restore Muriel is to rescue Eustace. Courage dons a scuba suit and quickly dives into the puddle after noticing that the puddle is shrinking. Underwater, Courage begins swimming towards the queen's lair. Inside the palace, Courage witnesses the queen dancing for a dazed Eustace and placing a brightly colored shell necklace on him. To Courage's horror, he notices that the skeletons on the ground also wear the same necklaces.

The queen transforms into a horrible monster and as she prepares to devour Eustace, Courage finds a fishing rod to snag Eustace just before she can eat him. Courage drags Eustace behind on a fishing line and tries to swim away but is trapped by the Queen. Courage retaliates by trapping the Queen in a clam and swims frantically to the surface, but the Queen's puddle dries up just before he can escape. However, Courage sees another exit formed by Muriel's tears and leaps out in the nick of time to find themselves safe inside the Bagge farmhouse. Courage quickly dries up the puddle to prevent the Queen from returning. The Queen hits her head trying to get them and angrily swears revenge on Courage.

Muriel is initially relieved to see Eustace before angrily hitting Eustace with her rolling pin, demanding to know where he went. This also snaps Eustace out of his trance and he questions what he did. Everything appears to have returned to normal - until Courage takes a bath that night and finds the Queen re-materializing in the bathtub, this time in canine form. The episode ends with Courage looking dumbfounded at the audience.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • This is a list of things that Courage did in his attempt to cheer Muriel up:
    • Giving her a cup of tea
    • Giving her an ice cream sundae
    • Creating balloon animals
    • Enacting a violent puppet show
    • Hitting himself over the head with a frying pan
  • This episode revealed that despite usually scorning Eustace for being nasty and obnoxious and for insulting and scaring Courage, Muriel gets emotionally distressed over his unexplained disappearance, indicating that she still loves Eustace so much.
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