REVIEW: ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers,’ Episode 7 – “Pond Hockey”

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The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers continues to impress in its seventh episode, “Pond Hockey,” starring Lauren Graham, Emilio Estévez, and a team of young actors on Disney+. In The Mighty Ducks Episode 7, the Don’t Bothers are upset with Evan (Brady Noon) for attending a Ducks practice, and Sam (De’Jon Watts) and Sofi (Swayam Bhatia) are taking it the hardest. Meanwhile, Alex (Graham) has a crisis in confidence about her coaching and finds support in the least-expected place.

It was bound to happen eventually that our favorite underdogs would have a rift that threatens to tear them apart. And I appreciate that The Mighty Ducks Episode 7 continues its streak of subverting my expectations in how it approaches and resolves this conflict. In a kids’ show, I would usually expect the protagonist that everyone is upset with to apologize a bunch of times, get nothing in return, then do something heroic to fix everything. But that’s not enough for the Don’t Bothers. Which it shouldn’t be. Kids aren’t so fickle. There are a few that are willing to forgive Evan quicker than others. In fact, Nick’s (Maxwell Simkins) lines about it are just as hilarious as ever.

But Sam and Sofi are not so quick to make amends. I wish that the way Evan does eventually receive acceptances of his apology from them would have been more based on being better than just saying he will or making extra gestures. But I also understand it’s a TV show with time constraints. Ultimately, I’m just glad that it displayed kids showing healthy boundaries and evaluations of their self-worth in taking their time to forgive Evan.

I hope this isn’t Sam’s only big moment to shine this season, though. Everyone else on the team has now gotten an episode each to develop their character. They have gotten to show off their strengths and their whole selves. While Sam does get to showcase more of his personality and his emotions, they are all shown in relation to Evan. The other characters got to have agency and have their stories be about their own struggles, so it would be a shame if Sam were the only character whose development is at the behest of another character and not of himself.

Something I loved though in The Mighty Ducks Episode 7 was how an entirely unexpected character seems to turn out to actually not be the kind of person I’ve thought them to be all along. Alex is struggling with feeling like she’s not a good coach and not fit for the job. The pep talk she gets from Gordon (Estévez) is fine, and I am still all here for their relationship. But where the advice actually comes from had me rather shocked and unsure how to feel about it. Probably similar to how Alex felt. I hope that how this character was revealed this week is actually another subversion of expectations and doesn’t get turned back around later.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Episode 7 is another excellent showing for this truly wholesome show. I hope to see a bit more hockey in the remaining episodes. Still, I’m glad that the personalities of each of the team members are getting to shine now and that the show continues to subvert a lot of expectations even as it follows classic plotlines.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Episode 7 is streaming now on Disney+. New episodes air Fridays.