Pterobat
03-02-2013, 10:58 PM
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Episode #79"Son of Return of the Fly II"
Written by David Wise
Directed by Bill Wolf
Original Air Date: September 8th, 1990
(I like rambling about stuff, so t his is probably longer than most talkbacks.)
First of the CBS episodes, according to Wikipedia, but I've got no idea either way, since I never kept track of the change from syndication to network status when I was a tyke.
I can't say I notice any radical changes in tone or presentation from the earlier episodes, but I tend to be slow on the uptake when it comes to things like that.
But this is officially my favourite Baxterfly episode. I know that some wish he were a stronger villain, or remained a regular minion of the Shredder, but I like him as an idiot and a wild card: a silly character who nonetheless is trouble for both sides of the main cast.
Also, changing Baxter's form and personality would be kind of pointless if he just played the same role in the story as before.
(Except for, you know, the whole "marketing an action figure" thing. That's understandable.)
I can't look at the title "Son of Return of the Fly II" without thinking of the joke that "The Venture Brothers" made with "Return to the House of Mummies: Part 2".
Of course, it's never explained how the ship's computer transformed into a desktop PC, or how Baxter got out of the inter-dimensional spider's web. But it doesn't matter that much, really.
(I really wish I knew where the name "Zee" for the computer came from, since it's easier than trying to write about a character with no name)
I enjoyed the previous episodes where Baxterfly acts on his own, but the whole thing with the computer is just some wonderful inspired weirdness: Seth Brundle and HAL 9000 hanging out.
I also like that we never know if the computer is using Baxter or genuinely likes him. The constant compliment-feeding comes off as incredibly smarmy, especially since he obviously can see how dumb Baxter is, but that smarminess might not have been meant to say anything.
Baxter's side of it seems to be genuine, though, as he seems to chase the main villains back to Channel 6 because he knows they're going after the computer, and joins in the tug-of-war over the computer man.
Which is always funny to me because I remember the human Baxter hating artificial intelligence in "The Mean Machines", back-sassing OMNISS. The writers probably don't remember the difference, but it's fun anyway.
The computer is also clearly the one running the show, but that's fine: Baxter still gets his good moments of villainy, and he might just naturally be a follower. Besides, that computer is a surprisingly effective villain.
Oh god, I just love how idiotic and childlike Baxter is in this episode. He's asked to kidnap April, and instead kidnaps Vernon, *twice*, can't remember her name for more than a second, keeps walking through walls, and is distracted by sugar.
At the same time, it's a tiny bit sad that a former scientist, even one as nebbish and evil as Baxter was, keeps losing his faculties and acts like he's regressed in age.
The fuss made over Baxter's footprint has always struck me as weird, if for no reason other that Baxter's feet look almost the same as the Turtles' and nobody seems to notice.
But naturally, Splinter is the first one to figure stuff out.
As I said above, I'm convinced that Baxter's computer was meant to be a parody of Hal 9000, and his taking over the station could be another homage to it. Especially since "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers" already had a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Because I'm a big fly!" Impeccable logic, there, Baxter.
I love the clock tower trap: very Adam West Batman. Though I also can't help but think of the Edgar Allan Poe story, "A Predicament", when a woman gets her head cut off by the hand of a clock.
Raphael seems to be quoting Joan Rivers when he asks, "Baxter, can we talk?"
"By Ninja Law…." Dammit, Shredder, you just made that up, didn't you? :P
I love Baxter smacking Shredder and Rocksteady's heads together using both sets of arms. It's just really funny to me that such an ineffectual character is, at least in this episode, shown to be physically very strong.
"Only the most highly-skilled ninja master could get out of these ropes." *Leo cuts Donnie free* "Hi, Leonardo." Love that exchange.
Is this considered to be one of the episodes that has the more cartoony animation style? Actually, it works here, and it usually works for me, anyway. This is a comedic show, after all.
I love the computer's facial expressions, too. He looks very smug and evil.
Oh, hey, you can see Bebop's eyes near the end for a few seconds.
The "Destruction of other people's property...." running joke is great here. Raphael being annoyed with Donatello over it also cracks me up every time.
The twist that Mr. Mellish is a mercenary, money-hungry bastard and could have blown up that chip at any time is also great. It's a little sharper than the show's normal humour, but that's also the style of cartoon humour that I grew upon.
And there goes Baxter, stuck between dimensions. This is why I can't get so broken up over "Revenge of the Fly", when several Baxterfly episodes had already ended like that. It's just that his episodes stopped, not that there was real finality.
Why the heck is Vernon shaving in the office, and just after a major incident? It's a really bad set-up for that final joke this show always makes, when it looks like the enemy of the episode might be back, but it turns out to be something harmless.
But overall, this was the kind of hilarious, insane episode that makes the OT memorable.
Episode #79"Son of Return of the Fly II"
Written by David Wise
Directed by Bill Wolf
Original Air Date: September 8th, 1990
(I like rambling about stuff, so t his is probably longer than most talkbacks.)
First of the CBS episodes, according to Wikipedia, but I've got no idea either way, since I never kept track of the change from syndication to network status when I was a tyke.
I can't say I notice any radical changes in tone or presentation from the earlier episodes, but I tend to be slow on the uptake when it comes to things like that.
But this is officially my favourite Baxterfly episode. I know that some wish he were a stronger villain, or remained a regular minion of the Shredder, but I like him as an idiot and a wild card: a silly character who nonetheless is trouble for both sides of the main cast.
Also, changing Baxter's form and personality would be kind of pointless if he just played the same role in the story as before.
(Except for, you know, the whole "marketing an action figure" thing. That's understandable.)
I can't look at the title "Son of Return of the Fly II" without thinking of the joke that "The Venture Brothers" made with "Return to the House of Mummies: Part 2".
Of course, it's never explained how the ship's computer transformed into a desktop PC, or how Baxter got out of the inter-dimensional spider's web. But it doesn't matter that much, really.
(I really wish I knew where the name "Zee" for the computer came from, since it's easier than trying to write about a character with no name)
I enjoyed the previous episodes where Baxterfly acts on his own, but the whole thing with the computer is just some wonderful inspired weirdness: Seth Brundle and HAL 9000 hanging out.
I also like that we never know if the computer is using Baxter or genuinely likes him. The constant compliment-feeding comes off as incredibly smarmy, especially since he obviously can see how dumb Baxter is, but that smarminess might not have been meant to say anything.
Baxter's side of it seems to be genuine, though, as he seems to chase the main villains back to Channel 6 because he knows they're going after the computer, and joins in the tug-of-war over the computer man.
Which is always funny to me because I remember the human Baxter hating artificial intelligence in "The Mean Machines", back-sassing OMNISS. The writers probably don't remember the difference, but it's fun anyway.
The computer is also clearly the one running the show, but that's fine: Baxter still gets his good moments of villainy, and he might just naturally be a follower. Besides, that computer is a surprisingly effective villain.
Oh god, I just love how idiotic and childlike Baxter is in this episode. He's asked to kidnap April, and instead kidnaps Vernon, *twice*, can't remember her name for more than a second, keeps walking through walls, and is distracted by sugar.
At the same time, it's a tiny bit sad that a former scientist, even one as nebbish and evil as Baxter was, keeps losing his faculties and acts like he's regressed in age.
The fuss made over Baxter's footprint has always struck me as weird, if for no reason other that Baxter's feet look almost the same as the Turtles' and nobody seems to notice.
But naturally, Splinter is the first one to figure stuff out.
As I said above, I'm convinced that Baxter's computer was meant to be a parody of Hal 9000, and his taking over the station could be another homage to it. Especially since "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers" already had a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Because I'm a big fly!" Impeccable logic, there, Baxter.
I love the clock tower trap: very Adam West Batman. Though I also can't help but think of the Edgar Allan Poe story, "A Predicament", when a woman gets her head cut off by the hand of a clock.
Raphael seems to be quoting Joan Rivers when he asks, "Baxter, can we talk?"
"By Ninja Law…." Dammit, Shredder, you just made that up, didn't you? :P
I love Baxter smacking Shredder and Rocksteady's heads together using both sets of arms. It's just really funny to me that such an ineffectual character is, at least in this episode, shown to be physically very strong.
"Only the most highly-skilled ninja master could get out of these ropes." *Leo cuts Donnie free* "Hi, Leonardo." Love that exchange.
Is this considered to be one of the episodes that has the more cartoony animation style? Actually, it works here, and it usually works for me, anyway. This is a comedic show, after all.
I love the computer's facial expressions, too. He looks very smug and evil.
Oh, hey, you can see Bebop's eyes near the end for a few seconds.
The "Destruction of other people's property...." running joke is great here. Raphael being annoyed with Donatello over it also cracks me up every time.
The twist that Mr. Mellish is a mercenary, money-hungry bastard and could have blown up that chip at any time is also great. It's a little sharper than the show's normal humour, but that's also the style of cartoon humour that I grew upon.
And there goes Baxter, stuck between dimensions. This is why I can't get so broken up over "Revenge of the Fly", when several Baxterfly episodes had already ended like that. It's just that his episodes stopped, not that there was real finality.
Why the heck is Vernon shaving in the office, and just after a major incident? It's a really bad set-up for that final joke this show always makes, when it looks like the enemy of the episode might be back, but it turns out to be something harmless.
But overall, this was the kind of hilarious, insane episode that makes the OT memorable.