Classic Episode Discussion: Splinter No More
 

I know I'm a bit late getting this thread up and running, but college can be a b*tch, ya'know.

This time I'll be a good boy and not steal someone else's sound clip...it's real hard to cap any sounds without my SBLive!, ya'dig?

OK, so...what did you think about seeing Splinter talk in his human form? I for one don't think Peter Renday's voice fits very well with the Hamato Yoshi form, personally. But, that's just me.

I find this episode to be extra special since it was literally the very first episode I ever watched even parts of. I watched it the morning it originally aired, as a matter of fact, one cold and wintery day in 1988. I was living in Del Rio, TX at the time, and it was just before my dad retired from the Air Force.

Sadly, I stopped watching once it got to the point where the turtles woke up after having the bookshelves fall on them because I...*GASP*...actually lost interest! Hey, it WAS the first ep I'd seen after all...it had to grow on me a bit ;)

Discuss away.

(Stickied it for ya, Rez :) )

LOVE this episode. it was one of my favorites of the classic series.
I need to see it again, and soon.

As for his voice as human, I agree it suited the Rat form much better than the human form.

This episode was great! The Turtles worrying about their "Dad" coming home was great plot line, and Splinter finally got to enjoy a stroll in the park.

Not to mention he got mugged in the process :D

One other thing I found kinda odd even though the show hadn't become nearly as goofy as it did by season 4 was the fact that the alien creature was left to die in the crumbling ruins...that and the turtles actually cut off its appendeges with their weapons. Part of me is now thinking no wonder so many parents were complaining about the show...not to say I agree with them, that is.

What was it now? Dimension Stop? Judging by that episode, there's probably a dimension for every letter and word in the english language. I have to admit though, the monster that came through the portal didn't look all that friendly, especially for a children's show.

Well, like I said, it wasn't quite season 4 just yet ;)

And yes, it went like this:

Shredder: "...Dimension--"
Splinter: "STOP!"

Another thing I found confusing; wouldn't there have to be a infinite number for incantations since the name of a dimension would have to rhyme with a word from the previous line? Also, if there was a specific language to the rhyme:

1) How could a translation into English have any effect?

2) How on Earth did the English translation rhyme as well as the cultist language?

Maybe I should stop picking at the realism, being that it's a cartoon and all :dead:

LOL! I started writing a piece on the do's and don't's of spell casting and how this incantation would and would not work, but I realized how irrelevant that would have been. :lol:

It's just a kids' cartoon show for pete's sake! It isn't supposed to make sense or be taken seriously!

Despite that the old show was childish most of the time, that particular segment could have been done differently in more serious circumstances. To put a more "realistic" spin on that situation, Shredder would probably be chanting in whatever language that book was and Splinter would interrupt his speech by arriving, causing the wrong spell to be cast. That would be a more plausible scenario, but I'm afraid I already surpassed the intended complexity of that episode.

Splinter No More is actually the first episode I ever saw, too. I watched it on it's first airing too, back in 1988. I guess I liked it, cuz the next week I started taping them already...hehe
I liked this episode alot actually...I can quote lots of parts from it. I liked the wacky machine Shredder set out for the Turtles to see each other as enemies (what was that machine called?).. and you know this is really early in the series because Shredder actually FORGETS that the Turtles live in the sewers! And that's something even Bebop and Rocksteady remembered...or at least Bebop.
Splinter looked kinda wacky as a half-human, half-rat. All in all, this is a good classic episode.

I liked the fact that the tmnt were worried that Splinter might preffer living with humans now and leave them. That was a bit of a serious undertone there. I mean.. what if he did leave them to persue a more normal life?

I doubt a ninja master from the Far East would have any luck fitting in with a typical western culture...

you forgot New York's Shiniest Rez.

Weird, my Splinter no More is numbered 15.

That is kind of weird..because I remember the very first episode I saw was Splinter No More, and the next week was Teenagers from Dimension X, which was the first episode I taped. Maybe production order was different than aired order...

Well, both the Offcial site listing and the improved listing posted here on the TD site show Splinter No More before New York's Shiniest.

Nah, I got that clue when he started wandering around New York in his manky old dressing gown/kimono thing and wanted a ride off a taxi driver even though he had no money.

If Splinter HADN'T returned home, it most probably would have been because he'd forgotten where he lived.

Probably explains why my Splinter No More got corrupt all that time ago before I had a vhs set and had to rely on divx.

Would master yoshihave left the turtles....to persue a new life??? i don't think so....he'd just move in with april and the turtles could call or write....sniff sniff....and even have slumber parties
That would be so nice.....
Hey do u think that a good end to the series...old that is....would have been for splinter to become yoshi once more....just a thought at the end....u know???
Jester

I had often wondered about that myself. It would've especially been fitting to have his human form restored when the TMNT had to get Shredder's retro-mutagen ray generator in order to cure the citezens of New York who Baxter Stockman had mutated all into bugs.

I think we need a new episode discussion thread....

You know, you can always start one on your own. It isn't that hard, really.

The fact that Shredder was "in disguise" aka wearing a robe over his metal armor and reading in the public library was so lame, that it kind of ruined the rest of the episode. And if people saw a giant rat like man on the streets they would not run to attack it, they would run the hell away from it. I question a lot of the decisions made on the cartoon that don't make any sense what so ever.

Gang
 

The gang attacked him. The rest were running away.

that was an awsome thread.

In the season 7 episode, "Revenge of the Fly," it was shocking to watch Leonardo smash Shredder's Retro-Mutagen ray after turning the citizens of New York back to normal. Did the David Wise simply forget THE major plot thread of episode 5 (and the first season in general), which was that they needed that gun to change Splinter back to normal? Or was it Leonardo's way of saying, "what Splinter doesn't know won't hurt him?"

Hmm... :)

actually I think the whole "Splinter wants to be human again" angst was resolved in this episode. Even though I personaly believe Splinter/Yoshi's disdain for how the people acted toward him when he was human and semi-transformed is somewhat a cop out, Splinter pretty much decided in this episode that he would rather be an animal than a human because of how prejiduced he found them. So by the time "Revenge of the Fly" rolled around it was pretty much established that Splinter was fine with his lot in life and didn't mind living in the sewers looking after the turtles.

It's a good point, but you would at least think Leonardo would have alerted Splinter to the fact they did indeed possess the Mutagen Ray. If it was me, I would keep that thing around for safe keeping. Never know when you'll need a Retro-Mutagen Ray as many times as people got mutated in that series!:lol:

Mutagen
 

Yes. The entire show had many kinds of mutagen and mutation rays. Could be needed in the 1995-1996 seasons when the TMNT became like monster turtles.

Kinda weird how the whole thing in Season 1 was 'find Shredder and make him turn Spilnter back to normal'. But they never stopped to think 'what happens next?'.

Well on one side.... Yoshi was basically poor as all hell and happy living in the sewers with rats and turtles, reading old books and stuff. Why would he suddenly feel the need to move out? He'd continue to train the turtles just the same.

Serious
 

This is one of the more "serious" episodes.

One of the better episodes. Great Splinter-centric ep.

I think it was my first introduction to fantasy stuff such as spells. Was intriguing to hear Krang warn Shredder about other dimensions.

Some heartwarming dialogue too when the Turtles overcome Shredder’s scrambler and realize that Splinter indirectly saved them again, even though he wasn’t there.

I wish series was closer to the tone of this and similar episodes.

But this one was fairly good. And I liked idea of exploring possibility of Splinter returning to his human form. Sadly it never went anywhere.

I swear I keep bringing up one of these points too often, so I'll just add a second one:

1. Splinter pretty much declares that he doesn't mind remaining a rat because he doesn't want to use money. I know I keep bringing it up but that's basically the reason outside of those muggers who just stop halfway through the mugging.
2. Wasn't there a reverse mutation ray in season 1? Hell, weren't there several other methods to reverse mutations established later on? Seems like there were a lot of opportunities to turn him back.

Yes, the last episode of season 1 introduced Shredder’s Retromutagen ray. It was destroyed (and I think this is what led Donatello to experiment with the left over mutagen in Splinter No More) but Shredder got it working again in Revenge of the Fly. The turtles took it and used it again in Wrath of the Rat King. Also Shredder had a retromutagen cannon at the end of Turtle Trek.

One of the classic episodes of Season 2. Not my personal favourite but a classic.

The Retro Mutagen Gun was problematic as it was a quick fix. With it it meant the end of a mutant as a character. I can see why the writers avoided using it.