Bye Bye Fly
 

Three questions
1.did anyone but me think Michelangelo looked cute as a gerbil?
2.did anyone admire how the other three turtles went to such lenths to change their little brother back to normal?
3.did anyone predict that Bebop and Rocksteady would be in no hurry to change Shredder back to normal?

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Gerbil was pretty great. I remember seeing that episode waaay back in the day and I thought it was the funniest thing. Too bad we never got a "Gerbil Michelangelo" action figure!

The funny thing is I did not appreciate Michleangelo being turned into a gerible and thought Shredder being turned into a fly was lame. It was nice to see Bebop and Rocksteady have some power over Shredder for a change but I did not care for the concept. This is my least favorite episode of the six Baxter the fly appearances. Not saying I did not like it its the the above bugged me a little.

Shredder turned into a fly was hilarious.

A long time ago I read an interesting thought from someone on this episode. Why didn't Baxter think to use the mutation gun on himself to be turned back into human?

I definitely predicted #3!

Mikey turning in to a gerbil and Shredder turning into a fly were the highlight of the episode. I don't remember too much of what was leading up to the confrontation with Baxter.

He was using pieces of the transwarp drive to lure Shredder and co. into a trap then fly to Dimension X for some reason. Unless he intended to drop his enemies off there then return to Earth.

Michelangelo as a gerbil was cute as this was the only time a Turtle changed into another animal in the series besides the shrinkings/super mutations, but I'm glad the other Turtles didn't like the idea of him as a gerbil. It basically became a 3 vs. 3 battle (Bebop/Rocksteady/Baxter vs. Leonardo/Raphael/Donatello) to balance things out. The other Turtles knew that in addition to stopping Baxter, they had to risk their lives by defeating Baxter and proved their skills. I felt that Bebop/Rocksteady needed to return Shredder to normal after defeat since they knew that 4 Turtles wouldn't stand much of a chance against them after many battles.

"Bye, Bye Fly" is a fun episode. I like the way that Baxter is actually fairly clever in here, using pieces of the ship to lure Shredder and co. into a trap, though his low brainpower is still his undoing. Again, a silly but oddly effective villain, which makes him fun.

Though why he wants to go back to Dimension X is a huuuge plot hole. The story doesn't even need it.

Based on the way this episode ended, with the ship's destruction and Baxter in the spider's web, and the talk we've had about whether or not season three might have been intended to be the real final season...maybe this could have been the final Baxterfly episode. Harsh.

Gerbil Mikey (though he looked more like a guniea pig) and fly Shredder were hilarious. Fly Shredder is particuarly great, with his tiny armour and his little squeaky voice. :lol:

Baxter's desire to be human comes and goes on the whim of the writers, so I'm never surprised at all the opportunities he misses or how quickly he can change his mind. Not sure how much is intentional, either.

Though whenever Baxter revels in turning people into animals, it almost looks like he's got certain issues with self-loathing. Little guy needs a psychiatrist. :P

The gun with the animal dial reminds me of the Transmogrifier Gun from "Calvin and Hobbes", though the dial is more like the earlier box Transmogrifier.

I couldn't help but note the different way the computer was portrayed in his first appearance. Not only as part of a ship and no face, but with a higher voice and less smarmy compliment-feeding. I dunno.

I like the weird Triffid-like screech Baxter makes as he scares the archaeologists away.

French alien chef robots, man.

Baxter's final "Help me!" is of course a reference to the 1958 version of "The Fly", that being the film's most popular quote. Baxter uses it in a couple other episodes, though I'll always associate Baxterfly more with Croneberg's version.

I can't quite make out what Baxter is singing to himself when he appears in the episode: "Here we go gathering trash in bags"?

I'm glad Baxter was brought back. The idea that the character could get eaten or killed by the spider at the end always left me feeling uncomfortable.

Go to some planet there and get his hands om some weapons and equipment from any advanced civilization, I suppose. Maybe find some more friends to team up with.

Wow, I'm a little surprised nobody's commented on my earlier thought.

I sort of did, saying that because Baxter's desire to be human comes and goes on the whim of the writers, and the character himself is pretty stupid, it's not surprising that the immediate solutions to his problems get sidestepped.

Heck, look at "'Revenge of the Fly". For all the fuss people make about his not getting to turn human, only at the very last part of the episode does that become a priority for Baxter. Even when he was in the Technodrome itself, with all its equipment, the possibility of using it to turn himself didn't occur to him

I just think the writers wanted an opportunity for fly Baxter Stockman to become human again. It was his label for this show (the action figure). They should do a Mutatin' Baxter Stockman.

I wish he could return to Earth and become human again during season 8-10, when the show focused less on selling figures, and more on the dramatic parts.

A Mutatin' Baxter would have been great. So would a figure of human Baxter, though he probably would have had bugs crawling all over his lab coat or something.

But as Suzie Derkins once said, "As long as I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony." :P

I honestly think that none of the writers for the show ever intended for Baxter to become human again, even if they had brought him back for a few more rounds. That's because he's a bad guy, and bad guys never get what they want in this show.

Doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with wanting Baxter to be human again, but there's always a bit in the back of my head reminding me that that's not how the OT rolls.

Now that the idea has been put in my head, I am now disappointed that we never did get a Mutatin' Baxter action. That thing could have been very cool, even though Playmates dropped the proverbial ball with most of their human-mutant figures.

Haha, for real! :lol: