Official Episode Discussion #19: "Baxter's Gambit"

[Donatello19]

Originally Posted by VaughnMichael

I have to dissagree, I think that "The Pulverizer" episode is by far the worst so far.

At least that episode had the introduction of the Shellraiser AND Fishface's first battle with the turtles.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by TurtleTron

I don't deny this, I don't know, I guess it just depends on one's preference and mood as to what kind of episode they enjoy. Myself, I prefer the more humorous adventure episodes, and that was lacking in this episode. I feel like nothing happened in this episode, no new questions were asked and no old questions were answered. At least in "Cockroach Terminator" we got a new character who could possibly return, and a new vehicle specifically for Raph.

Again I don't think this was a bad episode, I don't think any of the episodes so far have been bad (maybe "The Pulverizer?) I guess it wasn't my cup of tea.

This episode answered quite a lot.

- We finally see the Foot battle the Kraang proving they are enemies

- Pretty much confirmation that Karai is Miwa

- April begins training with her weapon

- Baxter broke out on his own and may no longer work for the Foot

- We learned Xever's backstory and the team up was great

- Xever and Bradford may not be as completely evil as they seem to be


And lastly Raph learning the lesson of the episode and the Kraang stealing the weapon were nice touches.

Definitely the best episode in a while.

[Coola Yagami]

I'm surprised all focus was lost on the fact that Kraang managed to get away with the weapon they were stealing. I hope it does come back in a future episode so it's not a moot point.

[BubblyShell22]

Hey, CY, I read your blog post about the episode, and I don't think April was around to see the picture of Yoshi, Shen, and Miwa and knew what it was. Remember, Leo took the picture so April probably had no idea about it, which is a good thing.

As for Karai being April's age, it makes sense. Girls develop at different ages and not all girls are small like April is in height.

[the_minimizer]

Will we ever seen Shredder and the Kra'ang fighting on the same side?

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by the_minimizer

Will we ever seen Shredder and the Kra'ang fighting on the same side?

No, and I hope it stays that way. Shredder has no reason to work with the Kraang.

[gobo]

This Baxter is so uncreative, it hurts. But, I think this was his best ep so far.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by shredder orokusaki

That traitor Baxter Stockman will pay for what he has done! He wanted to kill my servants dogpound and fish face! Next time i will see him i will kill him! He can not escape me!!! I will kill him!!!!!

Oh, dear lord, Shredder wouldn't call his henchmen by the nicknames the turtles gave them.

[Keroscene]

Originally Posted by the_minimizer

Will we ever seen Shredder and the Kra'ang fighting on the same side?

Who knows, but it feels inevitable. They have a mutual enemy and overlapping interests, judging by the fact they wanted the same implodey thing. Shredder obviously has no problem with letting others do his dirty work.

[CyberCubed]

Shredder has no reason to work with aliens that want to terraform the planet. I can see Shredder using the mutagen but no reason to team up with the Kraang.

[BabyTurtles]

I'm kinda glad Baxter Stockman broke away from Shedder XD

Shedder was getting to many connections. XD

[Martin]

The team-up was nice and all but I'd prefer if they had advanced through the maze whilst fighting each other. I guess they could have gone either way with this one and they chose to portrait a more humane (ha!) side of dogpound and fishface. The first scene where they were all fighting each other was great (one of -or maybe the- best fight scene/s so far), though I kind of regret that direction was lost so the story could focus on baxter.

Speaking of Dex... uhm Baxter, I had a little WTF moment after he threw the turtles and our evildoers into the maze. I know it's a cartoon, but hear me out: if you've got your so called 'arch-nemeses' trapped in what is basically an inescapable cell, why on earth would you give them even the slightest chance to escape? why not, I don't know, drop acid on them the first chance you get. I get that there are some people who are seriously twisted and like to do that kind of thing, but baxter really doesn't seem to be that guy.

On a separate note, I find April's relationship with Splinter adorable. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the design for April's ninja garb will be; after seeing her weapon of choice a few ideas danced in my head so I'm really excited to see how it turns out.

Overall I feel that the maze idea was kind of weak but I understand what they were trying to pull off, though I believe that that same concept could have been achieved through a different plot (one in which baxter was more of an actual threat). April's scenes with Splinter were great, and the krang fight in the beginning of the ep was fantastic. All these little things (and a bunch more that I'm probably forgetting of) kept this ep from being another filler, and raised it a bit above the ones we've been getting as of late.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

Hey, CY, I read your blog post about the episode, and I don't think April was around to see the picture of Yoshi, Shen, and Miwa and knew what it was. Remember, Leo took the picture so April probably had no idea about it, which is a good thing.

As for Karai being April's age, it makes sense. Girls develop at different ages and not all girls are small like April is in height.

Thanks, I appreciate you reading my blog. I was pretty sure when Splinter made his little speech about losing his humanity and his clan (Rat King episode), while holding the picture, that April was there too. It just feels pretty late in the show for April to NOT know who the people in the picture were.

[Berserker]

The maze idea smacked of laziness and/or deadline pressure. Black and white untextured checkerboard background for half the episode? Did they run out of production time?

[Miles]

This episode was much better for me than "The Cockraoch Terminator", though I'm starting to feel like the Krang are becoming a string of unrelated plot points to further the individual episodes without ever actually going anywhere. I'm having Lost flashbacks here; the writers would like us to believe that there's some big story arc going on, but it really looks like they're just making it up as they go... I mean drilling into the center of the earth? For what? The simple answer is probably because that's what evil villains do. Nothing more. Hopefully the writers can prove me wrong, but trying to tie all of these together at this point...

Bleh. It just sounds a bit messy. (Sorry for the Krang tangent.) And while I'm mildly ranting, what's with Shredder's character? I haven't been able to get a very good read on him - he just seems off. More like he's there for other people to react to than to play a main role in things himself.

- - -

Anyways, the two sides teaming up was very unusual but it worked out well, all in all. It's a bit hard to imagine them actually trying to kill each other after this, though. It'll be fun to see what kinds of personal insults they'll be able to develop for each other in the future, lol. (Especially Raph and Fishface.)

April for me? I could go either way. She's just 'okay' in this series so far, teenager and all. She does have a bit of that creepy 'cheap 3-D human' vibe going on sometimes where she looks...doll-like or something. Anyone else notice that? It's like early Dreamworks motion capture / Polar Express thing. Just a little off. *shrugs*

Oh well. Thanks for reading, and here's hoping we can line things up for a great season closer!

[Miles]

Originally Posted by Berserker

The maze idea smacked of laziness and/or deadline pressure. Black and white untextured checkerboard background for half the episode? Did they run out of production time?

Ha! I thought the same thing. Visually, that was my biggest problem with this episode. Obviously the budget was blown on something else. Hopefully something coming up over the next couple of weeks as opposed to last week's giant crap-fest. Er. I mean Cockroach.

[LH]

Originally Posted by Miles

Ha! I thought the same thing. Visually, that was my biggest problem with this episode. Obviously the budget was blown on something else. Hopefully something coming up over the next couple of weeks as opposed to last week's giant crap-fest. Er. I mean Cockroach.

Ciro did say the season will end with a bang.

[ToTheNines]

Yay for a good episode! Jase Ricci is a talented writer for sure. He loves using the family portrait as a plot device lol.

I don't have much to say that hasn't been said already though. Here's to hoping the rest of season 1 stays strong, and airs weekly!

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Berserker

The maze idea smacked of laziness and/or deadline pressure. Black and white untextured checkerboard background for half the episode? Did they run out of production time?

What gave you that impression? I thought the maze background was made to disorientate the characters so they didn't know where they were. They flat out said they were lost and walking in circles, hence the point.

I really wish people wouldn't claim the animators are lazy or "ran out of time" because of a style choice.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by shredder orokusaki

That traitor Baxter Stockman will pay for what he has done! He wanted to kill my servants dogpound and fish face! Next time i will see him i will kill him! He can not escape me!!! I will kill him!!!!!

No. Stop. Go away forever.