Official Episode Discussion: S2 #5 "Mikey gets Shellacne"

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Ok, this episode was weird. It wasn't a bad episode, but something felt off about this. I don't know what, but this was probably my least favorite of the season so far.

I did like how Mikey was getting character development. He is usually the one who doesn't get much focus, so I'm glad they are focusing on him.

I didn't like how this episode was about zits. It just seems too disgusting for my liking.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by whatswiththeheadbands?

I didn't like how this episode was about zits. It just seems too disgusting for my liking.

It wasn't really, it was about a mutation spiraling out of control.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It wasn't really, it was about a mutation spiraling out of control.

Well, yes, but the mutation caused zits.

[Darth Knuckles]

Just like in the last episode where Casey was introduced and yelled a famous line from the Mirage comics when he started to fight, we get another "pretty" classic character in Rahzar that reminds us of The Secret of the Ooze! I didn't see that one coming at all! Dogpound as Rahzar?! Really digging that choice and I didn't even really care for Tokka & Rahzar that much in the second movie.

I'm really liking how Rahzar looks. He looks very intimidating now as well as very tall! I loved Mikey saying "Shellshocked" because it reminded me of Turtles in Time. I also liked that Raph was the one to figure out where his favorite brother ran off to and saved the centrifuge for Mikey.

[Allio]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its funny because the majority of kids watching this episode have no clue who Rahzar is, and just see it as an updated mutation for Dogpound.

I bet half the kids watching the Nick show never saw the older Turtle movies.

Your point?

[Donatello19]

Concept art of Rahzar:

Spoiler:

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its funny because the majority of kids watching this episode have no clue who Rahzar is, and just see it as an updated mutation for Dogpound.

I bet half the kids watching the Nick show never saw the older Turtle movies.

Well because within the context of the show Rahzar is an updated second mutation of dogpound... Just named after a classic character with nothing in common other than the name.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Well because within the context of the show Rahzar is an updated second mutation of dogpound... Just named after a classic character with nothing in common other than the name.

The only difference is Rahzar is now a man rather than being a wolf prior to mutation. Remember Rahzar was intelligent in the original toon and wasn't a retarded baby.

[turtletoons81]

Originally Posted by Donatello19

Concept art of Rahzar:

Spoiler:

dude...rahzar (bradford) is basically skin and bone's i mean look at his snout for turtle sake's it looks like it's going to drop at any moment i love this redesign.

[BubblyShell22]

Love that concept art. Thanks for sharing.

And, Cubed, even if the kids don't get the reference, a lot of the rest of us do. Plus, the parents could always tell the kids about Rahzar and even show them the movie so they know where the name came from.

[Andrew NDB]

Hm. Looks good to me, but I don't know that Dogpound needed a second mutation. Fishface, maybe.

[TigerClaw]

I thought it was a pretty good episode, I find it interesting that they called Dogpound's secondary mutation Rahzar, It'll be interesting to see what they will do with Tokka, But anyways. Here's Black Nerd's Review of this episode.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The only difference is Rahzar is now a man rather than being a wolf prior to mutation. Remember Rahzar was intelligent in the original toon and wasn't a retarded baby.

The main difference is he's now a speedy skeletal ninja wolf. That movie Rahzar was a powerhouse like dogpound used to be. The OT Rahzar is just like the movie one except of normal intelligence. This version of Rahzar only shares his name and the fact he's a wolf.... And not much else.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

The main difference is he's now a speedy skeletal ninja wolf. That movie Rahzar was a powerhouse like dogpound used to be. The OT Rahzar is just like the movie one except of normal intelligence. This version of Rahzar only shares his name and the fact he's a wolf.... And not much else.

He is a wolf. That is Rahzar.

[Refractive Reflections]

While I enjoyed having Baxter Stockman back and his presence complicating matters with Shredder and his Foot Soldiers, this episode was hollow and disappointing. It's the episode for me that caused a substantial detriment to the series, in terms of undermining the uniqueness (with the era of Dogpound gone for now at least) of mutations and character growth.

The episode was hollow and undermined the uniqueness of mutations because the Rahzar transformation seemed like a flamboyant "bad ass" mutation. ...So what exactly makes the new Rahzar more emotionally threatening than Dogpound was, besides "looking" threatening? Maybe I have to wait for a few more episodes, but I mean Rahzar still hates the Turtles more or less. At least with the OT, with the mutations in "Splinter No More" (even in the 14th episode) it made the characters gain a new perspective about humanity and themselves. In the episode, OT Splinter preferred being a rat after witnessing and experiencing the harshness of humanity. Heck, even in the Mona Lisa episode, "Raphael Meets His Match", at least with it's "random mutant" episode, it dealt with the theme of self-image.

...So what did Dogpound learn? The conventional "that he can't do human things and isn't taken seriously". If Fishface was mutated, I wouldn't have been critical because at least in "Baxter's Gambit", there was a moment where his mutation and the maze of doom, were tools to help explain Fishface's backstory while exploring his character similarities with Raph.


And as for why this episode was disappointing, and undermined character growth:
Well, Mikey's stupidity lives on and he doesn't suffer the consequences, unlike Timothy did. As I stated earlier, it looks like Nick Mikey has got some learning amnesia, a cognitive impairment or something mentally wrong for sure, at least at this point of the series:

Originally Posted by JYX

So after seeing that "Mikey Gets Shellacne" clip, it was funny, but... Let me get this straight, Mikey puts the mutagen on his skin. And his reason? He put the mutagen on his skin to be better and cooler. Gee... where did we get that reasoning from? Uh, Timothy! ("The Pulverizer Returns!")

"You guys treat me like a big goof ball all the time!" Uh, yeah! I guess in Nick Mikey's case, monkey see, monkey do. EVEN if it looks painful and "nasty" (in his own words in seeing mutated Timothy) with Timothy's Mutation and the other many mutants he's witnessed being transformed. If Mikey didn't see Timothy's mutation, I could have let this incident slide, but really? Does Mikey have the capacity to learn from what he sees? Of course we don't know the full plot yet, but the show could have created an accident of sorts (Mikey skateborading in the lair) rather than seemingly create a plot around Mikey's stupidity.

In terms of Mikey's intelligence, it seems like its one step forward ("Parastica"), two steps back ("The Mutation Situation"), one step forward ("Invasion of the Squirrelanoids"), two steps back ("Mikey Gets Shellacne"). I don't know, I think I'm just going to declare in saying that Nick Mikey has some form of cognitive impairment or dementia with brief moments of lucidity.

With Mikey being the most sympathetic Turtle, and witnessing the human suffering Timothy went through (his skin, muscles, and bones dissolving to the mutagen like exposure to a corrosive strong acid) with the same reasoning, one would think witnessing that trauma would leave an indelible experience in Mikey's mind. Yes, I know Mikey is a feeler than a thinker, but this wasn't a simple warning/rule that Splinter or the other Turtles told him about, in his situation, Mikey was witnessing one of the show's darkest moments of suffering, even commenting how nasty it was, and not learn from that?? Okay...

So some of us can forgive Mikey's stupidity with the mutagen because he was "cuter" and relatively less obnoxious despite having previously witnessed the horrible effects of several mutations from villains, and yet Timothy who was completely clueless/ignorant to the mutagen wanted to "help" in just the same way Mikey wanted to, but yet Timothy is harshly criticized? At least Timothy gets a pass because he had no clue of the devastating effects of the mutagen, but Mikey should have known better after seeing so many villains transformed and seeing Timothy's transformation.

I can't take this show's claim of character growth as seriously as it wants me to, when Nick Mikey can't even learn from witnessing somebody's traumatic experience. If Mikey at least took some random, arbitrary experimental chemical in the laboratory (other than mutagen) that improves strength for example (a metaphor for anabolic steroids with the horrible acne Mikey had), at least there could have been a moral inserted in this show about insecurities, taking unwise shortcuts, and I wouldn't rant about it.

...I didn't think it was possible to have a further letdown than "The Mutation Situation", but this episode has proven me wrong.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by JYX

The episode was hollow and undermined the uniqueness of mutations because the Rahzar transformation seemed like a flamboyant "bad ass" mutation. ...So what exactly makes the new Rahzar more emotionally threatening than Dogpound was, besides "looking" threatening?

He said in the exact episode, he's much faster, less clumsy, and stronger. Mikey couldn't take him down.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

He said in the exact episode, he's much faster, less clumsy, and stronger. Mikey couldn't take him down.

Again, all superficial changes, not emotional changes. At least when Dogpound was Bradford, we were interested in his character because at that time we learned of his backstory ("New Friend, Old Enemy"). Do we really have the same interest in the "character era" of Dogpound?

[Electric]

ill admit, out of his 3 forms, i still liked his human the best. but rahzar is second, and while yeah it is different than the past (like a lot of things in this show are) its a cool take on him. i was one of the people that was getting bored of dogpound, every fight he swings he punches he hogs up space. didnt care for the asymetrical arms much either.

if nothing else, the change caught everyone by surprise, and turned a somewhat goofy episode into a more dramatic one. his new form also kind of shows the series getting darrker, from a bright orange furry dog, to a skeletal dark wolf.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by ElectricN

if nothing else, the change caught everyone by surprise, and turned a somewhat goofy episode into a more dramatic one. his new form also kind of shows the series getting darrker, from a bright orange furry dog, to a skeletal dark wolf.

Let's hope the themes will follow as well, rather than just visual darkness...

[Vivi]

Don't they already have a centrifuge? I distinctly remember Mikey using it umpteen times when trying to make the cure that had infected his brothers.

On a tangent, Greg Cipes is a wonderful voice actor. I think the way he delivered the line: "Fine, if you guys aren't listening to me, I'm not gonna wait to explode" was gold.