Classic Episode Talkback: Snakes Alive

[Mondo_Gecko]

Finally watched this one and have a few thoughts.

1)There's a scientist named Cobrato who then gets turned into a snake, REALLY, show, really? That's both a coincidence and ironic. He couldn't have have just picked the name later on? Ah, cartoon logic.

2)What's with mutants such as Mona Lisa, Ray and now Cobrato becoming mutants without Mutagen? I mean you're telling with all the canisters Krang and Shredder have left around that a gecko, frogs and an alligator can get mutated but a salamander, fish and a snake can't? It's easier if you just pick one substance instead of using toxic waste, a mutant machine and now snake samples as a scapegoat.

3)Playmates had a similar mutant named Scale Tail available. You're a cartoon that pushes toys yet you introduce a character that by the end of the episode returns to normal.

Aside from those things, I liked that Leonardo had a fear of snakes similar to Raph's fear of cockroaches in the Nick series. I wonder what is about giving the Turtles a fear that doubles as a mutant adversary that is impossible to execute properly. This wasn't bad but could have been much better.

What is everyone else's thoughts?

[Icebot]

I enjoyed this episode. I was disappointed that Shredder and Krang weren't in it but I liked it. I enjoyed seeing Leonardo dealing with his fear of snakes. I liked when he said stuff like "Everything's just snake, I mean great"! And when he looked at the ceiling to see what it's made of to look for an excuse not to deal with snakes.

[CyberCubed]

I really liked this episode. I think Cobrato should have been Scale Tail from the Playmates toyline, but otherwise it was very entertaining.

Also liked how Pinky Mcfingers was worked in there. Funniest part of the episode was the turtles unscewing that whole glass cage and Leo opening the door letting them out as soon as they finish.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

In my personal canon, I actually HAVE Cabrado as Scale Tail. Also, it was good seeing Leonardo having to overcome his fears in this ep. Awesome episode!

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan

In my personal canon, I actually HAVE Cabrado as Scale Tail. Also, it was good seeing Leonardo having to overcome his fears in this ep. Awesome episode!

Same here. In my fan-fiction I have the character return to fix that. He could have further mutated and become Scale Tail visually. That would have been cool. It really should have been Scale Tail since they are trying to sell toys and there is nothing like Man Ray/Ray situation.

It was interesting having Leo afraid of snakes. Are snakes predators of turtles? I know that aligators are. It would have been interesting to add that to one of the turtles with Leatherhead.

[cammy85]

Leonardo's snake fear got annoying fast IMO and when he got mad at the kids I wasn't impressed but otherwise it was pretty good. And by this time I had gotten used to stuff like Cobrato being a scientist turned snake so it was kind of amusing. Still a better episode than Leonardo Lightens Up. I ignored the whole cage bit because it did work out in the end, and Pinky McFingers was a nice touch because by then he had become a staple gangster in the series like Big Louie.

[CyberCubed]

Well before mutation Cobrato would have just been another mad scientist.

[Nameless]

Originally Posted by Mondo_Gecko

2)What's with mutants such as Mona Lisa, Ray and now Cobrato becoming mutants without Mutagen? I mean you're telling with all the canisters Krang and Shredder have left around that a gecko, frogs and an alligator can get mutated but a salamander, fish and a snake can't? It's easier if you just pick one substance instead of using toxic waste, a mutant machine and now snake samples as a scapegoat.

Actually in my opinion, and as much as i love the character, the mutant with the worst way of being mutated is Baxter Stockman. To me it makes no sense that a machine thats suppose to disintegrate him into nothing malfunctions and combines DNA when 2 things are inside it. That said he is still one of my top 5 favourite characters in the show.

As far as this episode goes its alright. it has some good parts to it and its nice to see some of Leo's flaws. I do agree with everyone else though that it should have been ScaleTail not a new crazy scientist. If your going to have a character similar to one of the Toys just Use the Toy character, or reversely if your going to make a toy similar to a character just make that character.

[CyberCubed]

Interestingly enough this is Pinky Mcfingers last episode and he gets arrested at the end. Decent closurez

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Again in my personal canon; all my anthros are mutants, and all mutants come from the ooze.

I am surprised they turned Cobrato back to human at the end, I can't think of another OT mutant foe they did that with.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan

Again in my personal canon; all my anthros are mutants, and all mutants come from the ooze.

I am surprised they turned Cobrato back to human at the end, I can't think of another OT mutant foe they did that with.

They tended to have almost all one shot characters arrested or zapped away at the end of their debut episodes. Think of every major villain who only appeared in one episode, they were almost always captured by the turtles and arrested. It was easily to arrest a human than a human. Others like Wingnut or Shreeka simply flew away into space never to be seen again.

[Refractive Reflections]

I enjoyed this episode, as with most episodes that focused on the individual Turtles because it gave their personality more depth beyond the stereotyped group roles.

With this episode, it demonstrated that the "Fearless leader" wasn't as fearless as the audience assumed, and gave a more normal, relatable depiction of Leonardo rather than the flawless Gary Stu characterization the intro and early seasons before depicted of him.

In addition, it displayed him being emotionally torn between trying to be the "fearless leader" his brothers depended on while at the same time trying to deal with a paralyzing fear. ...Not bad character depth...for a kids' cartoon...

[CyberCubed]

I like Leonardo episodes that shows he's not flawless.

"Take me to your leader," "Lighten Up, Leonardo," "Unidentified Flying Leonardo" and "Snakes Alive" are all good Leo-centric episodes that shows he's not some flawless character people make him out to be.

The only Leo-centric episode that was bad was, "Leonardo, Renaissance Turtle" but that was mainly for the boring Lex-1 plot and the poor handling of Rex-1.

[cammy85]

Aww, I liked "Renaissance Turtle". Even moreso after getting into "What's Michaelangelo Good For?" To each their own!! I definitely agree on the others!! Being the leader, his solo episodes were always pretty good and it's good to see him calling for help rather than the others.

[CyberCubed]

That Lex-1 episode just suffered from a really lame plot. No fighting was allowed in that episode for some reason, so it was painful to watch an episode about two robocops gone crazy without being able to show any fighting.

Also they made Leo extra whiny in that episode, especially when April says "Do something Leonardo!" and Leo responds, "Why is everything up to me?"

Gee, Leonardo, you were the only turtle with April at the time and you always protect her. What did you expect?

[Jephael]

I love the snake episode because my mom has such a huge fear of snakes for some odd reason, so I can resonate with the other Turtles in that episode. I've told her I want to show her this episode and she doesn't even want to because even an animated drawing of a snake gives her the creeps.

[ryukenden]

Rewatching these episodes via my Turtle Van set and saw this one recently. Pretty interesting for Leo to not be as fearless as he would frequently be called "fearless leader". His fear got so crippling that he wanted to back out at every opportunity. He even offered up pizza to where even Mikey was so focused on the job and refused. Pretty powerful response there.

[DVD]

As above, going through my van set in order. Got to the epsode last night.
It's a very good show. Leo not being 'fearless' was a gutsy move.
I did like it that he was ok about letting his bro's down, letting April down ("we've saved you often enough, it's your turn to save them") but, it was when he felt he was letting the kids down ( who I'm guessing the writers put in as the audience) that he turned.
The snake dude was also a very good character. That would have made an excellent figure. Maybe he can return...

[Mona_Lisa]

Originally Posted by Jephael

I love the snake episode because my mom has such a huge fear of snakes for some odd reason, so I can resonate with the other Turtles in that episode. I've told her I want to show her this episode and she doesn't even want to because even an animated drawing of a snake gives her the creeps.

I know this is a very weird, but I am just like your mother! I hate snakes I hate looking at their pictures I hate the rubber snakes at Wal-Mart... My little girl, her favorite book is "miles and miles of reptiles" there are tons of snakes in that book. I caught myself holding the book very delicately trying to stay as far away from the snake pictures as possible like the pictures would jump up and bite me or something! I'm actually learning to shoot a gun soul reasoning behind it is because I want to be able to shoot the snakes in my yard without having to be anywhere close to them.
For all these reasons I love this episode, it was cool that Leonardo had a fear that I shared. I can totally relate.

Originally Posted by DVD

The snake dude was also a very good character. That would have made an excellent figure. Maybe he can return...

If the snake guy returns, I hope they KILL him! If they make a new figure I will not buy it!!!! LOL!

[Pterobat]

It was an okay episode--Leo does need some taking down off his pedestal, though at the same time, I don't believe he has "no personality" as some tried to claim.

I'm also confused as to why they didn't use Scale Tail but invented somebody new, since it defeats the purpose of advertising an action figure.

I adore snakes, but there are certain other animals I dislike, so I can relate to the poor turtle's phobia here.