In the Batman Detective Comics, the villains get their chance to take over the comics. In this issue, Harley has her opportunity to tell her story.
She's relaxing, watching over Gotham. She's done with Suicide Squad and now she's back to being on her own. Back to her old life. Commence the memories! Harley reminisces to the time way in the past before she became a therapist. She's the only person in her family to go to college, even getting a doctorate in criminal psychology. even though her family wasn't really supportive of this.
When she graduated she started at a well known hospital at Gotham. These cases of "insanity" wasn't enough for her, she needed more. So she moves onto something bigger! Arkham Asylum. She wanted to work onto patients that the "best doctors in Gotham" gave up on. She interviews Two Face, the Riddler and the Joker. But she wasn't getting through with these patients, so she takes a more direct approach to attempting to understand the patients. Harley/Harleen dresses herself as her "future" crazy self with the pink and black hair. But the other staff of Arkham doesn't agree with her therapy technique and this pushes her to help Joker escape. Leading to her new "origin"...
This is when she gets pushed into the chemicals turning her hair red and blue and her skin white, permanently. Also it seems like she has racoon eyes permanently...but it's not like that in her comic series. Her image changes to every comic. While she's out walking the town in her glazed-over-astonished look on her face. She comes across a few field hockey girls and she kills them and steal a pair of thigh high socks. Then she steals a pair of shorts from a runner, a corset top from a girl, and the infamous big hammer.
In Harley's mind this is the time for her to live her life, she's free from the bound of rules. She doesn't want to be contained within a "box". She doesn't want to be stuck to those standards.
A cop, you can probably guess who it is, shows up to a "Good Deeds" place with boxes of video game systems to give away. All the kids go crazy over this and attack the large pile of systems. Back at the police station, another cop greets "Bob" and find out it's not him! Gasp. Harley pulls out a dynamite and blows up the station. She sits and observes her latest act of mischief, and ponders. "It's liberating not to have to think. But the downside of this is that I feel numb."
Back to where we started where she is sitting on the gargoyle. She's on the phone with a guy named Joe. She tells him to get the system update ready, which he agrees to and sends it off. All around Gotham, people with the game systems are downloading a new "update". When the update finishes all these explosions happen around the city.
"You can put anything in a box. A game. A conscience. A thought. Hate." While she's watching the explosion, Deadshot comes up to her and says about being aimless.
Opinion
This comic was mainly a origins story of Harley Quinn. I don't know what the other villain month comics were about, so I can't say much about that. And they used the new 52 origin story with the chemical changing her. But other than the change to her turning into the white-skinned Harley, it was interesting to see her back story. And the first time I read this comic, I missed a couple of pages, I don't know how that happened. lol
I need to read into suicide squad to see her story with that. I've only read volume one of the trade paperback. And obviously I've been reading her latest "on her own" comic series. So far, I prefer the New 52 Harley Quinn series.
This is an old comic that Mark found an extra copy, so he decided pick up a copy for me.
Doc Ock's final act before dying was switching bodies with Spider-Man, starting a whole new life as a young and energetic Peter Parker, while his foe died in his aging diseased body. Now as the Superior Spider-Man, Otto went out fighting crime his way, murdering people like Massacre and gravely injuring others like the Vulture and Boomerang, which affected his status as a member of the Avengers. He also earned a Doctorate, opened Parker Industries and has a new girlfriend named Anna Maria. But along came the Green Goblin, who's been amassing a massive army underground all along. Not only did he discover that Otto was Spider-Man, he also attacked all the people he cared about. With his beloved Anna Maria's life at stake, Otto admits that Parker was the better Spider-Man and erases his memories, bringing back the original Peter Parker. Now back in the classic red and blue, The Amazing Spider-Man has to save the day.... and also adjust to all the new changes in his life while he was 'away'.
Let's take a look at the end of the Superior Spider-Man series... and the first issue of the return of the Amazing Spider-Man, just in time for the movie!
Superior Spider-Man # 31 opens with Anna Maria being woken up by the Green Goblin, who shows off how he turned New York into his 'Goblin Nation'. Elsewhere, Peter finds out that Carlie was infected by the Goblin Formula, but as Otto managed to cure her. He leaves Sajani to make more while he talks to Carlie alone. Carlie Cooper had already figured out that Otto was in Peter's body and he convinces her that he's back to normal. She explains that was Otto was in control, he covered the city in spider robots to help him fight crime, but the Goblin hacked them to be blind to anything wearing a Goblin mask or logo.
As Spidey swings out throughout the city, he calls Aunt May to make sure that she, and everyone else is alright. Spider-Man arrives at the Empire State University and helps Spider-Man 2099 defeat the last of the Spider-Slayers. Unlike Otto, Pete does recognize Miguel O'Hara and enlists his help. They both arrive at mid-town and help the Avengers take down the Hobgoblin. Captain America appreciates the helps but says he thought Spider-Man quit the Avengers. Spidey considers it nonsense, and goes off with the future Spider-Man. They finally found the place the spider-robots' signal is coming from... Oscorp.
Spidey is confused that Oscorp is now Alchemax, and Spidey 2099 reminds him that it's the evil corporation that runs Nuevo York in his era. Just then another goblin attacks the Spiders. Menace seems sure that Spidey will abandon Spidey 2099 to find the Goblin King, but is surprised when our classic hero sticks around.. and sticks him with the antidote to the Goblin formula. They hear laughter from the other side of a door and check out the room.
They see Normie, looking evil and admiring that the city will be his someday. Liz and Stone are there and Spider-Man tells her not to trust him. Stone activates a jammer that knocks Spider-Man down, and Spidey 2099 socks Stone out. Liz tells them that the building is wired for explosives and that the Goblin is on top of the building. Pete leaves Miguel to watch the others while he goes to save the day.
The Green Goblin arrives and taunts 'Otto' for pretending to be a hero and asks him what he'll have left after he dies trying to save the girl. Spidey says at least he'll have the dignity of never having use a man-purse. With a wisecrack like that, Goblin knows the real Spider-Man is back and flies off, but our hero won't let him get away that easily. Goblin says he would never leave Anna Maria to die, but Spidey points out that she can take care of herself, as she's already using one of the Goblin's blades to cut herself free.
Spidey tries to inject Goblin with the antidote, but the villain slaps his hand away. Spidey yanks off the mask.. and doesn't recognize the guy. Norman Osborn says it IS him, but he had to change his face since he is so well recognized already. He wants to make Alchemax a legacy for his grandson. Spidey asks why he's bombing it, and he says it can't be the only building not attacked by the Goblins, so it will be collateral damage. Spidey points out that without the Goblin mask on, now all the Spider-bots he brought with him are attacking and biting Osborn. Each spider bite is loaded with Goblin cure.
Anna Maria leaps off the building and Spidey manages to catch her in time. He also catches the Goblin who now falls off the glider since he lost his strength. Spidey hands walks back to Liza with 'Mason Banks' on hand, and she 'accidentaly' pressed the spider-jammer again that affects Spider-Man long enough for Norman to get away. Spidey 2099 accuses her, but Spidey knows she's an old friend and didn't mean it... though he will keep an eye on her and her weird kid.
As Norman escapes, he feels his mind clearer than it's been in years. The madness of the Goblin is gone and he can think clearly. He swears to return with a new face and with a new plan, and they'll never see him coming.
Spider-Man makes sure that Anna Maria is alright, and she was very concerned about Peter. Spidey swears Peter is safe and she is so relieved. Spidey sees that she really did love Otto... and feels bad that he had to die for him to come back.
The next story 'Actions have Consequences' deals with the aftermath of the series. Peter hugs his Aunt May and is glad she's alright. He also apologizes for how he treated her (as Otto he yelled at her after she acted awkward around Anna Maria being a little person) and says he quit working for Spider-Man and will devote himself to Parker Industries. MJ tells him she has to live her own life without him, since she's always being dragged into whatever evil plans the villains have for him. Peter sees Jameson on TV and remembers that Otto was blackmailing him, so he goes to set things right.
Carlie overheard the convo with MJ and shows her the Goblin eyes left behind from when she was a Goblin. She's moving out of town while her body fully recovers. MJ says she wants to live her own life, but Carlie reminds her that even if she's seeing Pete or not, the bad guys will still come after her.
The only problem is, despite everything, the bad guys will still come to you to get to Spidey. Live your live if you want... but please stay the hell away from bridges and other high areas....
Spidey tells Jameson he shouldn't have to take the rap for Goblin hacking the Spider-Slayers and using them against the police. He also tells him he won't blackmail him anymore and wasn't going to follow through on his threat anyway. After he leaves, Jameson reveals he had just resigned as Mayor a half hour ago, so he couldn't stay even if he wanted.
Now that Spidey defeated the Goblin and ended the Goblin Nation storyline... let's continue with The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 and see Pete's first official day back on the job as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
The comic starts with..... one of the stupid retcon things that comics always use.... Remember how that radioactive spider bit Peter and died shortly afterwards.... Well it looks like a split second after it bit Pete, it also crawled on some girl's ankle and bit her too... and then it died. It's like 'I'm radioactive and dying anyway, might as well take as many of these humans with me that I can before I go!'. Douchey spider. But also stupid retcon.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm taking you with me!!!"
Present day and we see some rookie villains, the White Rabbit with a Panda and Hippo themed villain as they run through the crowds of people. She bumps into a guy carrying a baby and he's about to fall over and land on his baby... but Spider-Man catches him with a web. Rabbit girl is surprised that Spider-Man is still after them, and he webs her up. The Hippo tries to throw a car at Spidey, while the web-slinger tosses wisecracks. The crowd is happy to see Spider-Man back to his jokey self, but are also surprised that he's basically naked, only wearing his mask and webs around his privates.
Four hours before all of this happened, we see Pete holding a press conference explaining that he will stop all connections with Spider-Man and will focus more on running Parker Industries. Aunt May and her husband are proud, and Pete is happy to see Aunt May walking again due to Otto's technology. Elsewhere, Anna Maria arrives at the apartment, looking for Pete and finds an engagement ring that Otto was planning to surprise her with.
Jameson watches TV as he sees headlines of Electro destroying a prison and the Avengers talking down the last of the Goblin followers and Spider-Slayers. Jameson feels bad after watching himself resign from his position as mayor... and decides he can always return to the Daily Bugle and run it again.
At Parker Industries, Sajani is showing Pete all the specs of 'his' latest creations, and he feels completely lost since Otto was the cybernetics genius... not him. He considers accessing Otto's memories... but stops himself not wanting to risk another mind-swap. Sajani shows him all the Spider-Man costumes that were also being made and she says it all has to go. Pete is also surprised that the Living Brain is his robot butler... and that it keeps calling him 'Doctor'. He tells him to stop that until he sees his Doctorate on the wall and realizes he IS a doctor now.
Probably my favorite line/sceme in this issue.
Pete swings through the city, happy to be Spider-Man again... and notices the citizens hate him now. He's sure he can regain their favor after Otto tarnished his image. He then hears an alarm go off, as the White Rabbit leads Hippo, Pandamania and Gypsy Moth on a crime spree. Spider-Man shows off and Gypsy Moth uses her powers to control threads and fabrics to unravel his costume. Spidey manages to sock her out before he could lose his mask.... but now the crowds are taking pics of him and tweeting it.
The Avengers watch this on TV and Spider-Woman tells the Cap that Parker is back to normal cause stuff like this only happens to him. Spidey tries to cover up for the cameras telling them he doesn't need his friends and family to see this, especially the Human Torch. Too late Pete, Johnny is already laughing his ass off. Mary Jane also watches this on her laptop and calls him an idiot.
Really Spidey.... the Marvel Universe is laughing with you.... not at you.... right?
Spidey ties up Pandamania, and with that wraps up this caper. The audience is far from pleased. One lady asks if kids should be watching 'a half-naked man in a mask trying up a woman in a fuzzy animal suit' and another old lady says he's acting as indecent as Miley Cyrus. Spidey wants to leave a 'courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man' notes but the people just want him to cover up and leave already.
Spidey returns to the apartment and is surprised to see Anna Maria there... since she has a key. She asks him why he never told her he was Spider-Man. Pete says it could be anybody since the guy on the video still has a mask on. Anna Maria recognizes his body and Peter realizes that as Otto, they've seen each other naked. He finds himself at a loss and Anna Maria asks him again.
Totally busted... though this opens a whole line of questions....
The rest of the issue has smaller stories, the main ones are one about Electro and the Black Cat... it seems Otto experimented on him to mess with his powers... and when he tried to free people from a prison, he accidentaly blew it up and killed everyone inside. This ruins his reputation since people would think he killed everyone ruthlessly due to his super villain stature... and he now wants revenge on Spider-Man.
Geez, even his teeth are electric???? The funny thing is, Spidey faces Electro in 'The Amazing Spider-Man # 2.
As for Black Cat, she manages to escape during Electro's attack, and reminds the readers about her little run in with the Superior Spider-Man, which if you read the last article basically had Otto just sock her out and arrest her like a bitch since he was completely unaware of the little Catwoman/Batman thing she has going on with Spidey. Now she wants revenge on him as well... but after she plays with his heart a little....
There was also a more cartoonish and cutesy story about Spidey explaining how his web-shooters and powers work. And we also have a short story about Miguel Morales, now trapped in present day, so yeah, pick up his new series. LOL.
My Opinions: Superior Spider-Man # 31-
Not much to say about this issue except it's good to see Spidey back and clean house. There were a few funny moments, like Pete's family thinking he's a scizo due to the sudden mood swing... and the extra story with Spidey having a talk with Jameson... after he already resigned.... and I love when Miguel grabbed Peter and said 'you left me to fight the Slayers along just so you could change costumes???'
In the end, the Doc's biggest fault was his supreme arrogance in everything he did. He became so obsessed with ending all crime, and making sure that HE took all the credit for it, he almost became Batman. One person he never mistreated was Anna Maria. I guess I kinda see what's going on... he never grew up with Aunt May the way Pete, he's just not as attached to her. She was part of Peter's life not his.... But Anna Maria is someone new he met during his college studies and he loved her so much more because it was someone he on his own and she did not in love with him only because he was Parker or Spider-Man.
This issue was fun, but the real thrills come next issue as Spidey adjusts to his life after Otto tinkered with it.
The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 2014-
It was fun yo see good ol Peter Parker back in the saddle and taking down the bad guys. The White Rabbit and her cheesey goons were perfect for this one. I did like how 'Gypsy Moth wanted to change her name to Skien' and the Rabbit refused because it would ruin the animal theme they want to go for.
Besides everything else that was evident... I want to bring up two major points in this issue. First off we have the case of Anna Maria, in love with Otto... not knowing that he was using the body of Peter Parker and now he's back again. was discussing this with one of the Bent Wookie guys and we agreed that now the shoe is on the other foot. Back when Superior Spider-Man # 2 came out, it was all about Otto trying to seduce MJ. The fans raged hard due to the fact that had MJ slept with Otto-Pete it would count as a form of rape since she was tricked and only consented into doing so because she thought she was sleeping with Peter Parker... not Dr. Octopus. Soooo now that Anna Maria doesn't know that the man she really loved as Doc Ock and he's gone.... Peter can't touch her because it would also count as a form of rape. What's going to happen? Anna Maria is a great supporting character, it would be a shame to see her go, but how long can Pete keep this up before he has to tell the truth?
The second thing is the kind of stupid 'was always there since day one, but we never knew about it' retcon. This like TMNT New Mutation saying there were always 5 Turtles in the Ooze all along... they just lost one.... or the 80's cartoon saying there was a gecko mutating along with them all along. Or saying that Dick Grayson was hand-picked to be a Talon since he was a kid, and that his grandfather was always one. Now we have this comic saying that on that fateful day, the same radioactive spider that bit Pete also bit someone else before it died. So now we have a mysterious female Spider-Man (not Jessica Drew, I do believe her powers work differently despite being called Spider-Woman). Of course the mystery lies in asking who was this woman he bit, and how will this effect present day? It is intriguing but grrr... I still hate those tacked-on day-one retcons that went and made what you saw before untrue.
Anyways...we'll see what happens. Oh and hey, for more Spider-Fun, here's our review of the Amazing Spider-Man 2. guest starring Fatima, a fellow Yotuber I collabed with before. The movie's been out for a while but I still wanr you it will be long and might compare spoilers.
The Turtles are always eating pizza, but now the pizza bites back. The Turtles, or rather, Mikey face yet another re-imagining of a classic 80's character. Though to be fair, this guy was never actually in the classic cartoon, but the action figure is infamous. Let's see ho Mikey does against Pizza Face!
The episode opens with April and Irma walking together and deciding to check out a movie. April's tPhone goes off and says she has to leave for her date with Casey. Irma's not buying it and is sure she's off to see her secret friends. Just then the pizzaboy runs into Irma (on his bike no less... and Irma is uninjured... she's made of strong stuff). The pizzaboy is freaking out saying something is after him and drives off, dropping a pizza box. April says now she has free pizza... for Casey's date. Irma doesn't think it's a good idea but April walks off. She gets a funny feeling from the pizza and tosses it. The pizza starts talking to April, telling her to eat it. When she goes to check on it, it jumps out of the box and attacks her.
The Turtles are watching that Voltronzinger Z anime again as their Megazord thing attacks a 3 headed monster with a double-sided flame sword. Donnie is worried that he can't contact April. Mikey is even more worried that he can't seem to contact any pizzeria in town. Leo says if he's so serious about it then he should just make his own pizza. Mikey goes into the kitchen and makes a pizza.... with super hot sauce... sardines... worms... marshmallows and so forth... and hey Ice Cream Kitty throws some cheese pops into it too.
The pizza smells disgusting and looks even worse and only Mikey is able to eat it. Just then there's an ad for Antonio's Pizzeria on tv, saying it's the only one in town, and everyone in the commercial looks brainwashed. Leo thinks it's weird, but after seeing Mikey's pizza, he decides to order out anyway. Raph sends Mikey to get the pizza and warns him not to eat it.
The pizza guy arrives, acting brainwashed and tells Mikey that 'with Antonio's the first one is free'. As the other Turtles train, Mikey fights the urge to eat the pizza. He then hears the pizza calling out to him, wanting him to eat it. The pizza is alive and flies all over the place, trying to get Mikey to eat it. Mikey breaks out the nunchucks and keeps smacking it away. By the times the others arrive, they just see Mikey rolling around on the floor with the pizza.... Naturally the pizza won't talk in front of the others, so they just walk off disappointed. The pizza tells Mikey that they'll never believe him, so he dies happily. Mikey decides to go to Antonio's and 'get his money back'. Yes, we know he got it for free...
Mikey arrives at the pizzeria and sees the usual stock people walking around, acting like zombies... and April is among them. Mikey takes some pics with his tPhone.. but all he gets are pics of his eyeballs. More people come at Mikey, but they have pizza on their faces. He tries to avoid them and he gets smacked around by notVic, (yes they re-used Spider Byte's fatass human model with pizza on his face) and tossed onto a building. Mikey uses a smokebomb to vanish before he gets captured by the zombie pizza people.
At home Mikey tries to tell the others, but they all just finished eating pizza and are acting like zombies. Even Splinter! More pizza boxes are lying around and all the pizzas start flying around and attacking him. Mikey defeats all of the evil pizza but notices that the other Turtles and Splinter are now gone.
Later on, one of the pizzas wakes up and finds itself being strapped to a chair. Mikey shows up with shades on and interrogates him, demanding to know who's in charge of all this. The pizza won't talk, so Mikey threatens to bake it in the furnace. The pizza talk and tells him the flashback that Antonio saw the Mutagen Rain and decides to use it as a new topping.... (dude... wtf?). When he got exposed to it, he mutated into a giant pizza, and all the other pizzas came to life. Mikey asks if his face looks like pizza, and when told it does, he decides to name this new guy Pizza Face. Mikey asks what Pizza Face will do with the zombie people and the pizza tells him he'll wrap them up in a giant calzone and eat them. Mikey will go stop him, and pops the talking pizza in the freezer... where a hungry Ice Cream Kitty awaits...
Mikey pretends to be a zombie to get past the people and sneaks into the restaurant. The people wrap April in giant calzone and they hang her upside down along with all the other calzone people as Antonio prepares for a big feast. When asked what to do with the 'green ones', Antonio says they must have also have gotten the 'secret ingredient' and spits pizza on their faces, making them his soldiers. Mikey jumps into the scene and calls the guy Pizza Face, and he likes the name. He then sends the Turtles and Splinter after Mikey.
Mikey somehow gets past the Turtles and Splinter, but Pizza Face spits a meatball that pins Mikey up against a wall. Mikey then gets hungry and knows what he has to do. He eats his way out the meatball trap and dives into Pizza Face. Pizza Face swallows him but Mikey eats him from the inside out. After devouring his nemesis, Mikey lets out a power belch. Everyone turns around and walks off, and Pizza Face, nor reduced to just a regular pizza slice explains that they'll all just go back home and forget everything that happened in the morning. The pizza slice then knocks out Mikey.
Mikey wakes up in his bed and the Turtles and April tell him he was just having a weird dream. Mikey goes back to sleep thinking maybe all of this was just a dream. The Pizza Face slice is hiding in a pizza box in the room and says 'dream? I don't think so!'.
My Opinions:
Another filler episode... but a funny filler episode nonetheless. I still wish Mikey wasn't that huge of an idiot... I'm sure 80's Mikey would never ask for his money back from a pizza he got for free.... and after explain how a modern day iPhone works since those didn't exist in the 80's I'm sure he wouldn't take pictures of his eyeballs....
But still, a funny episode, especially for the whole interrogation scene, that was just my favorite part, an ending it with an exorcist-style Ice Cream Kitty was just perfect. I know the poor kitty is reduced to freezer cameos... but this was his best one ever.
Not much to say about the episode other than that. We see all the stock people we've been seeing in the other episodes show up, most notably the re-use of Vic's model. And it's weird to know that Antonio, the guy who's face has been on every single pizza box in this series is no Pizza Face. I wonder if they'll bother to redesign the boxes after this.
As for Pizza Face himself, he was just a bunch of goofy Italian pizza chef stereotype cheesy goodness. Love the voice, and the whole Italian song scene as he sang about the eating the people as Calzones. And he actually liked the new name 'because I have a face and it looks like-a pizza!'.
Now the classic 80's Pizza Face was actually a crazy pizza chef that baked himself in a Retromutagen oven.... (....dafuq???) and the Turtles pulled him out before he was fully backed... so now he's even more insane... and works for Shredder. He was never on the show, which stood out since he was one of the few of that particular wave that didn't make it (even Ace Duck had a cameo)... but then I guess even the Fred Wolf show wasn't silly enough that they would have Shredder sic a crazy chef on the Turtles. And honestly for someone 'half pizza, half pizza chef', he didn't really look like a mutant... just a slob with a pegleg stuck on a pizza tray... I know nowadays he ranks as one of the weirdest, grossest and just plain wtf-est TMNT action figure of the classic line alongside Muckman and Mutagen Man... I do wonder how well he sold back in the day.
While I first had my doubts when I heard they were going to literally make Pizza Face into a giant pizza monster..... I think it kinda works and really drives the 'mutant' idea home, instead of just some sloppy chef saying he is. And it's also funny to see all his flying and crazy pizza minions, who seem to have personalities of their own. The bit with the zombie people with the pizza on their faces also gave me a Resident Evil vibe as well. Reminded me of Los Plagas from RE4 for whatever reason.
Oh yeah. Irma as in it too. I guess to remind us she's still in the show. I did feel bad for her when April just cut out on her. Sure you and I know why April left, but as far as Irma is concerned, April really is a crappy friend.
Overall a filler episode that was just good plain fun. It's just too bad the others would never know Mikey saved the day.... again.
Also thought I should mention this, for those with a good ear (for someone that only got a handful of lines in this episode) Leo was voiced by someone else. He did a good job imitating Jason Biggs. Maybe he was busy? Time will tell if this was just for this one episode or not.
So it all comes to a head in this epic and dramatic season finale to Agents of SHIELD. Last time we found out that Ward owes everything to Garrett because he.... treated him like crap all his life, but at least he broke him out of juvie. The agents discover that Garrett was the first Deathlok, but he's dying anyway. Ward finds Fitz and Simmons sneaking around their jet and he kicks them off in a big metal box into the sea below. Garrett is given the same miracle drug that revived Coulson and Skye and he feels like a million bucks. Quinn want to sell the Centipede soldiers to the US military. Where will this all end?
The ep starts right where we left off, with Centipede soldiers attacking the agents who lurking around a secret room in the barber shop that Garrett always visits, and one of them is using the Asgardian pole. May manages to snatch it away and use it to defeat the soldiers. She then destroys the foundations of the building and brings the house down.
Elsewhere Garrett is informed that the agents got away, but he doesn't really care. Now he has his health back and is super strong. He also seems to have a new sense of clarity on survival and sees himself and bigger than HYDRA, they were only a means to an end. He breaks a glass door off the hinges and starts carving out some kind of formula on it as Grant and Peterson look on. Grant is worried Garrett is starting to go crazy.
Simmons wakes up and Fitz explained they're trapped in the room they locked themselves in earlier.... except now they're trapped in the bottom of the ocean. Fitz explains it seems there is no way out... all they can do it wait to die. By now Skye and the others have found out that Fitz and Skye are missing.
Reina and Garrett look over the Gravitnium device and she tells him that Grant is worried that he went insane. Reina said all along she's only been interested in evolution, wether Garrett is a Clairvoyant or not.
Eventually Fitz and Simmons come up with a way to possibly blow themselves up to the surface based on the chemicals at their disposal and the material used to seal the bulletproof glass in.
While Quinn is showing his tech within the Cybertek building to the military buyers, Coulson and Triplett are staking the area. They throw a device that plays a recording of screaming and gunfire that distracts the soldiers. Triplett and Coulson knock them out and take their armored truck. They fire a missile into the building and May and Skye jump inside.
Garrett and Peteron walk into the room where Quinn is discussing his deal with the generals and starts talking his insane evolution speeches. Quinn tries to save face, but Garrett points out that the generals really have no choice but to side with them. The general takes that as a threat and Garrett runs his hand through his gut and lifts him up. Grant thinks this is going too far. Garrett says this is only the beginning of the end and he beats the general down with his own intestine.
Grant goes to see Reina and stops her from taking the Gravitonium. He's upset that Garrett is going crazy. Reina says they need Skye to get the information from her flash drive. She asks Grant if he really is a monster or if Garrett made him that way.
Coulson and Triplett are now trapped inside the armored truck as the Centipede soldiers try to punch their way inside. May and Skye storm inside the Cybertek building, shooting and fighting anyone in their way. Skye tells everyone she has a bomb and the people inside don't take her seriously. She then activates her trojan horse within HYDRA's tech that basically sets all the Centipede soldiers to their default directive: to drop everything and protect Garrett. Coulson heads inside and tells Triplett that if he doesn't return it's up to him to destroy the Cybertek building.
Skye calls Garrett and rubs in the fact that she has taken control of the Cybertek building in his face. He tells her about how Fitz and Simmons must be on their final breaths by now. Garrett orders Grant to get Skye and bring her in.
Simmons and Fitz set up their escape plan but for it to work, Fitz has to stay behind to activate his plan and the pressure used to blast them to the surface might bust his lungs. Simmons won't do it, but after much protest, she sets it into motion. The plan works and both Simmons and Fitz are pushed up towards the surface. Simmons is alright but Fitz is unconcious. Just then a helicopter arrives and Nick Fury himself reaches out to rescue them.
Nick Fury to the rescue
Simmons is surprised to see that Fury is still alive (everyone thinks he's still dead after the events of The Winter Soldier, only Maria Hill, Captain America and Black Widow know the truth). Fitz is being held for decompression. Fury explains their plan also set off a mixed beacon and it just so happens he was looking for any signs of Coulson. He then asks Simmons if she knows where he is.
Back at Cybertek, Skye is questioning one of their techs, but he won't answer. Just then Grant shows up with a gun. Skye aims her gun at him and he taunts her, knowing she won't shoot. Skye mentioned having a secret weapon. Grant asks about it is, and she says 'you slept with her, and she's very angry', and May busts into the scene. An epic fight breaks out as May and Grant dish out their hatred for each other, smashing through a wall and taking the battle to a room full of tools.
Geez, they really take this fight far....
Coulson shows up and punches Garrett. Garrett punches back and sends Coulson flying. Furys shows up and gives Coulson the gun he used on Loki in the Avengers movie to shoot down all the Centipede soldiers. Fury shoots Garrett down but he's still alive.
Grant and May continue to fight it out. May grabs a staple gun and staples Grant's foot to the ground. She then knocks him out with a kick to the face.
Skye takes the tech with her demanding to know what Cybertek has on him to keep him loyal. She finds the room that has the tech's wife who was held hostage in exchange for his help. Skye then goes to another room and finds Peterson's kid.
Meanwhile, Peterson is commanded to kill Coulson and Fury by Garrett. Skye has hacked into the system that displays the orders Peterson sees in his killswitch eye and has his kid write something only he would know would be from his son. As Peterson sees the message, he recognizes it as coming from his son and he shoots Garrett down. He didn't have the same default directive to protect him as the others. Peterson approaches Garrett and slams his cyber-foot down on him.
Later on the Centipede soldiers are being taken away, and without further exposure to the serum, they'll eventually go back to normal. Coulson tells Grant that they will torture him to get any kind of HYDRA information out of him that they can. May says he won't be talking for a while since he has a broken larynx. Peterson decides to leave before his son can see the monster he's become. As Deathlok he'll go off making amends for his actions.
We then get a scene where one of the soldiers steps into the Deathlok device and becomes another powerful cyborg soldier. He gloats about rebuilding HYDRA his way.... but before we can get another season with this guy as the new top villain, Coulson comes in and blows him away.
Coulson and Fury argue about the procedures used to revive him. Coulson himself wished they abandoned the TAHITI project and it was meant to be used to revive a fallen Avenger. Fury says he did and tells Coulson how important he thinks he is. He now has Coulson be in charge of rebuilding SHIELD and being the new director in charge, as May watches over him. Fury then leaves saying he'll be everywhere. Simmons shows up and everyone is happy to see that she's alright.
The agents arrive to a base called The Playground and find Koenig there... or I don't know... his twin brother or someone? I'm not sure how he could have survived Grant's attack. Either way, this guy welcomes the team aboard and is glad to help them rebuild SHIELD.
Elsewhere, Reina finds a mysterious man and shows him a picture of Skye and tells him she 'found his daughter'.
Coulson later studies the equation Garrett wrote out earlier... and write out the exact equation, though it looks like the finished version. What does this mean?
My Opinions:
Well, this has been an epic series. It might have started slow for some, and well, there was only so much one can do with a TV budget. Obviously they couldn't shell out the big bucks to have Robert Downey Jr or Chris Evans guest star, as well as the kind of special effects it would take to feature the Hulk. There was only so much they could do with what they got, and they did a decent job. We did get some comic characters here and there, like Deathlok, Blackout, Lady Sif, Lorelei and Victoria Hand and several movie references per episode. While the Thor Dark World tie-in was just them cleaning up the mess.... the Winter Soldier tie-in changed the entire course of the plot and basically made the movie a necessity to see to know what was going on.
I enjoyed the show, and while not every episode was perfect, it was a fun ride. Once we got to the HYDRA arc everything was cranked into high gear and things from all the episodes were starting to fall into place. It was surprising to see Garrett being a traitor, but even a bigger shock to see that Grant was also a HYDRA agent, seeing as he was a regular cast member. Now that he's been busted, I assume we're going to not see him in the second season. Maybe an episode to bring him back, but I really hope the characters continue to hate him and aren't so quick to forgive him. I assume Triplett will take his place since he's also a skilled fighter.
Speaking of which I was surprised how hardcore Grant was in the fight against May. Like geez dude, he really wanted to just kill her. Despite his treacherous nature, he still showed some restraint about having to hurt Skye, he was upset when Garrett's plan involved Quinn shooting her down, and he did show some signs of regret and remorse when he had to finish off Fitz and Simmons. But there was none of that with May. He just wanted to kill her dead, and threw insults about their short-lived affair in her face, proving it didn't mean a thing to him. May of course, is enraged and with valid reason, but I am surprised that he seems to show no sense of compassion towards her at all.
It was good to see Fury in all this, and more than just a cameo, he was actually a big part of the final act. I did like how Fury and Coulson belittled Garrett when he was talking all of his supervillain garbage. "You didn't tell me he was this crazy!" And it was a plus seeing Coulson use the gun he used to blast Loki. "I know what it does." And we finally got to see Coulson discuss with Fury about his revival. Of course Fury tells him what I was thinking all this time, Coulson should be happy he's alive again and able to make a difference.
And just when I thought that this series was going to end because I didn't see how they could possibly continue after this.... Fury makes Coulson the new director of SHIELD and puts him in charge of rebuilding it. SHIELD is, of course, a huge organization and Coulson's little group was but one of many, especially when you include the people in the helicarriers and The Hub. Let's see how Coulson will handle being in charge of the whole thing. And we still have open plot points like the meaning behind that equation, Skye's parents and any remaining HYDRA agents. I just hope season 2 has different threats and not everything coming from one thing. While it was cool seeing all the bad guys comes together under Garrett, I would have liked it if Centipede and HYDRA were two separate threats.
Well, kudos to the producers for a great first season. Let's see what happens in season 2. In the meantime we're going to have an 8 episode min-series about Agent Carter, the girl that Captain America was in love with in the first movie. I assume this will take place some time after the Cap was lost and will deal with how she copes with this loss. I do wonder exactly what they can make 8 episodes about taking place in the World War 2 era... but looks like we'll find out.
The Agents of SHIELD take it easy for a while after having rescued Skye from the traitors Grant and Garrett. Now they have to get back into it and take them down. Coulson also finds out that he himself was the one in charge of the TAHITI project, except he had his memory erased of the whole thing. Now what will happen?
renewed for season two!!!
The episode opens 15 years earlier when Grant Ward was in juvie and he first meets John Garrett, making him an offer. Grant was sent there since he burnt a house down with his younger brother still inside. Garrett tells him his parents and older brother are on their way to press charges and have him tried as an adult. He offers him to go with him and says he comes from an organization that's always recruiting people like him. Grant hesitates but takes his offer, and suddenly gunmen storm the room. Garrett tells him 'I told it'd be fun'.
The agents are still in their hotel and watch news of Deathlok having killed a Columbian drug lord with ties to HYDRA. Coulson calls everyone in and shows them a chart demonstrating that Cybertek has been behind all of the things they have been facing, including Deathlok, Quinn, and the Clairvoyant. Garrett's been wanting the GH3-25 to stabilize his Centipede soldiers, which is why they wanted the info on Skye's hard drive. Skye left a trojan horse that will lead them straight to then, but for it to work they have to hook in another flash drive into one of Garrett's computers at Cybertek. The agents will sneak in, but since SHIELD is no more, they'll basically be working as vigilantees.
Garrett congratulates Peterson for killing the drug lord and making news. Grant is still upset over Garrett having Peterson nearly kill him earlier with the heart stopper. Garrett says he's close to getting something he's been looking for over 25 years. Reina tells them they're almost done replicating the serum that brought Skye and Coulson back to life and should be done by the time they land.
The agents get ready to infiltrate Cybertek and Triplett brings in a suitcase of his grandfather's old gear when he was a Howling Commando. The old tech includes things like hypno-beams and other secret weapons that look like innocent items like cigarettes, which Fitz accidentaly sets the hotel curtains on fire with. Speaking of Fitz, he's still convinced Garrett must be putting Grant up to this, but Skye is sure he's just evil.
Back to the flashback, Garrett and Grant walk through the woods with some rabbits they caught. Actually Garrett caught them and he tells Grant that if wants food he'll have to hunt and kill it himself. He leaves his hunting dog with him and says he'll leave him in the woods for a few months to see if he can survive on his own. Garrett drives off, leaving him alone and enraged.
Coulson and May apply for Cybertek posing as SHIELD scientists trying to sell their products... with Fitz and Simmons feeding them what to say with hidden mics. So far the Cybertek guys aren't impressed by the icers. Meanwhile Skye is trying to hack into UHF frequencies to get onto Garrett's computers. After being rejected, Coulson and May pretend to leave, but head to the fourth floor after Skye tells them that something important is there. They take out any guards they see and use the laser cigarettes to burn their way inside a secret room. On the fourth floor Coulson tells Skye she couldn't find a mainframe because everything is in actual paper files. Coulson and May decide to look around.
Coulson and May find Deathlok files going as far back as 1990 and discover that Garrett was the first Deathlok. Coulson tells Skye to get read for a big file transfer... and then literally throws a file cabinet out the window. Fitz and Simmons carry it into their truck and Triplet fires a grappling hook so that Coulson and May can zipline down towards them.
Grant and Garrett continue to argue over how Peterson was ordered to nearly kill Grant assuming Skye would save him. Garrett argues that he's still acting like the same scared kid he met before, and then has some kind of attack. Grant and the others quickly carry him off to get help. Grant tells everyone in the room, including Reina as Grant helps stabilize Garrett's Deathlok attachments.
The agents discuss that Garrett was the first Deathlok and wants the stabilizer for himself... if he happens to create an army of super soldiers for HYDRA it's just an extra bonus. Fitz still thinks that Garrett is forcing Grant to side with him, but Skye tells him that he kills people and that she should have had Peterson kill him when she had the chance.
Garrett is stable but he tells Grant that his organs are failing and he has a month or two to live. May and Skye discuss Grant's betrayal, and May says she's saving all her hatred for when she faces him in person. Coulson comes in and tells them they found a lot of Cybertek shipments and and heading off to Cuba.
Reina tells Grant that she found out more about Skye's history. She saw her DNA and it reminded her of a story of people that killed everyone in a Chinese village looking for a baby. It turns out those people were Skye's parents.
Back to the flashback we see Garrett return 6 months later to see how Grant adjusted to the wilderness by himself. He resorted to raid cabins to get weapons and tools. Grant gives him a gun and shows him how to shoot with it.
Raina shows Garrett the only vial with enough of the miracle drug that revived Skye and Coulson as they get ready to pack up and move out.
In Cuba, Fitz and Simmons find their plane and see that Garrett is inside. Before they can leave, Grant finds them. Elsewhere the others find the Cuban barber shop and Skye says if they can find a computer in there they can activate the trojan horse from there.
We flashback 10 years and Garrett tells Grant how he was attacked on a mission and SHIELD never came to help, he had to make it on his own. Then he tells him he's actually working for HYDRA since they understand survival.
Grant takes Fitz and Simmons to Garrett and he determines that the others already figured out the barber shop. Grant finds a joy buzzer in Fitz' pocket and Fitz activates the EMP that screws up Garrett's Deathlok wiring. Grant brings emergency equipment to save Garrett. Fitz, still believing there's good in him, tells Grant he doesn't have to obey Garrett anymore and can just let him die. Grant tells everyone to clear the area.
Another flashback shows that Garrett tells Grant that he was accepted into SHIELD. However, since he's working for HYDRA within SHIELD he can't form any attachments and not show any weakness. He then tells him to 'take care' of their dog as they get ready to leave.
Garrett tells Grant to kill Simmons and Fitz and Grant shows reluctance, but does to do it. Fitz and Simmons run from the HYDRA soldiers and hide in a room away from Grant. Fitz continues to plead with Grant to show his good side and admit he cares about them. We show a flashback of Grant shooting at the air, letting the dog run away. Grant admit he does care about them... and considers it a weakness. He then releases the room they're in and dumps them off the plane into the seas below. Grant's flashback reveals he did shoot the dog after all.
Garrett is dying and asks Reina to give him the miracle drug. She warns it's the only one they've got and would take too long to make another one. Garrett says he's dying anyway and she injects him with it. The drug fully heals Garrett and makes him powerful. Grant tells him he did get rid of Fitz and Simmons.
The other agents find the secret room in the barber shop with the HYDRA computers, but are discovered by Centipede soldiers, and one of them is using the Asgardian rod. Elsewhere Quinn is offering a thousand super soldiers to the US military after the display Peterson did towards the Cuban drug lord.
My opinions:
I do have to apologize for being late with this, things have just been too busy. I was finally able to catch this episode an even thought you've all seen the season finale by now... I'll keep my thoughts on that one tomorrow.
This episode was interesting with further insight on Grant as he's basically a troubled and lost youth which was manipulated by Garrett. He pretty much treated him like crap so I still don't see the blind devotion.... but I guess he would have been in jail most of his life if he didn't go with him. That and he turned into a kick-ass military guy.
I was surprised to find out that Garrett had the Deathlok devices in him, apparently his organs were so far gone they never made him super strong like it did to Peterson. You have to feel sorry for Fitz, blindly believing to the end that Grant was good all along. I didn't think they got along all that well beforehand though. I mean Grant shoved the fact that he jumped out of the plane to save Simmons instead of him in his face several times. Where does this strong devotion from Fitz come from?
As for Grant, it's clear he'd so anything to save Garrett's life.... but that given the choice, Garrett would just let Grant die. There probably is some good in there somewhere, but he'll just always be blindly devoted to Garrett so it's a moot point.
I am kinda surprised Quinn compared the use of a super soldier to the amount of manpower it took for us to finally find and kill Bin Laden. It's just kinda strange hearing real life references like that from not so distant events. Plus, if the Bin Laden tragedies existed in the Marvel world I'm sure Iron Man or someone would have found him and stopped him anyways, without the need of Quinn's Centipede soldiers.
I'll be dealing with the season finale as soon as I can as we see how all of this wraps up. I have to say though, I did like the 'very big file transfer' scene.
This new episode brings back the Newtralizer, as well as Slash. We also get to see that maybe Slash wasn't that bad of a guy after all... and also see if Casey can really keep up with the team or not. Let's see what happens.
The episode opens with Raph and Casey chasing some of the Kraang as they run with a case of stolen plutonium. As the Kraang and Raph jump onto a fire escape, and Casey jumps in last. His weight makes the fire escape collapse and the Kraang got away. Raph and Casey chase after them and find all of the Kraang completely destroyed. As they wonder who did it, Slash is watching them overhead.
At the lair, Mikey is playing pinball as his brothers watch. Raph and Casey come in and tell them what happened. They also mention that whoever stopped the Kraang from stealing the plutonium also stole it for themselves. Leo decides they should blanket the are and split up the team. Raph and Casey argue about them getting in each other's way.
When Raph wonders who could be stealing the plutonium from the Kraang... Mikey thinks it's squirrels with lasers
As the gang spreads out, Mikey finds more defeated Kraang. Don studies them and determined they were destroyed by plasma weapons. Leo finds even more destroyed Kranngdroids in the sewers. Raph and Casey run into Slash. Slash then says he has a new partner, and the Newtralizer appears to blast all the Kraang down. Slash says they're doing what the turtles can't, take out the Kraang. Casey jumps in to attack Newtralizer, but he just gets smacked away. Newt grabs some tech to powers his weapons from the truck that Kraang were stealing and he gets away with Slash using teleporters.
The turtles are back in the lair and Raph gives Casey some ice (thanks to Ice Cream Kitty). Don says he can find them based on the plutonium traces left by their teleporters.
Slash and the Newtralizer attack a Kraang base and blow everybody up. Newt is ready to blow up the base and Slash asks about the humans outside. Newt reminds them of how they met. Slash was captured by the Kraang and Newt rescued him. Newt talks with growls and snarls until he fixes his translator. He's then able to speak and tells him that they can work together to take down the Kraang. Slash agrees and he says he'll d do it whatever it takes. Back to the present, Newt reminds him of his words so they shouldn't worry any innocent humans getting caught in the explosion.
The TMNT and Casey show up and fight it out, but Slash and Newt easily over-power them... and Casey mostly gets in the way. Newt tosses a buzzsaw blade at them that they dodge, and then they teleport away. The turtles realize that the buzzsaw blade is actually a time bomb and run for it. Casey barely gets out of the way but some debris is still about to flatten him. Raph shoves him out of the way and saves him. Raph and Casey argue again, the main point being that Casey is just getting in their way and is holding them back. Casey gets fed up with the attitude and leaves. Leo is surprised and Mikey tells him that people have feelings. Raph says he's 'not people'.
Don says while he fighting against Slash, he slipped a spy roach on him so they can hear he's saying through the t-Phone. They overhear that Slash and Newt know that the Kraang will unleash a new weapon on the docks. Newt says they can use the weapon to destroy the city, and Slash asks about all the people. Newt says he doesn't care since he's 'not people'.
The Turtles arrive at the docks and see the Kraang use a portal to unless a giant pod-type robot. After the robot blasts a few things to showcase its power, the Kraang are all happy and impressed. (Magic fingers!!! as Paige would say). Slash and Newt arrive. Newt wants Slash to distract them while he takes control of the robot. Slash asks if he can really trust him in the machine, and he says he doesn't really have much choice. The Turtles also jump into action and the Kraang start to blast towards all of their enemies.
Newtralizer manages to get inside the machine and starts to blast everybody. He nearly steps on and squishes Slash, but Raph gets him out of the way. Slash is surprised that Raph saved him. Slash teleports on top of the robot and starts to fight against Newt. Newt is about to shoot him, but Raph tosses a shuriken into the gun to stop it from firing. Raph and Slash fall off the robot as it continues to shoot things.
Casey suddenly appears and starts firing off hockey pucks with bombs strapped to them. Newtralizer now starts to attack everybody, Slash included, but Casey manages to hit a puck into one of the holes on the side of the machine. It soon explodes and Newt manages to warp away before he goes down with it.
Raph tells Slash that he's always welcome in the lair with them. Slash says it wouldn't work out and he's better off being alone. He leaves the scene, but Casey reminds him that he's his new partner now. Raph says he's the best partner anyone could have and everyone walks off. After they're gone, Newtralizer phases back in to show that he's still in the picture.
My Opinions:
This was a good episode seeing the return of two powerhouse villains, Slash and the Newtralizer but as a team. The strongest points are the action scenes as well as Raph dealing with both his old partner and his new partner. I liked how Slash noticed he was replaced with Casey. I also liked how Slash was shown to still have redeeming traits. Some people might complain since Slash was always meant to be well... the Evil Turtle from Dimension X. While he did start out that way in some media like the Archie comics or the newer IDW comics, they both eventually reform or become dark heroes. Some fans might rather have this version of Slash just be downright evil and go further down the twisted path.
The main reason I don't have much of problem with this version of Slash being all that bad is.... well, he was Spike. Raph's pet and companion since day one. It sucked seeing him turn against Raph... and it was cool to see him save Raph in 'Metalhead Rewired'. As for Slash being worried about innocent people... well, he was originally all about taking out the bad guys in ways the Nick TMNT can't.
I use Nick here because obviously the Mirage Turtles didn't have the same problem. I'm not saying they'd go out and hack and slash bad guys for the hell of it.... but if it did come down to killing their enemies, they'd do it without hesitation and without remorse. Of course here, they're in a show for kids and they have to set an example and blah blah, even IF and major IF here, we ever see a Nick TMNT take down a bad guy lethally.... they would be feeling sad and guilty for the rest of the episode since 'killing is wrong' and so forth.
Back to Slash... he was about killing the bad guys, but never about innocent people. He did go out after Don, Mike and Leo, but he was misguided and in his warped mind, he saw them as people that were holding Raph back.. and they needed to be taken out. Twisted, messed up and crazy... but he still had some reasons to attack them. He didn't just run through a rampage killing innocent people left and right. He took his violently tendencies on the Kraang.
As for Newtralizer, not much I can say. I love his strength and his high tech weaponry. Yes he's voiced by Danny Trejo but you can't really tell much with his monsterous voice. The main issue I had with him here was what I was afraid of in the first episode when all he did was growl and scream and we would find out he would somehow have a voice in his return episode. If he could talk, even with a busted translator device, why was he just some mindless monster in the last episode? It didn't even look like he tried to communicate not once. And now that he can talk, they gave him this lame ass 'rokka rokka rokka' thing he mixes with his sentences. Why??? He never did that in the last episode. I don't think that's our language so he could have said it without the translator. And when he growls in this one... he never once sounds like the insane high pitched growls he unleashed in the past episode. But yeah... he lost cool points with the 'rokka rokka rokka' thing for me... and I'm afraid that'll become his catchphrase. It's like Nick thought 'whoa oh, he's getting a little TOO hardcore for the kids, better make him say something silly so the younger ones can laugh and imitate'.
Rokka, rokka, rokka! I'm comin at you like Pac-Man!
The flashback when Slash and the Newtralizer didn't make sense. When did this take place? I know it has to do when the Kraang captured Slash among all the other mutants in 'Metalhead Rewired'... but Slash got away at the end of the episode. Did he get captured again and Newtralizer saved him then? Or did he save him before and then they both got re-captured until the Turtles showed up? It wasn't too clear.
As for Casey Jones... the story was mostly about him having to prove himself to be Raph's partner... I guess...? He seemed extra clumsy and careless in this episode... and this is the guy that gave Raph a lot of trouble in their first encounter. I know sometimes it seems he does fall a little behind compared to the turtles, but honestly, if they were holding the guys back so badly, I'm surprised Leo hasn't sent him home yet. That's what he usually does when someone holds them back. He sends Raph home when he was screwing up. He keeps Metalhead back. He keeps April back. Why did it take Raph to send him home if he kept tripping and messing up? I assume in the next episode he'll be back on his game, but it did seem odd that he was such a goober in this episode.
Overall a good ep. A few snags here and there. While it was cool to see Newtralizer return and everyone loves Danny Trejo... for me Slash and his interactions with Raph stole the show.
Fans of the classic TMNT have been wondering what was going to happen to Baxter in this series. Why? Well for whatever reason, Baxter always seems to go through some kind of transformation from one series to the next. In the 80's he was accidentaly turned into a fly. In the 2K3 series, Shredder kept removing body parts every time he failed until Baxter was reduced to just being a brain in a jar put inside several different kinds of robots. In the Mirage comics he had the same fate as the 2K3... except he did it to himself...
The moment we saw Baxter with a Mutagen collar device, he knew he was going to mutate sooner and later... and based on this show's love for the 80's show... we knew it just had to be a fly... Well, let's see how it went down in the 2014 version.
The episode opens in Shredder's lair and the Foot Clan Leader is tired of Baxter's failures by now, and Rahzar is watching and taunting. Baxter suggests a mutant duck named Ace Duck, or maybe mutant pigs and rhinos. Shredder is not amused and Baxter said he'd be much more useful to him as a human that as some kind of animal. Shredder says he doesn't make idle threats and pressed the button to activate the Mutagen Collar. Baxter panics and after a while it looks like Shredder was bluffing... but then one of the Mutagen bottles explodes and hits Baxter with the ooze. As he suffers his mutation he runs into a fly...
After the epic theme song, April and Don are up late working on the Retromutagen. Don finally succeeds in making the Retromutagen, but he says its takes 10 bottles of normal Mutagen to make and he only has enough for two batches. They can finally cure April's dad and she happily kisses Don on the cheek. He also suggests using it to make Splinter human again... but he hesitates and says they should try to cure April's father first. Mikey jokes about being human with the Retromutagen and Raph reminds him that he'd just become a regular turtle again.
Later on, Rahzar returns with some Robo-Foot to see what Baxter's new mutation would look like. Baxter breaks the lights and flies around, hiding in the darkness. He attacks some of the Foot robots and flies away before Rahzar can catch him.
Outside the Turtles and April try to catch April's dad. Baxter manages to find them and overhears about the Retromutagen. As he flies in to attack, this scares April's dad away. During the fight, the Retromutagen vial falls and breaks, and Baxter flies off with April.
At the lair, Don tells Splinter he only has one vial of Retromutagen left and it will takes months to make more to cure Splinter. Splinter says he might not be human but still has his humanity, and his place is now with the Turtles. Casey is eager to join in on the action and Mikey is happy to slip back into his Flyturtle costume.
At Baxter's place, April surprised him by being able to fight back. The mutant fly still manages to tie her up and suspend her over a huge vat of Mutagen. Baxter figures if he jumps into the vat of Mutagen with April, the extra human DNA would make him human again. April tells him she might just make it worse.
Don, Leo and Casey arrive but Baxter spot them and a fight breaks out. Baxter spits on the rope (acid spit) and it slowly eats away at it as the heroes fight him off. The rope does snap and despite Don's best efforts to catch her, she falls into the vat of Mutagen. Baxter is about to dive in after her but Casey smacks him out of the way. Surprisingly, April is not affected, being completely immune to Mutagen.
Meanwhile, Raph and Mikey are chasing after April's dad, Raph with a hand-glider and Mikey in his 'buzz buzz' fly costume. Back to the others, Rahzar arrives with Robo-Foot, and once he hears about the Retromutagen, he wants it too. The Turtles escape with April, and Baxter flies after them, and Rahzar sends the Foot after all of them.
Raph and Mike manage to catch April's dad and April arrives to try to calm him down. Baxter then arrives and snatches the vial of Retromutagen out of Don's hands for a second time. April and Casey stay behind to watch April's dad while the Turtles, Baxter and the Foot continue to fight over who gets to keep the vial.
Eventually April and Casey ride April's dad and fly into the scene, using the mutant bat to chase after Bazter. Baxter crashes into a billboard and the vial falls and shatters. April manages to make her dad fly right under it so the chemicals would splash over his head.
April's father is finally back to normal (they resolved an actual major plot thread, whaaaaa???) and April kisses Don again. Don rubs it in to Casey and the vigilantee is not amused. Mike continues to annoy Raph with the 'buzz buzz' catchphrase of his Flyturtle costume.
This is the first ever time Casey notices the whole Don-April thing
Back to the bad guys, Rahzar and the Foot bring Baxter back to the Shredder. Shredder wants him to create one final mutant for him, threatening to crush him like a bug if he fails again.
My opinions:
There's quite a bit to say about this episode. We get more shout-outs to 80's characters like Ace Duck (who only had a cameo in the old cartoon) and 'pigs and rhinos'. The kicker is, they already confirmed that Bebop and Rocksteady will in fact be in this series.
The main draw of course, if Baxter becoming a fly. He definitely looks a lot more disgusting in this version, more of a realistic fly monster than the 80's cartoon. And of course, for extra gross out factor, they make Baxter eat like real flies eat (with acid vomit and all that). I was disappointed that they brought him back to work with Shredder again in the end. I was kinda hoping he'd return to be an independent villain, but it seems whenever he does break free, he gets re-captured and forced to work with him again.
For those that forgot, the Baxter in the old series wasn't exactly mutated into a fly... at least not in the regular way. Similar to The Fly movies, Krang was going to vaporize him in a Disintregation Unit (you know, for kids!) but a fly happened to fly in with him and well.... yeah. While he was still himself in the first episode, he went crazier as time went on, even forgetting why he hated the Turtles in the first place. Will this also happen to this version of Baxter?
Casey finally notices that Don likes April and perhaps vice-versa. To this point, Casey mostly disliked Don because Don disliked him, and he wasn't going to put up with that crap. Now that he's in on it, I guess we have to see how this will develop. As for April... immune to Mutagen? Major cop out. I would have loved to have seen her mutate into... well anything. I mean they had the Retromutagen so they could have undone whatever she would have mutated into. But then again, we do know that April is part Kraang... and we already saw that the Kraang Water didn't burn her arm off (Paige reminded me).. so yeah. I guess this means the Kraang can't be mutated either.
The real question is what awaits April's dad? Will he just be shoved into the background again? Or will yet something else happen to him that will be his excuse to be left out of most of season 3? If anything, at least he and Kurtzman can exchange notes. Maybe he can shed some light on what it was like being a mutant. Or maybe he's be even more shell-shocked than he was before. If being kidnapped by aliens freaked him out, being a mutant bat for several weeks should push him over the edge. Nahhh... he'll be shoved into the background again.
I'm ending this article with a random thought from Paige while watching Amazing Spider-Man 2. She thought the clutzy, nerdy dork Max Dillon, before he became Electro, reminded her a lot of this version of Baxter Stockman.
