#Dirk Savage Mutant Hunter

[turtlethon]

"Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!”

Season 7, Episode 24 First US Airdate: December 4, 1993

A wealthy businessman starts an anti-mutant campaign that places the Turtles in danger.

Season seven of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nears its conclusion with "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!" As with most of the episodes during this stretch of the show, David Wise is credited as writer here.

The Turtles are investigating a series of appearances by a pair of mysterious creatures and are seen examining their footprints. Donatello remarks that since Shredder’s use of mutagen in the zoo “years ago”, new mutants have continued to appear in the city. This seems to be a call-back to the events of “Planet of the Turtleoids” that led to the creation of Groundchuck and Dirtbag. As that was in season five it’s true that for us as viewers it was a while back, but I believe this is the first time we’ve ever had in-universe confirmation that the events of the series have taken place over a period of several years.

Our heroes are alerted to a commotion at the nearby Crystal Palace Mall. Inside, a mutant wolf and turtle are terrorising shoppers. This duo will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the second live-action TMNT movie as Rahzar and Tokka respectively, though their characterisation here differs greatly from their movie appearances: rather than being BABIES – or, if you prefer, “stupid infants” - Rahzar is surprisingly eloquent while Tokkka sounds like... Beavis? I’m gonna go with Beavis. The Turtles valiantly take on these two new mutants but are outmatched, with both Leonardo and Michaelangelo going through the windows of one of the mall’s restaurants.

An interesting facet of Rahzar’s portrayal here is that from the outset it’s established he cares deeply for Tokka and considers him to be his only friend. Upon seeing Raphael and Donatello fight Tokka, Rahzar becomes furious, smashing the mall’s supporting pillar. Having left the complex in ruins, the two mutants escape; the Turtles emerge from the crumbling shopping centre but find their new enemies are long gone.

Later, in the Lair, the Turtles watch a broadcast on Channel 6. AJ Howard, an “eccentric billionaire”, is allowed to go into an anti-mutant diatribe in which he blames the many half-human, half-animals who have appeared in the city not only for the recent destruction of the mall, but for hurting the local economy and driving out business. He goes on to mention that the completion of his new skyscraper, the Howard Building, has been postponed until the mutant issue is dealt with. Beyond that, he has launched a full-on anti-mutant campaign, including promotional “down with mutants” wristbands. Announcing the next phase of his program, he introduces Dirk Savage, a burly and heavily armed man with an eyepatch who he declares is a “professional mutant hunter”.  

Savage boasts about his intention to track down “every last one of you freaks”, a vow that understandably rattles the Turtles. The broadcast ends with AJ Howard encouraging citizens to request Savage’s services by way of a special hotline, 555-NO MUTANTS.

The Turtles head to Channel 6 and request April and Irma’s help in learning about Dirk Savage. April isn’t able to find much beyond him being “a professional soldier of fortune... he’s fought for governments all over the world!” Irma provides further details about Savage’s allegiances, noting that he typically fights against “rebels, misfits and other outcasts”. While at the station offices our heroes receive an incoming Turtlecom transmission from Napoleon of the Punk Frogs, who has just arrived in town with Genghis. It only takes a matter of seconds before Genghis manages to get his foot caught in a laser trap. From the bushes emerges Dirk Savage, who swiftly captures both frogs and carries them away.

Our heroes head to the spot where the Punk Frogs were captured, and determine this was indeed Savage’s doing: in a nod to the weariness that viewers may have been feeling after seven seasons of new supporting characters being introduced, Raphael notes that there are “eight zillion mutants in this series and [Savage] captures two of the good ones!” With no clear plan on what to do next, the team head back to the Lair to request Splinter’s advice.

Savage is seen transporting the Punk Frogs in his personalised truck to a special facility, where several mutants can be seen imprisoned in energy cages. The mutant hunter checks in with AJ Howard, who reminds him that the Turtles are still free: Savage assures his boss that capturing them is his top priority.

Splinter tells the Turtles that he senses Dirk Savage may be the key to solving their problem, and that they should focus on convincing him to change his ways by showing him his hatred for mutants is the result of ignorance. Later, while wandering the sewers, the Turtles discuss these words of wisdom. Donatello and Raphael are unconvinced by the idea that Savage can be reasoned with. Michaelangelo is then pulled into the air and captured in an enormous electromagnet, which Donnie helpfully explains has him “by the buckles of his bandoliers!” Before the team can free him, Dirk Savage appears, a gun in each hand and set to capture his enemies, as act one wraps up.

Act two opens with Savage angering the Turtles by calling them “mutant scum”. He attempts to capture all four members of the team, but after restraining Leonardo is pounced upon by Raphael and has a stream of water sprayed on him by Donatello from a nearby pipe. Ultimately the mutant hunter retreats, taking the tied-up Leo and Mikey with him. As he loads the two Turtles into the back of his truck, he makes a point of relieving them of their Turtlecoms, crushing the devices with his bare hands. Donnie and Raph head to the Turtle Van to give chase, but are alerted to further developments from April, who asks that they return to the station as Irma has made a major discovery.

Savage presents Michaelangelo and Leonardo to AJ Howard. The two Turtles are understandably furious and refuse to comply, but the billionaire forces them to don “compliance cuffs” - arm restraints that compel anyone wearing them to do his bidding. Napoleon, Genghis and the other assembled mutants can only look on as Leo and Mikey are brought to their knees. Meanwhile, Irma reveals her discovery to the Turtles: that Howard used to own a genetics lab which was suddenly closed, coinciding with the wealthy businessman’s disappearance for more than a year. (We can only take Irma’s word for this, as the report which appears on-screen contains no relevant information and seems to just be letters of the alphabet in sequence.)

While April and Irma are helping the Turtles, Vernon goes on-air with an editorial segment. Professing his allegiance to AJ Howard, he rails against the “nasty creatures” supposedly taking over the streets, before revealing that more than half of the city’s residents now wear the billionaire’s anti-mutant bracelets. Raphael is keen to give Vernon a piece of his mind, but is convinced to direct his energy elsewhere, as Donatello intends to infiltrate the mutant holding facility. Meanwhile, April and Irma will investigate the site of Howard’s in-construction skyscraper.

Donnie and Raph visit Mondo Gecko, making his first appearance since his debut two years earlier. As per the conclusion of that adventure he appears to still be residing in the sewers as a neighbour of sorts to the Turtles. Upon learning of the activities of Howard and Savage, Mondo agrees to assist, angered by the capture of his good friend Michaelangelo.

Savage places a table of food in an alley, luring Tokka and Rahzar into the open. This turns out to only be partially successful, as he’s able to capture the snapping turtle but not his partner. After escaping, Rahzar can only watch from a nearby rooftop as Tokka is loaded into the back of Savage’s vehicle and transported away; enraged by the loss of his buddy, he vows revenge before howling at the moon. On his way back to the mutant detainment facility Savage also encounters and captures Mondo Gecko. This time Donnie and Raph are ready, and follow the mutant hunter in the Turtle Van.

As April and Irma arrive at the Howard Building, which is covered in an enormous sheet and surrounded by guards, Donnie and Raph watch Savage unload his mutants at the facility. After he leaves again our heroes use a vent to gain entry to the mutant detainment building. Inside, they watch – along with the captive Leo and Mikey, as well as the other jailed mutants – as AJ Howard places his special cuffs on Mondo Gecko and Tokka. After an off-hand remark from Mondo about how the billionaire will never be able to kill destroy the city’s entire population of mutants, Howard reveals that isn’t his intent, and that his captured prey will serve as his own personal army. The assembled mutants are shocked as Howard removes his rubbery face mask to show his true form: that of a half-man, half-slug.

The impact of Howard’s revelation is watered down considerably by the fact that when we return for the concluding act, he’s seen pulling off his mask again, this time spouting new dialogue as he does so about being not only a mutant, but the greatest one of all. He further explains that it was an accident in his genetics lab that led to his current form (hence his year-long disappearance alluded to by Irma earlier). Donnie and Raph emerge to confront Howard, but through his compliance bracelets the slug turns the jailed mutants against them, forcing the two Turtles to retreat to their van. With his true intentions now known, Howard declares that he needs to implement the next phase of his plan immediately and marches off with his new mutant army.

Donatello is beginning to warm up to the idea suggested by Splinter earlier about Dirk Savage acting as a potential ally. From a phone booth, he calls the hunter’s hotline and leaves a message indicating that two mutant turtles have been spotted. Meanwhile April and Irma watch as Howard relays a message to the guards surrounding his building, informing them that as the mutant issue has been dealt with, they can stand down. With the coast clear, the two ladies sneak inside, finding what initially appears to be a relatively innocuous building.

Savage takes the bait, arriving at a fish market to find Donatello and Raphael. Before he can capture them Rahzar intervenes, still livid at the capture of his friend. The Turtles battle the mutant wolf, ultimately using one of Savage’s own restraining weapons to deal with their foe. It’s only after being saved by Donnie and Raph – and subsequently lectured by them about how not all mutants are bad – that Savage learns he was working for a villainous slug-man the entire time.

AJ Howard guides his army to his new skyscraper, revealing that its true name is not the Howard Building but rather the Mutant Building, a towering statue of his true form mounted on its roof. As he pulls away the sheets at ground level, April and Irma have made it to the top, and head inside to find a control room. Donnie and Raph are informed of this discovery and head off with Savage to confront the bad guys.

Michaelangelo and Leonardo are taken to the top floor by Howard with the other mutants, and due to the compliance cuffs are forced against their will to capture April and Irma. Both ladies are made by Howard to wear his “Down with Mutants” cuffs: far from being a mere propaganda tool, the slug reveals these are miniature versions of the restraints worn by his army. Soon, he announces, they’ll be used to bring everyone in the city wearing them under his control. Across town at Channel 6, Vernon is seen gushing about the bracelets to a surprisingly wary Burne Thompson. As the bracelets are powered up April’s rival is seen marching out of the room, his boss furious at the idea of him taking orders from anyone else.

Dirk Savage is also wearing one of Howard’s anti-mutant bracelets, which activates as he flies the Turtle Blimp, accompanied by Donnie and Raph. Despite this setback the team manage to open fire upon Howard’s statue, and the resulting destruction of the control room breaks the control of the bracelets over the humans who had been wearing them. Howard still has sway over the mutants, but only temporarily – it doesn’t take long for Savage to snatch the control unit out of the hands of his old boss and destroy it.

A further complication arises as the building begins to shake. Howard reveals that the explosion which destroyed the control room must have overloaded the building’s power generators. Donatello drops a dizzying number of ropes from the Turtle Blimp, allowing everyone to fly away safely before the entire skyscraper blows up.

Later, Savage makes a brief apology for the way he’s treated the assembled mutants, pledging to try and understand them in the future and offering his help if needed. Michaelangelo suggests this is almost a happy ending, but something is still missing: the Punk Frogs then step in, offering to buy the Turtles a jumbo pizza, and this is enough for Mikey to now be entirely satisfied.

Michaelangelo might be content with this conclusion, but I’m considerably less impressed. For the most part “Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!” is an exceptional episode even by the standards of what has been a surprisingly strong season. While the series was set up around the premise that the wider world would be hostile to the Turtles – in this continuity that was established from the outset as the reason Splinter trained them to be ninjas, a means of defending themselves rather than to kill Shredder – only season three’s “Turtles on Trial” explored this idea in depth. In the years that followed, the Turtles became real-world celebrities who spent more time selling cereal, raising awareness of public transportation and going on tour as musicians than they did being depicted as underdogs struggling in a world that didn’t understand them. Arguably this fed back into the series, as the team have spent years wandering around mostly without disguises, meeting little resistance from the residents of the city and often being treated as celebrated heroes. It’s only here – in the seventh season of the show, as the need for the Turtles to serve as real-world pitchmen and role models for hire fades away, that we begin to see a re-alignment take place, freeing the team to become ninjas who reside in the shadows once more. To that end, here we return to the idea of a media-driven narrative turning opinion against the Turtles. These themes felt worryingly prescient when I wrote about them in the Turtlethon entry for “On Trial” a few years back and viewed through the lens of this episode seem just as relevant to our real-world political and cultural climate now. The difference is that while the season three approach to this story resulted in an effective story with an ending that felt all too plausible, this one manages to stumble right before making it over the finish line.

I don’t know what it is about season seven: for some reason the overarching theme for this year seems to have been terrific stories that invariably wind up with half-baked, unsatisfying conclusions. (Baxter’s final appearance is the most obvious example of this.) Whereas Clayton Kellerman’s insistence on continuing to profit by directing hate at the Turtles even after being saved by them felt all too real, here Dirk Savage’s willingness to cast aside his hatred of mutants so readily comes across as entirely inauthentic. Far worse than this, though, is AJ Howard’s fate being omitted from the end of the show completely. Did he feel any remorse for treating the mutants the way he did? Was his perspective changed after being saved from the exploding buildings by the Turtles, or would he simply vow to get revenge? We’ll never know, and it’s one of the great missed opportunities that this villain – part Ross Perot with his pie charts and presumably paid TV broadcasts, part Richard Nixon in voice and general demeanour – didn't get used again. I could easily envision an alternative direction for seasons eight through ten where it’s Howard who becomes the main villain of the series as Shredder and Krang fade into the background, a cartoon counterpart to Null from the Archie TMNT Adventures continuity whose influence and power make life much harder for the Turtles.

Comparisons to “On Trial” notwithstanding, there’s no shortage of other things going on here that are genuinely interesting. The revelation that Shredder’s schemes led to the creation of a variety of unseen mutants is intriguing, but even here there’s a sense that much more could have come of this: we see several mutants in this adventure who are all original designs, but they could so easily have been existing characters from the Archie comics or the toy line. It’s not hard to imagine the likes of Scratch, Panda Khan or Halfcourt receiving cameos here, or even Ace Duck finally getting some proper screen time. At least we get guest appearances from Tokka and Rahzar, albeit years after their debut in The Secret of the Ooze. This is more relevant to Turtlethon entries for the live-action movies – which I still intend to do before this project is over – but the inclusion of this duo in the cartoon after so long feels particularly odd given that they were effectively an unsuccessful attempt to outdo its own Rocksteady and Bebop. Perhaps Playmates were keen to have Tokka and Rahzar incorporated into the show, as both did have a couple of action figures at retail during this period.

Without a doubt this episode is going on the Required Viewing list, but with the caveat that as good as it is, it had the potential to be something far greater than what we ultimately received. We say goodbye to the remaining Punk Frogs and Mondo Gecko here for the last time, with the conclusion of season seven and the classic era of TMNT looming on the horizon. Before then our attention must turn back to the Technodrome Crew for the subject of the next entry, “Invasion of the Krangazoids”.

[pocoslip]

I am so Glad that Casey Jones 1987's Unmasked Head is Not a Reuse of the Dirk Savage Head

(If you don't know who Dirk Savage is, he's just TMNT's "Bootleg Classic Nick Fury" from the Marvel Comic)

[getindumdums]

Hiya! I’ve recently started watching 87 tmnt (out of order, but so far haven’t run into any issues with that), and I was wondering if you had any specific episodes you’d recommend? Whether it’s because it’s got really good writing or it gives a good understanding of a specific character or it’s just generally enjoyable - whatever the reason may be, I’d be interested to hear. So far it’s been a really fun time and I’m excited to keep watching!

Ohhh! Ok. So let’s see… you definitely want to watch the 1st season, it’s only 5 episodes. I think I’m gonna recommend too many here… But!

Splinter No More

The Big Blow Out (has my favorite Brains and Brawn moment) though you may need to watch the previous episode or two since this is a season finale and you might be a bit confused

(Enter the RatKing, Enter the Fly, Return of the Fly, Invasion of the Punk Frogs, Leatherhead Terror of the Swap, 50 Foot Irma, Casey Jones Outlaw Hero, Yusagi Yojimbo, Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko, Raphael Meets his Match (Mona Lisa), Slash the Evil Turtle from Dimension X, all seem like good episodes since you see these characters in other iterations.)

The Making of Metalhead (I really like this one)

Take Me To Your Leader, The Four Musketeers, Leo vs Tempestra, Leonardo Lightens Up, Beware the Lotus

Splinter Vanishes

Cowabunga Shredhead

The Big Cufflink Caper

Donatello’s Duplicate, and Night of the Dark Turtle (also the episode with Triceratons)

Dirk Savage Mutant Hunter, Combat Land, Invasion of the Krangazoids, Shredder Triumphant

I love a few of the Red Sky episodes like Cry H.A.V.O.C! And Cyber-Turtles! But they do attempt more of a serialized story here. So I would watch from the beginning.

-

There’s a bunch of other episodes I want to see like Raphael Knocks Them Dead, Back to the Egg, Adventures in Turtle Sitting, Michelangelo Meets Bugman, Enter Mutagen Man, What’s Michelangelo Good For, BugMan, Planet of the Turtloids part 1&2

-

I’ve referenced The Ninja Sword of Nowhere, Raphael Turtle of a Thousand Faces, and I plan to reference Donatello Makes Time, sort of in a future chapter

@iztarshi @snoftshell-snurtle @yellowhollyhock @pumpkinpie59

In case you want to add some ideas!

[hermit-searching]

No one ever talks about the compliance cuffs from Dirk Savage Mutant Hunter in TMNT 87. I get it, the brainwashing so you don't know you're hurting your family trope is spicy and all, but just imagine being forced to fight your friends/brothers and being completely aware of what you're doing but you can't stop yourself from fighting them. That was Leonardo, Michelangelo, Ghengis Frog and Mondo Gecko's reality, and that's absolutely terrifying to think about.

Completely unrelated to that point but I love how Donatello and Raphael, the two who really don't like the idea of trusting humans, were the ones who had to put their trust in a human. Just, mwah. beautiful episode. Please watch it.

[tmntismdoodls]

watched the dirk savage mutant hunter ep recently and was demon possessed to write an aftermath fic abt it

more art here

[sabrondabrainrot]

I finished the 87 series as a whole (except the European vacay season like I can't find it anywhere) and want to cry!!! My boys!!! I can't believe it's done!!!

What an awesome show. I might have to rewatch it just to write down more notes and thoughts. ;)

Anyways here's some headcanons about my sweet 87 boys and some show observations:

Hopefully with this people might give the show a chance. It's so delightful and charming. You won't be disappointed.

🐢🧡🐢💜🐢♥️🐢💙

The turtles are all basically 3-4 years old. They make tons of comments about living half their lives in a fish bowl and when Yoshi comes across them they're still babies. When they're shown mutating, they go from baby turtles to the older bipedal forms we know them by.

They're all identical sans their voices. (In the 87 show not only does April have trouble telling them apart at the beginning but so do the animators in every episode)

They all seem to possess super strength and some levels of invulnerability. Donatello in particular had a multiple story brick building dropped on him, which he just walked off. They've all shown varying skills such as bending metal with their bare hands. Raphael as a practical joke in one episode picks up a couch and hurls it at Donatello just to be smartass. Leonardo cuts metal like tinfoil.

They still think of themselves as turtles first and foremost, so they don't refer to each other as brothers. (despite the fact they're totally brothers) and simply address each other as friends. (They're brothers tho we all know the truth 💕)

Something not explained in the opening of the 3rd season, the turtles as babies, before they mutate, are shown with different shell patterns. While it's not obvious which turtle is which it is neat the artists went out of their way to animate each turtle with a unique pattern.

When you watch the show the amount of people and mutants that dislike the turtles is shocking. For a fun kids show made in the late 80's to mid 90's, it's basically a huge allegory to the civil rights movements and you can even take relevance to human rights movements of today.

Despite being so lovable they have only a small circle of friends. Most of those friends at some point have betrayed them too.

The boys have seen two different futures of themselves. (not counting their shared apocalypse nightmares) The first future is where they get old together in a mansion and they're heralded as heroes and everyone likes them. The second future doesn't show them but in the second future it's stated being a mutant is a crime punishable by death and all mutants are criminals regardless of deeds. This is before the red skies studio era of writing. That's before it's supposed to get edgy.

They all are highly intelligent. They can each pilot every vehicle ever present in the show despite none of them having a formal education, license, or understanding of the rules of the road. Michelangelo in particular seems to have a knack for US fighter jets.

In season 7 episode 11, titled "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!" We meet two new mutants named Rahzar and Tokka. They're a gay couple. You don't believe me? Go watch the episode. I'm not pulling your leg. I swear. I promise. It's a good episode go watch it.

Master Splinter calls them his sons. He also calls Carter, his newest student, son occasionally too. It's his term of endearment.

The turtles in this version are known to get sick pretty regularly. (probably because of their still developing immune systems). They always get sick as a group and they totally soak up the pampering.

They in the first season share a 4 stack bunk bed and then after the bunk is destroyed in the season 1 finale they each get their own alcoves which they treat as their own rooms.

I didn't remember which Punk Frog said it, but one of them called Leonard and Michelangelo his Bubba which is a term of endearment for brother. The punk frogs call each other bubba too. So unlike the turtles they were either all frog brothers who mutated together or after mutating they just decided they're brothers and they also adopted the turtles as their brothers too.

Mondo Gecko seems older in this series because of his appearance but he's the same age as the turtles and actually mutated from the same ooze as them on the same day at the same time so he in 87 is like a mix of their brother and cousin? He's related regardless. (We all know the truth in our hearts)

Shredder and Krang act like a married couple who've been married too long and are on the cusp of a divorce but they've been together too long so they just keep tolerating eachother.

They all love the unhinged gross unholy pizza combos. Michaelangelo's stated combos are actually tame compared to some of the things they've eaten. One episode the boys committed to the bit so hard they ate lit candles just to mess with Michelangelo. They get pregnant sardine fudge pizza cravings at midnight. They put cereal on regular pizza for breakfast. They hate vegetables though. They literally gag when Splinter eats sushi. They refuse to eat bugs despite their turtle origins (interesting enough the Punk Frogs don't even like pizza at all first unlike them) but like they will eat out of the garbage. But not fresh handmade sushi.

They're so casual about being in public. Like they have disguises but sometimes they just go out in public as themselves. They also have so many elaborate disguises. In the first episode their first instinct to blend in was to throw on bright neon shoes, various bomber jackets, and start publicly beatboxing and breakdancing.

The turtles get called slurs by Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady. The slur in question is "Shellback" . When Donatello makes an evil clone the first thing the clone does is call him that slur. It's so funny like that's yourself. Donatello basically called himself ugly. Why is that so funny.

Shredders go to threat in the show and many other villains go to insult is to straight up threaten to eat them. Like, do none of the villains care about getting salmonella? Why do all the villains want to eat them?

Something I've noticed, they refuse to use nicknames. They only use each other's full names. It makes me wonder why? I theorize it's probably to do with the fact Master Splinter gave them their names and that's the first thing they received? It's not like they're not playful enough to use nicknames.

Despite his fatherly role in their lives, the turtle boys don't call Splinter their father and this is more than likely to do with the fact they see themselves as turtles and know they have turtle parents. (Again we know the truth)

April in this show is an adrenaline junky. She's also a child endangerer. She's helped save the day a lot but she would much rather the world burn so she can film it as her next big scoop.

The boys treat April like their mom in this show. April herself doesn't really get that. In one episode she got poison flowers and thought it was from the boys and went to "let them down gently" because she thought they romantically liked her.

April on multiple occasions reads bed time stories to them. She in one episode read the same bedtime story 4 times just because they liked it that much. She was going to read it a 5th time just for Leonardo.

When Zack, the 5th turtle, was in danger instead of helping him April shouted "What a scoop!" and filmed a child in a death trap.

Splinter believes in wholesome gaslighting in this show. He once cured three of them of permanent balloon-itis with moth balls but made up a story about how it was an ancient mythical legendary cure. Then after they were better he said it was moth balls.

April actually got fired from her job because she wouldn't badmouth the turtles on live television (also for other reasons). She focused on freelance while helping the boys on the side.

April is really bamf. She's actually saved the turtles just as much as they save her.

I just want everyone to know I love these little guys. The turtles are pure little snookie pookie baby bookies. No one knows the amount of space these silly little fictional turtles take up in my heart.

I hope maybe with more word out people might give the 1987 tmnt show a chance. It's really cute and funny. A super enjoyable time. It doesn't deserve the ragging it gets from other shows and fanbases. They're just goobers.

Thanks for reading my ramble list. :)

Also! if there's any fanfic recs please let me know I'm making a list and checking it twice ;)

[90ssuperheroes]

On this day...

in 1993 Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter premiered.

[whattraintracks]

Oh, "Combat Land" is a brilliant addition.

By this point, I think the separation anxiety from "Splinter Vanishes" is no longer an issue. He seems to have gotten over that. I forgot about "Leonardo is Missing!" which happens about the same time as "Snakes Alive!" Leonardo goes off on his own to answer a distress call without his turtle comm, but when the turtles find him at the end of the episode, he's happy as a clam. They spend the whole episode terribly worried about him, but his response in the closing scene is basically, aw shucks, my bad! Unfortunately, he experiences a lot more trauma before "Combat Land." By the end of season 7, things are really heating up for the turtles. Leonardo gets captured in both "Night of the Rogues" and "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter," and Red Sky is right around the corner.

So, "Combat Land." It's subtle, but we can tell Leonardo is aware the stakes are upping as he nags the others about training. He says something to the effect of "you guys need to practice more" four times in the first four minutes. At first, he says it almost out of habit, but then they take down some shady folks with sketchy tech in the sewers, and it ramps up to visibly distressed that humans are messing around close to home and frustrated the guys aren't taking it seriously. This is all before they even go to Combat Land and bear with me, but this feels like another dimension of Leonardo saying, "I knew you guys would get into trouble without me" in TMtYL. On some level, he doesn't trust them. He doesn't think they can hold their own without him, or that they appreciate the danger they're in, or are as dedicated to ninjutsu as he is.

So Leonardo's already upset with them and having a bad day when they go to Combat Land, and he's maybe just a little bit of a brat about the fact that nobody wants to go with him to the Shogun Zone. He rephrases his request as getting in touch with their ninja heritage, Raphael not unkindly responds with his typical sarcasm, but Leonardo blows the whole thing wildly out of proportion. Honestly, I think he's hurt that no one wants to hang out with him or seems to care about his interests. He uses this to feed his little frustrated flame about the whole issue and that seed of distrust becomes "Fine! I don't need your help anyway! In fact, I'll do better without you!" That he's no longer terrified about being without his team, leaving or being left behind, is a clear sign of progress, albeit in the wrong direction.

Thankfully, he has a good time fighting, blows off some steam, gets into the brotherly competition, and meets back up with Donatello and Raphael in better spirits. Just in time for them all to notice Irma, Vernon, and Michelangelo have gone missing. Leonardo starts to sound pretty worried, and, sure enough, they get attacked. He sends Donatello and Raphael after the robots and goes to save Michelangelo and the others himself. He's emotionally fine on his own even after he notices the turtle comm frequency is being jammed, but soon realises he's out of his depth. It hits him, "All the ninja skill in the world isn't going to stop those robots. What I really need is, is the other fellas." In a surprising show of self-awareness, Leonardo recognises he overreacted and is not, in fact, better off without his team. I think it's neat that instead of the others having to meet his stress-induced high standards, Leonardo concludes that he needs to put those aside and trust his team. Doubt his doubts before he doubts them. From a trauma standpoint, learning to rely on others is progress, too. See that, Splinter? Your boys can learn to appreciate each other without Machiavellian schemes and abandonment trauma! Ironically, if he held out a little longer, he might not have gotten kidnapped by fake Michelangelo.

But all is well that ends well. In the closing scene, Leonardo apologises for letting his stress make a jerk out of him. He admits they are skilled ninja and sweetly compliments how awesome they are. The guys try to say he was right actually and that things would have been easier if they practiced more, but he insists on relaxing instead of pushing themselves after a long day. I like how this episode doesn't fall into the pattern of everyone realises Leonardo was right all along, instead, Leonardo begins to see their perspective and appreciates them more. In most of the other episodes I looked at, the message is low-key that the others need to get on his level, but this episode says psych, Leonardo makes mistakes, too. They end the episode piled on the couch together to watch bad movies, and I'm very happy for them.

In the 1987 tv series Leonardo is a good leader and team player but "Unidentified Flying Leonardo" demonstrates that alone he is an on-fire trainwreck of a teenage mutant ninja turtle. In this essay I will

[jadethest0ne]

"Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter" was another nice, angsty episode from TMNT '87. But I'd have to hand it to @eternalglitch for forever changing how I view TMNT media, because I couldn't help but think of their fic, Like Father Like Son, while watching this episode about Leonardo and Michelangelo having shock-like devices strapped to them and being forced to fight their brothers by a megalomaniac who wants to control mutants in order to take over the city...

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Hunted

The synopsis for "Man vs. Sewer” is "The TMNT's lazy river ride through the sewers turns savage when Raph's accidentally separated and left alone."

And the new promo gave us this:

Sure, it's possible this image is from a different episode, but no other part of the promo gives off a “savage” vibe.

Who or what is Raph squaring up against?

Perhaps “savage” isn’t necessarily referencing Raph himelf, but rather

DIRK SAVAGE, MUTANT HUNTER!

‘87 Raphael had a particular distaste for him, so perhaps they’ll be enemies again in this incarnation.

I know there are a couple of 2k3 episodes where some jackass hunts mutants for sport, and there are surely more in other incarnations. Since the synopsis references a river, I’m hoping we’ll get to see Leatherhead!

pLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME SEE MY BOY-

Leatherhead was mostly Donnie’s friend in 2k3 and Mikey’s in 2k12, maybe he’ll be Raph’s friend this time around?

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting Raphael edition (Part 2):

Part one can be found here. I really wanted to talk about my favourite little guy but I didn't feel like I had enough space to get all my thoughts down in the last post. So technically the entirety of part 2 is dedicated to 87 Raphael.

When asked who my favourite version of Raphael is, my answer is always a tie between 03 and 87 Raphael. I'm probably biased because they're the versions of Raph I grew up with, well 90s movies Raph is also in there but I really don't remember enough about the movies besides the Ninja Rap scene and I haven't rewatched it yet. The point being, 03 Raph tickles that itch for "more traditional Raphael" while 87 Raphael...I kinda just vibe with the little guy.

At face value he seems about as much of a traditional 'hot head' Raphael as Rise. Neither of them really fit into the "explosive temper" territory as 03, 12, 07 or the original Mirage comic Raph. He's a silly little dude. He likes playing dress-up, stand up comedy, and acting. Of all the versions of Raphael, he's definitely the most 'kid-like'. He's childish, he'll heckle his buddies for laughs, he even tells Shredder to go suck a lemon in the first episode. He's hilarious! But that type of comedy usually ends up getting him, and the other 87 turtles lets be real, into crossovers that horribly mischaracterize the poor kid.

As much as I loved TMNT 03, Turtles Forever is such a disservice to what TMNT 87 was, and who the 87 turtles are. 2012's second crossover with 87 also follows the TMNT 87 hate train, and it's so frustrating as a fan of most TMNT media. I get that the OG cartoon was super silly and tame compared to the others at face value, but every time someone says this I need to remind them it's 1) a cartoon from the 80s, and 2) lowkey really dark the more you think about it.

Such as:

-every time slavery is brought up and a plot for some other planet

-the entirety of the Red Sky seasons

-the humans of TMNT 87 always threatening to eat and or shoot the turtles because they're mutants

-the whole mutant hate sentiment being an allegory for the civil rights movement

But this is a post about Raphael. He's definitely still a funny little dude. But a lot of his humor stems from sarcasm and his cynicism towards the world. Raphael, is well aware humans are not fans of him or his compadres, and often sides with Donatello whenever he and Leonardo get into arguments about helping the humans. Their human friendship circle pretty much just ends with April and that's a dubious friendship at best since they're more or less a bridge towards her next scoop. None of them are really fans of Irma, Casey rarely appears, and the other human characters in the show are usually trying to turn them into kebabs until Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter which already kind of says enough for itself.

This poor kid is honestly the bravest little dude. More often than not he'd rather run from a fight, or push Michelangelo into one for him. He's scared a lot, really giving off those youngest sibling vibes that are rare for Raphael. He's such a little scaredy cat that he his voice will sometimes sound like a squeaky toy. If Turtles Forever was correct about anything, it would be that Raphael would absolutely burst into tears meeting his Mirage counterpart.

But despite this all, Raphael is still probably the bravest version of Raphael they've ever created. Even though he'd rather scram, and read comics or watch TV. Despite knowing humans have it out for him, and will never accept him into their society. Even though he knows every time he saves them it will be a thankless job, Raphael will fight until his last breath. Like every other Raphael, he will protect the people and city he loves because that's who he is!

One of my favourite episodes in TMNT history has to be Raphael vs the Volcano because it really shows who 87 Raphael is as a person. There have already been a few posts about it recently who have all been far more coherant than I ever will be but let's do it anyways.

Raphael vs the Volcano:

-Donatello's latest invention, a health machine, malfunctions leading Raphael to believe he's unhealthy

-after panicking in the sewers a little bit, he goes back to the lair, only to overhear Michelangelo and Donatello lamenting over the loss of their dear friend.

-assuming they're talking about him, and that he only has a day to live, Raphael runs off, deciding that despite the fact the world sucks he's going to use his last day to make the world a better place

-he does a bunch of good deeds, increasing in danger, wearing a musketeer costume while the other turtles and April try to catch him

-some botanist is mad that a rich lady is taking credit for his discovery so he decides to eliminate all organic life on earth...not really important for Raphael's character except the fact he catches wind of this and takes this as his last deed before croaking.

-Raphael literally jumps into a live volcano to get the canister of anti-life juice, only escaping seconds before it erupts because the turtles arrive in time.

-the lesson of the day? don't jump into live volcanoes.

There's so much to unpack about this episode, but it'd mostly be reiterating the same things I said earlier about him. With a time limit on his life Raphael, despite the way he's been treated by the world will let go of his cynicism and crankiness to help people if it benefits everyone else. The kid shakes the moment he realizes it's been a huge misunderstanding and he's perfectly fine. Throughout the episode he's even saying things like "yeah too bad this is gonna be my last day". Like...he is CONVINCED he isn't making it to adulthood. If you think about it, it's basically what the other Raphs are as well, without the super explosive tempers. They're all just good-natured kids who have circumstances weighted against them, but they'll do whatever they can for the safety of their friends and family.

Please PLEASE give the 87 TMNT cartoon a chance if you've never seen it before. I promise it's actually good, and it has some extremely funny episodes.

[turtlethon]

The other one is much later in the show's run, in "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter", when we learn that Shredder continued to experiment on innocent people, over a period of years, to the point where there were so many mutants running around town that a politician could run on an anti-mutant campaign platform.

Do you remember exact dialogue on that? I watched that episode recently and the only thing I remember was that Tokka & Rahzar were stated to be the result of the Shredder experimenting on Zoo Animals, which I assume to be a reference to the Groundchuck and Dirtbag episodes.

As for the other mutants like the Giraffe lady and mutant bird, I assumed they weren't Shredder experiments but just people or animals that got hit by carelessly placed mutagen during the show's shenanigans rather than deliberate experiments.

Also I feel Baxter Stockman's harsh treatment from Shredder and Krang may have been because he was something of an outsider; being coerced into working for them and once trying to betray the Shredder. Rocksteady and Bebop's gangs were thugs that had been working for them to begin with, so I feel they'd get better treatment.

Upon reflection (and going back and watching the opening of the Dirk Savage ep again) I think you're right: the intent seems to be that the events in the zoo during the Turtleoids special have led to the creation of subsequent mutants over a period of a few years. I'm many months removed from watching the show at this point, so I was basing that on what I wrote at the time and my already potentially fuzzy recollections.

Regarding Shredder and the gang (and by extension, Krang/Baxter) I think where you stand on Shredder's willingness to undo their mutations probably depends on how evil you interpret him to be...

This Shredder is presented as a credible ninja master and criminal mastermind, and is the one who mutated the gang members...

This Shredder is considerably less capable, to put it mildly, and if we're being honest more in-line with how he's presented for the bulk of the series. Outside of his feud with Splinter and the Turtles, his desire for world domination seems to be entirely rooted in his own vanity and self-aggrandizement.

His villainy/competence isn't a binary thing IMO, I think it can be charted on a spectrum depending on the era of the show and who's writing, but as a trend it keeps nudging into ineffectual goofball gradually up to the beginning of season eight, when it dramatically swings back in the opposite direction.

On that basis, I think the likelihood of Shredder undoing the mutations of the gang and letting them go depends on which point in the show it actually happens. If we're assuming it's in the window between S1 and S2 then maybe not, but after the S2 opener the way he's presented changes considerably and he seems to be borderline subservient to Krang rather than the two of them being in a fifty-fifty partnership. At that point I could see him just releasing the gang on the basis that he has enough to deal with, and doesn't need them hanging around.

In regards to Krang (and his attempted vaporizing of Baxter), I've long been of the opinion that as an alien warlord he likely places little value on human life, but I kind of like the idea that the presence of Shredder, Rocksteady & Bebop in the Technodrome softens him a bit and prevents him from being a total monster, in part because their incompetence invariably scuppers all of his plans and stops him doing any significant harm in the end. It's notable that he ordered Baxter's execution while Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop were all on Earth, and there was no-one around to reason with him; I don't know if I'd go so far as to say they serve as his conscience, but, y'know... something like that!

[turtlethon]

“Atlantis Awakes”

Season 7, Episode 23 First US Airdate: December 4, 1993

Bebop is declared the King of Atlantis and the Turtles must help a half-man, half-fish to claim his rightful throne.

We’re into the final five episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season seven. “Atlantis Awakes” is credited to David Wise and first aired in a double bill with "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter".

It’s rare to see the Turtles using a vehicle other than their van these days, with even the blimp popping up only occasionally. Today’s show is an exception, with one of the sewer tubes and a new dinghy carrying our heroes around underground. Michaelangelo is on a surfboard and breaks off from the team to travel down a winding tunnel, but winds up losing his footing. He narrowly avoids going over a steep drop when a mysterious figure emerges from the water to save him.

Michaelangelo’s rescuer is a half-man, half-fish called Alim Coelacanth. Providing him with a snappier (and more marketable) name, an astonished Mikey dubs him “Merdude” before reuniting with the other Turtles. The rest of the team find this talk of a fish-man dubious, but Alim emerges from the water to greet them, explaining that he’s from the city of Atlantis. Regular Turtlethon readers will know that the green teens encountered the sunken city first-hand during a visit to Greece in “The Lost Queen of Atlantis”, an episode that aired in the US mere weeks prior to the broadcast of this one. The Turtles seemingly have no memory of such an adventure now, with Raphael dismissing Atlantis as “just a myth”. Apparently either David Wise was unaware of the existence of that episode, or considered its events to be non-canon, which itself is perhaps the best possible indicator that the entire “Vacation in Europe” side-season exists outside of the proper TMNT timeline.

Alim explains to the Turtles that the other Atlanteans are human, with him being the exception; he left the city over 200 years ago in search of others of his own species. This quest has proved unsuccessful, and so he seeks to return to Atlantis, but has lost track of it. The Turtles agree to help Alim return home, and the group swim off together in search of the city.

The Technodrome is rolling around at the bottom of the sea, and Krang has discovered interesting energy readings from a location nearby. Rather than driving the fortress there, Shredder leaves on a scouting mission with Rocksteady and Bebop in an amphibious transport module. The villains are stunned to discover the lost city of Atlantis under a giant dome, and demand to be granted entry. Once inside, the citizens begin bowing upon seeing Bebop, declaring that their “king has come”.

As Alim summons a group of sea creatures for the Turtles to ride so they can keep up with him, the people of Atlantis explain that they’ve waited for generations for the prophecy of a beast man to emerge who will be declared their ruler, and so Bebop is now made their king. Rocksteady is upset at this, wondering why his friend was selected for the role over him. Giving orders doesn’t come easily to Bebop, and so he leans on Shredder for advice as a dissenter called Hepax Lagamina declares this to be a farce; at the suggestion of Shreds, the new king has her dragged away to be clapped in irons.

The Turtles and Alim take an underground passage into the city, emerging in the throne room as Bebop is made king in an official ceremony. A group of spear-wielding men encircle the group as the first act ends.

Act two opens with our heroes attempting to point out that Bebop is no king, before ultimately being forced to retreat into the water; with no breathing equipment, the Atlanteans are unable to pursue them. Later, Rocksteady complains about being passed over for the role of king to a disinterested Shredder as the two discover a room containing a giant jewel. Shredder informs Krang of this discovery, and he suggests it could be used to supercharge the Technodrome’s main cannon. Though the jewel is too heavy for Shredder and Rocksteady to carry on their own, Bebop’s influence will allow them to have the Atlanteans move it instead.

Power is beginning to go to Bebop’s head by the time Shredder returns to address him, and it doesn’t take long before the new king turns his troops against his old boss. Meanwhile Alim explains to the Turtles that the advanced equipment kept in the palace is used to power the Hammer of Atlantis. Before he can expand on its purpose, the group are distracted by cries from a voice nearby. The group find Hepax Lagamina trapped in a jail cell. Upon seeing Alim, she declares that he must be the true beast man the prophecy spoke of, and that he must challenge Bebop for the title in the Atlantean Arena. Before they can break her out, a group of guards approach, and so the Turtles and Alim are forced to escape into the water once more. This time the guards have breathing equipment, and pursue the intruders underwater.

King Bebop has Shredder get down on his knees in deference to him, alongside a now-weeping Rocksteady, who seems to be developing an inferiority complex as he watches his old buddy throw his weight around. Shreds eventually decides he’s had enough. Calling Krang via com-link, he orders that the contents of the former henchman’s room be burned. Bebop is aghast at the thought of his action figures, bubblegum cards and comic books being destroyed. He agrees to carry out Shredder’s mission, and has his troops begin the process of transporting the oversized jewel.

The Turtles battle the royal guards in the waters outside of the city, but find the odds against them. Alim uses his special powers to turn things around, calling on a group of nearby sea creatures to restrain the men. With their path now clear, our heroes head back inside.

Emerging inside the palace, Donnie and Raph split off to confront Shredder, while Leo and Mikey are tasked with freeing Hepax. Alim heads to the throne room, where he confronts Bebop; The King’s advisor Malathor informs him that he must accept this challenge, or he will have to forfeit his crown.

As Leonardo and Michaelangelo battle Rocksteady for control of the keys to Hepax’s cell, Alim and Bebop begin doing battle in the arena. Shredder is confronted by Raphael and Donatello, but uses a laser blaster to bring the roof down upon the Turtles, leaving them in a pile of rubble as act two ends.

It turns out that Raph and Donnie just happened to be standing near a canal outlet while being fired upon, and were able to dip into it to avoid the impact. Though the two are unharmed, they emerge to find Shredder has escaped with the crystal. Elsewhere, Leonardo and Michaelangelo outsmart Rocksteady, trapping him in a neighbouring cell as they free Hepax. The trio head to the arena and offer words of encouragement to Alim: Hepax instructs him to grab the Trident of Power, a weapon mounted nearby, which will only be of use to the true King of Atlantis. He uses the Trident to force Bebop to admit his rule is illegitimate, leading to cheers from the city dwellers. Before Alim can celebrate, Raphael and Donatello arrive to inform him of Shredder’s theft of the jewel, which Hepax explains is the “Star of Atlantis”.

Bebop finds Rocksteady and frees him from his jail cell before tracking down Shredder and asking for his old job back. Shreds has his former henchman get down on his knees and grovel, but soon has bigger issues to deal with, as the Turtles arrive to confront him, accompanied by Alim and Hepax. As a going-away gift, he punctures the protective dome of the city with a blast from his laser weapon before escaping in his module. Alim again uses his psychic powers, this time summoning a giant squid that covers the hole and prevents any further water from getting in.

The Turtles ride a pair of whales as they follow Alim out of the city, preparing for their next move. Meanwhile Shredder’s module arrives at the Technodrome and a group of Foot Soldiers unload the Star of Atlantis. As our heroes approach Krang’s fortress, it dawns upon them that he’s about to use the crystal’s power to open fire upon Atlantis. The group push the eyeball atop the Technodrome out of alignment, leading the blast to miss its target; after retrieving the jewel, our heroes and a group of sea creatures summoned by Alim safely transport it back to the city.

Back in Atlantis, Alim is officially declared king, and announces that Hepax will be his royal councillor. The Turtles are unconvinced by his subsequent speech about this being the start of a new, peaceful era for the Atlanteans, given that Shredder and Krang remain nearby, and their fears turn out to be well-founded: as they speak, the Technodrome is approaching the domed city and about to launch an attack. Alim is unconcerned, as the power of the Hammer of Atlantis is revealed, the large crystal being the energy source for an array of hidden weapons surrounding the city which emerge to open fire on the Technodrome. Shredder and Krang watch as their systems overload, and are forced to make a humiliating retreat.

With the day saved, Alim makes special arrangements to take our heroes home, introducing them to a quartet of giant sea turtles. Upon arriving back in the Lair, Leonardo remarks that the team has had a lot of adventures, “but this one tops ‘em all”. Michaelangelo emerges with a pizza made in Alim’s honour, the “Merdude Special”, covered in seaweed and other maritime items that leave the other Turtles queasy. The “disgusting pizza” ending, once such a fixture in the series that it was getting tiresome, has largely been taken out of rotation at this point; It’s almost nostalgic to see it dusted off for one more go-around.

I mentioned at the outset of this entry that we seldom see the Turtles use a vehicle other than their van these days; new characters popping up to coincide with their introductions to the toy line is also something that doesn’t happen as much as it did in seasons one through five. Alim / Merdude is an exception, having had a toy released a year prior to the broadcast of this adventure. My hunch is that Playmates largely didn’t care about the specifics of what went on in the cartoon by now as its drawing power had long since diminished. Moving forward, the toy line will move away from introducing new characters anyway, instead focusing on different versions of the Turtles (and occasionally Bebop and Rocksteady) with a never-ending array of bizarre gimmicks. This leaves Alim as one of the last members of an old tradition, the Mutant Guest Star of the Week: another of the many half-human, half-animal buddies that the Turtles cosy up to for twenty-two minutes, talk about maybe seeing again one day at the conclusion of the story, and then never speak of again.

Following on from “The Legend of Koji” a few weeks back, this is only the second episode ever to not feature April in any capacity. That story at least allowed Renae Jacobs to take on a different role as one of Shredder’s hired maidens, but here she’s not present at all. April’s absence is understandable as structurally it’d be tough to work her in. There’s very little wiggle room in this adventure, which kicks things off with the introduction of Alim staggeringly quickly; the fact that this is one of only a few of the Saturday morning TMNT episodes to use the shorter thirty second opening title sequence rather than the standard one-minute version is another tell-tale sign of the production team struggling to fit everything into the allocated broadcast time.

We can’t leave this adventure without returning to the thorny issue of this being the second Atlantis TMNT episode to air (for US viewers) in the space of seven weeks. But which is better? It’s no contest really: “The Lost Queen of Atlantis” had some fun stuff going on with the Turtles taking on the Atlantean cult, but it was hampered by the same ropey production values and general mediocrity that the entire Vacation in Europe side-season suffered from. It irks me to no end every time the Turtles speak as if they have no memory of prior adventures, but when it comes down to it an episode with adequate time and money spent on it like this one, from the main writer of the show, will always take precedence over what was effectively a single filler story from an entire side-season that accomplished nothing.

Next time, we’ll see the Punk Frogs and Mondo Gecko return for their final appearances in “Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter”. PLUS: The belated TV debuts of Tokka and Rahzar!

[turtlethon]

Did you ever give any thoughts on Rocksteady and Bebop’s old gang, whom were even seen in mutant form at one point, kinda strange they never reappeared or became action figures: Wingnut could’ve been Scrag for example.

I headcanon they didn’t work out as mutants, so Shredder used the retro mutagen gun to return them to human form and let them go. As you said, it’d fit with his treatment of Rocksteady and Bebop.

It sure seems like the two most likely outcomes for what became of the rest of the gang, in-universe, are:

Shredder undid their mutations and let them go back to their old lives.

Shredder didn't undo their mutations and uncermoniously dumped them back on the streets of New York as-is.

I kinda want to believe Saki isn't completely heartless, but there's a few indicators in the show that have me thinking the second outcome is more likely...

One of them is that in "Shredder & Splintered", even though we see Shredder demonstrate the de-mutation of Scrag at the start of the episode, by the time we get to the final showdown with the Turtles he's back to being a mutant again. Between these scenes is an interesting exchange after Rocksteady and Bebop are defeated, where Krang points out to Shredder that his forces (the mutants) are depleted, suggesting that neither of them considered the rest of the gang a viable threat to the Turtles by that point. My reading of this is that Shredder was intending to continue detaining and possibly experimenting on them purely out of spite.

The other one is much later in the show's run, in "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter", when we learn that Shredder continued to experiment on innocent people, over a period of years, to the point where there were so many mutants running around town that a politician could run on an anti-mutant campaign platform. I could see Shredder eventually reverting Bebop & Rocksteady to their old selves by the time they're all written out of the show simply because they're practically family by that point, the two overgrown children he'd never planned on having, but I'm not sure he'd extend that courtesy to anyone else.

(There is a third outcome, one that I've never seen discussed and which seems to line-up, story wise: that the captive mutants were vaporized by Krang after the Technodrome was sent back to Dimension X, because once he'd been reunited with his rock soldier army he had no use for them. That's what he tried to do to Baxter, for much the same reason. But it's such a gruesome outcome that it almost doesn't bear thinking about!)

The old gang is certainly one of those interesting creative dead ends present in early TMNT, and I wonder if they would have been fleshed out further had the show went down that alternate direction MWS proposed with the Turtles living in the Technodrome with a reformed Baxter, ideas firmly rejected by Eastman & Laird. Maybe in that timeline the gang are freed by the Turtles and also become good guys, maybe they stay affiliated with the Foot Clan, maybe they become a stand-alone group of villains in their own right. So many possibilities!

[jadethest0ne]

TMNT 1987 Must Watch Episode List

If you are looking to watch the 1987 version of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, but aren’t looking to watch ALL 200 episodes, look no further than this list! You may view it either here or on this google doc that I created. It contains all plot or character relevant episodes. Also included is a list of my personal favorite top 10 at the end. Happy viewing!

(and also remember that these are my personal opinions and I am by no means an authority on the subject, just a big fan.)

Key:

Bold - Plot important episodes Italic - Introduces a franchise-significant character (character in parenthesis) Star * - a personal favorite of mine (see “top 10 favorite episodes”)

Number of episodes out of the total: 79 / 200

Season 1 (5)

* All of season 1! If you don’t want to watch anything else, watch this season! It’s only 5 episodes, telling a self-contained story, and it feels like its own thing. If you just want a quick idea for this incarnation and for the franchise as a whole. Watch this season. Out of all the seasons, it’s my personal fave. *

Season 2 (5)

Return of the Shredder Enter: The Fly (Baxter Stockman mutated) Invasion of the Punk Frogs (the Punk Frogs) * Splinter No More * Return of the Technodrome

Season 3 (17)

Turtles on Trial The Maltese Hamster * The Old Switcheroo The Fifth Turtle (Zach) Enter the Rat King (Rat King) * Take Me to Your Leader * Cowabunga Shredhead Casey Jones Outlaw Hero (Casey Jones) Corporate Raiders from Dimension X Pizza by the Shred Beware the Lotus (Lotus - a precursor to Karai) Usagi Yojimbo (Miyamoto Usagi) Usagi Come Home The Gang’s All Here * The Big Rip Off The Big Break In The Big Blow Out

Season 4 (10)

Plan 6 From Outer Space The Dimension X Story Raphael Meets His Match (Mona Lisa) Slash - The Evil Turtle from Dimension X (Slash) Leonardo Lightens Up Back to the Egg * Donatello Makes Time Farewell Lotus Blossom What’s Michelangelo Good For? Splinter Vanishes

Season 5 (9)

My Brother, The Bad Guy Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko (Mondo Gecko) * Donatello’s Badd Time Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps Raphael Versus The Volcano Donatello’s Duplicate Leonardo Cuts Loose Planet of the Turtleoids Part 1 and 2

Season 6 (5)

Rock around the Block Krangestein Lives Adventures in Turtle-Sitting Donatello Trashes Slash Snakes Alive!

Season 7 (7)

Night of the Dark Turtle (Triceratons) * Legend of Koji Night of Rogues Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter * Invasion of the Krangazoids Combat Land Shredder Triumphant

Seasons 8-10 (21)

These are the “Red Sky Seasons” and have a very different style of art and storytelling. A touch darker, and a lot more serial than episodic. These 3 seasons largely tell a complete story and finish up the show. I’d recommend watching all of them EXCEPT for these skippable episodes: S9E6 “Split Second” S10 E6 “Mobster from Dimension X” S10E7 “The Day the Earth Disappeared”

Top 10 Personal Favorite Episodes

#10 The Gang’s All Here - To my knowledge this is the only instance in the entire franchise where one of the turtles turns human. It’s not the best episode, but it deserves a spot on this list just for that. I find this one really interesting because up until this point throughout the series Michelangelo has shown hints of maybe wanting a normal human life, and he finally gets his wish in this one…

#9 Invasion of the Punk Frogs - The Shredder takes four mutant frogs and attempts to train them to combat the turtles. He gives them more traditionally violent weapons and “villainous” names (Attila, Napoleon, Genghis, and Rasputin), and tries to use them for his own evil gain. But their true nature is sweet-hearted goodness and they end up befriending the turtles instead. I enjoy the laid back frogs and their earnest nature, and the origin story of “made for evil, but ends up doing good” is a favorite trope of mine. These guys come back from time to time in the ‘87 series, and I think they make a fun addition to the turtles’ list of allies.

#8 Take Me to Your Leader - Leonardo doubts his abilities as leader, prompting each of the other three turtles to try their hand at leading. An interesting concept, executed quite well. Also refreshingly different from how I think other versions would handle it (for one, Raphael doesn’t want to be leader). It’s a nice look into each of the turtles’ motives, strengths, insecurities, and flaws.

#7 Splinter No More - What if Donnie found a retro mutagen and allowed Splinter to become Hamato Yoshi, once again? That’s what this episode explores. It’s one of the first times that the show really explores Splinter’s take on his own mutation and how the turtles think of themselves and their mutation. I like the focus on the relationship between Splinter and the turtles in this one.

#6 Enter the Rat King - Rat King is my favorite secondary villain in this series, and this is his intro episode. He’s not really in most of it, with the episode favoring a slow and creepy build-up to his appearance. I like the tone shift and slight mystery aspect of this one. It’s also yet another good episode that focuses on the turtles’ and Splinter’s relationship, as it is put to the test when the Rat King’s main ability is to control rats…

#5 Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter - Someone hires a mercenary to start rounding up all mutants whether or not they are good or bad. Leonardo and Michelangelo get captured and are forced to fight their brothers. This one brings up the prejudice the turtles face as mutants, as well as has the always intense “forced-to-fight-on-the-villain’s-side” trope.

#4 Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko - Michelangelo starts having dreams of someone else present at their mutation. That someone else turns out to be a gecko mutant who’s being manipulated by a villain. This one showcases Michelangelo’s pure heart and ability to befriend even those who start out as enemies (and also his ability to have premonition dreams?). Cool origin story for Mondo Gecko and his relationship with the turtles, and an excellent Mikey-focused episode.

#3 The Maltese Hamster - After a couple of seasons of the turtles largely sharing the action, this was one of the first episodes that focused on a single turtle. It involves Donatello somewhat playing the role of a gritty detective, but his play-acting turns a bit too real when some mobsters kidnap his brothers and Splinter and he has to get them back by himself. It leans a bit angstier than most of these early episodes and it spurred me to create my first artwork for the show. Also, April pies a mobster in the face and shows off some sharp-shooting abilities, so that’s pretty rad as well!

#2 Night of the Dark Turtle - This one has a lot of stuff going on. The Triceratons are invading, and meanwhile, a device created by Shredder accidentally messes with Donatello’s personality, turning him to a much darker vigilante bent on revenge. Though a little campy considering Donatello’s new get-up is heavily Batman-inspired, it’s one of the first episodes with a much darker edge to it. The tension is also excellent, with the threat of Shredder, the Triceratons, AND a potentially evil Donatello all causing trouble at the same time.

#1 Back to the Egg - Leonardo and Michelangelo get turned back into 5-year-olds and Raphael and Donatello have to play big brothers to the now rambunctious trouble magnets. This contains some of my favorite character dynamics in the show, and is incredibly adorable. I think it does a better job of the concept than an episode with a similar premise “Adventures in Turtle-Sitting”, simply because I think it uses the plot device better and has more fun interactions between the turtles. This one makes the top spot solely because it has my personal favorite character duos in play, those being Raph-Donnie and Leo-Mikey; I always enjoy their team-ups!