ENTER: THE FLY

01PLOT

The TMNT are flying in their blimp over New York City, searching for Shredder. April said that Shredder was seen on the roof on one of the two World Trade Center buildings. The Turtles find him and Baxter Stockman attempting unsuccessfully to operate a forcefield generator between the two towers. Unfortunately for Baxter, he messes it up and the generator explodes. As the Turtles approach, Shredder spots them and immediately flees.

As the Turtles try to figure out what Shredder is up to, the villain and his sidekick are on a garbage barge, where they are contacting "that hateful bag of brains, Krang." Shredder has to beg Krang to send Bebop and Rocksteady back to Earth, hoping that brawn would work instead of Baxter's brains. But Krang says that the inter dimensional energy balance is fragile, and thus someone must be sent to Dimension X in exchange. Unsurprisingly, he flings Baxter into the portal just as the two mutants come through.

At Channel 6, April is delivered a potted plant with a "strange fragrance." Irma speculates that it's from the Turtles, which April doesn't think is likely. Of course, it's from Shredder instead.

April is coming up with ways to let down the Turtles when she encounters Splinter. He recognizes the plant as a doku plant, and immediately throws it in the trash. He demands to know if she smelled the blossoms, only for her to faint.

In Dimension X, Krang has Baxter thrown into the Disintegration Unit, since he has no use for Baxter's scientific knowledge. A fly from the barge also finds its way inside. The Disintegrator Unit malfunctions as the fly lands on Baxter, fusing them into one creature. Baxter is now a massive fly, and promptly flies back through the portal to Earth.

Meanwhile, the Turtles return home to find Splinter caring for a comatose April. He tells them that the doku plant's fragrance is deadly, and April will die by nightfall if they don't make an antidote with the leaves of a gazai plant.

Meanwhile, Krang contacts Shredder at his hideout and informs him about Baxter's transformation into a fly and his escape through the portal.

The Turtles head for a plant nursery that specializes in odd plants, only to be shot at by the revenge-crazed Baxter. They escape into the sewer just as Baxter also vows vengeance on Shredder, blaming him for turning him into a fly.

Baxter does indeed attack Shredder but is shot down by Bebop and Rocksteady. Shredder takes advantage of his confused state of mind, and convinces Baxter that the Turtles are responsible for his transformation. He promises that Baxter will have his revenge if he finds the Turtles. In the meantime, Shredder tests one of Baxter's last inventions on the two mutant henchmen: a spider-shaped robot that he names the Knucklehead.

The Turtles do indeed locate the only gazai plant in the Western hemisphere and successfully purchase it, but Baxter finds them and attacks, just in time for Shredder to arrive. He uses the Knucklehead to attack Donatello, and springs Rocksteady and Bebop on them as well. However, Leonardo manages to turn the fight around, destroying Knucklehead and retreating to the Turtle Blimp. They barely manage to escape, but Leonardo accidentally drops the gazai plant, and Baxter grabs it in mid-air.

Shredder patches into the Turtlecoms' frequency to invite them to a fight to the death, and the victor gets the gazai plant. The Turtles know that Shredder won't fight fair, but Leonardo has an idea of how to even the odds.

Baxter is ordering Rocksteady and Bebop to set up a pair of electrodes in an abandoned wrecking yard; anyone who steps between them will be zapped a microsecond forward in time, which will make them out of sync with the rest of the world. When the Turtles arrive, Rocksteady, Bebop and Baxter start herding them back towards the electrodes.

But before anything can happen, Splinter drives the Turtle Van into the junkyard and blasts at Shredder and his goons. Raphael catches the gazai plant, but as Baxter chases him, he flies directly between the electrodes and vanishes.

Back at the Turtles' lair, Splinter mixes the antidote and gives it April. Within moments, she recovers completely. The remaining unused gazai leaves are used ultimately by Michelangelo as a topping for pizza, much to the other Turtles' disgust.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

04SCREEN GRABS

9 frames. Screencaps via Turtlepedia (CC BY-SA).

05MEMORABLE QUOTES

Baxter: (buzzes) Why are you attacking meeee!

Shredder: Why are you attacking _me_? I thought we were friends!

Baxter: (buzzes) Some friends! (pointing to Bebop and Rocksteady) You always liked these mutants better! Besides, it's your fault that I'm this hideous, hairy-legged monsteeerr!

Shredder: No, no. It was all the Turtles fault! Don't you remember?

Shredder: The Turtles sent you to Dimension X. _They_ are the enemy!

Baxter: That'szz right! We used to fight the Turtles togetherrrr.

Shredder: And together we will fight them again. Find them, and you shall have your revenge!

Shredder: Not a bad test if I do say so myself!

Shredder: One of Baxter's inventions before his unfortunate er, accident. (pointing at Rocksteady) I think I'll name it after you.

Rocksteady: _(welling up)_ Gee, Thanks Boss!

Shredder: I'll call it the "Knucklehead".

06TRIVIA

• This episode was influenced by the 1986 film remake _The Fly_, starring Jeff Goldblum, a movie in which a teleporter accident turns a man into a grotesque fly-human hybrid.
• When Shredder attacks the Turtles after they obtain the Gazai Plant, Donatello uses a move similar to his special move from the game _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time_ to knock him down.
• Baxter's line, where he claims he should have "reversed the polarity of the neutron flow", is a reference to the catchphrase employed by the third incarnation of the title character of the British science fiction television series _Doctor Who_.
• Baxter's role is reduced to a recurring guest star from this episode onwards. Bebop and Rocksteady rejoin Shredder as series regulars.
• The Doku Plant and the Gazai Plant must be related, since they resemble each other.
• This is the first time that Splinter drives the Turtle Van and is also one of the rare occasions in the series that the Turtle Van's roof mounted laser blasters are used.
• When Shredder and the mutants are searching the sky for Baxter on the rooftop there is a close-up paused shot of Shredder from the battle against Knucklehead later on.
• After the Knucklehead ties up Rocksteady the shot of Shredder tapping the control panel earlier is replayed but is zoomed in partially on Bebop.
• As the Turtle Blimp deflates Donatello suggests that the turtles don their "Turtle Trooper Parachute Packs". This device was a loose interpretation of the Playmates Toys vehicle accessory, now while the toy had a helmet/visor, control handles, adjustable speed fins with anti Foot blasters (for pretend firing) attached to a seat added to the 22" opening chute, the animated counterpart was just a parachute pack with orange and green striped pattern.
• The Knucklehead's design varies in this episode to that of the toy which is controlled by a Foot member riding aboard it, whereas this version is controlled via a remote control device. The Knucklehead will return in "Casey Jones - Outlaw Hero" in a larger form piloted by Krang.
• First appearance of Baxter Stockman as a fly and the last appearance of Baxter Stockman as a human.
• For some unknown reasons Baxter's lab coat and shoes are gone after his mutation, making his feet bare.
• Krang mistakes the Turtles for amphibians.
• "Doku" translates to "poison" in Japanese.

07HOME MEDIA

08FAN REVIEW

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