Enter The Fly

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Enter: The Fly is episode 12 in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. It is the seventh episode of season 2 (1988). This episode originally aired on November 12, 1988, in syndication. It is available on the DVD box set released on April 26, 2005.

Plot Summary
The TMNT are flying in their blimp over New York City, searching for Shredder. April O'Neil said that Shredder was seen on the roof on one of the two World Trade Center buildings, where the TMNT find Shredder and Baxter Stockman attempting unsuccessfully to operate some unnamed energy weapon. Upon spotting the Turtles' arial approach, Shredder and Baxter make a hasty escape.

Failing once again to destroy the Turtles, Shredder blames Baxter Stockman. When they both are on barge where a lot of flies are swarming, Shredder contacts Krang and asks him to send Bebop and Rocksteady back to Earth. Krang declares that there is an imbalance that requires someone to travel back to Dimension X in exchange - naturally, Shredder throws Baxter Stockman through the dimensional portal. A fly also enters the dimensional portal and arrives in Dimension X. Krang decides to kill Baxter Stockman by having him thrown by two stone warriors into a sealed chamber called the Disintegrator Unit. However, the chamber's machinery malfunctions and fuses Baxter Stockman with a fly that followed him from the barge through the portal. Shortly after accident the disintegrator exlodes, freeing the newly formed genetic-hybrid who proceeds to reopen the dimensional portal and return to Earth.

Meanwhile Shredder forces a man to deliver a strange bouquet of flowers to April O'Neil at Channel 6. There is no card on the flowers. Irma asks April if the turtles sent it and April doesn't answer. Later, April goes to the TMNTs sewer lair. Splinter throws the bouquet in a dustbin and asks April if she has inhaled the fragrance. April says yes, and then faints into Splinter's arms. When the turtles arrive, Splinter explains that April has been sent a rare Far Eastern Doku plant and that its fragrance causes death. The only antidote is the leaf of a Gazai plant which April needs to survive the coming night. The Turtles go up to a local nursery, specializing in rare and exotic plants, where they are attacked by Baxter Stockman. The turtles escape and head back into the sewers to continue their hunt for a Gazai plant.

Baxter Stockman tries to find Shredder and seek his revenge against him, but when he does, Shredder takes advantage of his confused state of mind, and convinces Baxter that the turtles are responsible for his transformation.

Meanwhile, the turtles locate a nursery there they buy the only Gazai plant in the Western Hemisphere, but lose it after a fighter with Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Bebop and Rocksteady, who use the robot Knucklehead. The turtles head home to the sewers without thee Gazai.

Shredder uses his communicator to call the turtles and invites them to meet and fight to the death for the Gazai plant. Even though the turtles believe Shredder will use some tricks, they agree.

A short time later, the turtles arrive at a deserted wrecking yard. Shredder and Baxter Stockman have prepared a trap. The plan is to herd the turtles between two electrode posts that are designed to send anyone who passes through them a microsecond into the future, causing them to be out of sync with the rest of the world. But plan fails when Splinter arrives in the TurtleVan and uses the laser guns on the Turtle Van to shoot the Gazai plant out of Shredder's hand. In the confusion, Baxter Stockman flies through the elecrode and disappears. Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady escape.

Back at the turtles' lair, Splinter mixes the antidote and gives it April. Within moments, she recovers. The remaining unused Gazai leaves are used ultimately by Michaelangelo as the base for a pizza sauce much to the other turtles' disgust.

Character voices

 * Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
 * Donatello (Barry Gordon)
 * Michaelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
 * Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
 * Splinter (Peter Renaday)
 * April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
 * Irma Langinstein (Jennifer Darling)
 * Shredder (James Avery)
 * Krang (Pat Fraley)
 * Baxter Stockman (Pat Fraley)
 * Bebop (Barry Gordon)
 * Rocksteady (Cam Clarke)
 * Flower Delivery Guy (Barry Gordon)
 * Nursery Owner (Rob Paulsen)

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?

Baxter: The Turtleszzz? But I thought...

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!


 * - For a scientist, Baxter's pretty gullible, isn't he?

Rocksteady: Is this where you want me to stand, Boss?

Shredder: Exactly! Just hold that pose.

(Shreddder produces a handheld remote control device which activates a large spider-like robot which wraps Rocksteady in ropes.)

Rocksteady: Hey! Whatcha doin' (growls) Boss!

(The robot them hangs Rocksteady upside down from the rafters)

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

Rocksteady: Hey! I passed a te-est!!

Bebop: What is dat ting boss?

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".


 * - Shredder isn't exactly subtle about what he thinks of his lackeys, is he?

Shredder: Your plan is to lure the Turtles between these? What do these two towers do?

Baxter: It sends anyone who comes between them one microsecond forward in time.

Shredder: Thus rendering them out of phase with the rest of the world. Brilliant!


 * - TIME TRAVEL DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

Shredder: "Ohh you cretins! Now look what you've done!!"

Rocksteady: W-w-w-we didn't know he was gonna do that!!

Bebop: Uh, We don't even know what "cretins" means!


 * - Shredder scolds his lackeys while Bebop has no clue what he's talking about.

Animation Errors

 * After Leonardo slices a thrown pizza in the air, Donatello is seen with Michelangelo's colours.
 * Throughout the episode, Krang's visor, shoulder pads and suspenders are dark grey.
 * When Shredder unleashes the Knucklehead on the Turtles he has bare legs.
 * When Leonardo undoes the valve on the Turtle Blimp his plastron is green.
 * Donatello's Turtlecom is grey when Shredder hacks into the Turtles' frequency.
 * When the Turtles contact Splinter, his Turtlecom is a white powder compact version of April's.
 * When Shredder and the mutants are up on the rooftop looking for Baxter, Rocksteady has a blue hip pack instead of his usual turtle shell.
 * Rocksteady's dagger sheath is missing when he and Shredder and Bebop are chasing after the Turtles before they jump onto the Blimp.
 * The doku plant and the gasai leaf are the same.
 * When Rocksteady is finishing placing the garbage onto the molecular needles, his head is coloured brown.
 * The blades on Shredder's shin guards are upside down when the Turtles first spot him at the garbage dump.

Continuity Errors

 * The Gazai plant inexplicably disappears during the battle against Shredder and the Knucklehead, though it can be explained away as Leo putting it safely aside until the tension wore off.
 * The Gazai plant and Doku plant look strikingly similar.
 * When Rocksteady says "Is this where you want me to stand boss?" as Shredder is testing the Knucklehead on him, Rocksteady is wearing army pants, but when the camera goes back to him his pants are plain as usual.  The only time Rocksteady wore army pants in the whole series was the first season/5-part pilot episode.
 * Baxter has to be sent to Dimension X in exchange for Rocksteady and Bebop, due to the "dimensional balance" being "very fragile at the moment". Yet, after being trans-mutated, his return to Earth does not seem to cause any problems. (Neither does the return of the entire Technodrome a few episodes later, for that matter).

Trivia

 * This episode was influenced by the 1986 film remake of The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum.
 * When Shredder attacks the Turtles after they obtain the Gazai Plant, Donatello uses a move similar to his special move from the game 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 Turtlevan and is also one of the rare occasions that the Turtlevan'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 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.

Locations

 * Turtles' Lair
 * World Trade Center
 * Garbage Boat
 * Shredder's hideout
 * Channel 6
 * City Dump
 * City Nursery
 * Landmark City

Vehicles

 * TurtleVan
 * Turtle Blimp
 * Cheese Van
 * Knucklehead