The Demo Site

originally posted January 28, 2007

by Undrave

Hello to all the GKA Times’ readers! I am Undrave the newest member of this fine team. It’s an honor to be given a chance to write for you all! I’m a Cinema student from the province of Quebec in Canada (yes that means my native language is French and not English, so please don’t be too harsh if I make mistakes). I’m a fan of any Henshin Hero including Power Rangers, anime, manga, animation in general, good movies and good sci-fi TV in general. Beyond my studies in Cinema I’ve done some History (basic), know quite a lot about mythology and I even took an initiation course in Mandarin! I don’t always have access to the latest stuff, but I know what I like and I have the background to explain why.

As I said I don’t always have access to the latest stuff. For example I don’t have the hardware to download torrents, I’m lucky to watch stuff on Youtube. When it comes to TV it’s no better. Being Canadian I don’t get channels like Cartoon Network or Disney, and for some reason my neck of the wood can’t get YTV even though it’s available everywhere else in the province. I have to wait for ABC Kids to air it to watch Power Rangers, and half the year it gets pre-empted by some stupid sport competition like football or golf. Luckily I still got Teletoon (I also have Vrak.TV for many of YTV’s and Nick’s original programming but that’s another story altogether). I know the network doesn’t have a good reputation, even though it’s been picking up awesome shows in the last few years, but that applies only to the English side. In fact thanks to the French version of the network I was recently able to catch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode ‘Insane in the Membrane’, an episode that was never aired on 4KidsTV! So for my first article I decided I’d review that particular episode. Be aware that there is spoilers ahead!

The episode begins with a bone-chilling narration by Baxter Stockman telling us of his downfall and how he ended up as nothing but a brain in a jar. The part about him being chopped apart piece by piece is emphasized by a shot of Hun with a sadistic grin holding instruments that would make an Inquisition interrogator jealous. After the opening we learn that, against Agent Bishop’s advices, Stockman is moving up ahead with his plan to clone himself a new body using the same technique Bishop used. While he waits for the mind transfer we get treated to a flashback to Baxter’s childhood. These childhood flashbacks will return periodically throughout the episode. We learn that he was a very smart child, but came from a poor family. His single (apparently) mother had to have two jobs to make end’s meet. Stockman is elated to get his new body and his enthusiasm is very well transmitted to the viewers. You truly feel happy for him… although I could have done without the scenes of Baxter walking around Area 51 with nothing but techno panties on. Soon though, things go sour and his new body starts to deteriorate, to the point where he has to re-attach his arm with metal! His mind follows his body as the desperation makes him sink slowly into madness. Expecting his end to come soon Stockman wants revenge on the person responsible for all his ‘bad luck’. Not Shredder or Hun, not even the Turtles… he wants to make April O’Neil pay! The one who disrupted his mouser plan. Blaming her for everything that went wrong Baxter steals one of Bishop’s helicopter and flies off to New-York! I won’t tell what happens next, but let’s just say that Stockman ends up at the bottom of the river and everybody, including the viewer, is lead to believe he will finally rest in peace. Sadly, as anybody who saw the following episode knows, that will not be the case… but we’re getting ahead here. We also learn that Stockman’s mother died of illness when he was still young.

This episode was simply amazing in term of emotional impact. It was a serious episode and one of the best of the series for sure. You go through all the emotions that Baxter went through alongside him. You can’t help but feel bad for this man who made a few wrong decisions and then got dealt a crummy, or rather horrible, hand by fate, taking away the bright future his mother foresaw for him. The childhood scenes were also quite touching. The Turtles and friends only had short involvement but it was effective and in character for them. Now this episode was not perfect. The action for example is minimal and felt rather unimpressive compared to what this series has gotten us used to. It also seems like April completely forgot her training with Splinter, becoming nearly defenseless. Bishop looks completely disinterested with Stockman’s plight, disappearing halfway through the episode without a single ‘I told you so’, even though he considers him an invaluable asset to the point of fishing him out of the river in the following episode. He also doesn’t seem alarmed to loose one of his chopper. Basically it feels like everybody but Stockman is underused or out of character, but considering the purpose of this episode it’s excusable. It is HIS episode after all.

In the end though this episode is still great and worth the watch. I recommend to all fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to make sure to catch this episode if given the chance.
Well that’s it for me for today, hoped ya liked it! In the meantime, keep your blood boiling!