Comic Vine News

35 Comments

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Episode 1.05 'I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman' Review

Michelangelo takes center stage in yet another hilarious and very entertaining episode.

Beware!  There's spoilers in here, dude! 
 
The brand new Nickelodeon show had an excellent pilot, managing to strike the perfect tone to please both new and old fans.  The Turtles feel familiar, but the new look, side cast and sharp humor gives the program a fresh feel to it.  So, has the CGI take on the Turtles been able to hold up since the 1 hour premiere?  Thankfully, the answer is yes!
   
This week's episode places a key focus on Michelangelo and a much more comedic version of Baxter Stockman... or as Mikey eventually calls him, the "Stockmanpod."  Bringing back classic franchise characters always delivers a nice dose of nostalgia and he is indeed loosely linked to T.C.R.I., so there's potential for him to play a bigger role in the future.  Executive Producer Ciro Nieli is a big fan of the Mirage comics, so I'm certain we'll be seeing even more familiar faces soon enough.
 
The orange masked turtle's disruptive skateboarding in the lair causes Splinter to ground the team.  It's especially amusing to see how Mikey's antics can be contagious and result in the entire team being dragged down with him.  In their boredom, Donny uses some stolen military technology to create a "tpod" (turtle ipod!) and, as expected, Michelangelo is the first one to give it a listen.  Unfortunately for him,  he suffers a heavy dose of polka music before switching songs.  When he does finally switch to a tune he likes, the resulting dance sequence (and his teammate's observation of him) is pretty funny stuff.  A song or two later and the team disobeys Splinter and leaves the lair -- despite Leonardo trying his best to be the boy scoutish leader.  His over the top effort to be a brave leader is sure to induce a few laughs through the episode, especially as Raph calls him out on it.  

Enjoying the freedom of the surface, the team randomly stumbles upon the classic character, Baxter Stockman.  He's sporting a rather shoddy armor and is seeking revenge against his former employers.  He has a wounded ego and he's simply tired of being tossed around his whole life.  It's just too bad he's about to undergo yet another defeat.  The Turtles swiftly humiliate him and toss him in the garbage bin (which will soon become an on-going theme).  However, Mikey says he can't be trusted with nice things, and that holds true as he leaves the advanced tpod behind.  This seemingly harmless music player then give Stockman one heck of an upgrade, and so begins the team's struggle in defeating the massively powerful villain.
No Caption Provided
Once again, Splinter's advice proves to be hysterical as he often delivers somewhat mixed messages which tend to go over their heads at first.  "The first rule of being a ninja is do no harm.  Unless you mean to do harm.  Then do lots of harm!"  Mikey has the spotlight here, but each character has a moment for their personality to shine.  Raphael once again thinks punching stuff will solve the problem, Leonardo oozes cheesiness as he finds inspiration from a poorly written cartoon, and Donatello displays his intellect and has a few entertaining acts of frustration with his immature brother. 
  
While the action is never brutal (come on, it's a kids show after all), it still manages to be incredibly fun.  It's highly stylized and a blast to watch each character take on Stockman... only to be tossed around.  Their first battle against the upgraded villain is absolutely the highlight of this episode.  It kicks off with a really funny scene where Stockman struggles to come up with a villainous name (ironically an area where Mikey excels).  Personally, I thought "Captain Punch You Hard!" was a great choice.  Anyway, the battle itself is a nice mesh of impressive skill (from Leo), jaw dropping strikes (from Stockman) and hilarity as part of the armor latches to Leo's head as he runs around like a madman.   
 
'I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman' is yet another impressively enjoyable episode.  I'll confess that I was skeptical at first about the show (it looked geared towards only a younger audience), but thankfully it is consistently proving that initial opinion wrong.  It's surprisingly well written, hilarious, action packed, and best of all, makes me feel like a kid again.  It's a good time and I absolutely recommend checking it out.  
 
Next week: Metal-Head and more Kraang speak!

35 Comments

Avatar image for inverno
Inverno

13756

Forum Posts

8579

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 14

User Lists: 6

Edited By Inverno

Now I am very curious.

Avatar image for twentyfive
Twentyfive

3057

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Twentyfive

This show is too good. Best Ninja Turtles in 2 decades.

Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

LOVE the new show, I was totally sceptical when I first seen the previews but it's actually really good 

Avatar image for bluelantern1995
BlueLantern1995

3237

Forum Posts

7086

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 26

Edited By BlueLantern1995

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

LOVE the new show, I was totally skeptical when I first seen the previews but it's actually really good
Avatar image for redheadedatrocitus
RedheadedAtrocitus

6958

Forum Posts

8982

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 3

I may actually start getting into this now. Wonderful review there!

Avatar image for misterketch
MisterKetch

254

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By MisterKetch

I finally gave this a shot this morning, idk really not sold. The CGI isn't nearly as bad as GL it's watchable at the least (human faces) and fitting at the best (the turtles). I really did not care for Baxter though at all, I don't read or ever have read the comics so maybe he's portrayed as an idiot there but I knew him from the 2000's reboot of the turtles cartoon which I still like better (at least the first season or two) where he was an evil genius found him far more interesting of a villain. It just seems way to cartoony to me still, I didn't hate watching it but idk felt pretty obvious that I'm not there demographic of young kids and the writing seems to pretty exclusively go after that.

Avatar image for mattwing87
mattwing87

441

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By mattwing87

Today's episode was hilarious!

Raph: Maybe he's going to church?

Leo: What church lets you dress like a robot?

Mikey: A really awesome one!

Avatar image for jointron33
jointron33

2107

Forum Posts

69

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 12

Edited By jointron33

yeah........the second they chose to make this kiddy, the second I knew it would suck.

Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

Edited By Jonny_Anonymous
@jointron33 said:
yeah........the second they chose to make this kiddy, the second I knew it would suck.
funny thing is it's neither of those 
Avatar image for destinyhero20
Destinyhero20

458

Forum Posts

102993

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Destinyhero20

I loving the new TMNT

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator
@Jonny_Anonymous said:

LOVE the new show, I was totally sceptical when I first seen the previews but it's actually really good 

We're in the same boat, man.  Happy to hear you're also loving it! 
  
@RedheadedAtrocitus said:

I may actually start getting into this now. Wonderful review there!

You're too kind! 
 
@mattwing87 said:

Today's episode was hilarious!

Raph: Maybe he's going to church?

Leo: What church lets you dress like a robot?

Mikey: A really awesome one!

That line gave me a solid laugh too! 
 
@CaioTrubat said:

Now I am very curious.

No harm in trying, right?  They have the first few episodes on their site.  Check out Rise of the Turtles p1 -- and if you like it, finished it w/ part 2.  (premiered as a 1 hour episode at the time)
http://www.nick.com/videos/ninja-turtles-videos
Avatar image for thetimestreamer
theTimeStreamer

2845

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

Edited By theTimeStreamer

the style still doesnt gets to the yard. as for a previous comment best in 2 decades? HELLS NO. TMNT was and IS the best turtles tv show.

Avatar image for docfishstick
DocFishstick

242

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By DocFishstick

i can say that this is the best TMNT cartoon remake. it makes me think about the old one i grew up with. this is how you update a cartoon for new kids to fall in love with and for old kids to fall in love all over again.

Avatar image for lvenger
Lvenger

36475

Forum Posts

899

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 50

User Lists: 18

Edited By Lvenger

It's getting better but it's still not a patch on the 2003 series. Still it's good for a chuckle and satisfying my recent TMNT craze. One of the things I think it does well is actually portray the Turtles as teenagers. The 80s series was pretty childish and although the 2003 series was the best, the Turtles acted like college or post graduation students. In this series, the dynamic is balanced between kid friendliness and some maturity though at the moment it is teetering more on the kiddy side.

Awesome review by the way!

Avatar image for shadowinfinite
KRYPTON

2425

Forum Posts

67099

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 3

Edited By KRYPTON

A great show with an awesome voice cast, keeps getting better with each episode

Avatar image for tdk_1997
TDK_1997

20456

Forum Posts

60093

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 153

User Lists: 13

Edited By TDK_1997

I still haven't watched the episode but I think I am going to like it because I loved all of the previous episodes.

Avatar image for fluffypigeons
fluffypigeons

259

Forum Posts

25

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By fluffypigeons

the only word i can think of is........ awesome

Avatar image for fluffypigeons
fluffypigeons

259

Forum Posts

25

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By fluffypigeons

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

LOVE the new show, I was totally sceptical when I first seen the previews but it's actually really good

@KRYPTON said:

A great show with an awesome voice cast, keeps getting better with each episode

@DocFishstick said:

i can say that this is the best TMNT cartoon remake. it makes me think about the old one i grew up with. this is how you update a cartoon for new kids to fall in love with and for old kids to fall in love all over again.

i agree with all this some much :)

Avatar image for nakobass
nakobass

56

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By nakobass

I watched the original back in 1987 and loved it, and I have to admit, I like this better then all the others that came before. A+++

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator
@Lvenger: Thanks!
Avatar image for planewalker
Planewalker

357

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By Planewalker

I loved this show way better than the 80s version which I used to watch when I was a kid...

Avatar image for gr2blackout
GR2Blackout

2931

Forum Posts

123

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 15

User Lists: 63

Edited By GR2Blackout

I just stopped watching the show. I think it sucks.

Avatar image for guardiandevil83
Guardiandevil83

9481

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Guardiandevil83

I think this show is awesome, and with Shredder in the game, the show will most likely get ''darker" right now though, it's just an intro into who these people are, and giving a glimpse into their early training. I love that this show is basically a prequel to the 2003 Tmnt series (as I look at it any way) it's their early years, they are not the trained and experienced Shinobi we know them as. Great show, and I will continue to watch it until I feel otherwise.

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@GR2Blackout: Sorry to hear that. What don't you like about it?

@Guardiandevil83: Yeah, definitely excited to see if they'll mature as time goes on.

Avatar image for crom_cruach
Crom-Cruach

8935

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Crom-Cruach

@Twentyfive said:

This show is too good. Best Ninja Turtles in 2 decades.

The 2003 series before it got rebooted/rapped with the fast forward arc blows the new series out of the water

Avatar image for geekasms
Geekasms

1

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Geekasms

I liked how there were callbacks to the mousers, I'm really curious to see if we don't see a return of Baxter Stockman and his mousers at some point.

Avatar image for armylife1124
armylife1124

1015

Forum Posts

3018

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By armylife1124

I am an absolute fan of this show, I remember watching the original, and while that one will hold a place in my heart as my fist foray into TMNT, this show is doing the team justice. Also equally awesome, I have a 5 year old son who is watching the show with me and loving it as well! Don't compare this to the older shows, just love it for what it is!!!!!!

Avatar image for reignmaker
reignmaker

2484

Forum Posts

25

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 4

Edited By reignmaker

This is a good example of how I like my cartoons: geared towards kids but with frequent references that adults can enjoy.

It's probably just me, but I've always felt ridiculous watching cartoons specifically made for adults.

Avatar image for dedpool
Dedpool

692

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Dedpool

I'm liking this so far, which i'm surprised and pelased at. Loved the last few series though as well "TMNT," "Fast Forward, and "Back to the Sewers," were pretty good, and they took ALOT from the original Ninja Turtles comics as well as the Archie comics based on the cartoons and toys. Also Baxter was in the lastt version as well.

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@Dedpool: Yeah, the executive producer talked a lot about the comics at New York Comic-Con. He's definitely a big fan.

Avatar image for ahrubik
AHrubik

6

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By AHrubik

I guess I'm going to have to give this a shot.

Avatar image for sekele
Sekele

298

Forum Posts

3208

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 1

Edited By Sekele

@Twentyfive:

Nah, only the second best - 2003 series FTW

Avatar image for twentyfive
Twentyfive

3057

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Twentyfive

@Sekele: I guess. But this show reeks potential, and in time, it will be the best.

Avatar image for rockwellfontana
rockwellfontana

23

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By rockwellfontana

I'm super satisfied and pleased with the new series as well as the IDW ongoing series..

100% backing this..

Avatar image for k4tzm4n
k4tzm4n

41857

Forum Posts

9127

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

@rockwellfontana said:

I'm super satisfied and pleased with the new series as well as the IDW ongoing series..

100% backing this..

Very happy to hear it. I'm in love with both as well.