Blast from the Past #510: November 10, 2005: notes on Ep133 ("Timing Is Everything") premise, Re: Show 135 ("Milk Run") Premise

Subj: notes on Ep133 ("Timing Is Everything") premise
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2005 10:26:17 PM
From: Peter Laird
To:   Lloyd Goldfine

Lloyd,


This one is kind of grim.


Here are my notes on the Ep. 133 premise.


1.) Re: the following:

"A flashing light on Mikey's Gauntlet tells him they've arrived, so they leap from their bikes in mid-decent! They skate along elevated road rails and slide down support poles, finally landing in--"

It's "descent", not "decent". But more to the point, why do they jump off their Shell Speeders instead of landing them? Dopey, pointless action.


2.) Re: the following:

"Mikey: "Yo! Hey! Mega-Studs! Looking good!""

"Mega-Studs"...? Please.


3.) Re: the following:

"Don smirks, "Oh, you know, a fourfold dimensional cross rip that causes every atom of your body to explode simultaneously at the speed of thought.""

That line was funny once... in GHOSTBUSTERS.


4.) Re: the following:

"Raph and Mikey (Not in any kooky dress, just the guys late again!) ZOOM through the apartment on the Speeders, leaping off outside of the lab. "Did we miss it?! Are we still here?" Raph: "Sorry, guys...didn't want to miss my morning ride... time flies when you're having fun...


SERLING chimes in from the other room, pinned by the SHELL SPEEDERS, "And sometimes, it crawls at the pace of a Turtle...offense intended.""

What the heck are they doing riding the Shell Speeders through Cody's APARTMENT?! And PINNING Serling with them -- what's the point of that?


5.) Re: the following:

"Darius, "Love what you've done with your place...really. I don't understand why we don't get together more often. There never seems to be enough time..."

Dopey banter. And if I never see another variation on the snarky "Love what you've done with the place" cliche, it will be too soon.


6.) Re: the following:

"NEW YORK ‚ CIRCA 1990 - DON and SPLINTER - Using their ample talents and Don's expandable BO STAFF, they bounce off of buildings, slide down roofs, and eventually hitch a ride on a HELICOPTER to slow their descent...

Hmmm... that must be one of those special low-flying helicopters. And weren't Don and Splinter on a Shell Speeder anyway?


7.) Re: the following:

"Mikey: "Yo! Hey! Mega-Studs!"


Raph: "Get to it! We're out of time!"


Mikey: "Sorry, Dudes, it's around the corner and up a flight of steps--


The MIKEY AND RAPH from the teaser replay their instructions, telling THIS Mikey and Raph where to find the time rip... and to DUCK!
Our Mikey and Raph dodge the old Mikey and Raph's attack!


They finally give their 2002 selves the slip and leap into the rift, back to 2105...and promising to remember to warn themselves later!"


This bit makes zero sense to me.


8.) Re: the following:


"The Turtles and Splinter team up with Sh'Okanabo to battle the ShredderS in the craziest team up of all time. During the battle, SHREDDER shifts and splits into his various forms and personalities, multiplying, criss crossing, relishing in his unique relationship to time (being a demon and all!)"

This is ridiculous.


9.) Re: the following:

"BACK AT CODY'S. as they guys prepare to write this one up in the record books as craziest adventure ever--Mikey's GAUNTLET BEEPS---


Mikey and Raph look at one another and scream, "We're late!!!" They plow down Serling to hop on the Shell Speeders and take off...


MANHATTAN. UPTOWN. DAY. RAPH AND MIKEY blast through town on their SHELL SPEEDERS, weaving in and out of traffic like madmen...and seemingly dressed like madmen too!


END"

What are they "late" for? And why/how are they "dressed like madmen"? I can see that the writer is attempting to do some kind of clever time loop thing, but it seems pretty nonsensical to me.


-- Pete

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Subj: Re: Show 135 ("Milk Run") Premise
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2005 10:53:54 PM
From: Peter Laird
To:   Lloyd Goldfine

Lloyd,


Here are my notes on the Ep. 135 premise.


1.) Re: the following:

"MIKEY amuses himself with an invention of his own: a high-tech laser pizza cooker.  He puts his creation to the test, but it scorches the pizza to a crisp and self-destructs.  Leo and Raph urge Don to hurry up – they’re going to miss the start of the bungieball semifinal game!  Raph is also starving, and Mikey’s charred pizza just isn’t gonna cut it."

MUST it be PIZZA?????!!!!!


2.) Re: the following:

"Raph: “Well well well, if it isn’t ‘Ziixx-about-to-be-in-traction’...”"


Not funny at all.


3.) Re: the following:

"Although it breaks Rule 15 of his personal “Rules for Life” list, Ziixx asks the Turtles for their help.  He can’t do it alone."

He can't do it alone... but he was going to do it alone. Does this make any sense?


4.) The climax of this story is pretty weak, especially the part where the Turtles easily return to Earth by jumping aboard a "transport ship headed back to Earth"... leaving from a decrepit space station controlled by Triceraton gangs! As the Church Lady might say, "How conveeenient!"
The story as a whole also lacks something -- it's just another "Torbin Zixx is a sneaky guy" story. I think a good opportunity to expand his character and make this story interesting is blown by having the food and medical supplies he's transporting turn out to be weapons disguised by a holoprojector.
How about... the food and medical supplies are what they appear to be. To the Turtles' surprise, Torbin Zixx appears to actually have a conscience. They agree to help him succeed in his "mission of mercy". Much running, jumping and falling down happens as the Turtles and Zixx evade/battle the Triceratons (NOT "Trikes"!) and finally make it to the planet which needs the supplies. They offload all of the crates and head back to Earth. On the way back to Earth, Don is seen toying with a scrap of metal which fell off one of the crates. He analyzes it and confronts Zixx with his findings: This metal in the crates carrying the medicine and food is actually a stable/inert form of an unusual compound, which when processed in a certain way will become a super explosive -- a weapons to be used by the people Zixx brought the supplies to.
Thus the mystery of Torbin Zixx deepens -- he's got a heart, but he's still a dangerous, tricky character.


-- Pete