Three wishes to save the world…
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Building on Season 4’s sci-fi tropey goodness, this week’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began with a holodeck sequence featuring all three versions of Rahzar at once. Not only was this a fun excuse to use the old Bradford and Dogpound models again, but it also led to the Turtles’ new TV obsession, Chris Bradford’s 2 Ruff Krew, which was, to my knowledge, an A-Team homage. (’80s cartoon buffs, please correct me if I’m wrong!) Meanwhile, we also figured out how the gang has been sustaining themselves aboard Fugitoid’s ship, by using a Think-a-Food Machine, à la Star Trek replicators. Cool!
Of course, I mention Trek and A-Team specifically since this week’s new baddie was voiced by Dwight Schultz, who famously played Captain “Howling Mad” Murdock on The A-Team, and Lieutenant Barclay on Star Trek: The Next Generation. In Turtles, Schultz gave voice to Wyrm, an obscure TMNT mutant from the Archie comics and 1991 action figure line. In this version, however, Wyrm is intriguingly one of three reality-bending creators of chaos. (The other two appear to be a jinn and a microscopic organism, respectively. Hmm… any theories?)
Heavy metal?
In some ways, “The Weird World of Wyrm” reminded me of last season’s Dream Beavers episode, specifically in that it was much wackier than most episodes — but in a good way. After all, this is reality-bending we’re talking about here, right? And speaking of The Next Generation, I also got a very Q-like vibe from Wyrm, as well as a bit of DC Comics’ Mister Mxyzptlk. (As it happens, Schultz also voiced that character in the Superman Returns video game.)
I also liked the idea of Wyrm granting the team three wishes in order to free himself, and the results were pretty humorous. Personally, I would have liked to see how a wish for Earth to be saved or universe-wide peace would backfire, but astro-zombies and a Dr. Manhattan-style Casey Jones were good substitutes. That said, I thought wishing for an Anti-Wyrm laser cannon was more of a Mikey flub than a Raphael one — he seems more prone to not listen to/understand the rules — but Manhattan Casey tricking Wyrm into giving him a bonus wish was a clever way to end things.
Overall, this episode was diverting, but it still had plenty of fun and funny moments. So far, I’m really enjoying TMNT’s familiar takes on sci-fi storylines (e.g., investigating a stranded/vacant spaceship) and seeing what comes of them. And unlike the first third of Season 3, which sometimes felt drawn-out in the face of a time-sensitive situation, the Turtles still have plenty of time for side-adventures — six months, to be precise.
This week’s TMNT delivered a humorous outing with the reality-bender known as Wyrm (voiced by Dwight Schultz). While not the most pertinent of episodes, “The Weird World of Wyrm” offered some good laughs and fun sci-fi references. This also turned out to be a strong episode for Casey, who saved the day with his new Dr. Manhattan-like powers.
