The Turtles are dealing with the mutant outbreak using new equipment. At the same time, Stockman has plans on transferring his mind into a body he made for himself. However, Bishop warns him not to be in a hurry to do such a thing because it will decompose like all the alien creations that made the outbreak. Stockman gets impatient and does it anyway. At first, it's fine until it goes wrong. As he thought about where his life goes wrong, he found the person who is to blame for this: April.
The episode is notable for having never aired during the original run of the series due to its' more disturbing subject matter, though it would later be released as part of the "Season Four" DVD roughly several months after its' original intended airdate.
This episode provides examples of
- Alas, Poor Villain: April and to a certain extent, even Casey have a saddened look after Stockman falls to his demise. Raph, however has no sympathy for him.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When Stockman hallucinates April as his mother."The sky was the limit. You were such a good boy. You had so much potential. What happened to you, baby doll?"
- Bilingual Bonus: The new Battle Shell is camouflaged as a moving van from the "Tortuga Bros. Moving" company. "Tortuga" is Spanish for "turtle."
- Body Horror: Stockman's body throughout the episode, which is a heavily massive understatement.
- Continuity Nod: For the first time in a while, Stocktronics and the Underground Lab reappear.
- Raph is quick to point out how Stockman's caused Turtles nothing but grief since they met him.
- When Stockman starts hallucinating and believing April still works for him, he repeats some of the lines he said in his first appearance in A Better Mousetrap.Stockman: As you can see the mousers is search and retrieval functions are all ingeniously controlled by a remote mother computer but quite brilliant really. (As April tries to sneak away Stockman turns around and laughs) Oh you flatter me April. (hallucinating April in her lab coat) I like that.
- Darker and Edgier: Even for this show.
- A Day in the Limelight: Stockman is the main character of this episode.
- Demonization: In the midst of Sanity Slippage, Stockman "remembers" April as villainous and actively plotting against him.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Stockman's flashbacks with his mother. It his heavily implied that had she not died so early, he might have been a different person. In fact, his final acts of redemption has him hallucinate and see April as his mother asking him where he went wrong and how much potential he had. As he saves "his mama", his final words are him telling her how much he loves her.
- The Extremist Was Right: Bishop warns Stockman not to be hurry with transferring into another body because it will decompose like all the alien creations that made the outbreak. Boy, he's right, after all.
- Fingore: What caused Stockman to realize things was going wrong was his finger falling off.
- Flashback: Several of Baxter's life, including his mother and her eventual death.
- Foreshadowing: Raph mentions that Donnie's been feeling under the weather lately.
- Freudian Excuse: Many of Stockman's problems can be traced back to his mother's death—taking away the one positive influence in his life.
- Genre Savvy: The Turtles wonder if this is finally the end of Baxter Stockman, but they've seen him come back from worse so they aren't counting on it.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Stockman stated this in the opening narration.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Stockman's entire opening monologue addresses this about himself.
- Meaningful Echo: "The sky's the limit."
- Misplaced Retribution: Stockman blames April for his body decomposing when it is his own doing that made it happen due to him not listening to Bishop's warning about holding off the body transference until the outbreak has been neutralized.
- Morality Chain: Stockman's mother seems to be this. As established in a flashback, as a child he was going to use a bug as a test subject. But after talking to his mother, he decided to set it free instead.
- Morality Chain Beyond the Grave: Sort of. During the climax, Baxter hallucinates April as his mother. Just as suddenly as he tried to kill her, he tries to save her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In his more lucid moments, Stockman recognizes that he not only got himself into this mess, but also that he never lived up to his potential and (in a sense) failed his mother.
- Mythology Gag: The new Battle Shell's camouflage is as a moving van from "Tortuga Bros. Moving, est. 1984." 1984 is the year that the Turtles' first comic was published.
- Narrator: Stockman, for the first time.
- Never My Fault: As soon as his body gets decomposed, Stockman pins the blame on April for that. While it's not unusual for Stockman to blame others for his own actions, this particular case is partly the result of Sanity Slippage.Stockman: I finally know who is truly responsible for my downfall, and with my new body, I shall have my revenge.
- Before blaming her, he blames Shredder, Hun, and the Turtles for his own misfortunes. note
- Ultimately averted when he hallucinates April as his mother asking him what went wrong and he has a My God, What Have I Done? moment, presumably realizing that he himself was at fault all along.
- Pet the Dog: Bishop allows Stockman to finish his work on his new clone body and gives him some free time to enjoy his return to humanity.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Said by Young Baxter after his mother dies.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Stockman on April.
- Sanity Slippage: Stockman after his body started decomposing.
- Series Continuity Error: In this episode, April is working in the underground lab, but in A Better Mousetrap, she doesn't even know about it. Of course, this episode does take place from the point of view of a man slowly going insane, so it's possible Stockman's memory is faulty.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: This episode reveals that Stocktronics went out of business after Baxter Stockman, the head of the company, disappeared. note
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Stockman for this episode. He even lampshades it.Stockman: How could I have been so stupid?!
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Stockman used to be a fairly benevolent and principled scientist too until his ego and arrogance got the better of him.
- Villain Episode: About Stockman.
- Villain Has a Point: Ignoring the fact that he was breaking the law and that he tried to kill April first, Stockman is right in a sense: had she not brought the Turtles back to his lab, his scheme never would've been foiled, he never would've been punished by the Shredder, and he wouldn't have started losing body parts.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: For Stockman. He finally gets a new body only for it to decompose.
