"Parasitica" is the twenty-third episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series). It first aired on July 20th, 2013.
Synopsis
After Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello fall under the control of a parasitic Wasp, Michelangelo must fight his brothers to save them.
Characters
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Plot
It starts off in the Shellraiser, with Mikey (with something covering his head) sighing, while spinning around on his chair. Then, he takes the object off and grumbles, "Another day, another Kraang hunt." While Raph is looking through his screen outside, Mikey quickly comes up behind him and tells him to fire the weapons, which Raph disagrees to. Mikey says that, if he were in charge of the weapons, he would always be firing them. He then goes on to exclaim how he would be destroying every single thing that they pass, from mailboxes to trash cans. Leo says that's precisely why he's not in charge, and tells him to get back to his station and tell him where to go. Mikey obeys and looks at the map, stating that they should turn right...3 blocks ago. The others then let out a long, exasperated sigh...
They finally make it to the location that Donnie believes must be the hidden Kraang lab that they've apparently been looking into and studying. Raph immediately wants to trash the place once they get in, but Leo stops him because he has a different plan; To go in there, find out what the Kraang's plot is, and then trash the place if necessary...So, they carefully walk in, though they find the place a complete wreck with countless pieces of robot parts dispersed on the floor. Raph believes that somebody must've beat them to it, but Leo thinks that one of their experiments might've successfully escaped from them and gone rogue. When some diagrams come into view, Donnie notes that the Kraang must've been doing some experiments on arthropods...
While the Turtles investigate further, Mikey spins on a desk chair. Donnie states that their equipment still looks good, while he curiously checks out a centrifuge. Mikey then picks up a Kraang-robot head and asks Donnie how big some arthropods are exactly, and he replies that bees would be about 4mm, and wasps would typically be about 6mm.
"Then what the heck is that?!?", he exclaims, pointing to the nearby rafters. Suddenly, a very large wasp emerges and starts attacking all of the Turtles. The Turtles dodge it - all except for Raph. He is taken down, until Donnie uses his bo staff to quickly knock the wasp off of him. Then, it goes after Don, but Raph once again attacks from behind, but is smashed into the ceiling instead, then dropped onto the floor...
Leo then hits the wasp with his two katanas and it smacks into the wall. It begins to search for them as they hide and try to devise a plan. Mikey suggests that he uses his kusarigama chain to catch it off guard, but Leo denies it, explaining that the insect is simply too strong for such an idea. Mikey asks why they never go along with his plans, and Leo says that it's because they are his plans.
The contingency is for Mikey to jump out and start distracting the wasp instead, but then it comes closer and starts chasing him around the room. Mikey dodges one close call after the next, until he eventually becomes so tired that he falls down and the gargantuan wasp tries to sting him, narrowly missing...The others then try to ambush the wasp, but they miss as a result of Mikey not closely following the plan and using his kusarigama. Mikey knocks both the other Turtles and the wasp down, but it then starts frantically flying around the room, taking Mikey along with it. Raph and Donnie then get smacked into the wall once again. Whilst Leo is distracted, the wasp sneaks up behind him, but it is way too quick for Leo to react and he is promptly stung. The wasp continues to fly towards the others before falling to the floor, dead. Mikey says that he tired it out, but Donnie explains that the wasp died due to the loss of it's stinger...
Leo angrily exclaims, revealing the enormous stinger lodged into the side of his left arm. "Thanks a lot, Mikey!!", he says as Raph begins to gag at the rather horrid sight. Donnie then harshly removes the stinger, resulting in a small yelp from Leo. He assures him that his brother that will be okay, with Leo awkwardly twitching afterward. Donnie becomes intrigued by the wasp's mutation, stating that Mutants like these are usually anthropomorphic. Leo then wanders off and unveils an egg under a newspaper. Mikey is about to break it, but Leo quickly intervenes, and decides to take it back to the lair in his own arms. Raph is reluctant, however, and Mikey offers to carry it. Leo harshly bats him away, though. This confuses Raph even furthermore, but Leo only says that it is extremely fragile before they leave....
Later, they reach home and Leo comes out of the Shellraiser, carrying the egg. He places the egg on a beanbag in the lair, and Donnie is about to dissect it, but Leo tells Donnie to just look at it from further away - and so Donnie decides that he needs to "do something else" in another room and asks if Raph and Mikey would join him in the kitchen. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are talking in the kitchen about Leo acting totally weird. Raph says that he is obsessed with that egg. Mikey suggests asking Splinter, but Donnie says that he is busy training with April. They decide to try and make Leo come to them, but Leo overhears all of this from Donnie's lab, and he holds his head in pain, as his eyes begin to change and he twitches. Mikey comes in with a box of fresh Pizza, which turns out to only be his own favorite; jellybean, jalapeño, and anchovy pizza. Mikey and his brothers go up to Leo, exclaiming how tasty it is, but it doesn't work.
Later, they all watch Space Heroes (once again another episode reflecting their current situation), trying to get Leo back. Mikey later has Leo's issue #1 comic-book of Space Heroes, and he says that, since they are out of regular toilet paper, he'll use the pages, but it still doesn't work. Donnie is very surprised at Leo, and Raph says that he will destroy that egg tonight by himself.
Later, Raph goes into Donnie's lab and is about to stab right into the egg, but Leo stops him, taking him to the ground. Then, the two start fighting, until Raph makes one of Leo's katanas hit the ceiling. Leo starts going hard on him, even by biting Raph. Later on, Donnie and Mikey wake up and are waiting for Raph, but he does not show up. They then peer inside Donnie's lab. They see Raph and Leo, who quickly pull out their weapons to start attacking, but they manage lock Leo and Raph in the lab with Mikey's kusarigama. But Donnie realizes that they can still escape through the garage door, so Mikey goes to close it, managing to do it just in time.
Later, they do some research on the wasp that they encountered. Donnie believes that it is a parasitic wasp, which apparently infects creatures with a virus that brainwashes its victims into guarding its egg. When the egg hatches, the newborn wasp will promptly eat its guardian. Mikey worries that it will eat them, but Donnie says that he can administer some type of antibody into their system - he just needs a sample of the virus from the egg itself. Suddenly, Leo and Raph manage to escape from the lab and start chasing Donnie and Mikey around. Leo jumps on Donnie and Raph on Mikey, but Mikey is able to use his nunchucks to throw Raph over his himself and into the nearby sewer water. Mikey then incapacitates Leo, and they quickly see that Raph has made off with the egg. Leo then pretends to come back to normal, asking Mikey to untie him, but Donnie stops him, as he tells Mikey to look at Leo's eyes. Leo begins to squirm, as he fights to break free from the chains.
Mikey discovers then sees that Donnie got bitten on the shoulder while the latter takes some of Leo's blood for the antidote. While working on the antidote, Donnie tells Mikey how to finish it because he is rapidly running out of time. He then starts to change and he manages to bite Mikey in the forearm as well. Mikey tries to work on the antidote, but he then seemingly falls unconscious.
Later, both Leo and Donnie come to Raph, who is guarding the egg, and Donnie says that Mikey has been bitten and has also turned. Mikey later joins them, and then, the egg is about to hatch as Leo, Donnie and Raph drop their weapons and exclaim how glorious it is going to be, but suddenly, Mikey puts the syringes in all of their necks. They begin wondering how he managed to survive. He said that when he got bitten, he was all dizzy, and fainted about 19 times, according to his calculations, then started spinning around a chair, hurting his head to snap out of it and also remembered what Donnie said, and thus, he put his powers of recall to work... While the other Turtles finish hearing his story, Mikey then mentions the potion may also cause drowsiness, and then Donnie, Raph, and Leo pass out at the same time.
The egg then hatches, and to Mikey's surprise, 3 wasps come out. When they are all about to consume the other three Turtles, Mikey hits the wasps off with his skateboard, and then he runs to the Shellraiser for cover. The other Turtles soon awaken and come and fight the 3 wasps, until they are all subsequently surrounded. Then, Mikey, still inside the Shellraiser, uses the compressed garbage cannon to take out all 3 wasps, causing them to become gold-colored ooze. Mikey comes out of the Shellraiser, after saving his brothers's lives.
Leo and Raph are later seen sweeping up the ooze, and then Leo is angry that Mikey used his Space Heroes comic book as toilet paper. Leo then starts chasing after him - and it concludes with a furious Leo taking his mop on Mikey, ultimately ending the episode.
Trivia
- This episode aired early in the UK on June 15th, 2013.
- Parasitica is an order of parasitoid wasps.
- Donnie indicated that the parasitic wasp died because it lost its stinger, but that actually doesn't happen to a real parasitic wasp.
- This episode shares some minor similarities with the Fast Forward episode "The Freaks Come Out At Night."
- It also shares similarities with the 1987 series episode "Big Bug Blunder" where Krang accidentally creates a mutagen that enlarges arthropods.
- Parasitic wasps don't brainwash their hosts to guard the egg, rather they implant the egg, which hatches, feeds inside the host, pupates, and kills the host, either escaping the now empty body or remaining in it.
- The shapeshifting alien disguised as a woman shown in Space Heroes is a parody of the Salt Vampire from the first episode of Star Trek.
- When Mikey tries to lure Leo away with his Space Heroes comic book, the publisher label in the top left corner shows "Lock &" over a key. This is a reference to the comic book series "Locke & Key", which is published by IDW, who also publish the TMNT comics.
Errors
- When Leo and Raph pull out their weapons and they turn around to fight Mikey and Donnie, the front of Raphael's belt is missing.
Quotes
"Michelangelo: "Hey, Raph! Fire the weapons!"
Raphael: "I don't think so."
Michelangelo: "See, that's your problem. If I was in charge of weapons, I'd be firing at things all the time! That mailbox, blam. That newsstand, boom. That port-a-potty, splat."
Leonardo: "And that's why your not in charge of the weapons. Now get back to your station and tell me which way to go."
Michelangelo: (Mikey sits back down and looks at the map of the city.) "Hmm. Okay. Uh, you should turn right... three blocks ago."
(Raph, Donnie and Leo groan.)"
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"Michelangelo: (noticed something) "Hmm? Hey, Donnie, how big do you think one of those arthropods might be?"
Donatello: "Well, a bee is about 4 millimeters, and a wasp would be 6."
Michelangelo: "THEN WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" (the Turtles look above to see an oversized parasitic wasp)"
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"(Mikey is running and screaming around the room with the wasp chasing him, while the others watch.)
Raphael: "He's really turned running away screaming into an art form."
Donatello: "Well, at least he's good at something, right?"
(Mikey trips and falls to the floor.)
Donatello: "Good-ish.""
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"Leonardo: (after the wasp stings him) "OW!" (the wasp approaches Donnie, Mikey and Raph as it falls dead on the ground with its legs curled up, while it slightly twitches before it finally stays motionless)
Michelangelo: "See? My plan worked! I tired it out!
Donatello: "You didn't tire it out. The wasp died because it lost its stinger." (the wasp's abdomen is shown without its stinger with some slime coming out, then Leo arrives with his left arm pierced with the stinger that has a small brain)
Leonardo: "Yeah, in me! Thanks a lot, Mikey!" (all of the Turtles look surprised to see his swollen mark with the stinger stuck on it.)
Michelangelo: "Heh, sorry, dude."
Donatello: "Let me see that." (removes the stinger)
Leonardo: "OW!"
Donatello: "Are you okay?"
Leonardo: "Pretty sore, but I-I-I think I'll be..." (his eyes twitch) "...fine."
Donatello: "Mutations are generally anthropomorphic. I've never seen mutagen create giants like this before."
Raphael: (sarcastically) "Yeah, real fascinating, Donnie.""
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"Leonardo: "Whoa! Look!" (removes some newspaper to see a large wasp egg)
Donatello: "It's some kind of... egg."
Michelangelo: "Stand back. I'll handle this."
Raphael: "I'm betting on the egg." (Mikey takes out his nunchucks to smash the egg, until Leo stops him)
Leonardo: "WAIT! We're not hurting it. We came here to find out what the Kraang are up to, and this egg is our only clue. We should take it back to the lab and let Donnie analyze it."
Raphael: (angrily and sarcastically) "Great idea! Let's take the mutant wasp egg into our home where we live! What's the worse that can happen?!"
Leonardo: "It's not safe leaving us around. It'll be fine, I'll just keep an eye on it."
Michelangelo: "I'll get it."
Leonardo: "HANDS OFF!!" (Mikey yelps, making him and the others startled with confusion)
Raphael: "Dude, are you alright? 'Cause unmotivated bursts of anger are kind of my thing."
Leonardo: "It's just that the egg could be fragile." (picks up the egg) "Michelangelo cannot be trusted with it. I'm carrying it myself."
Michelangelo: "I'm beginning he's liking that egg more than me."
Raphael: "Well, the egg talks less than you, so there's that.""
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"Michelangelo: "Who want's pizza? Leo's favorite! Jellybean, anchovy and jalapeño!"
Donatello: "Isn't that your favorite?"
Michelangelo: "Just go with it." (all three arrive in the lab, and they start eating their slices)
All: "Mmm!"
Michelangelo: "Leo." (Leo doesn't do anything else, making the others disappointed)"
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"Raphael: (trying to get Leo's attention) "Oh, boy! That not and all stupid Space Heroes show is on!"
Captain Ryan: "Gentlemen, I finally found the woman I am going to marry. Say hello to the future Mrs. Captain Ryan." (his 'bride' reveals herself to be a beautiful woman, but then morphs into its true form: a deadly hypnotica!)
Crankshaw: "Dr. Mindstrong, Captain Ryan has fallen under control of a deadly hypnoticon!"
Captain Ryan: "How about some sugar, baby?" (the hypnotica licks him)
Donatello: "Oh, you're missing a great one, Leo!" (nothing else happens)"
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"Raphael: (discovering a bite mark on his right arm) "Did you bite me?!" (Leo smiles sinisterly) "YOU BIT ME!!""
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"Donatello: "Here it is. The parasitic wasp infects animals with a virus which brainwashes them into protecting its eggs."
Michelangelo: "You think that's the kind of wasp that stung Leo?" (hears Leo and Raph trying to open the door and panics)
Donatello: "The mutant version...then Leo bit Raph, and passed the virus to him."
Michelangelo: "So, once the egg hatches, will the guys go back to normal?"
Donatello: "Not quite. (Shows a picture of a caterpillar guarding the wasp egg) Look what happens to the caterpillar guarding the egg." (The wasp hatches in the picture, comes closer to the caterpillar and starts eating it)
Michelangelo: "It's eating him! IT'S EATING HIM!" (screams) "What are we gonna do?"
Donatello: "Well, I might be able to create some kind of antibody. But first, I need a sample of the virus from the egg.""
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"Leonardo: (in calm and slow but yet suspicious voice) "Donatello...Michelangelo? What happened?"
Michelangelo: (in a reassured voice) "Leo! You went crazy, dude. So did Raph. He ran off with the egg."
Leonardo: "Don't worry, I'm better now. You can untie me, Mikey. Untie me, so we can go find Raph together."
(Mikey is just about to untie him, but Donnie stops him)
Donatello: "No! Don't do it Mikey! Look at his eyes." (Leo's eyes got back to black and he tries to bite Mikey and break free)
Leonardo: (in demonic metallic echoing voice) "IT IS USELESS TO RESIST! IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE EGG BURSTS AND THE HATCHLINGS WILL FEED ON US ALL!!!" (Donnie slaps him.)
Donatello: "Sorry to burst your possessed bubble Leo, we may not have the egg but a sample of your blood should help me create a cure."
Michelangelo: (gasp) "Bite! You've been bitten! You've been bitten!"
Donatello: (notices the bite mark on his neck) "I must have gotten during the fight and now.... I'm infected too." (Mikey whimpers)"
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"Donatello: "You finished the antibody yourself?"
Leonardo: "And you were just pretending to be one of us?"
Michelangelo: "YEP!"
Raphael: "But, that's smart."
Michelangelo: "Yeah it is! Just call me Dr. Einstein...enstein!" (the others groan) "Oh, I forget to mention. It may cause drowsiness." (the others faint from sleepiness)"
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"Leonardo: "You did save are lives, but, you also used my favorite comic book as toilet paper!"
Michelangelo: "Well, I only did that so you'd chase me."
Leonardo: "Well, it worked!"
Michelangelo: "Wait, stop!"
Leonardo: "Mikey!"
(Leo pins Mikey to the ground, then prepares to "finish him off" with a mop, while his brothers watch, clearly amused.)
Michelangelo: (Panicky) "I'M A HERO!!!!!""
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Gallery
