"Garbageman"
Written by Eric Luke
Original Air Date: April 5, 2003
Supervising Producer: Lloyd Goldfine
Producers: Gary Richardson, Frederick U. Fierst, Al Kahn, Norman Grossfeld, Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director: Chuck Patton
Story Editor: Lloyd Goldfine
MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Donatello (Sam Regal)
Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas)
Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson)
Raphael (Frank Frankson)
SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Garbageman
The Professor
MAIN LOCATIONS, VEHICLES AND ACCESSORIES:
New Lair
Shanty Town
Sewer Tunnels
City streets and rooftops
River Docks
Island Landfill
Battle Shell
Shell Cycle
Garbage Truck
Synopsis:
Intro: Don is climbing up a giant mountain of garbage. When he reaches the top and peers over the edge, we get a glimpse of an unbelievable site. (This basic scene repeats itself later in the main action).
Two homeless guys doing their rounds of trash cans, looking for returnable bottles and cans and other valuable stuff. The men don’t realize it, but they're being followed by a monstrous garbage truck. The vehicle corners them in a dead-end alley and grabs them with its hydraulic tentacles.
The next day, the TMNT are visiting their homeless friend, the Professor, in shantytown. The Turtles give the Prof useful clothing and the Professor gives the mutants things like old computer parts and comic books. During this exchange, the Turtles notice that there seems to be a few less homeless folks around these days. The Prof tells them that people have been disappearing and the rumor is that somebody named the Garbageman is responsible. The TMNT aren’t quite sure the Prof knows what he’s talking about, but they tell him to keep them posted on any further disappearances and then they ride off in the Battle Shell. The Professor won’t get a chance to get any info to the TMNT because later that night the garbage truck invades the shantytown and grabs the remaining homeless there, including the Professor!
Donatello returns to the site the next day and discovers the wreckage and realizes the Professor’s story might have been right. He calls the other Turtles and they begin an investigation. After some legwork and research, the TMNT discover that all the disappearances have occurred down near the docks. The Turtles take the Battle Shell to the docks and set a trap using Mikey as a decoy to see who or what shows up. Just when it looks like there will be no action, the garbage truck arrives to take the bait. A truck vs truck battle ensues, with the TMNT’s Battle Shell being the apparent winner when the garbage truck runs off the end of the pier.
However, when the guys go over to see who climbs out of the submerged truck they are surprised to see the vehicle driving away underwater! As the truck moves out of view, the Turtles see that it's headed for the huge landfill island out in the middle of the river. To solve the mystery, they now know where they have to go.
The TMNT swim over to the landfill island and scale the massive pile of garbage. As they look over the top, they see all the homeless, including the Professor, in chains sorting through mountains of trash. The enslaved workers are under the watchful eyes of guards with electric prods and some disgusting mass of flesh calling himself the Garbageman. The Garbageman is ranting and raving and mistreating his homeless slave workforce. When the villain threatens the Professor, the Turtles have had enough and they charge down, free all the homeless folks and battle the guards and the Garbageman.
At the conclusion of the battle, the Garbageman falls into the river, wheelchair and all. The Turtles dive into the water to find their foe, but all they see is his empty chair. The ninjas go back to the garbage island, where the Professor is overseeing the operation to return everyone to the city. The TMNT bid farewell to their friends and head for home themselves - not knowing whether or not they'll run into the Garbageman again.
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