101 Mutations (Captain Planet and the Planeteers)

101 Mutations is the 13th episode of the 6th season of Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and additionally, it serves as the final episode in the series.

Summary
Joey Wheeler, Wheeler's 10-year-old cousin, has to bury his six-month-old puppy. In the following events, the Planeteers discover that Dr. Blight runs a puppy mill, selling sick animals.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) Firstly: This entire episode is widely regarded as one of the most disturbing and unpleasant episodes of Captain Planet ever aired. But why? This episode is entirely devoted to animal experimentation, so it's no wonder that it's so cruel. In the following scenes, Dr. Blight experiments on diseased dogs in yet another effort to make money by hurting others. It's true that Captain Planet has been known to tackle more serious and difficult topics, especially for a show aimed at such a young audience. These episodes, such as Mind Pollution and A Formula for Hate, dealt with the subjects of drug addiction and HIV/AIDS, but they were known for depicting the topics with respect and accuracy. Here, the topic of animal experimentation is more for shock value than anything else.
 * 2) This episode makes it difficult to watch without getting choked up, and for all the wrong reasons. As aforementioned, it has ill dogs being tortured and abused by Blight so she can make a quick buck. Such a horrible thing to do. However, instead of being emotional, animal abuse, as is also mentioned previously, only serves one purpose; that purpose is shock value.
 * 3) It feels like an R-rated cartoon, even though it's rated TV-Y7. While there were more than a few episodes in the series that did push the boundaries of what was acceptable for a kids' show (especially at the time), they were no more than shock value and were actually trying to educate the audience on said mature subjects.
 * 4) Dr. Blight torturously suffers dogs, and she is an unsympathetic character. In spite of the fact that she is a villain, she had never quite crossed this line before.
 * 5) The entire first part of this episode is where Dr. Blight mistreats the dogs. The horrible events not only cause those 10 minutes to drag out and seem longer than they actually are, but they are also very difficult to watch because they are so despicable.
 * 6) * It is difficult to look at the dogs being crated up and whining. To make a long story short, that was one of the tamer moments in the first half.
 * 7) * Even electrocuting them to a dangerous level is not uncommon! Why would that be appropriate for children?
 * 8) * Aside from Blight and MAL's gruesome treatment of sickly dogs, there is also a cyclops puppy and a puppy with two heads, which heavily indicate that they are either inbred or the result of some sick experiment done by Blight/MAL.
 * 9) In the Horrible Ending, Dr. Blight's actions are exposed and she is arrested for them, all with the strong implication being made that the puppies from the puppy mill will be ultimately euthanized.
 * 10) * Despite her horrible crimes, Dr. Blight gets away with them here unlike in most episodes of this show. Sure she was arrested in the end, but that doesn't change the fact that she abused and experimented on suffering animals all for the purpose of making a profit off of them, and the one responsible for them most likely being put down. That makes her a Karma Houdini on the borderline.
 * 11) Despite the fact that Captain Planet may not be the greatest show in television history, it deserves better for its series finale than this.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Even to this day, the message that animals should not be abused remains valid.
 * 2) In the end, Dr. Blight did get arrested, so even if the dogs she and MAL abused couldn't be saved, they still got punished for what they did.
 * 3) Throughout the episode, the dogs and Joey appear to be the most likable characters.
 * 4) Some of these moments were heartwarming to see.
 * 5) *One such example is the ending - although it's otherwse bad, it's really sweet to see Joey adopting Lady and her puppy.

Reception
101 Mutations was critically panned by audiences and fans alike due to the nature of animal abuse in a kids show. IMDb rated 5.7/10 on their site.

Trivia

 * Even though this episode was produced in the 1990s and aired on European channels, it was not aired until April 22, 2006, on Boomerang.

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