Behind the Episode
Episode 12: Mr. Body Beautiful
Julie:
“Mr. Body Beautiful” is the first episode we finished after our hiatus, although we actually outlined and started writing it before the hiatus. We’ve always had a running “season outline” with ideas for future episodes in the works, but the idea for this one was one we came up with at the last minute. In fact, it replaced the original Episode 12 we had planned, “On His Majesty K’s Secret Service,” which was to be based around a Bond-esque mission in England. We even wrote a few couple parts with that premise in mind, but when we found ourselves struggling to stay inspired, we had a chat and ended up with an entirely different (but still K-centered) idea.
I don’t remember who came up with the idea of our agents shrinking to go inside K’s body and defuse a microscopic bomb, but it was inspired by The Magic School Bus and that episode of Rugrats where the babies go inside Chuckie to get the watermelon seed he swallowed out of his stomach — which was a parody of the old movie Fantastic Voyage in the first place. But, as children of the 80s and 90s, most of us were more familiar with the cartoons.
I do remember being really excited about this idea when we first planned it because I loved the source material as a kid and looked forward to writing another medical-themed episode where Red Jewel could shine. But real life got in the way for all of us, and the hiatus happened. The long delay on this episode was as much my fault as anyone else’s. Over the years, I would pull up our outline from time to time and think, “Oh yeah… this episode will be fun to write when we feel like returning to it.” Rose and I always thought that would happen someday, but we didn’t try to force it until Dee came back and expressed an interest in continuing with the story.
As it turned out, I was right: This episode was really fun to write! What better way to dive back into the craziness of 00Carter than a plot that involves microscopic bombs, shrink rays, yellow Bugs that can transform into yellow Bugmarines (as well as Buggercrafts and Bugicopters), and all the Magic School Bus catchphrases and puns we could come up with! (“Car-ter!”) I believe everything happens for a reason, and although we never planned to take a nine-year hiatus before writing the bulk of this episode, I think the timing was perfect in a way. Dee is the queen of puns, and I don’t think this episode would have worked as well without her involvement. I’m glad she came back and helped us finally get this one done. It’s my new favorite episode!
Although the main storyline of this episode is obviously science fiction, we tried to write it as realistically as we could while paying tribute to the source material that inspired it. Let’s talk about our research process.
Dee: Am I allowed to admit that I was blessed with you two handing me most of the necessary research? I’m pretty sure I said “I have no idea how to diffuse a bomb” and was given a handy link tthat explained it succinctly. And same thing with what happens when you stop a heart. I think I watched that EKG video at least twenty times to write a three sentence paragraph about K’s heart flatlining.
Julie: You bet! I will google anything and enjoy researching, especially when it’s medical stuff, but actually taking that information and turning it into interesting prose is a lot more difficult. I was also grateful to you for taking on the challenge of doing that part.
Rose: This story has Google searches that, out of context, would land me — well, us — in jail, lmao. Honestly, Dee, we wouldn’t be back at this without you. Most of my scenes this episode were written before the hiatus, lol. But I do remember rewatching Honey I Shrunk The Kids for this episode.
Julie: LOL So true. Sketchy google searches aside, I love when research means watching movies. I watched a few episodes of The Magic School Bus and the watermelon seed episode of Rugrats before I finally watched the movie that started it all, Fantastic Voyage. I had never seen it before, and it was quite entertaining!
Dee: I’m pretty sure our google searches have us on some sort of watch list. I enjoyed when we listed every Backstreet Boys song with heart in it to make the most of our puns.
Julie: I mean, you really can’t write a BSB fanfic that partly takes place inside a Backstreet Boy’s heart without referencing some of their many heart-related lyrics, right?
While we followed our original outline for this episode from a decade ago for the most part, we did make some changes as we actually wrote it. What is your favorite new addition?
Julie: I love the whole “4 Minutes” sequence. I remember when that song came out in 2008, we thought it would be perfect to use in 00Carter sometime. We actually had a musical episode planned that we have since scrapped, but there was a part in that where Drums was going to sing it. Fourteen years later, that song that seemed so new and fresh at the time is now super outdated, but I thought of it again while we were writing this episode. Before I got around to actually watching Fantastic Voyage for the first time, I read the plot summary on Wikipedia to get ideas for the mission. In the movie, they have to stop the patient’s heart because the turbulence created by its beating was powerful enough to destroy the submarine. That wasn’t something we had thought about or planned to write, but it made sense. How could our agents possibly defuse a bomb inside a beating heart that would be trying to pump them out of its chambers every second or so? Besides, requiring Red Jewel’s team to stop and restart K’s heart without killing him would really raise the stakes and make the mission even more dramatic, so I was all for it. It was also the perfect opportunity to finally use “4 Minutes” because that is the length of time the human brain can be deprived of oxygen before death or permanent damage occurs. “Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock!” Dee brought that scene to life, and it turned out even better than it had sounded in my head.
Dee: Aww thanks! I figured the “inside the heart” stuff would go okay, but medical drama is not my forte, so I was really glad to have a consultation expert the whole way!
Julie: Medical drama is my forte, but this was definitely a different way of writing it for me, which made it a fun challenge. I learned a lot about the anatomy of the human respiratory tract. And I loved serving as consultant for the resuscitation scene instead of writing it myself. I have gotten burnt out on writing those over the years, so it was way more fun for me to watch you write that part and get to enjoy just reading it.
Dee: Happy to be of service.
Rose: Agreed on the 4 Minutes scene! Any excuse to throw random songs in! Also I loved that we used Lancy more heavily this episode than originally planned. It added a bit of flair it wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Julie: Yes! I loved the candy striper outfit we came up with for Lancy to wear. I giggled every time one of us described him “sashaying” around the infirmary in his pink pinafore. Lancy makes every scene better!
Dee: I think my favorite part was all the Magic School Bus jokes that got added, especially Jay’s Frizzle-esque Hawaiian shirt. Mostly because, how great would Jay look in that shirt? Amazing! (I want one.) But also because Nick thinks the blood cells are innertubes and blowfish. I nearly died laughing when Julie added it.
Julie: Jay definitely needed a crazy Frizzle-esque shirt! I had so much fun watching old Magic School Bus episodes and compiling a list of quotes and catchphrases to use. We did a great job working them into the story! I will never be able to show my class another episode of that show without thinking of 00Carter.
Dee: You’re just showing them the bee episode or something and dying laughing in the corner. I would love that! Both you and Rose are top notch at the parodies. I think it was technically written before I came back on the project, but I also loved the shrinking scene and how “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” it was, especially when Nick crushed Pearl’s couch! And how horrified everyone was when he vaporized the orange!
Julie: Thanks! And yes! The Honey I Shrunk the Kids scene was great. So much fun childhood nostalgia in this episode! I love how nonchalant Pearl was about having a shrink ray. Because of course she does!
Rose: This episode lends itself so well to so many parodies I feel like it was a good one to come back to. I love creating gadgets for Pearl. I basically go crazy and then backtrack to see if it makes just enough sense to work, lol. Also, I loved that Nick actually went out of his way to get a new couch cause he crushed the old one. He’s a softie.
Dee: I look forward to all the other random gadgets we get to give Pearl in upcoming episodes. At this point, I doubt there’s anything she doesn’t have in some form.
Julie: Speaking of gadgets, how about Pearl’s yellow Bugmarine? So fun! I think you came up with that idea originally, Rose, right?
Rose: It was Lol. I knew for awhile she’d be the type to drive a Bug. I liked the idea of her liking retro styled things, while loving her technology. It had to be yellow, obviously so I had yet another excuse to throw in songs. But honestly a Bugmarine is WAY better than a submarine and I knew Nick’s car wasn’t the only car she’d upgraded, lol.
Julie: Fun fact – my dream car when I was a kid was a yellow Bug! I had a little toy version and everything. The female lead in my first fanfic even drove one. So, yes, I adore Pearl’s yellow Bug, and the fact that it’s also a Bugmarine (and a Buggercraft and Bugicopter) makes it even better!
Dee: Calling it a Bugmarine was my favorite pun I came up with. Well, that and getting to “stick figure” doodle it. I think that’s a perfect example of our hive mind at work. Julie was listing all the things the Bugmarine needed to do in order to travel through K’s body, namely no longer be a car. And Rose listed submarine basics and her dream for the car, Julie pulled out the research and resisted the temptation to watch Inspector Gadget, and I just started doodling. It ended with Nick being surrounded by red blood cells, which is not relevant, but is very funny. I think this is us problem solving in a nut shell, lol.
Julie: Yes, perfect example of why three heads are better than one! Science fiction is not my forte, so describing the transformation from Bug to Bugmarine was a big challenge for me. The creative ideas Rose came up with and the drawing Dee did so I could see a picture of it were so helpful! We make a great team!
Check out the progression of the Bugmarine through Dee’s doodles below!