Yeah, I've been busy and have fallen behind in this storyline, but hey, I did manage to get the entire X-Men Battle of the Atom down, so at least give me that. All I gotta say is wow... You heard it all before... some people are jerks and such because they were raised by a crappy family, abusive parents, or grew up in a horrible neighborhood in the wrong side of town. Well what if you grew up on an entire planet of assholes??? This comic really dives headfirst into the whole 'evil alternate world' thing as you'll soon see.
This clever cover is like an evil backwards version of the first issue of New 52 Justice League.
The story opens 25 years ago on the evil version of Krypton, during its final hours. Everyone is fighting to get to the escape pods before the planet goes boom, and Jor-Il and Lara kill anyone in their way. They put baby Kal-Il in the space pod saying he is the last chance at revenge against the being that destroyed the planet. They send him to Earth where he will rule over the humans. As the pod flies through space, lil baby Kal-Il hears recordings telling him that Kryptonite will power him and the Earth's son will weaken him. They also tell him to never lower himself to Earth women, and all the while the recordings also toss random insults calling him weak and pathetic. He is to hide among the humans until he's ready.
Not the warm and loving Ma and Pa Kent you remember.
Later on, in a farm house in evil-Smallville, Johnny and Martha Kent are fighting over money since the gold mines are closed and Martha shoots up whatever money they have left. They pull a knife on each other until suddenly the space pod crashes through the roof. They go outside to investigate and see the baby stepping out of the ship's remains and munching on some Kryptonite. Suddenly the baby uses his heat vision to blast Johnny's hand off. He tells them that they will be his parents now. This moment is the first memory Ultraman ever had.
The Kents didn't last long. They tried to escape when Ultraman was seven, but he didn't need them anymore and killed them and burned down the farm. As Ultraman set out to do what he was meant to do, he found people who tried to stop him, as well as people he'd use like Power Ring and people that tried to use him, like Superwoman. He then formed the Crime Syndicate and ruled Earth until 'he' came and devastated Earth like he did to Krypton. They Crime Syndicate had to escape to another world.
Ultraman hates the people of our Earth and how they protect their weak, sick and handicapped. This why they were able to take down other Justice Leagues so easily. He wants this Earth to be strongest it can be so it can be ready for another attack.
Owlman tells Alfred that he wants to talk to Dick Grayson, while Ultraman continues to search for more Kryptonite with the help of Grid. Grid informs Ultraman that Power Ring and Deathstorm are on their way to stop the Rogues, and Johnny Quick and Atomica are going around defeating other superheroes. He tells Ultraman about a group called the Doom Patrol that might need to be dealt with, but he goes towards the Daily Planet instead to see how weak this world really is.
Welcome to your worst nightmare Jimmy... Ultraman is even scarier than the Injustice Superman...
In the Daily Planet everyone is packing up and heading out. Jimmy Olsen doesn't believe Superman is really dead, and Lois Lane agrees. Just then, Ultraman arrives and lands in front of Jimmy. Jimmy asks him if he's Superman and Lois tells him he's not. Ultraman asks Olsen what he does at the Daily Planet, and he tells him he's a photographer. Ultraman grabs Jimmy and asks him if he takes pictures of Lois in exchange for favors. Jimmy says he takes pictures for the Daily Planet.
What kind of sicko is Jim in Ultraman's world? And how can he blackmail Lois when she's Superwoman and wouldn't have a problem just killing the guy if he tried anything.
Ultraman then crushes Jimmy's hand. As the young man falls the ground, holding his broken hand in pain, he asks him where is the Jim that would fight back. Lois tells him to stop, but Ultraman grabs her by the face and throws her into a desk. Perry White and rest try to run to her aid, but Ultraman sends them flying back with his super breath (ultra breath?).
Ultraman grabs Olsen and he begs to leave everyone else out of this. Ultraman is annoyed that Olsen still cares about the others despite his broken hand. Ultraman then hears a sound coming from Olsen's watch, but he tells him that noone is coming. Lois Lane smashes a typewriter on the back of the villain, but of course it doesn't phase him. Ultraman says Lois Lane is the same name of Superwoman, but she is not as strong. He's been wanting to kill Superwoman for years but can't since it would leave him without a suitable mother for his child.... but he can do whatever he wants to this Lois Lane. In desperation she yells out for Superman, but he reminds her that he isn't coming... nobody is... Grid warns Ultraman that something is coming towards him, in reaction to Jimmy's watch signal.
Black Adam suddenly appears and smashes Ultraman out of the building. He knows the Crime Syndicate came to invade the Earth and he he will tear them limb from limb. He tries to break Ultraman's arm and is surprised he can't. Ultraman says he doesn't break so easy and punches him away. He's anxious to see how long it will take to kill him.
My Opinions:
This was an interesting read and basically shows us not just an evil hateful version of Earth, but also an evil selfish Krypton. It's bizzare to think of a whole world of sick, violent people without any sense of caring for your fellow man like that.... but then again, anyone born 'good' was probably killed in that world. Seeing how Ultraman is surprised we care for the sick, I guess that means the sick and handicapped are just left to their fate on their world. This origin story for Ultraman took everything we knew about Superman and twisted it. I mean the dude even powers up on Kryptonite and gets weaker when exposed to sunlight.
The whole scene with Jimmy, Lois and Ultraman was kinda scary since he could have killed them at any time. It really shows the unstoppable nightmare Superman would have been if he really was evil. The interesting thing is, Ultraman still has some sort of reasoning for his douchebaggery., though extremely twisted based on how he grew up. All he ever knew was that the strong survive and the weak deserve to die. His Krypton and Earth were both destroyed since they were too weak to stop that being that caused it. He plans to rule this new Earth to destroy the weak and make it strong enough to stand up to that being if it ever follows them to this dimension.
The big surprise is seeing Black Adam of all people to who up. From what I know, Black Adam and Captain Marvel both have Superman-ish powers and abilities, except their lightning attacks which were considered magic, and thus a weakness for Superman, but this isn't Superman, so there's a chance he might be able to take him out. We'll see what happens.
I'm getting more and curious as what else is going to develop with this Forever Evil storyline. We'll have to see what happens next issue, since it seems the fight between Blasck Adam and Ultraman continue a whole longer.
It's time for another episode as the story actually moves forward with several developments, as well as another classic character kinda/sorta brought into the show. Yeah.... I'm gonna rant about that after the episode summary...
The episode opens at Shredder's hideout, as Shredder talks to Karai, upset that she attacked the Turtles against his orders, but also upset that she failed at it. Cause, hey, if you're gonna go against my enemies behind my back when I told you not to, at least kill one of them, ok? Karai says she can have The Kraang improve the robot Foot Soldiers, but Shredder tells her to not have any more dealings with them until his return. Of course once he signs off, Karai heads into the Kraang hideout and sees how their newest robot is doing... who looks exactly like pre-mutated Chris Bradford.... but more on that later. She tells them that when it's ready, they should send it after her main target, April O'Neil. The Kraang are surprised, since Karai doesn't know that they April is the key to their invasion plans. Karai asks if there's a problem, and the Kraang say no and that the robot will be ready.
After the epic theme song, the episode begins with April walking home alone at night with Donnie following her. She eventually senses someone lurking around and tosses her fan at him. She's surprised to see him, but is still pissed since the Turtles were responsible for turning her father into a mindless mutant monster. She never wants to see them again and wants to return to her regular life. Before she leaves, he tells her that some things are beyond their control.
Back in the lair, the other Turtles are watching more episodes of the Voltron knockoff (I'd call it Voltronzinger Z) as Raph keeps eating Mikey's popcorn. Don shows up and sees how in the episode the princess character is pissed that the others forgot her birthday and doesn't want to see them again (even going as far as having the leg part of the giant robot detach and fly off). Mike remarks it's so similar to Don's life (which is funny since Space Heroes usually goes along with whatever the episode is about). Don is offended and the others point out the princess character leaves all the time anyway. Don decides to be alone in his lab and notices that the Kraang orb is shining again.
The Turtles hit the Shell Raiser and Don tells them that Kraang are working on some kind of secret weapon. Mikey says it might be lasers discussed as burritos. Raph says that only makes sense 'cause Mikey's brain is an avocado. Leo tells them when they're done with the Kraang, they'll go for some Mexican pizza.
April shows up at a hockey rink and sees Casey play. April likes to hang with him, and he flirts a bit. He asks if she has any other friends, since she seems to be such a loner. April says he used to have four close friends but doesn't talk to them anymore. Casey says he once had a good friend too but after a playoff where he injured him (they were on opposing teams), they don't talk anymore. He reminds her there are some things beyond his control, which reminds her of what Donnie said. He says maybe they can go out for pizza later, which also reminds her of the Turtles.
Just then Foot Ninja arrive to attack. April fights them off and is surprised that they're now robots. Casey shows up to help and smacks them down with hockey pucks (saying he has crackerjack timing, Big Trouble in Little China). Casey asks them if she owes them money, or something. More Foot show up, and April says 'or something'. She wants Casey to go some place safe, but he's excited to fight robot ninjas. They both say they can take them, and April leads the Foot away since she knows they're after her. Casey stays behind with one of them and is ready to fight. Karai is watching April from the rooftops and sends more Foot Soldiers after her.
The TMNT find The Kraang's hideout, and Mikey distracts them with shadow puppets of a rabbit, and elephant, and a flamenco dancer. The other admit he has mad shadow puppet skills (like a Turtle do) and fight their way inside. They notice the giant Bradford-Bot they're working on and determine it's their secret weapon. April keeps fighting the Foot the best she can and admits she needs help from the Turtles again and calls Donnie. Don's cellphone buzzing alerts the Kraang, and they all start to open fire on them. However, with April in danger, Donnie runs off to help her. Raph is upset that Donnie bailed on them, and they have to fight the Kraang without him.
Casey is still at the skating rik, fighting off more of the Foot Soldiers. Meanwhile, April continues to fight the Foot Soldiers, that are relentless robots, and some of them even have four arms now. Karai finally makes her appearance and starts to attack April directly. Donnie shows up to save her and manages to land some hits on Karai. Karai says their rat master took someone that means a lot to her away from her, so now she will take someone that means a lot to them. Donnie says he won't anyone hurt April and keeps fighting against her, while April continues to deal with the Foot Soldiers.
The Turtles continue to fight until Robo-Bradford is ready and fully-charged. Mikey thinks it's no big deal and jumps in first and is easily defeated. The robot has whips and swords and easily defeats the Turtles. He ties Leo up and is ready to blast him with his laser eyes. However, the robot now boots up its main programming... to target April. It leaves to find her and Turtles have to follow it. But not before Mikey picks up one of the Kraang guns and accidently shoots at his bros.
Karai keeps fighting April, and Don tries to fight back the robot Foot Soldiers. Robo-Bradford shows up, smacks Don away and grabs April. However, now the robot reveals it's true programming, which is to capture April for The Kraang, and it targets everyone else as a threat, even Karai and the Foot Soldiers.
The Shell Raiser shows up and runs into the robot, which Mikey calls Chrome Dome. They fire off manhole cover at it, but Robo-Bradford shoots them down with his laser eyes. He then grabs the Shell Raiser and flips it to its side. The Turtles notice a cracked panel on the robot's back and considers it a weak point. Leo manages to get behind it and rip the panel open to yank out some wires. The robot goes crazy and spins the Turtles around. Karai continues to fight against April, but Leo manages to come in and knocks her back with a flying kick. Mikey finally defeats Robo-Bradford by running him through with his own laser sword. Karai vanishes with a smoke bomb, saying she'll return.
April thanks the Turtles for saving her and then remembers Casey being left behind with the Foot Soldiers and runs back to the Hockey rink. She sees that he's ok and all the robots were defeated. She slips a bit on the ice and ends up in Casey's arms. Don manages to see this and sighs sadly.
Back the lair, April shows up and makes amends with the Turtles. Leo says they screwed up which ended up in her father being mutated, and she says she understands that sometimes there are things that beyond their control. Splinter is glad to see her again, and asks if they can continue their training. Mikey offers her some old pizza he found as a welcome home gift (what the hell dude?). April goes over to Donnie and thanks him for always being there, even when she didn't want him to. She hugs him and kisses him on the cheek. Donnie is so happy he flies all over the world yelling out that he loves being a turtle.
My Opinions:
There's a lot to say to say about the episode, as usual. I guess I'll start with Casey, who had a small role in this episode. He didn't do all that much really, except to show off that he's a good fighter, which will factor in later on when he becomes a vigilantee. It's also the first time we actually see him play hockey. Most of the time by the time we see Casey, he's already a retired hockey player turned vigilantee (though the OT Casey was just a psycho. Who knows if he even played sports). It was interesting seeing her and April kinda flirt a little. Their convo does make me wonder why April doesn't have any friends. Sure she knew the Turtles, but what about before? When he asked her about that I almost felt was going to answer 'cause it costs too much to make more CGI characters to be my friends'. Paige thought the Casey scenes were distracting since she can't un-see those missing front teeth of his.
Speaking of which.... Chrome Dome... THAT IS NOT FRIGGIN CHROME DOME. Right from the starts I was like '...why does the robot look like Chris Bradford?' It never hit me until Mikey called him as such, but then I dismissed it as a joke. But then he re-affirmed it as Chrome Dome.... and then they went with the broken panel in the back. I facepalmed and thought to myself 'oh crap... they're really gonna go there...'
Ladies and gentleman, THIS is Chrome Dome...
In the original series, Shredder made this robot about Adamantium (bub) but they ran out before they could complete it, so they put normal metal to cover a small plate on his back. April knew about this and let the Turtles know, which is how they were able to defeat him. He came back in a second episode that had Shredder bring back most of the series' villains, and was also in the TMNT Tournament Fighters game for the SNES.
Although in the game version, he was self aware and wanted to win the tournament to get the money to remove the warrior program from his body. Um.... ok? I guess that's why he's nice enough to warn you and say 'GET OUT!!!' before he self destructs.
Anyways... THIS is NOT Chrome Dome... this is Chris Bradford before he became Dogpound and Rahzar.
All they did was give him red eyes and silver-plate his arms. I mean, at the very and I mean VERY least they could have silver-plated him and made the arms black, or SOMETHING. This was the worst ever excuse of low budget CGI standards when they couldn't afford to make a whole new character. And the most annoying thing is.. NO ONE NOTICED. Throughout the whole episode, not one character mentioned that it looked like Bradford. Not even Mikey. It was like a jarring case of 'same actor, different character' where everyone acts like Terrance Howard and Don Cheadle are the same person (Rhodey AKA War Machine) in the Iron Man movies without anybody questioning why he suddenly looks different all of a sudden.... BUT IN A CARTOON. Here, eveyone acts as if it was an all-new character that no one has ever seen before. C'mon guys, there is no excuse for this, and if this is how low CGI cartoons have fallen, then bring back normal animation.
I know the same argument might be brought up for the robot Foot Soldier looking just like the human ones. And yes, honestly, I would have liked a different design. After all, how are they gonna say the toy... the exact same Foot Soldier toy already out with red eyes? But in this case the characters noticed. In the last episode, the Turtles thought they were the same old Foot Soldiers, until they got back up to their feet, and continued to do so. It took them a while to figure out they were robots. It happened again in this episode when April said 'I thought you guys were supposed to be human'. In this episode not one person said 'whoa, how did Bradford turn back to normal' or 'why are you sending a Robo-Bradford after us?' Honestly, in-story, why would Karai commission the Kraang to make a robot that looked like Chris Bradford anyways? Did she secretly have the hots for him or something?
Anyways... in this episode April finally forgave the Turtles, which I'm glad since it couldn't have lasted that long. I understand she was mad at them and wanted to return to her normal life... but she kinda can't walk away from having both the Foot and the Kraang coming after you. She's still gonna need their help. Plus, she's angry at them since her dad got mutated as a result of knowing them.. but they're her only chance of ever getting him back to normal. Plus, we know she's a brave and skilled girl that isn't afraid to jump headfirst into adventure to rescue her dad, so why the hell isn't she looking for him? Ignoring the problem and hanging with some random dude isn't gonna help bring her father back.
I do wanna give props to Don finally using his naginata for more than a split second. And hey, we see Karai go one-on-one against one of the Turtles that isn't Leo. And he actually got some shots in. Maybe Leo holds back a little since he likes her, but in Donnie's eye she's nothing more than a threat, so he's able to take her down without holding back. In a certain way, it's cool when certain characters are kinda singled-out against each other... like Karai and Leo, cause it makes that much more surprising when say... Karai goes after Mikey instead. Also I understand Raph getting mad on Donnie's bailing on them... but like dude, April was in trouble. Would you rather leave her to her fate? Woulda kinda suck to find out Karai killed her while you were fighting the Kraang?
The last thing I wanna mentioning is April's little teasing kiss at the end of the episode. It was cute (Paige thought so too, and I'm sure many female fans would as well). Yes, it was adorable, it totally made Don's day, and the ending scene was adorable. Until you remember April's never really gonna be with him. Why you gotta tease him like that, girl? Now, I know girls can be friendly and sometimes hug or even kiss a guy on the cheek to show appreciation, and it could be nothing more than that.... but you don't do that to the guy you know has a crush on you. It just makes the poor guy think he actually has a chance. Now, if April was completely oblivious to this, she'd get a free pass... but c'mon girl.. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW.
Despite all my complaints, the episode was rather decent, but the Chrome Drome thing really ruined it for me. Even if it was just a nameless robot and he wasn't referred to as such, it's still so damn lazy to just re-use a past character model like that. What's next? Give human Xever a new hat and a mustache and pretend he's an all-new character? Or maybe bring in Wingnut, only it's the Kirby-bat colored blue? Not only that, but with all the announcements and previews they were doing, when they announced the season 2 new characters, like Mutagen Man, Slash and Casey Jones... they probably purposely didn't mention 'Chrome Dome' since showing the design at a con would have had the fans either be disappointed or be confused that they somehow turned Chris Bradford into a robot.
I understand we have seen the same characters running around episode from episode. The guy who owns the cat. The random blonde woman. The same pizza boy. That random bum. All of them. But they weren't major characters that anyone would remember anyway (maybe Mikey would recognize the pizza boy and the guy with the cat?). The Chrome Dome thing just bugged me to no end.
But yeah.. for the good points, the story advanced some with Karai's continued efforts of revenge, Casey showing he can fight, so whenever he does turn into a vigilantee it's already explained that he can fight, and April finally forgave the Turtles. I just hope this is the last time they cut corners so horribly.
While we're at it, I might as well show you our second episode of our TMNT podcast, Heroes in the Halfcast. Dansle couldn't make it in this episode, but she does return in the next one.
Teenagers usually get in trouble, get grounded and get zits. We've seen the Turtles do all sort of immature teenage antics in this version minus the acne, so let's make an episode about Mikey getting zits and let the hilarity ensue!! Sounds like a random throw-away filler episode right? No! This episode brings back some characters people were asking about returning in this season, as well as ended on a totally unexpected surprise. Let's take a look.
The episode opens with Leo, Don and Raph trying, and failing miserably at making breakfast. They wonder where Mikey is since he's usually the one to make it. Mikey is still in bed and feeling sick today. He then looks into the mirror and sees his face covered in zits and screams. Don studies him and says the zits will continue to spread until he basically becomes a giant zit and will pop. Mikey locks himself in his room, not wanting to come out until whenever these zits go away.
Meanwhile, we see Karai sitting on Shredder's throne, being in charge. Chris and Xever walk into the room, and Chris trips since his tail got caught in the automatic door and falls. Xever teases him and Chris regrets having gone from a ninja master to a huge lumbering lummox. Karai demands respect from them and wants someone to help her maintain her robot Foot Soldiers. She needs someone easy to manipulate and intimidate into working for them, which means Baxter Stockman. Chris reminds her of how he tried to kill them in that maze of doom, but Karai sends them to capture him anyway.
Back to the lair, Mikey tries to hide from his brothers and Raph pokes fun at him. Splinter tells him to stop and consider what humans would think of Raph if they saw him. Splinter then senses that Mikey is hiding something from them. Mikey finally comes clean. He admits he found some 'cool cream' in Don's lab and put some on himself to make him a cooler and better person, since the Turtles disrespect him all the time. Don explains it was failed batch of Retro-Mutagen that said 'cooled cream'. Mikey said it should have been labeled better, and Don flips the bottle around to show all the warning signs.
Now that Don knows what caused Mikey's condition, he can do something about it. He might still pop like a zit, but now they know it will happen in 3 hours. To make the antidote, Don needs a molecular centrifuge, and the only one they know of is in the remains of the TCRI building they blew up.
Meanwhile, Dogpound is running around, tracking Stockman by his scent. He continues to complain about his current condition and wants to be human again. He finally gets a scent and follows it. The Turtles search through the remains of TCRI for the centrifuge. They find Baxter in there, and once discovered he sends Mousers after our heroes. It seems he was planning to create a mutant army of his own, and among the items he was using he does indeed have the centrifuge they need. Dogpound arrives and starts fighting the Turtles. Baxter takes this as a chance to escape, but Mikey gives chase. Dogpound grabs the scientist and punches a wall down causing part of the building to cave in. Mikey pushes the others out of the way, but the bad guys are gone now.
At home, Mikey is feeling worse, and looking worse. Don says he has to stay safe since at this stage, if one of his zits pops, it might cause a chain reaction that will make him explode even sooner. The Turtles try to figure out where Dogpound could have taken Baxter. Mikey suggests Baxter's old lab, but everyone dismisses it and says it doesn't make sense. While the other discuss about possibly checking out the TCRO building again, or the Bradford dojo, Mikey decides he isn't going to wait around until he pops and goes to Baxter's lab himself.
In the lab, Baxter shows Dogpound the giant vat of Mutagen he has at his disposal. Xever arrives and is surprised Bradford found Baxter first. He asks why they don't take him to Karai right away, and Bradford is convinced he can turn the human again. Baxter basically says he can to save his own ass, and Xever says he wants to become human again as well. Dogpound slips a collar on Baxter with small mutagen bottles on it. It's on a timer, so unless he doesn't find a cure fast enough for them, the bottles will explode and cover him in Mutagen.
Mikey sneaks around and overhears this conversation. He tries to steal the centrifuge with his chain, but Dogpound catches him. Mikey's zits are huge now and very sensitive, so he tries his hardest to fight Dogpound while avoid being touched. Mikey jumps to a platform above the Mutagen vat and Dogpound jumps after him. Dogpound's weight destroys the area they were standing on and Mikey jumps out for a plank to grab onto. Dgpound doesn't make the jump and is holding onto Mikey's leg for dear life. The turtle has no choice but to smack Dogpound off him and make him fall into the huge vat of Mutagen
Dogpound leaps out and is now mutated into a wolf covered in spikes and exposes sharp bones. Mikey calls him Rahzar now. As Rahzar, Bradford finds himself to be a lot faster and more agile and feels like a ninja. master again. Rahzar tosses Mikey against a wall, but our sensitive turtle manages to use his chains to stop himself from crashing against the wall. Just as Rahzar leaps out at him, his attack is blocked by a tossed Sai as now the other Turtles have entered the scene.
Mikey tries to grab the centrifuge, but now Fishface is after him. Baxter also calls out for more Mousers as well. As the fight continues, Mikey suddenly gets an idea. He tricks Rahzar into lunging towards one of the control panels in the machinery that run the place. Mikey gets out of the way and Rahzar jams his claws into the control panel and electrocutes himself. Mikey teases that he just got Shell-Shocked. The Turtles take to the high ground and Don hits the sprinklers, making it rain so the Mousers, Baxter, Fishface and Rahzar all get zapped and are all defeated. Mikey laments that they couldn't get the centrifuge they needed, but Raph reveals that he has it, and everyone gets away.
Karai shows up and wakes Baxter up, telling him that he works for her now. At the lair, Don finishes the antidote and pours it all over acne pads, which Mikey proceeds to quickly rub all over himself. The antidote worked fine and he's back to normal. Splinter walks in and commends Mikey on his resourcefulness. Mikey then turns and brags to the others about he how he was right about Baxter being in his old lab, but Don suddenly says he sees a zit on Mikey's nose. Mikey realizes it was a trick to scare him and shut him up, and he angrily lunges out at him. My Opinions:
Wow, once again there's a lot to say about this episode. First off, the big surprise that this was actually an important episode that moved the plot forward rather than just a pointless filler ep. The main plot with Mikey and the zits was interesting, but also pretty gross, I guess due to the detail of CGI animation. The zits got grosser and grosser-looking as the episode progressed as he had them on his tongue, popping out of his shell (as in the shell looked cracked, yikes!) and by the end of the episode he could barely see since they were all around his eyes too. And ugh.. they bounced and quivered with every move he made. Too much detail there guys... way too much sickening detail. As gross as it is, it did add extra urgency in the fight against Dogpound, since at that point, one punch from the dogman would
On the subject of Mikey, I have to agree with fellow Technodromer 'BabyTurtles' as once again Mikey gets treated like crap, is ignored by his brothers and has to prove himself. He has already proven himself to be useful to the team in Parasitica and Invasion of the Squirrelanoids. He doesn't have to ALWAYS prove he's important to the team each featured ep he gets. It make it look like he lacks confidence, or it makes his brothers look like jerks who don't consider him cool enough to be at their level and he's always going to be stuck trying to earn the right to be an equal. When he mentioned Baxter's lab, everyone brushed him aside as if the possibility of that was zero because Mikey thought of it. It's like 'shut up son, adults are talking'. Seeing his life on the line, he took matters into his own hands and went for it. I like how he has moments where he gets serious and focused and the jokes stop. But yeah... we hope the next Mikey ep won't have him trying to 'prove himself'' to his brothers. He's already shown to be a valued member of the team. Stoppit and move on.
Then we have the return of the classic villains Dogpound, Fishface and Baxter, which many were wondering when or if they would even be featured in season 2, despite them being in the slightly-revised intro. Here we finally got some character development for Bradford as he hates being a dog and wants to be human again. Chris and Xever got screwed in different ways when they mutated. While Xever needs a breathing device and robot legs to move around, he is still able to fight with his sweet Capoeira style regardless. Bradford can breathe the air just fine, but he went from being a skillful ninja master to being a powerhouse that just swings his arms around. And he actually mentioned that in this episode, basically agreeing with many of the viewers' main complaint about being Dogpound.
I did like the part when they wanted Baxter to make them human and Xever mentioned he wanted to 'live as a man, love like a man'. I'm like... dude... did that cartoon show just imply that Xever missed getting laid?
Baxter didn't get mutated in this episode, despite having that Mutagen collar around his neck. I'm surprised that during the fight it didn't time-out, or one of the vials didn't burst when he got electocuted. With all that happened by the episode's climax, there wasn't really room or time to deal with a mutant Baxter too.
And finally.... whoa dude.. I never saw it coming. I was super-surprised when Bradford fell into the vat of Mutagen. I didn't know what to expect when he jumped out of it. I almost expected him to return to his human form. And wow, he became this show's version of Rahzar. I don't believe we have ever seen a mutant be mutated again into something else. Sure, the Turtles have suffered with some changes due to their mutation not being stable, or other things in the Red Sky eps of the 80's show and live-action movie. But never this. We've never seen a mutant get exposed to Mutagen and be mutated into something else. And hey, he became a mutant wolf named Rahzar. Whoa.
The design is pretty slick, I'm just not sure I like the exposed bones, especially where the leg comes off the hip, his limbs are so skinny, he could break them just by falling down that stairs. Now he's a faster and deadlier threat and we'll see what comes of it. And now we have another version of Rahzar to add to the list.
We of course have Rahzar from TMNT II Secret of the Ooze in which he was a mutated into a wolf, but the Ooze used was tampered with by Professor Perry, so he has the mentality of a baby. Although seriously Shredder, it took the TMNT 15 years to grow to their current states. You expect Tokka and Rahzar to be 'quoting MacBeth' after being mutated for a week of so.
Rahzar (and Tokka) actually appeared in an episode of the OT, though they spoke normally and has normal intelligence. I would honestly NOT call them villains since they were recently mutated animals and all they were doing were looking for food. Tokka got captured by a mutant hunter, and even after he got defeated, it was never made clear if Tokka was also released and if Rahzar was waiting for him. Geez guys, way to take way his only buddy ever.
Turtles Forever had the 2K3 Shredder and Karai inject their Foot Ninja with Mutagen, and one of them turned into a mutant wolf, while another became a mutant Turtle. Similar to most 2K3 mutants (what little there are anways), Rahzar was just a mindless beast and was mostly shown in the scene when he and Tokka attacked the Battle Shell.
And now finally we have the 2013 version. Former martial arts master with a chain of dojos throughout the city (even though nobody seemed to care about his sudden disppearance) turned into a dogman and Shredder's lead enforcer for rival gangs and such. Now he's going to be a wolf mutant who is as fast and agile as he used to be. Paige asked a good question.
Shredder left for Japan and told Karai that she wasn't allowed to mess with the Turtles until he came back. So how will Shredder react upon seeing Baxter with them, as well as Rahzar when he comes back? The new fact that mutants can be mutated a second time if hit with Mutagen opens up a lot of possibilities now with new and old mutants alike. For example, will Xever also go for being mutated twice?
Overall a fun-filled episode full of the return of Chris and Xever. Mikey (once again) proved himself important to the team. Like I said before, my only real complaint was the uneccesary extreme detail on Mikey's zits. Just no guys, we did not need to see that. Great ep after all, and the episode has way more stuff than 'what's on the tin'. Can't wait to see what happens next.
And hey... while we're at it, here's our review on the new TMNT Nick game from Activision.... and well... I think my face kinda says it all.....
And this is the episode everyone's been waiting for since season 2 was announced, the big debut of Casey Jones, as well as the episode where Timothy finally breaks free and becomes Mutagen Man. As well to how poor Donnie will react to all of this. And yeah, Venka called a lot of this.
The episode opens with a total Voltron knock-off that Mikey found in a box of VHS tapes (even though the giant robot looks like Mazinkaiser Z). At first the others find the show stupid, but later all four of them are engrossed in it. The show has a nerd character that likes the main female but is turned down cause, well, he's the nerd of the show. Mikey points out it's similar to Don and April and the turtle in question storms off calling the show stupid.
Don is in his lab bitching and complaining about April in front of Timothy, as he tries to find a way to make Retromutagen. Don has a photo of him pushing April on the swings in the park (when the hell did that happen?) that Timothy notices. One of the Mutagen vials Don experiments on freezes up and gets destroyed. As Don walks off, one of Timothy's tentacles manages to get out of the glass case and drink some Mutagen.
At school, April is at her locker and is suddenly hit by a hockey puck. She turns to meet Casey Jones, a weird creepy guy who she will be tutoring with trigonometry. They agree to meet in the park.
Outside Mikey is walking across the rooftops until he finds a pizza box with a slice of pizza left. As he tries to get it, he gets attacked by Leo. Leo considers this stealth training and asks him why he would eat some random pizza he found on a rooftop anyway. Raph goes next and catches Mikey after distracting him with his skateboard. Mikey says he hates stealth training. Don happens to see April and Casey talking in the park and is upset, thinking it's some kind of date.
Back at his lab, Don complains to Timothy about April seeing another guy. He's especially angry at how they're on the same park swings as in the picture. As he complains, he installs a voice box so that Timothy can talk. Splinter calls Don to the other room and Timothy uses this chance to suck up more Mutagen.
Splinter asks Don if he likes to fall, which of course he doesn't. So today he's going to teach him to like to fall. After several attacks, Splinter asks him if he likes to fall now, Don says you can't make someone like something. Then he understands this is reffering to him and April.
Meanwhile, the Mutagen has a stronger effect on Timothy this time. This time he's able to grow arms and legs and busts out of the lab. He takes the picture of April and Donnie with him as he goes out to find her. Timothy hits the streets attacking random people and even the police as he asks them where April O'Neil is.
Don discovers that Timothy as escaped and the others soon show up to help out. As they run outside, Don says he might be going after April since he was complaining to him about her. She might be at the park with 'her new date' or heading back home. They decide to split up.
April and Casey walk back home as he teases her for thinking about studying all the time. Just then Timothy appears and April recognizes him. Timothy sees Casey as the 'punk kid' Don was talking about. Casey protects April and gets smacked around. Casey uses a steel pipe as a hockey stick and pucks things at Timothy, before trying to attack him directly (while yelling out Goongala!!!). Timothy smacks him aside again. As he gets up, he sees April defend herself with her ninja fan and is impressed. Just as Timothy tries to grab April, Casey yanks her out of the way on his bike.
Timothy gives chase and calls April his friend. She says he's not her friend. Mikey and Raph arrive, and Mikey calls him 'Mutagen Man'. They start attacking him and find out that his hands drip acid and he's about to finish off Raph. Don and Leo show up and during the fight Leo slices off his hand. Don tries to defend Timothy, but he says the Turtles aren't his friends, especially after they attacked him. Due to Mutagen spilling from his severed arm, he runs out of Mutagen, powers down, and drops to the ground.
They take him to the Shell Raiser to bring him back home. Raph asks why and Don explains he might be the key to find a cure for April's father. Timothy finds more Mutagen in the Shell Raiser, drinks it and escapes again. The Turtles give chase, but Don says they all know where he's going, so they should all go together this time.
Casey and April are walking back to her place when she notices that Mutagen Man has returned and the Turtles are fighting him. She keeps Casey from seeing this and sends him on his way. By now Mutagen Man has lost whatever sense he had left and basically wants to force April to be his friend. Don keeps trying to defend him, but Leo tells him there's no other way. Whatever the Pulverizer, or Timothy once was, is now gone. They decide to use stealth and suddenly vanish on him.
Mutagen Man is confused and sees a piece of a Mutagen bottle land near him. He turns and sees Donnie with some Mutagen, and as he's distracted, the Turtles attack him. He's still too powerful for them and manages to get the Mutagen away from Donnie. Donnie warns him not to drink it, and Timothy yells out for him as he's not frozen solid by one of Don's failed attempts at a cure.
Later at home, Don is still sad by recent events and Splinter reminds him he can't make April come back. She will return when she wants to, and if she chooses to. Don sees a scene from the Voltron show as the nerd character saves the princess, and she rewards him with kisses. Don agrees with Splinter that there's always hope.
My Opinions:
There is so much to talk about in this episode. So let me tackle the four main points of interests here or else this article will be three times as long. I do wanna say that our friend Venka totally call most of this episode. Timothy overheard Don complaining about Don seeing some other guy, so he breaks out and tries to get to April. Then he basically wants April for himself. Wow. Anyways, here we go.
Casey Jones- We finally see the debut of everyone's favorite vigilantee that was pushed all the way to season 2....and he's kind of a jerk. Casey might not be perfect but he was never an arrogant asshole. Sure, he was insane in some versions, and kind of a tactless dude that didn't know how to conduct himself in the adult world other than kicking ass, but he was never a creepy jerk that comes on too strong. At his core he was a good guy, fighting the good fight, but with poor people skills. Not an outright jerk. Casey nearly socks April out with a hockey puck, then acts as if he's doing April a favor by having her tutor him, calls their study session a date and is already calling her sweetheart. While he does rescue April from Mutagen Man, it's obvious part of it is also to show off how tough and bad-ass he is. I'm not sure what to think exactly, but I don't like his arrogant 'this girl is already mine' attitude.
And no this isn't an anti-Casey, pro-Don thing either. Casey and April have been involved since the original Mirage comics, and we've seen them either be a couple or start liking each other in the live action movies, 2K3 series, and other media with the exception of the 80's series. They're basically the only male and female human friends the Turtles have, which met due to them having met the Turtles first. Eventually they get to know each other better and fall for each other. This is the first version that starts out with Casey putting the moves on April right from the start and being a jerk about it. It kinda felt like Nick was trying too hard to shove Don out the door and replace him with Casey as 'the new boyfriend' right off the bat.
Either way, it was interesting to see him in action, and it's also worth mentioning that this is the first time we've seen Casey as a normal guy before he decided to become a vigilantee. Any other version was a vigilantee right off the bat, even the IDW comic made Casey seem normal before he revealed to Raph that he likes to go out at night with the hockey mask and clubs. We'll see how it goes, but since this is an action show let's hope we see more of kick-ass Casey and less of wannabe-playa Casey.
It's all good until April's a little late on making him his sammich......
April- Wow, this girl's anger is seriously misplaced. I get she's sick of mutants and stuff but it's the Kraang's fault all of this is going on, not the Turtles. I hope she snaps out of her funk soon cause it will get annoying. In this ep she's already shown some fighting skills that she learned from Splinter, and the fan given to her as a gift from Splinter... so stop being an ungrateful little bitch. As for her and Casey... well even though she seemed a bit repulsed at first, she did show some signs of liking him or at the very least interested in seeing him again. Yep... they're gonna go with the whole 'she can't stand him at first and will eventually fall for him because only she can see his good side' deal. Maybe Don shoulda treated April more like crap.
Mutagen Man/Timothy/Pulverizer- Wow. One thing this show does is create more of a backstory for their characters before they become mutants. Chris Braford, Xever, Dr. Falco, The Pulverizer. Most of them had at least a full episode or two in their human forms before they became toy-marketable mutant monsters. But wow, it's easy to forget that this guy....
Used to be this guy....
At his core, he just wanted to be a hero. Yeah maybe it was for fame, glory and babes, but deep down he just wanted to fight the good fight and be somebody. He's lost his humanity and whatever was left of his sanity. And now he's gonna be another mindless monster of the week that will most likely never be cured throughout the show's run. I really hope they don't make him downright evil. I mean, even in the original version he was forced by Shredder to commit crimes or else they wouldn't give him the chemicals he needed to stay together.
It really is sad when you think about it. True he was a 'doofus' and wanted his powers handed to him, but hey, who'd rather spend half their lives training over just getting bit by a radioactive spider and become a hero right away?
I just feel he didn't really deserve this fate and the Turtles, save Don, were real jerks to him from day one. I hate how Mike and Raph just attacked him right off the bat instead of trying to talk him down. Dude, he used to be human, just like Splinter. And he lives in Don's lab. Don't treat him like some random monster you don't know or care about. Even when Don explained he might be after April since he talked to him about her, Raph is like 'you talked about your feelings to a vat full of organs?'. Harsh dude.
I do wonder what happens to him now. He froze up but did the Turtles take him home, or did they call it a day and leave? Don mentioned he needed him to find a cure for the mutations, including April's father. But this show is so bad with easily abandoning plot lines, I wouldn't be surprised if we DON'T see a frozen Timothy in Don's lab in future episodes.
Oh... and that voicebox thingie is annoying as hell... I guess they were trying to make him even creepier with a creepy radio voice... but c'mon Don.. you could do better than that. If he returns I kinda hope he gets a modified one, maybe bringing his human voice back or something. Hell, the part of the reason most of this happened to him in this episode was him having problems communicating properly.
Donatello- What can I say? He acted just like we'd expect upon finding out that April was 'seeing someone else'. He basically voiced what most of the fans were thinking when they first announced the whole 'crush on April' thing, that it wasn't fair that April liked some guy cause he's human and he's not. Don had the whole crush on April against him from the start just because he's a mutant turtle and also because no other versions of the franchise has ever had April be an official girlfriend to any of them. Splinter did a good job showing Don that you can't force someone to love you, in so many words.
However, the episode still ended giving him hope. Hope for what? He's never going to get April. Yes, I know she'll eventually be back with the gang, but she'll never see Donnie as more than just a friend, so why bother? Why drag this crush out for all of season one if you were gonna pair her up with Casey anyways, when an episode or two would have been enough? Venka said eventually April will have to make a choice, and Don will have to learn to accept her choice. Well... why not totally shock everyone and have her actually choose Donnie and leave Casey to 'learn to accept her choice'? If Donnie was human in any other show, this wouldn't be an issue and even though there would have been challenges, ups and downs, other men after her, and maybe even other girls to tempt him elsewhere, eventually the story would have ended with him getting April. Here the mere fact that he's a turtle already has everything from in-universe reasons to real world reasons for it to never happen... so again I ask... why even bother? I guess we'll have to find out.
Oh what's that? This is an action show and not some drama-rama soap opera? Yeah, almost forgot. Let's wrap it up with this sneak peak that Playmates announced a few days back of the upcoming Casey Jones figure. Honestly, I think it's totally awesome and can't wait to get it. Don't get me wrong. I got nothing against the character per say, it's just... let's focus more on him being bad ass and kicking ass left and right as a hardcore vigilantee and less on him trying to woo April. Please.
Talk about a blast from the past. I remember reading part of this as a young teen back in the day. For those wondering what would happen if both comic book universes ever clashed... This is as close as we'll get. This is an interesting read, if at least to remember at what place the characters were back in the mid-90's as opposed to how they are now. Thanks to the Bent Wookee comic store I was able to grab all the issues for a cheap price.
This is a 4 part story and while being far from perfect, it's cool for all the cameos alone. One thing to mention are some of the fights were actually decided by reader's votes... So if some of the results seem kinda lame and nonsensical... Well it was the readers fault or the character's own fanbase. As for some others, we just see the characters in 'about to fight' poses or stare downs... but never actually see them come to blows. Like I said.. Far from perfect. Anyways lets dive into the 90s DC and Marvel universe and start with issue 1.
DC VS Marvel Round 1 starts off with a bit of 90's trivia, as we see Ben Reilly coming back to New York as Spider-Man. For those lucky enough not to know, there was a thing called the Clone Saga in most of the 90's in which Peter Parker met a clone named Ben Reilly, and after many twists and turns, there was actually a point in the story where Peter thought HE was the clone and left or whatever, so I guess this is the part of that story where Ben took over as Spider-Man.
To ruin a perfect night of Ben putting his life back together, his spider-sense goes off and he sees a random bum lying up against a huge cardboard box. The box starts to glow and one of beams of light goes through Spider-man's leg. He says he doesn't feel anything strange and then suddenly vanishes.
A random guy walks down the alley and see the bum trying to contain the flashing cardboard box and says 'it's about to begin' and he's glad the guy came over to help him. The guy is confused and doesn't want any part of it.
Spider-Man finds himself in the middle of the rain on the rooftop in the middle of Gotham City, right in front of the Joker. The Joker says Spider-Man changed clothes since the last time they fought but Ben doesn't recognize him (there was a Spider-Man/Batman crossover in which they faced the Joker and Carnage, and apparently Joker is 4th-wall breaking enough to remember). Joker tells Spidey he's in Gotham now and he's ready to blow up the building, but the rain is ruining his fireworks.
Breaking the 4th wall before Deadpool made it cool
Spider-Man wants answers as to what's going on and says he doesn't even know the clown's name. The Joker decided to leave and gives him 'his card' and jumps off the building. Spidey is surprised but Joker has a parachute ready. Spidey looks at the Joker card and wonder's what's going on.
Meanwhile Gambit is charging up a Joker card as he's ready to fight the Juggernaut alongside Wolverine and Storm. Just as Juggernaut is about to punch Wolverine, the mutant vanishes... and then so does he. Jugs sees that he punches the side of the Daily Planet and wonders where he is. He soon gets punched by Superman that tells him he's in the wrong place.
gotta love those classic 90's X-Men costumes
Back at Manhattan the bum has the cardboard box all taped up with.... tape... toilet paper... I can't tell... and mentions how he doesn't want any more characters crossing over. He's surprised the box is still glowing and nothing can hold it back....since you know... tape and toilet paper can perfectly contain a weird glowing interdimensional cardboard box thingie...
Captain America is busy fighting Hydra soldiers when he suddenly vanishes. Wonder Woman saves some people from a collapsing bridge when she also vanishes, before the cops can thank her. Elsewhere, Betty Ross is hanging with the Hulk, who at this time has the mind and total control of Bruce Banner. The Hulk also vanishes. At a beach Superboy is showing off his powers by lifting up two bikini babes (good way to grab some ass) which pisses off his girlfriend Tana... and he also suddenly vanishes. Somewhere in deep space, Lobo is busting up an alien bar when he's suddenly warped away as well.
Superboy, dripping with 90's cheese
At the X-Mansion, Wolverine, Storm and Gambit inform Xavier, Beast and Psylocke about Juggernaut's sudden disappearance. Xavier is saddened that his stepbrother is one of their worst enemies, but Wolverine says to let Juggernaut be someone else's problem. Just then the same mysterious light hits Wolverine, Gambit and Storm and all three vanish. Jean and Cyclops are also confused and wonders what the hell is going on.
Elsewhere, the Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Elektra, The Flash, Thor, Aquaman, The Silver Surfer, Captain Marvel, The Sub-Mariner (Namor), Quicksilver, and Catwoman are all disappearing as well.
In the Batcave, Bullseye has Robin (Tim Drake) hostage demanding that Batman tell him where he is and how he got there. Bullseye threatens to cut Robin's eye, but the Boy Wonder elbows him in the throat. Batman tosses a Batarang but even though he's still choking from the hit, Bullseye manages to catch it and throws it back. Batman manages to duck under it and punches Bullseye across the jaw. The villain is surprised Bats is able to 'make him miss' and says he hits even harder than Daredevil before he passes out.
oddly enough.... Bulleye does look like a Batman, or even Flash style rogue....
Robin wonders who this guy is and how he got into the cave. Batman never heard of him and notes that he was just as surprised to be there as they were to see him. Robin then suddenly vanishes. He then appears in the best place a teenage boy can possibly be, in a teenage girl's bedroom. Yep, Robin suddenly appears on Jubilee's bed and she's already liking his sense of fashion.
and thus Tim Drake and Jubilation Lee lost their virginity....
Superman returns to the Daily Bugle disguised as Clark Kent and finds out it is now run by James Jonah Jameson. Lois and Clark are confused as to who is the new guy that took over the Planet and forced out Perry in favor of Jameson. Jimmy Olsen steps in and mentions he's now a TV reporter. Lois also left a photo for Clark to investigate, and he sees Steel fighting the Absorbing Man and wonders where he came from.
Everyone throughout Metropolis are confused as their heroes and villains are gone and replaced by news ones. Throughout the city, the Green Lantern is facing off against the Green Goblin, Bane is trying to punch through Captain America's shield and Daredevil is taking down the Riddler. Elsewhere, Batman faces Venom, Captain Marvel faces Dr. Doom, Punisher and Deathstroke try to shoot each other, Estrigan faces Ghost Rider and Firestorm and Martian Manhunter team up to fight against the Human Torch and The Thing.
Some of the crossover heroes do get along. Hawkman is friends with Archangel, and Supergirl teamed up with She-Hulk to fight crime. Superman was also fighting against Annihilus, and now Clark notices a pic of Spider-Man taking down Man-Bat. Clark doesn't recognize the hero, and just then Lois Lane introduces the one who took that pic, their new photographer, Ben Reilly. Clark says they're very good pictures and maybe together they can figure out what's going on. Ben says whatever is happening feels like something that's bigger and beyond them.
I feel sorry for the poor punks that try to take down Supergirl and She-Hulk with guns...
Out across the universe, the Spectre from the DC Universe and The Living Tribunal from the Marvel Universe also don't understand what is going on. But they both feel that something is terribly wrong. Elsewhere two giant god-like beings point at each other.
Well... this comic wasn't short on cameos, I'll give you that. This is the first issue and despite the crappy way this is all coming together (some sort of mystical glowing cardboard box that a bum is trying to tape up???) it is fun to see all these characters meet up and throw down, though most of them were one panel scenes. I do like the 90's flair with the whole Ben Reilly thing, and Superboy who appeared after the whole Reign of the Supermen storyline in which four different Supermen appeared after the death of the original and readers had to guess which one was the real deal. This is just the beginning so I can't say too much yet since we do have three more issues to go.
The comic also let the readers vote for who would win the fights in issue 3. The DC VS Marvel Preliminary Bouts consisted of Aquaman VS Sub-Mariner, Elektra VS Catwoman, Captain Marvel VS Thor, Jubilee VS Robin, Flash VS Quicksilver and Silver Surfer VS the Green Lantern.
Then there would be the Marvel VS DC heavyweight bouts which would be Superman VS the Hulk, Captain America VS Batman, Lobo VS Wolverine, Storm VS Wonder Woman and Superboy VS Spider-Man.
place your votes! at least you're not killing off someone's sidekick this time
The comic then comes with very brief bios for Superman, The Hulk, Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman, Storm, Wolverine, Lobo, Superboy and Spider-Man to help people consider their vote. All votes had to be casted by December 31, 1995 and the issue would hit the stores that February of 1996. You could either cut out the ballot from the comic and mail it on, or vote for it online by casting the votes for each individual hero. I didn't even know there was internet in 1995. Man, this takes me back.
I know it all sounds lame and cheesy now, but I can't even imagine how exciting it would have been back at the day to get the chance to cast your votes (basically like saying place your bets) and actually effect the outcomes of the story. Way better and a lot less morbid than that phone hotline to vote for wether or not Jason Todd should have died. I'll be glad to blog on the rest of this story soon.
I do have to say though, as the thought crossed my mind during that scene between Superman and the Juggernaut. Wouldn't Juggernaut be able to beat the crap out of Superman since his powers come from the magical Gem of Cyttorak and Superman's weakness is magic?
For more Marvel VS DC Action... well this isn't the same thing... but last year we did do a video comparing The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises with our thoughts and opinions.
Remember that random throw-away line in the last episode when the Turtles were looking for Mutagen where Leo said he hoped 'it wasn't another trap'? A lot of TMNT fans sure do, including our very own Venka and Dansleforet. This episode is basically what that one line was all about. The episodes were switched around to fit in with Halloween weekend, so technically this should be episode 2 of Season 2 instead of episode 3. Let's check it out.
This episode starts out with the Turtles searching for more Mutagen bottles. Don is still surprised that April acted the way she did and Raph tells him to get it over it for now. Looking through the garbage of an alley, Mikey finds a stuffed iguana and plays with it until Raph reminds him it might be a distant cousin for all they know. Mikey does eventually find one of the Mutagen bottles and Don says there's a lot more left to find. Karai is watching them and realizes that they're after the Mutagen bottles.
Later on the Turtles are tired of looking for the Mutagen bottles all the time and Leo suggests a break. However his idea of a break is more training. He will defend a restaurant called the Dragon Gate, like King of the Hill, and the other have to get past him. Mikey cranks up his tunes and dances his way past Leo. Don does some calculations and tosses shuriken that distract him so he can also get past him. Raph charges at him and tosses his sai at him, which Leo avoids. He says a true ninja never throws his weapon (which is funny since Raph's main form of attack was throwing his sai, especially in the Red Sky seasons) but Raph still gets past him. As Leo gets up he sees they somehow carved 'Lam-e-nardo' on his sword. He tells the others they were supposed to take him down in close quarters combat, but Raph says the main point was to get past him, no matter how they did it.
Leo talks to Splinter about being the leader might not be for him since the Turtles aren't showing him respect. Splinter reminds him it's always easy to be the leader and that sometimes one has to nurture and care for one's followers.
Karai is relaxing at home when she is attacked by Foot Ninja. However these Foot Ninja seem to be better skilled and resistant than the usual wimps we've seen so far. Shredder mentions that they are robot Foot Ninja created by the Kraang. Shredder is leaving town and will leave Karai in charge, but he threatens her to not go after the Turtles until his return, or else she'll suffer the consequences, daughter or not.
The Turtles continue searching for Mutagen bottles and head into the basement of a building. Leo tells the others to wait but they already went inside. Mikey finds another Mutagen bottle but Leo sees something suspicious and tells the to wait. Mikey grabs the bottle which signals an ambush and Karai reveals herself with the Foot Ninja. She's angry over the fact that Leo betrayed her during the 'Enemy of my Enemy' episode (although he was the one that didn't want to go along with it).
Raph is not worried about the Foot Ninja, but are surprised at how powerful and well skilled they seem to be. They soon find out that they're actually robots. Leo calls for a tactical retreat and Raph refuses to run from the Foot. However, he is soon humbled by the Foot and has to run with the others. However, during the escape Leonardo is captured and the Turtles have no choice but to escape without him.
The Turtles tell Splinter what happened to Leo, and now they have to figure out how to rescue him without his leadership. Splinter tells them that Karai thinks he hurt someone close to her.
Leo is stuck in a net and Karai pokes fun at him and saying she could get rich selling him to a scientists. Karai then explains the robot Foot Ninjas are well trained and highly obedient to her. They can also adapt the more they fight. She's angry since she thinks Splinter took her mother from her and now she wants to make him pay. She lets Leo free and sends the Foot Ninja after him, as she enjoys the show.
Don finds out that Leo was taken to Bradford's dojo. Raph wants to lead the team but Don argues that he should since he's the smartest. Raph says they don't time to ague and should rescue Leo the way he wanted them to fight before.
They lurk around the rooftops of the Bradford Dojo as Raph sets loose a pigeon to cover the security cameras with help of his other birdie buddies. As they sneak inside, they manage to find Leo and set him free. However he tells them that this was also part of Karai's trap. As the Foot Ninja surround them Karai reveals her plans to get revenge on Splinter, and if she captures the Turtles sooner or later he will track them there. The Turtles tell her Shredder is lying and Splinter would never hurt anyone. She doesn't believe them and the fight continues. This time the Turtles do follow's Leo's tactical retreat but Karai won't let them get away.
Leo considers that the Foot Ninja are trained to fight seriously, so he tells the others to fight in their unique ways like they did before at the Dragon Gate. For a while their random unpredictable techniques work, but soon the Foot Ninja adapt and keep fighting. Leo continues to fight with Karai, trying to convince her that Shredder lied to her. In the end, Leo tosses his sword at her, which she avoids and yells out that true ninjas never throw their weapons. Leo takes this chance to take her down. On the ground and defeated, Leo tells Karai that her grudge is with him, and she should leave her brothers and their sensei alone since he would never hurt anyone.
At home the Turtles celebrate their victory and take turns playing the pinball machine they own. Raph and Leo talk a bit and make sure it's all good between them. Leo wants to talk to Splinter about Karai, and he tries to avoid the subject. Leo asks if he doesn't trust them with the truth. Splinter finally confesses that Karai is his daughter.
My Opinions:
This is a great episode that dives right into the bombshell Shredder dropped on Splinter at the end of the first season... that Karai is actually Miwa and she's been led to believe that Splinter killed her mother. Now she personally wants revenge on Splinter to avenge her mother, as well as on Leo for his betrayal.
As for Leo... poor guy. This wasn't the first time the others chose to ignore his orders or show lack of respect for his leadership, but the Lam-e-nardo on the sword thing, that really hurt. It's nice to see Raph make peace with him, but we have to see how long this lasts before they start disrespecting him again. I'm surprised no one took the lead when it came time to rescue Leo. Don and Raph argued for half a second, but then realized it doesn't matter who the leader was. It was just time to head out and get their leader back.
The Foot Ninja robots were entertaining, and there were some good fights because of them, however geez... this is how they should have fought from the start. The Foot Ninja (and especially the Purple Dragons) have been such cakewalks in this show, it's nice to see them actually pose a threat. I do hope they return and not fall for the old cartoon trope of 'it didn't work this time so let's like never use them ever again' trick because well... they DID work and it took a lot of effort for the Turtles to finally defeat them.
As for Karai herself, it's gonna hit her hard when she realizes that Splinter is her father and Shredder was lying all this time. I do wonder what will happen if Shredder finds out she did exactly what he didn't want her to do. I assume he was afraid the Turtles or Splinter will tell her the truth.
And about that... wow... talk about the worse case of 'plot amnesia' ever. April's dad was captured by the Kraang last season and they only brought it up a few times whenever it was convenient to the plot. Now Splinter just tells Leo that Karai is his daughter... and we go from that to chasing mutant squirrels. I assume this won't be touched upon ever again unless Karai herself is in the episode. We'll have to see what happens.
Oh and how could I forget... Mikey actually said 'go ninja, go ninja go!' like that classic movie Secret of the Ooze. And Raph made a comment about a trenchcoat on a Turtle, which is of course seen used in most TMNT media. Epic Easter eggs guys.
