Agents of SHIELD Episode 15

By Mark Rodriguez

Wow, this is one of the most action packed and exciting episodes of SHIELD we've seen. And yes, Lady Sif and a lot of Thor references and mentions fill the episode. How will the team fare when Lorelei takes control of Grant Ward? Let's start this episode.

The episode continued where the last one ended, in which Lorelei arrives in a small town near a biker hangout with the guy she controlled. As the guy goes inside, the bikers start hitting on her, asking why she chose a guy like that. Rooster is the leader of the pack and offers her a place to stay if she wants to lay low. The guy comes back and is upset Lorelei is with someone else, since he left his wife for her. She said they'd be together to the end, and says that this is the end and sends him flying across the area and into a truck. She then takes control of Rooster and tells him to introduce her to all his men.

On the SHIELD plane, Skye wakes up, but before she can leave, Simmons comes in and makes sure she gets her rest. Grant shows up and is happy to see that Skye is doing better. She's angry at herself for putting herself in danger, but Grant says that thanks to her SHIELD knows Mike Peterson is alive and they know about the Deathlok project. Grant is angry that Mike was in the area and did nothing to help Skye, but she defends him. When she gets better she's eager to train to never need help again.

Simmons discusses the constant blood samples she's been taking from Skye with Fitz and notes she's getting suspicious. Simmons wants to study the alien drug used to heal Skye and review Coulson. She wants to use it to save lives, and send it to SHIELD to investigate, but Coulson wants it to stay in-house.

Coulson talks to a fellow agent about talking to Fury. The guy tells him that Fury can't be found unless he wants to find you.

The SHIELD gang notice some strange energy above the skies of the Nevada/California border. It's the same energy Dr. Fostor found in New Mexico and London sometime on previous occasions so they knows it's the Asgardians (Thor took place in New Mexico, Thor The Dark World was in London). The team is sent to welcome them (except for Simmons and Skye). Fitz says they shouldn't have anything to worry about since the Asgardians are allies. Grant reminds them that Loki wasn't an ally.

Melinda, Grant and Fitz arrive in time to see the rainbow bridge bring someone to our world. They soon see that the visitor is Lady Sif, and Fitz's equipment recognize her as fighting alongside Thor in New Mexico. Sif warns them that the world is in danger.

Later on, Sif is in the SHIELD plane with the others. Coulson described that she's a warrior and tells how she jumped on the back of The Destroyer and stabbed it in the back.

Lady Sif kicks all sorts of ass

Lady Sif is surprised to see Coulson alive, since she heard from Thor that Loki killed him. Coulson said for a while, he was dead. Sif says Thor considers him a good friend and would be pleased to know he's alive. Coulson says he also considers him a friend and that's why he'd rather tell him in person. When you think about it... shouldn't Heimdall have seen Coulson alive and told Thor by now... or was he too busy checking out Jane Fostor showering?

Anyways Sif explains that Lorelei uses sorcery to seduce men to do her bidding. Most men can fall for her charms just by looking at her, but for the ones with stronger wills, she can use either her voice or touch to seduce them. She has a collar used to keep Lorelei quiet and thus, breaking her spell. She was imprisoned, but escaped during the time that the Dark Elves attacked Asgard and journeyed to Earth through one of Loki's portals. 

Meanwhile, Lorelei is in a bar with the bikers and is displeased by all the money they got her, considering it to just be paper. Rooster tells her that money is the currency here. Just then Rooster's wife shows up and is not too happy to see Lorelei wearing her clothes. She starts yelling and insulting Wayne (Rooster's real name) and Lorelei complains about the noise she's making. Wayne starts choking his wife since her yelling is upsetting Lorelei.

Sif starts looking for leads on where Lorelei could be and Coulson asks her if she knows of other alien species, particularly any blue ones. She mentioned several kinda, like the Frost Giant and the Kree, but they've taken them down and have never ventured into Earth. They spot several robberies at a jewelry store and a gun shop and Sif says Lorelei has already started to gather riches and weapons.

Fitz shows Grant and Melinda the new guns he's been working on, called 'Icers'. Grant jokes that he finally got rid of the extra ounce in the guns. He also mentioned that after facing Mike Peterson, he made the weapons stronger. Sif arrives and tells them they're ready to depart.

They soon arrive outside a bar where its said Lorelei is inside with her men. The police are already there and Coulson asks them if they've seen the suspect. The cops say they have and 'she's beautiful' and start to shoot at them. A gunfight ensues between the police and SHIELD. The bikers tell Lorelei about 'a girl with a sword' and she already knows it's Lady Sif that has come after her. 

Coulson asks for cover, and Sif kicks a trailer so hard, it slides across the ground, becoming a barricade. She runs into the bar to face Lorelei and Coulson tells the others it's best to let her deal with it. As Sif faces Lorelei, she mocks him for making men do her dirty work. The men surround Sif, and while the Asgardian is able to throw them around like they were nothing, one of them still shot at the collar.

Outside, Grant is fighting against Rooster and easily takes him down. Lorelei approaches Grant and starts seducing him, but he aims his gun at her. She is impressed by his skill and touched his arm. Now, under her control, she grabs a bike and rides off with her. 

Back on the plane, Sif is angry that Lorelei got away, and also explains how the collar was damaged and won't work anymore. Coulson says Grant is one of their best and he knows how to avoid being caught, including avoiding cameras, using aliases and having several places he can hide in the area. If anyone can find him, Skye can, so he enlists her help.

Simmons asks Coulson to send Skye's blood samples to SHIELD to study it further. Coulson refuses but Simmons demands to know why since she feels it is her duty to save lives. Coulson says several men risked their lives to keep that drug a secret and until they can get answers out of Fury, they're going to keep it in-house.

Meanwhile, Grant takes Lorelei to Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas (man, I missed seeing the little statue show) and they go get it on in their hotel room. Later on, Lorelei admires the lights out the window and admits she likes how Earth looks. She's been locked away for years and enjoys her freedom, but Sif is restless and will always be hunting after her. Grant says they should take Sif out of the equation. Lorelei says they can't stop her, but Grant says he knows how to take out the people that she's with.

On the SHIELD plane, Melinda tries out Sif's weapon and likes it. She asks if Lorelei is so powerful why does she use others to do her bidding. Sif explains she gets a thrill of seducing men, especially if they're already taken. She senses that Melinda cares for Grant and warns that he is no longer the man she knows and won't hesitate to kill her. Melinda says he can't even if he tried.

The gang busts into Ceaser's Palace, but Sif and Grant are gone by now. Coulson asks Melinda if her relationship with Grant will cause a problem. She ignores him and continues the search.

Back on the plane, Fitz tells Sif that he fixed the collar. He leads her to the padded interrogation room to show it to her, and then locks her in. He's under Lorelei's control now. Fitz also locks Skye and Simmons in another room. Grant is now manning the plane and it started to take off. Coulson realizes Fitz's condition and starts to play along.

Lorelei runs into Miranda, and when the SHIELD agent tries to fight her, the Asgardian sent her flying across the room. Grant meanwhile, opens the ceiling to the padded soom, which sucks Sif out of the plane. Grant then shows up with the fight between Lorelei and Melinda, and he kisses the Asgardian in front of his former teammate. Lorelei taunts Melinda, saying that Grant's heart beats for her now, and even though Melinda is worried about him, she tells him that he desires someone else.

Coulson sends the lovestruck Fitz away and opens the padded room, noticing that the ceiling is open and Sif is gone. Coulson then sets Skye and Simmons free, and gets clocks by Simmons using a fire extinguisher. She thought Coulson was under Lorelei's control, and he painfully says he wasn't. Sif is staill on top of the plane, hanging on desperately.

Lorelei finds Sif's sword, but Sif soon arrives. Sif says she has orders to take her back to Asgard, and a fight breaks out. Meanwhile, Grant and Melinda also fight it out. Simmons runs into Fitz and is being chased by her, until Coulson knocks him out. The fight between lovers get intense as Melinda smashes Grant through a window. Sif manages to defeat Lorelei and puts the collar back on her. Grant is about to shoot his partner and snaps out of it, dropping his gun. Melinda socks him anyway.

Sif is ready to take the captured Asgardian back, and Grant says it must take everything in her to not flat out kill her. Sif says she has orders from Odin to bring her back alive, and she will. Coulson tells Grant he should talk to Melinda. She tells Grant she's not hurt and they're basically done here. She also tells him he was more honest with Lorelei than he was with her, which leaves wondering what she meant.

Coulson talks to Skye alone the drug used to bring them both back. He mentioned he found out that it came from an alien source. Skye isn't worried because as a result of this, they're now alive, plus Coulson had this drug in him for a longer and he's been ok so far. Coulson is worried because they're in the dark on this, she says since she's an O8-4, they can be in the dark together. Coulson says they both have to work together to find the answers they need, but to keep it between them for the safety of the team. Coulson feels that Fury is going through a lot of trouble to keep this under wraps, so they have to find out why. They'll start by going after Quinn to make him pay.

Melinda is listening to the conversation.... and calls someone else telling them that 'Coulson knows'.

My opinions:

This was an awesome episode, and it was nice to see Sif in the show, and played by the same woman that played her in the movies. I like all the Asgardian references, and I guess Coulson telling Sif to keep his revival quiet is a good reason to keep the surprise if he manages to return in an Avengers sequel and show Thor's reaction then.

Lorelei was an interesting foe, and I liked seeing her adapt to Earth. Loved the Ceasar's Palace scenes. I'm surprised the fight between Grant and Melinda felt much more intense than the fights between the Asgardian women. Yeah, Lorelei got some hits in, but she was never really a match for Lady Sif and was basically smacked around like a bitch most of the time. Despite not having super powers, the fight between Melinda and Grant felt much more intense and fast paced. That one really felt like it could have gone either way.

I also like the new recaps before the episodes begin, which is a good way to have newcomers catch up. Similar to the 90's X-Men cartoon, let's say the episode brought back Magneto. The recaps would show past Magneto episodes to bring context to the current episode. Similarly, this recap shows scenes hinting Melinda and Fitz have been having sex and the scene where Coulson asks her if this will be a problem for the team...which is of course context that comes into play in this episode. Speaking of sex... whoa, Grant got to nail an Asgardian chick. And it seemed she enjoyed herself. That's pimp, yo.

Melinda of course, always has to act like the cold hearted woman without emotion. What she did with Grant was sex and nothing more. Still, she did seem angry that Lorelei took 'her man', and she also seemed bothered to know Grant desired someone else. I would assume that is Skye... but how will they bring that into the story. Hell, how would Skye even act if she finds out Grant's been doing Melinda? Something tells me she's fond enough of him to actually be bothered by it.

As for our guest of honor, Lady Sif did an awesome job. It was good to see her again, and I loved her interaction with Coulson, the others and our modern world in general. We need more guest stars like this. We know this takes place in the Marvel universe, especially the Marvel cinematic universe... but after several episodes of either facing super obscure super villains or made-up ones, it is nice to have someone from the actual movies appear once in a while to remind us that yes, this show is related to all the Marvel movies.

Anyways, great episode. Loved it. Next week there won't be an episode, but there will be some kind of behind the scenes special. It will include stuff related to Captain America Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, upcoming SHIELD episodes and whoa, even something from Avengers Age of Ultron. Can't wait.

Agents of SHIELD Episode 14

By Mark Rodriguez

When we last our SHIELD agents, Skye was brutally shot twice by Quinn and left bleeding to death. The agents were able to put her in a Cryo-Capsule to keep her stable, but time was running out.... and we had to wait throughout the month of February until we finally got to March to see what happened next. Let's continue as the life of Skye is hanging by a thread.

The episode opens with Coulson and Simmons rushing Skye, still the the Cryo-Capsule where she can get medical attention. The gang is worried. Coulson tries to get word from Fury. Grant blames himself, thinking Skye never should have been on the field. Melinda says the blame should go to the guy that shot her. A nurse arrives and tells the gang that Skye has taken too much damage and is on life support. They'll soon have to decide wether or not to pull the plug.

Back on the plane, Melinda goes to the interrogation room where Quinn is still being held and basically punches the hell out of his face. Coulson arrives to stop her before she goes too far.

Coulson later gives the reports of his death and revival to Simmons and Fitz to study. The regular doctors can't save Skye, but he's sure whatever brought him back and help save her. He tells the them the Tahiti memories were fake to help forget what was really done to him. Simmons checks the reports and notice they say Coulson's hear was torn in half, and was somehow regenerated and healed completely. They're surprised by the strange procedures and drugs used during the revival of Coulson.

Grant and May talk about Skye and how serious Coulson is taking this, when just then they're approached by SHIELD jets. They're in trouble for not having turned Quinn over for questioning just yet. Two men board the ship, Garrett and Triplet, and they're already known by Coulson and Grant. Garrett also wants revenge on Quinn since he lost 3 men to track him down, and it cost him a lot to have Coulson's gang bust into the investigation.

While Garrett and Coulson talk, Triplet goes ahead and meets up with Grant. He wants to be taken to where Quinn is being held, but Grant won't release him without orders from Coulson. Triplet goes to find him on his own and when Grant grabs his arm, a fight breaks out between the two. Garrett and Coulson show up to break it up and say they're working together. Quinn might know something that can save Skye's life, so after they save her, they can take him back.

Fitz and Simmons continue to read the notes on Coulson's revival and are shocked at the things they find out. Most of the procedures seemed impossible, or horribly unethical, and some even used drugs or techniques they never even heard of.

The others go interrogate Quinn, who jokes about his rough treatment. Garrett says if it was him, it would be worse, and he reaches into his mouth and almost yanks out his tongue. Garrett and Coulson ask what he knows about the Cybertech and Deathlok project, but he wouldn't answer. Coulson asked why he had to shoot Skye. He says the Clairvoyant told him to.

Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons also find out that the doctors and places referenced in the files don't exist, which adds to more of the mystery. Quinn tells Garrett that the Clairvoyant can see everything, which is how he was able to get the drop on the three agents that were killed. The only thing he can't see is how they brought Coulson back. They then realize that Skye was shot because they knew they would try to revive her the same way Coulson was brought back... which would be exactly what the Clairvoyant wants. It's a risk they have to take.

Simmons and Fitz watch over Skye as word of a drug that causes miracle regeneration is mentioned, but it is in an encrypted file. Fitz and Coulson check the computer files (with those awesome 3-D floating image files as seen in the Iron Man movies). They find a 'guest house' which is actually a sanctioned operation headed by Fury.

The teams lands near some mountains, and the secret medical facility should be inside. Coulson, Grant, Garrett and Fitz head inside, armed and ready to go. As they head towards the base there's a camera and the people inside ask for a pass code. Coulson mentions their predicament, but the people keep asking for the pass code. Garrett shoots the camera and Fitz hacks their way inside. As they sneak into the elevator, Fitz realizes they lost communication with the others on the plane.

Meanwhile, Triplett and Simmons watch over Skye. Simmons explains she hardly knew her, and they're complete opposites, but she hopes she will be alright. Triplett says if anything ever happens to him, he hopes he has her in his corner. Um.... ok?

 The man find a room surrounded by bulletproof glass and Fitz hacks his way in. They sneak around but the soldiers watching the place rush in and start shooting. Coulson warns if they don't stop they'll have to defend themselves. They keep shooting and Fitz tosses a flashing device that distracts them long enough for the others to take them down. They follow one of the injured soldiers and find him lying on the ground, waiting to die. He acts like he might recognize Coulson, making him sure that he really was treated in this place before.

Fitz soon finds out that the entire place is rigged to explode. Had the soldiers taken down the agents, they would have stopped the countdown, but since they were killed, noone can stop it. As Coulson enters a certain room, he has slight memory flashes of being treated there before. Fitz joins him and they start looking in a huge room full of all kind of drugs. They check in a fridge with a hidden compartment and find the miracle drug they were looking for.

Grant and Garrett arrive telling them they couldn't stop the bombs. As they leave Coulson continues to look in the room and finds another hidden compartment with something called T.A.H.I.T.I. As he wanders further, he finds a room with what looks like half of one of the Chitauri in a Cryo-Capsule... and it seems the miracle drug came from it. Fitz manages to blow up the door to the bulletproof glass room they entered and leaves with Grant and drug. Garrett stays behind and looks for Coulson.

Coulson tells Garrett that they shouldn't have use the drug on Skye.... Fitz is already on the plane with the others handing it over to them. By the time Coulson and Garrett arrives, they're already injecting Skye with it. She starts having attacks, and everybody worries. It looks like they were going to lose her, but she soon becomes stable and it looks like she will recover.

With Skye recovering, Garrett and Triplett take Quinn away. Garrett jokes about whether or not they were really going to throw Quinn off the plane if Skye didn't make it. Melinda asks Coulson why he was so worried earlier. He mentions the strange things he saw at that hidden medical facility and was worried Skye would suffer the same things he did. Luckily she didn't. He stays there and watches over her as she recovers.

Meanwhile in some small town, a redhead woman shows up near a wedding chapel. There's a guy hanging outside drinking some water and the woman takes it and drinks it for herself. She wonders where she is, and the man explains she's in Death Valley. She asks about the chapel and he says his fiance is inside. She asks if he prefers his fiance over her, and he says 'well, yeah' since she is his fiance after all. She says she admires his loyalty, which is something she will need. The man's fiance steps outside to see that he has driven off with this woman. He asks who she is, and she says her name is Lorelei, who now has the man under her control.

My opinions:

Another thrilling episode as the clock was ticking and Skye's life was hanging by a thread. She is indeed a beloved member of the team (and beloved part of the show), and we got see how each member felt about her. I guess Chloe Bennet got to take it easy for this episode since she was barely 'asleep' during all of it. I do wonder if the way the miracle drug did work on her and save her life have something to do with her being an O84.

The mystery regarding how Coulson came back continues, as does the Clairvoyant's desire to find out how it was done. I wonder how his powers work.... how DOES he 'see everything'? I mean, does he see everything through his men? Since they kept Quinn in that padded room the whole time, does that mean they kept the Clairvoyant from seeing what went on in the base? And honestly, if his powers are that divine, what rock was Fury hiding his operation under that not even could see when they were reviving Coulson? Geez, that small scene with Loki running Coulson through with his spear sure had long-lasting effects. And what does T.A.H.I.T.I stand for??? Plus with someone like the Clairvoyant and Centipede running around creating exploding super soldiers, why aren't they sending some of the super heroes in on this?

As for the new characters, Garrett and Triplett, I'm glad they were helping out, well at least Garrett was... At first I thought they were 'bad guys' out to capture Quinn whether Coulson wanted to or not. I thought when they said they would wait til they tried to save Skye that they would eventually turn on our crew to get to Quinn. I found out afterwards that Garrett is yet another comicbook character that was an agent of SHIELD until he was turned into a cyborg to stay alive. I'm not sure of his personality in the comics, but here he comes off as a hardened vet, with a history with Coulson and a dark sense of humor that probably rubs the others the wrong way.

As for Triplett.... um... other than a short fight scene with Grant, he really didn't all that much but stand around and hit on Simmons. Even at the end Garrett joked they might be back since 'Triplett has a thing for Miss Simmons'. He was an action fighter too, he should have joined the others on the mission. I do hope that if they bring him back they give him a longer and more action-packed role.

As for the little teaser thing at the end with Lorelei... wow. That was... out of left field. Now I know Lady Sif was going to be on the show but I didn't expect it to start like this. It was weird and had nothing to do with the rest of the episode. It would be watching Batman take down the Joker in a specific 'Joker-themed' episode, and have the last 3 minutes end with Cheetah dropping by Gotham City, ready to wreak havoc. One thing doesn't have a thing to do with the other.

And yes, Lady Sif herself, played by the same actress that was in both Thor movies will appear in the next episode as she takes on Lorelei (though Paige mentions she'll always see Jaimie Alexander as 'Jessi' from Kyle XY). Now if you ask yourself how or where the SHIELD cast fit into a battle between 2 Asgardians, it seems in the preview Lorelei somehow takes control of Grant and Melinda has to face that now her lover might turn on her. We'll see what happens next week an how all of this will turn out. I'm still wondering how Captain America Winter Soldier will be referenced here.

Nicktoons TMNT Episode 38- Of Rats and Men

by Mark Rodriguez

Time for another new episode of the TMNT! A bit of this was spoiled at the New York Comic Con when they showed a storyboard scene of Mikey tossing Ice Cream Kitty at Rat King.... so once last week's promo showed we'd be seeing ICK, it also meant the Rat King was going to return. Oh and hey, we get a lot of Irma in this episode as well.

Oh yeah, don't forget to vote for the TMNT during the Nick Teen Choice Awards. Have them show that stupd sponge who's boss. Either them or Korra, just don't let that sponge win. Please.

The episode opens with Casey, April and Irma walking around together. Casey asks Irma why she had to be an extra 'chaperone' during their 'date' and April tells him this isn't a date. Just then a rat runs past them, which freaks out Casey. As Irma taunts him, and bores him with rat facts, April sees a stray cat chasing them. April picks him up and decides to take him in. April and Casey head off and Irma promises to one day find out where they always head off to. After they're gone, Irma gets attacked by rats.

After the theme song, Splinter is training with Leonardo, as the other watch. Splinter puts on a blindfold and Leo feels it isn't fair. Splinter explains its not just the fact his other senses are heightened, it's also the matter that the person faces him thinks they have control. It's this illusion of control that turns against the opponent, as Splinter defeats Leo easily. The other Turtles laugh at Leo and Splinter suddenly loses control and starts to attack them. Just before he can seriously hurt them, he stops. He goes off to meditate and says they can continue training later.

Later on, Mikey is enjoying some ice cream in Donnie's lab while Don is trying to work on some Retro-Mutagen. Mikey's ice creams splatters all over the place and Don tells him to go away. One of the ice cream scoops falls into a vial of Mutagen and Mike tries to cover it up. Just then April comes in, which cheers Donnie up, until he notices she brought Casey along as well.

April wonders if they can watch the stray cat (though Paige asked why not just take it to her place) and Don says Splinter might not like it. Casey mentions it might go crazy and eat Splinter, and while Don and Casey bicker, Mikey feeds the cat some of his ice cream. As Mikey is distracted, he notices the cat went on to lick the ice cream that feel into the Mutagen vial. Mikey freaks out as the cat turns into ice cream and melts into a puddle. As Mikey feels horrible for what he's done, the ice cream reforms itself as an Ice Cream Kitty. Mikey quickly grabs the cat and hides him from the others.

Whatever Eastman and Laird were smoking when they first created the Turtles.... they must have given some of it to the Nick staff writers.....

Splinter is meditating and faces the Rat King in his mind, who he thought was already dealt with. Rat King tells him that he is never gone, and is in his very soul. He says he now had what he came for.

Mikey hides the kitty in the freezer and starts to lick him. The others are right behind him and wonder what he's up to. Splinter comes in with a headache and wants to grab some ice for his head from the freezer. Mikey stops him from opening the freezer door and tells him no. Splinter then freaks out and starts attacking Mikey and the others as if he was a rabid rat. He acts like Falco saying 'he's got what he came for' and he will 'soon rule New York' and passes out. As the Turtles tend to him, he tells them that the Rat King is back.

The Rat King is standing on the rooftops and sends his rats to attack the city, only this time they're giant mutant rats, and they're capturing the people they attack. It's soon on the news and our heroes are watching. Leo wants Splinter to help them since last time he was able to take him down with a single attack. Splinter doesn't want to since he doesn't want to risk attacking his family. Leo says they need him though and he sighs.

Later on Mikey is being pulled along by April and Raph in the Patrol Buggy with a big block of cheese on his head, since he's always such good bait. The Shell Raiser is also there, as well as Casey on his gadget-prepped bike. The giant rats show up and start chasing the good guys. 

The rat jumps on top of the Patrol Buggy, but the Shell Raiser's garbage cannons shoots him off it. Casey's bike drops marbles that trip up the rats, and he also uses a flame thrower to keep them away. One of the giant rats grabs Casey and runs off with him. April and Don chases after him, but the rat is gone. Rat King himself escapes by riding a giant rat. April is saddened, and even Don feels a bit bad to see that Casey is gone.

Casey wakes up and finds himself in a cage, right next to Irma. He soon uses kind of a 'Batman voice' so she wouldn't recognize him. She points out that all the people that have been captured by the rats are being held in cages here. Rat King arrives and points out that he has perfected the Mutagen Growth Serum and will use it to create rat people. We also see a quick dark scene of a messed up failed human/rat hybrid begging to be killed. Dark. He used knowledge that he obtained from Splinter that shows what makes him so unique to make this happen. 

Back at the lair, Splinter agrees to join the Turtles this time as they all start to gear up. Unknown to everyone else, Mikey also gets the Ice Cream Kitty ready for his mission. 

At the Rat King's lair, he gets ready to test out his serum on Irma. The heroes arrive and they tell April that she's going to have to rescue them so the humans don't see them. Mikey says he has a secret weapon in an ice box. Just then Splinter is controlled by the Rat King and starts attacking the Turtles. Mikey then yells out his secret weapon and tosses the ice box at the Rat King. Ice Cream Kitty jumps out and starts attacking his face. With his control over Splinter lost, Rat King escapes and the rat sensei chases him down the sewers. 

April frees Casey and he helps her free the other people, sending them off to safety. Irma tries to help to and presses some buttons on Rat King's control console that mistakenly sets off a giant fan. Don almost falls in it and Mikey saves him. As Mikey pulls him up, he sees the Ice Cream Kitty and says they're gonna have to have a talk about that. 

Rat King and Splinter fight it out in a bizzare underground larybrinth.... or whatever that is. Rat King jumps across a huge swarm of rats to a high ledge. Splinter tries to jump across and barely makes it to the edge, but the rats knock him off. Splinter then climbs up the pipe, determined to end this.

The giant rats start attacking the heroes, and our team brings the fight to them. Mikey is cornered by one of them, but Ice Cream Kitty jumps in and fights it off, saving him. Casey faces his fear of rats and socks one of them out. 

Splinter and Rat King continue their fight, and the rat sensei manages to knock the rat off Falco's shoulder. The Rat King is blind and sees through the eyes of other rats, and he points out that he can still see through Splinter's eyes. Splinter then blindfolds himself and explains how he gave him the illusion of control of the situation. As the credits start to roll (yes, mid-fight, wtf???) Splinter defeats Rat King as he falls off the ledge into nothingness. Splinter takes off his blindfold and walks off, sarcastically saying 'Good bye 'my king'.'

My Opinions:

As usual there's a lot to say about the episode. Let me get some of the quick points here. First off, we see some more of the Casey/Don deal, though it's not exactly what I would call an April rivalry. At least from Casey's point of view, he really has no idea why the 'turtle with the stick' hates him, but he fights back whenever the exchange of insults start up. I assume someday Casey will flat out call out Don and ask 'what's your problem with me?'. While Casey hits on April and she does act nice around him around Donnie, Donnie himself has never acted out on his crush on her in front of Casey. So far the rivalry is one-sided in the sense that Casey still doesn't know that Donnie likes April and wants her for himself. I guess it will happen eventually but so far the people against the idea of 'TMNT love triangle' can relax.

Rat King returns and starts haunting Splinter before we even see him in the episode. Unlike past versions (or rather, the OT version) where Rat King can only affect Splinter if he's in the general area, Dr. Falco can reach into his mind at any given time. And he can also see through his eyes to know what's going on. However, it's also counter-productive since Splinter can also see whatever Falco is scheming and use that against him. While Rat King was taken out by one hit in the last episode, he actually lasts a lot longer this time against Yoshi. And yes... the plot of turning humans into rats was a page out of the 80's Rat King's playbook, as we saw similar plots at least twice (though of them literally did turn Irma and Vernon into were-rats). 

And as for Irma, we did get to see a lot of her in this episode, so she is more than just a cameo. She also seems to be always blurting out useless scientific information (in this case a lot of rat facts), so she might get along with Donnie whenever they meet. And yes, that line of 'someday I'll find out whenever you two always run off to' is a bit of foreshadowing of her someday running into the Turtles.

Now as for Ice Cream Kitty... I guess he was a cute little guy, and he was actually helpful in the episode. I just really hate the fact that as ice cream, he can either be eaten or melt away. They better take good care of him. One of the things Paige, Venka, and many other cat-lovers out there were worried about was the poor cat screaming in agony as it was mutated, like we have seen happen to Snakeweed, Spider Bytes and oh geez, to Mutagen Man. But no, he just melted away and soon came back in a happier new form. By happy I meant the original cat was a mangy old stray that has seen better days, even missing patches of fur. He does seem way happier in his new form. 

And yes, Kevin Eastman himself voiced the Ice Cream Kitty. While I think it's awesome that they got one of the creators of the TMNT to personally voice a character in this new show.... all he really did was just the meows and cat noises. I uhh.... no offense Mr. Eastman... but anybody could have done that and we never would have known the difference...??? I guess we can cut him a break since, while he did co-create the Turtles and is known for working on the Heavy Metal magazine, he's not particularly famous for voice-acting. But wow. At least voice one of the random captured people and give him a few spoken lines.

Overall, it was a good episode. The Rat King had an awesome showing here. Splinter had a chance to show off his skills one more time. Irma has more screen time. Ice Cream Kitty wasn't that bad. I guess one thing that was weird was how the episode just ended right after Splinter defeated the Rat King.

 For anyone watching this on live TV and not on DVD or online or whatever, the credits start to roll several seconds before the show is about to end (the only way to actually see the ending theme is on DVD or online or whatever since the next show starts immediately after this one). Now usually by now the Turtles are back at home chillin in the lair and the episode is basically setting itself up for the 'ending gag' before it ends and we have that comic-book style freeze frame at the end. In this instance, Splinter is still explaining to Rat King how he 'gave him the illusion that he was in control' as the credits start to roll. In other words, the fighting is still going on and characters are jumping around as the credits pop up.

You already know whatever's gonna happen is gonna involve Splinter somehow taking him down in the next few seconds. And yes, the ep did end right then and there, but it felt so rushed. It's also weird that it just ended with Splinter taking off his blindfold and walking away without an extra scene of him regrouping with the others, or having the gang chill at the lair again. I'm sure watching this again later on DVD or something it won't feel so bad, but the credits rolling mid-fight does give the illusion that the episode was rushed and cut short. I don't think people are in that much of a rush to watch Kung Fu Panda (or whatever show will follow the Turtles whenever they happen to re-run).