Nicktoons TMNT Episode 41- Mazes and Mutants

By Mark Rodriguez

It's kinda funny that just when I was going to Zenkaikon to meet one of my friends that is big on LARP-ing, or as Paige likes to call it, LARP-LARP, it turns out to be the same weekend we miss a brand new TMNT episode... which is about the Turtles LARP-ing....

The episode opens with the Turtles playing a Dungeons and Dragons kind of game called Mazes and Mutants they found in the sewers. Splinter watches on, while he grabs a cheese pop from the fridge, being kept cold thanks to Ice Cream Kitty, and wonders why they play a game of fantasy when they already live rather fantastic lives. Splinter feels something is amiss, while someone else is watching them play.

Raph and Mike watch an ep of the Voltron-inspired anime show and see how the villain has controlled one of the heroes' minds, trapping him in his own mind's illusions. Leo and Don show up with a new plan: turning their board game into a LARP session, (Live Action Role Play) in the sewers. Raph is the least motivated, but eventually the others force him to dress up, and the gang heads into the sewers. And get ready guys cause Playmates is making action figures of these LARP-ing Turtles.

Coming soon to a toy aisle near you.....

As the Turtles walk down the tunnels they fight off fake figures and props and find notes that have clues on them, written by Leonardo.... except Leo didn't write this clue. Just then a big mist flows over them and they find themselves in a tunnel full of actual booby traps. Don gives props to Leo over making it seem so realistic, but he says he's not behind it.

Just then Sir Malachi, a mutant sparrow appears, announcing he's behind this. He has captured April and they have to play his game and solve his riddles to save her. If they can get past his maze and defeat the dragon he will let her go. The Turtles have no choice but to go on the quest and have to cross a hall where the floor tiles collapse under their feet. As they dodge the traps, they also face the game's monkey goblins... which all look like Rockwell monkeys. Before you call more BS on Nick cutting corners, the Turtles actually acknowledge that the monkeys do look like Rockwell.

I will send you through a time warp from which you will never return!!!

As the Turtles continue their adventure, Malachi also throws riddles at them. Raph is fed up and keeps insulting Malachi. The owl then shows off his magic powers and turns Raph's head into that of a turkey. This makes Raph angrier, and also makes Mikey laugh like crazy. Leo starts to figure out that Malachi's riddles are all related to the same thing.

The Turtles find a room full of piles of gold coins and April is kept inside a magic bubble. When they try to rescue her, they encounter the dragon... which is basically a giant fire-breathing Leatherhead. The Turtles are confused and Leo starts putting the clues together. He realizes that all of this is in their minds and if they believe that their weapons are powerful, they will be. Leo jumps in with his powered-up sword and makes Leatherhead vanish. April vanishes as well and Malachi tries to stop them from escaping.

Leo tells the others to not believe in Malachi's tricks and his magic powers soon have no effect on them. Ironically, Raph, who thought the whole game was stupid to begin with, has the hardest time thinking all of this was fake, but he does eventually snap out of it. Raph then grabs Mikey's Ring of Awesome and tosses it at the mutant sparrow's head. Malachi is defeated and we see that this was indeed, all in their minds and they never really left the sewer tunnels.

Malachi explains he was the stereotypical fat kid that played Mutants and Mazes all day until he was caught in the Mutant Rain when he was feeding birds. He was stuck playing the game by himself in the sewers until he came across the Turtles. He set the game in a place where he knew they would find it, and set things up so they would play with him. Leo decides he really wasn't a bad guy, just someone that wanted to play with them, and they were never really in any danger. They let him go as long as he doesn't force others to play with him again. He leaves and the Turtles also head back home while Mikey brags about his Ring of Awesome.

My Opinions:
We kinda wanted to breeze through this one since we fell behind due to the con and also working on con videos, and we do have a new episode coming this Sunday. It was a pretty straightforward episode, similar to the one about the mutant wasps. There weren't any real sub-plots or cut-away scenes of anything else happening elsewhere. We do have casual mentions of things, like Splinter asking why they aren't out looking for Mutagen and the flashback of the Mutagen Rain during Malachi's back story that remind us of the main season 2 plot.

The episode was interesting, and it's cool to see the gang have other activities and hobbies on the side.... though I'm sure the board game thing is one of those 'big fans of it one episode, forgotten for the rest of the series' thing other cartoons do. I was just about to call BS on the Rockwell Monkeys, though Paige said they could have just been from the same species. But then the Turtles themselves acknowledged the similarities. The Leatherhead thing was a given, and it's cool to see Mikey still misses him. Now if only someone admitted Chrome Dome looked like Bradford, I'd be happy.

As for Sir Malachi.... besides the obvious rant of how mutating into a sparrow gives someone super-awesome mind warping powers.... he was the typical lifeless loser geek that actually got his wildest dreams come true thanks to some Mutagen. His character is compared to the Pulverizer, but compared to Timmy, this guy sure ended up with a sweeter deal. Oh, and he's voiced by Paul Reubens, AKA Pee-Wee Herman.

And yes, I guess I should mention it, but there was a similar episode in Back to the Sewers where the Turtles enter a MMORPG, since that season dealt with them actually entering the internet quite a bit. Yep, Raph gets screwed in both episodes. A turkey head in this episode... then forced to wear a harlequin outfit in Back to the Sewers.... before being turned into a frog.

And yes, for Lord of the Rings fans.. Mikey's obsession with his 'Ring of Awesome' is similar to Gollum and the ring. Kinda disappointed that once he knew this was all in his mind he didn't actually use it to do magic of his own. But I guess Raph's method worked too. That Mikey LARP action figure better come with the ring or I'm calling BS.

Paige's Opinions:
I felt it was another pointless filler episode. I loved the return of Ice Cream Kitty, even though I still don't like his fate. That scene of Splinter randomly opening the fridge and Ice Cream Kitty giving him his cheesicle was so cute I had to rewatch it several times. Every time I heard the name Malachi, I associated it with Thor The Dark World. And Leo's helmet reminds me of Galactus.

As for LARP-ing in itself, I actually tried it out once, though it was in an open field. It was kinda interesting. I mean we had actual weapons and 'magic potions' to toss around, and it was a lot of fun and good exercise. The LARP at Zenkaikon was confined to a room, and it looked like it was more like acting out a play and such. Sure, we did that in the open field too, but the extra running around and play-fighting made it 'come to life'. I do have to say, those were some real hardcore LARP-ers. It looked like they did that all weekend and missed out on the rest of the con in itself. I end this with the Day Two video of the con where my friend Matt gives a more detailed explanation of LARP.