By Mark Rodriguez
So I already reviewed episodes 25 and 26 that were aired as an hour as a 'Booyaka Showdown' season finale. Here is the link for that one before we jump into our thoughts of episode 26.
NickToons TMNT Eps 25 and 26 Review
Originally written on Saturday, October 12, 2013. Keep in mind, these were our thoughts as they were back in 2013 when the show was new and was written shortly after seeing the episodes after their initial broadcast. At the time we had zero way of knowing what to expect.
The Turtles return for a second season of more wild wacky fun and adventure. Unlike the season opener Rise of the Turtles, this was actually a one-part episode, but even so it felt like so much happens in this one. Let's check it out.
The season opens with the Turtles skateboarding across the nightly skies, patting themselves on the back over their victory at the end of 'Showdown'. Mikey brags about stopping a cheese monster, that never really happened, but the Turtles decide to just go with it. They're happy and are sure to never see the Kraang or Shredder again. Don decides to visit April, but things aren't so happy with her. Even though her dad is safe and sound, he's still suffering horrible nightmares of when he was captured by the Kraang and is paranoid they're still out there, thus not letting April out all that much.
Meanwhile the Shredder is planning to get a shipment from the Kraang, but asks what they will do if the Turtles show up. The Kraang say they are ready for the Turtles and unleash some sort of monster.
In the sewers, Leo, Mike and Raph are playing dodgeball with the Kraang-Orb (wtf you idiots), while Don and Metalhead are still working on Timothy's condition from 'The Pulverizer Returns'. Splinter feels the Turtles have gotten lazy and it's time for them to stop celebrating and get back to training. Just then the orb starts glowing and Don realizes that the Kraang are back.
Don determines that the Kraang are bringing in some kind of shipment in their invisible scouter ship from 'Enemy of my Enemy'. Don creates a new tracking device (that looks like a modified classic Game Boy), but needs April's help to locate the Kraangship for them. April decides to bring her dad along, making him think it's some kind of school project. They locate the spaceship and Kirby freaks out upon seeing that the Kraang are back. The Turtles fly into action using a T-Rocket that propels them in the air on their hang-gliders.
The Turtles fight 3 of the Kraang, who unleash a giant ape-like robot with mini-buzzsaws that can be controlled by one of the Kraang controlling it. As the Turtles fight it, a panel off one of the walls breaks loose and they find out that the shipment was numerous vials of Mutagen. During the fight with the ape monster, the ship loses its balance and all the vials of Mutagen fall out of the ship, raining across the city below. April sees this and sees that one of them is going to fall right on top of her.
Luckily for her, Kirby tackles April out of the way. Unluckily for him, the vial of Mutagen shatters and the contents spill all over him, turning him into a mutant bat. Don, Raph and Mike argue over who's fault it was that the vials fells over the city, while Leo is still busy fighting the monster. Don finds out that the monster even has 'butt cannons' that fires off laser beams at them. Mikey finally gets behind it, yanks the Kraang off it and tosses it against the other two. He then tosses shuriken at them to destroy the controls and send them flying off the ship. Don stabs his Naginata (that's what it's called when the blade sticks out of the staff) into the controls and uses it as a joystick to send the ship upwards into the space.
The Turtles fly off in their gliders towards April and sees the bat about to attack her. April tells them not to hurt him and it flies away. The Turtles see the broken vial and determine the bat was April's father. Even though there are vials of Mutagen all over the city, the Turtles decide to try go find April's father first.
The Turtles return to their lair and ask Splinter for advice, while not exactly telling him the truth. Splinter says the best way to lure out an animal is with food. Since bats eat insects, they dress Mikey up as a moth. Mikey feels he's being used as bait.. but they tell him he's actually now a superhero. Mikey calls himself the Turflytle and happily goes along with it. They fly across the city on their hang gliders, Raph pulling Mikey along as if he were a worm at the end of a fish pole. Mikey would annoy everyone by using 'buzz buzz' at the end of his every sentence. Elsewhere, April wakes up on a rooftop and sends her father for food to buy her time to escape.
The Kirbybat spots the Mikey-Moth and goes after it. During the aerial fight, Mikey calls Kirby 'Wingnut' to which Don snaps at him to not call April's father a 'monster name'. The fight leads them all into a warehouse that was part of Leo's plan. Once inside, they are able to lock Kirby into a steel cage. April finds them and is in a panic as to how to get him back to normal. Mikey carelessly mentions that they were the ones responsible for the Mutagen falling all over the city 'but don't worry, we'll fix it'. Kirby gets enraged and flies out of the cage and escapes. April is also enraged and says she never wants to see the Turtles ever again, which is especially hurtful to Donnie.
My Thoughts-
This was an awesome way to start the season, and everything felt so fast paced that it seems like so much happened, even when it wasn't an hour-long premiere. We did like the little cameos of Metalhead and Timothy, showing that they are not forgotten. It's also worth mentioning that they slightly changed the intro, when they mention Donatello, Metalhead can be seen walking around, and the scene that once showed Shredder, Dogpound, Fishface and the Foot, now show a whole lot of other villains including Spider Bytes and Snakeweed.
Shredder and the Kraang are still up to their evil plans, but it seems at the end of this episode Shredder will end their partnership and look for minions elsewhere.
We both feel bad for April and especially her father (though why the hell did April just stand there like a deer in front of headlights instead of jumping the hell out of the way???). First he was kidnapped for a whole season, had a mind control device on the back of his neck that made him attack his own daughter, then he was suffering nightmares over the whole ordeal and finally he was mutated into a bat. And not a talking bat either... a mindless monster kind of bat, which again brings the question to why some mutants can talk, other can't, and others end up like Timothy. This Mutagen just does whatever the hell it wants to as the plot requires. And as for Mikey calling him Wingnut... no... just no. He's an insane alien bat, and is totally not cool as April's father or a mindless bat monster.
Unfortunately this looks like Kirby's excuse to leave April without a father for another season. That's one of the problems with April being so young in this version. She can't be running around doing as she pleases without parents, but yet being held back by a father making her do chores or homework would also cramp her style. So we must find some excuse to constantly keep Kirby O'Neil out of the picture. I hope they're ready for that huge can of worms they'll open if they ever find a cure, because not only will several mutants be after them to get them, it would also be very dangerous for the Turtles, since the risk exists that it could turn them back into ordinary pet shop turtles if they get exposed to it.
Speaking of which... one thing that bothered us was when Kirby flew off. They know the city is now littered with Mutagen canisters, but 'April's father comes first'. Actually both are just as urgent.... so Paige asked out loud 'why didn't they just split up?' Then in the following scene they're back in the lair stressing out. What the hell? This show seems to have a problem with the Turtles not taking these kinds of situations with the urgency they require. Sure, the scene was important since it led to Splinter giving them advice... but why didn't Leo go home to consult Splinter while the other three Turtles kept looking for the bat while picking up any Mutagen canisters they can find. Or hell, why didn't Don come up with 'bats eat bugs' sooner while they were still outside? There was no reason for the Turtles to just drop everything and go to the lair other than 'this episode is about Kirby, the NEXT episode will be about random mutants'.
Before the preview of the next episode came on, which showcased mutants on the loose, Paige was sure they'd forget about the Mutagen canisters for another couple of episodes.
Speaking of April and her predicament.... ouch dude. Just ouch. While April in the Red Sky series did kinda stay away for a while, we've never seen her tell the Turtles off and say she never wanted to see them again. This is especially heartbreaking towards Donatello since she snapped when he tried to reach out to her, and even though her rant was towards all of them, it felt more like she was directly yelling at him.
Finally, there were some dumb moments here and there. C'mon Mikey... how can you NOT know you're being used as bait? They led him like a dumb little kid with the whole Turflytle gag. No Mikey, just no. There's naive innocence, and there's just being stupid... and having the others take advantage of it. He also seemed very insensitive and overly cheerful when he told April they were responsible for the Mutagen rain... Dude, her father is a mutant bat monster and he's in the room with you, geez. Really can't blame her for blowing up at them and walking out for that one. And as for the others... what the hell with you guys playing dodgeball with the Kraang-orb? For all they know, they could have blown up the lair or something.
Overall it was a good episode. Gotta love the part when Splinter freaks out when the Turtles mentioned a cat. See you guys next week for more Turtle fun. In the meantime, what better way to end this article than my own personal run-in with the Turtle Van!
Some person actually painted up their van to make it look like the Turtle Van and it would be seen driving around town. It just so happened to have parked that day while the owner was getting groceries in the general area, so I just had to take my chance to gets some pics of it. Especially since this happened during lunch break.
Update edit-
I just wanted to add that while I did encounter the Turtle Van again in the wild once or twice, those last five or so years before I moved out of state went without running into it again. Whoever owned it must have either gotten rid of it or just moved out of town, taking the real-live replica of the Turtle Van with them.
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