Mark's Epic Blog of Randomness

 By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. 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 Shredder has had a lot of different henchmen, top men or second-in-commands throughout different versions of the franchise. He had Tatsu in the live-action movies. Hun and Karai in the 2003 series. Karai and Koya in the IDW comics. But we all know the most popular henchmen will always be Bebop and Rocksteady from the classic 80's cartoon show. That incompetent duo that Shredder still keeps around for some reason... back in the day where Shredder didn't punish failure with death. Here, he'd rather send them to their rooms, or even fire them if they failed enough times. Well it seems we're getting Bebop and Rocksteady in the new cartoon too, though I'm surprised since interviews wi...

By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Sunday, July 27, 2014. 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.  Karai is in the Shredder's hideout looking at a picture of her mother, while having flashbacks of the Turtles telling her that Splinter is her father. Shredder walks into the room and she demands to know the truth about Splinter and her mother. Just then Tiger Claw comes in, much to Karai's surprise as she saw him get eaten by an alien worm and trapped into the 80's TMNT world. Tiger Claw explains that he was able to escape the worm (and defeat the 80's TMNT) and fight his way through Dimension X for months until he could finally return home. Shredder sends Tiger Claw and Karai together to find the Turtles and Splinter, much to her disagreement. The Turtles are hanging at Murakami's, w...

 By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Sunday, May 18, 2014. 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 are always eating pizza, but now the pizza bites back. The Turtles, or rather, Mikey face yet another re-imagining of a classic 80's character. Though to be fair, this guy was never actually in the classic cartoon, but the action figure is infamous. Let's see ho Mikey does against Pizza Face! The episode opens with April and Irma walking together and deciding to check out a movie. April's tPhone goes off and says she has to leave for her date with Casey. Irma's not buying it and is sure she's off to see her secret friends. Just then the pizzaboy runs into Irma (on his bike no less... and Irma is uninjured... she's made of strong stuff). The pizzaboy is freaking out sayin...

 By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Sunday, May 11, 2014. 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.  This new episode brings back the Newtralizer, as well as Slash. We also get to see that maybe Slash wasn't that bad of a guy after all... and also see if Casey can really keep up with the team or not. Let's see what happens. The episode opens with Raph and Casey chasing some of the Kraang as they run with a case of stolen plutonium. As the Kraang and Raph jump onto a fire escape, and Casey jumps in last. His weight makes the fire escape collapse and the Kraang got away. Raph and Casey chase after them and find all of the Kraang completely destroyed. As they wonder who did it, Slash is watching them overhead. At the lair, Mikey is playing pinball as his brothers watch. Raph and Casey come in and t...

 By Mark Rodriguez  Originally written on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. 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. Fans of the classic TMNT have been wondering what was going to happen to Baxter in this series. Why? Well for whatever reason, Baxter always seems to go through some kind of transformation from one series to the next. In the 80's he was accidentally turned into a fly. In the 2K3 series, Shredder kept removing body parts every time he failed until Baxter was reduced to just being a brain in a jar put inside several different kinds of robots. In the Mirage comics he had the same fate as the 2K3... except he did it to himself... The moment we saw Baxter with a Mutagen collar device, he knew he was going to mutate sooner and later... and based on this show's love for the 80's show... we knew it ...

By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Friday, May 2, 2014. 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. 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.... For those not in the know, LARP is Live Action Role Play. Let's see what happens with the Turtles. 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 some...

 By Mark Rodriguez Originally written on Sunday, March 2, 2014. 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.  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.   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...