TMNT – “The War for Dimension X” Review

Booyakasha indeed! Honestly, there was worry, based on the first half of the episode, that this was going to be a slow one. The Turtles and Honeycutt had to travel to Dimension X, in order to find the Utrom and ask for their help in finding the remaining two pieces of the black hole generator. The return of Savage Mikey was great, along with his brothers begrudging acceptance that they’d have to put him in the lead again. To the episodes credit, Mikey was able to lead them to the Utroms very quickly. Obviously everything in Dimension X is topsy turvy, but it was still kind of weird to see Mikey immediately recognize a cloaking dome. His Dimension X sense is apparently very strong.

Here, we meet Bishop once again. It took a second to realize that, while the Turtles and audience have already met Bishop, he hasn’t met the Turtles, due to the time travel aspect of this season. He had met Honeycutt before, albeit in his human form, and a quick and humorous secret handshake got them on the up and up. Bishop then brings the Turtles and Honeycutt into the inner sanctum of the Utrom base where Bishop convenes the High Council.

The Council is made up of Pawn (whose body is a blank robot with a French accent), Rook (the original Irma) and Queen (the original Mrs. Cambpell). Not only do the Council and Turtles discuss the black hole generator, but we also get some much needed history on the Utrom, and the creation of the Kraang. The episode did a good job of succinctly explaining how the Kraang grew in number, and even answered some lingering random questions. For example, the forms of the human bodies of the Utrom and Kraang were actually created by individual Utrom. So, there is most likely no real human versions of Norman, Irma, and Mrs. Campbell.

Convincing the Utrom to give up the locations of the remaining black hole pieces didn’t seem to be going anywhere, but luckily for the Turtles, the surprise attack on the Utrom base by the Kraang would soon force their hand. Kraang Sub-Prime, who discovered the location by following the Turtles, invades the High Council and kidnaps Queen. Raph and Mikey follow Sub-Prime through a portal, back to Kraang base, while Leonardo, Donatello, and Honeycutt are forced to remain with the remaining Council and Bishop.

This is when the episode takes off and really becomes one of the best this season. Raph and Mikey are on a mission to save Queen, but also run into and rescue the Salamandrians Sal Commander and Mona Lisa (who were captured by the Kraang in the opening of the episode). Back at the Utrom base, the invasion by Sub-Prime kicks Bishop and the rest of the Council into action. They call for all out war on the Kraang and move out to their base.

What follows is a level of action that pays off on the title of this episode in spades. We got a wicked rescue scene with Raph and Mikey teaming up with Sal and Mona against a Dracodroid, an extended aerial fight between Raph and Mona and the Dracodroid, a military shootout with lasers and artillery, and a one on one face-off between Bishop and Sub-Prime. We even find out that Sub-Prime was once known as Knight, a practical brother to Bishop, and betrayed the Utrom not because of Kraang Prime mind control, but of his own volition. This fight was especially great since it showed off Bishop as quite the bad ass, dispatching Sub-Prime before putting his shades back on.

With the combined forces of the Turtles, Fugitoid, the Salamandrians, and the Utrom, the Kraang stand no chance and retreat. Bishop and the Council give the Turtles the location of the last two pieces of the black hole generator, and Mona Lisa and Raph continue their romance with Raph’s cute confession, and a kiss to close out the episode.

This episode started off looking slow, but then blasted off, keeping a rocking pace that brought together both new and old allies, and bombastic action. Mikey has been getting a lot of attention lately, so it was good to also highlight Raph and his growing relationship with Mona Lisa. We finally got some background on the Utrom and how the Kraang split off from them, establishing the traditional Krang and his quest for power. We also got a clear path forward, with the Turtles now knowing where the remaining two pieces of the black hole generator are. We’ll assuredly get some more space side stories before the end of the season (Lord Dregg is still out there after all), but with this new information, the battle with the Triceratons seems to be coming to a head.

Loved this gag at the top of the episode