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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 14 – Late Fee / Bullhop

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

After the first batch of new evil mutants showed up to take on the turtles and failed, the show has to build it’s current mutants, and introduce new ones.

“Late Fee” is another “fetch” story following a bit too closely after Mikey’s mission to retrieve a video game last episode. However, with the opening mimicking “24”, it quickly grows on you. The turtles are sent on an easy mission to return Master Splinter’s DVD. In exchange, he’ll give them a hug. Master Splinter is not the master of parenting.

The turtles wear their wrestling gear as a disguise for the non-mutant world. The video store is being demolished, so their quest to find a DVD return kiosk begins! Each kiosk has an issue, whether it be mutated silverfish, or a guy who thinks he’s a wizard, forcing the TMNT on an adventure up and down Manhattan. They have until Midnight, and time is winding down. Then, their old wrestling foe Ghost Bear appears to REALLY mess with their return.

A great vehicle chase commences as the turtles track down Ghost Bear. Using the Turtle Tank, Turtle Cycles, and a brand new feature, they chase down Ghost Bear and the DVD. And the DVD gets returned by Midnight. Not a bad day for the Ninja Turtles.

In Bullhop, we encounter a familiar face. The bellhop from a previous episode reappears and vows his revenge on the Turtles.

The turtles are already on his tail, and their intentions surprise Bullhop. The TMNT feel badly about mutating him in to a bull, so they offer to let him stay at the lair. He accepts, but quickly overstays his welcome.

The turtles ask him to leave. Bullhop has a different plan. He takes over the turtles plans to infiltrate Big Mama’s,

Overall, I enjoyed the episodes, but feel like the episodes won’t have a lasting effect. I like that we’re starting to build a bit of the TMNT allies side, but it still seemed uneventful. I really liked seeing the return of Ghost Bear, but can do without the retrieval episodes. I understand why they would want a bit more lighthearted episodes after the big episode with Baron Draxum, but it only makes me see why I like the longer 23 minute episodes more.

 

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 13 – Smart Lair / Hot Soup: The Game

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

After the events of the last meeting, I wondered if Baron Draxum or Big Mama would reappear.

I wondered where we’d stand on Splinter being Lou Jitsu. Or where any of the previously met villains were. So much happened with the League of Evil Mutants, I wondered if they would continue the momentum leading to the season finale. Unfortunately, we got a couple episodes that were fun, but failed to give us any story advancement for the season.

“Smart Lair” starts with the brothers wanting to head to the roof to watch a movie. Splinter steps in and forces the turtles to clean the lair. Donnie comes up with his next invention, Shelldon. Shelldon is the lair’s artificial intelligence. While the brothers and Splinter were skeptical at first, Shelldon quickly sells them on his value in the best way; with snacks.

The relationship changes quickly when the other turtles realize Donatello programmed Shelldon to prefer him over the brothers. The other 3 reprogram Shelldon, who then tries to murder Donnie.

The episode lacked any real stakes. We knew the brothers would save Donnie. I kept looking for signs of things to come. Maybe Shelldon would turn to Metalhead? Maybe Stockboy would return? No. The turtles save the day. The end.

Next, Mikey is due for his first solo mission!

It seems like an easy one. He buys an old video game “Hot Sauce: The Game” in an online auction. The seller is in the city, so he’s going to pick up the game. Sounds easy enough.

Turns out, the Foot Clan’s newest recruit also needs to get the game. This new recruit is hyper intense. Her name was never spoken, so I wonder if this is an alternate Karai? The two newbies collide in a museum battle, using items for their advantage. We even get an Ice Cream Kitty shout out! Each trainee wins, only to have their efforts ruined by their own teams intrusion.

It was fun to see a Mikey solo mission! The action was great and the battle was intense. But, again, I feel like the season’s story isn’t advanced at all. Maybe they’re saving it for the season finale, but I was hoping for much more development with what we’re already invested in.

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 12 – The League of Evil Mutants

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

We open with the turtles in a familiar situation, getting their butts kicked by new mutants.

This round features a couple of old-timey strongmen mutated in to crabs. The turtles still haven’t figured out their weapons, and their frustration shows. They luck out (again) when the enemies get sucked in to a portal. They aren’t alone.

The turtles finally come to terms with the fact that they need training. They turn to Master Splinter. He surprisingly agrees, but not how the turtles hope. Splinter offers to train by watching old ninja movies featuring actor Lou Jitsu. The turtles lose faith in Splinter and go to their rooms after Splinter grounds them and takes their weapons.

Draxum summoned all the mutants to his lair. This gives us a look at every villain so far in the series. Even the most terrifying villain of all, Todd. (eep.)

The villains lure the turtles to New Jersey. Of course what they watched in the old Lou Jitsu movies comes to play and they fight in a ladder factory, just like the movie. Draxum is astonished they know about Lou Jitsu. This is where he reveals the big news, LOU JITSU IS THEIR BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

While this is a big reveal, it’s not the biggest. It’s not outright stated, but it looks like Master Splinter is mutated from Lou Jitsu. If that turns out to be true, for the first time in Ninja Turtles history, Master Splinter is the biological father of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

This was a fantastic longer episode. It started on familiar ground, but addressed it quickly. We got to see every villain we’ve met so far, as well as showcasing that the turtles are learning. They don’t need the weapons and they are willing to train. I thought it was a great catalyst to the season so far.

Let us know what you think of this episode in the comments below!

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 11 – The Purple Jacket / Pizza Pit

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has been doing a great job at showcasing smaller stories featuring only a few characters next to their larger stories effecting the entire city.

Donatello gets the focus in “The Purple Jacket.” Donnie heads to help April at school with a tech problem when he runs in to the Purple Dragons Tech Club. They are total jerks. Donnie still impresses with his gadgets, joining the Purple Dragons and gaining a sweet satin jacket.

Unfortunately, the Purple Dragons are as bad as their attitude. While Donnie sleeps, all of his tech is hacked. He has to fight his own technology without using any! He relies on old ninja tactics to take out the purple dragons, even if it came at a very, heavy price.

The next episode starts with a new group of mutants. These metal mutated prarie dogs are ready to go after 4 points around New York City.

We cut to the turtles celebrating Pizza Week. They’re ready to eat a ton of their favorite food before they find their pizza place is gone! All the pizza places are being sucked in to sinkholes!

When they reach the third pizza place, they find the culprits still there! They embark on a long underground chase, only to lose the fight! The prarie dogs get away, on to claim the final pizza place. But the Prarie dogs aren’t what they seem. They might not be targeting the pizza places at all! They might just be looking for a gig.

Each episode was a lot of fun, but didn’t seem to advance the overall story much. I’d be surprised to see the Purple Dragons again. And The Diggs (mutant prarie dogs) aren’t an evil group at all. Putting these episodes opposite each other works, but I was really hoping for more for the overall season. We learned a lot about the villains only a couple short episodes ago. and I want to get back to that as soon as possible. But, on their own, each episode was fun and very energetic.

Now, Let’s talk about the big Easter Egg in the episode.

Who saw this?

Image credit- My TV

This is officially the first recognition in this series of other dimensions. We see the original Mirage TMNT, the 2012 CGI series, the 1984 cartoon, and one in our universe using giant costumes. Other dimensions have long played a role in the TMNT series as an explanation to why so many versions exist. I love that this is tackled early in the series. The 2003 series ended with a mash up TV movie showcasing several versions of the turtles interacting. And the 2012 versions interacted with their past iterations a few times, even fighting the 1984 Kraang and Shredder. It might be a while, but this quick shot connects this TMNT to all other versions. This version of the TMNT especially lends itself to weird, inter-dimensional travel. I was originally going to give this episode a 7, but this shot bumps it up to a 7.5!

What did you think of the episode and, more importantly, that big Easter Egg at the end? Do you know what the black card says under the “Pizza Time?” Let us know in the comments below!

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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 9 – Bug Busters

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

The first “special” for “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles” starts fast and hard.

It drops the viewer right in the middle of the story (with Donnie there to catch us up) as the turtles head to stop Draxum’s Oozesquitos. They ride the moon buggy to a nearby hotel,  for a scene reminiscent of the Ghostbusters. A bellhop is stung and ironically transformed into a bull, charging through the hotel. We meet the head of the hotel, Big Mama, voiced by Lena Headey (Game of Thrones). She fits the more elegant tone of Big Mama well, while hinting at something more sinister underneath.

Big Mama is full of surprises. First, the hotel she runs is mutant friendly. All the workers are mutants, and they don’t need to hide from humans. Second, Big Mama is a giant scary spider. None of the turtles seem to mind, aside from Leo, thinking they found a new ally. She gives them a webbing to help catch the mutating bugs.

The turtles head out to hunt down the Oozesquitos before they can mutate any more people. They rampage through the city, grabbing all they find before returning to Big Mama. Soon, though, they find she has a different motivation for capturing the Oozesquitos. She wants to use them to transform more mutants to help run her fighting ring. Leo is able to escape, leaving the others to deal with Big Mama and her minions. Here they meet Gus, a goofy mutated hound dog.

Leonardo works his way through the vents, finding a safe and his brothers. He makes a portal and rescues them, only to keep encountering Gus. He does a bad job at eating the turtles at the sight of a tennis ball. Leo comes clean about Big Mama’s safe, despite his wanting to leave and go home. They crack the safe (using the very easy code), but get trapped by Gus and Big Mama. Big Mama is wins this round, until Baron Draxum breaks in! He’s back for his Oozesquitos, and he’ll fight for them.

Here we got a really fun Easter egg. While Draxum was talking about his vision for a future, he imagines a cast of mutated characters including Bebop, Rocksteady, Leatherhead, Armaggon, Halfcourt, and Sandstorm! This might be Sandstorm and Halfcourt’s TV debut! From here, we get some great battles, with the turtles splitting in to duos to take on the villains. Having 2 villains is a lot more fun than 1.

This episode did a ton of great things. I love the cameos, but I mostly love how it didn’t give us a slow lead in. It dropped the viewer right in the middle of the story. The writers had confidence we could figure it out and it worked. I love the growing cast of villains, and I love how they can easily explain why so many mutants now exist.

This continued the overall story so far, but didn’t end any chapters. It made the turtles and the villains seem stronger than they started, which remaining a lot of fun. This was one of the best episodes of the new series to date. It’s filled with humor, action, personalities and story. We also get a huge reveal at the end, which adds more layers to the relationship between Draxum and the turtles. I hope the series continues along this route.

 

 

 

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