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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 8 – THE Longest Fight / Hypno! Part Deux

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

These episodes feature different aspects of the new series I really like.

“The Longest Fight” features all four brothers in a story that moves the series arc forward, while “Hypno! Part Deux!” only features a Raph, Leo, April and Mayhem from the main cast in a strange, horror-like episode.

I think “The Longest Fight” has captured the best view of the brothers’ relationship.

The episode opens with a buffet of different styles of pizza. There have been mentions of pizza, but this is the first time we see the turtles naming specific, strange, but still edible styles. The brothers are ready to watch the Extreme Skateboarding finals. Leo showboats, saying he can do the same 1440 their favorite skater can do. A 1440 is 4 complete rotations, so naturally, Leo loses control and crashes, leaving his board to crash in to the WiFi. He still dabbed, and I had to look up if he was actually doing a dab. After unsuccessfully asking Splinter to watch the TV, they head to a closed mall that has working WiFi. It’s a bit weird they decided to go to a mall, but it works!

Of course, this is where the turtles run in to the Foot Brute. The Foot are breaking in to a particular store, forcing the turtles to take a break from their Skateboard competition. The meeting is a lot of fun, with the turtles constantly finding reasons to take a break and actually fight. The turtles come out on top, but the Foot Brute still get what they came for, even if the turtles don’t know it.

“Hypno! Part Deux!” features a smaller cast, but in a huge world where they are being attacked by dozens of enemies.

April is talking with Mayhem, her new magic kitten, about not wanting to go to her school dance. I get it. She’s coaxed in to going by Dale, who is a guy with a crush on her. He was invited by the popular kids! Just like April. Everyone is pressuring her to download this new game called “Hippo Crush.” After a few fumbles, and thanks to Donnie’s virus protection, she can’t download the game. Good thing, because it turns out Hypno-Pottamus is behind the game and is using it to control the school’s population and will soon make the school disappear.

Mayhem returns to the turtle lair to teleport them back to April’s school. Raph and Leo are the only ones there, but they’re ready to save the day. They go in to “High School stealth mode” to rescue April and the school. The end leaves an opening for Hypno to return, but for now the coast is clear.

While both of the episodes feature so much about what I like about the new series, there are some downfalls in the details.

In the first half, I still don’t know why a retail store had (SPOILERS) a claw that the Foot Brute needed for their plans. I’m not sure why they needed to go to a mall for Wi-Fi, especially since no malls I’ve ever been to have working public internet. And while I loved that them getting the claw they needed advanced the overall story, it didn’t feel like enough. And too much time was spent on the mannequin bumping thing! I did love the jokes about the brothers on their phones. After the turtles cheer on how excited they are to watch as brothers, only to cut to them watching their own tiny screens really got me.

The second episode was a lot of fun, but the beginning and end left me confused. I wasn’t sure why this episode started with a video of another magician disappearing a school. Hypno-Pottamus references it, but it doesn’t play any part in the story. Same with the ending. Hypno was poofed and disappeared from his own hats, but where exactly did he go? These could all be left open and answered later in the series, but for these episodes I’m still left wondering a bit.

While these episodes showcased a lot of what I liked, I’m starting to notice…either plot holes or open ended questions. Hopefully those questions make sense going forward in the arc of the show, but for these some of it fell flat.

And seriously, what was up with the mannequin thing? It was only like 12 seconds but I still am confused. Let us know what you thought in the comments below!

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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 7 – The Gumbus/ Mrs. Cuddles

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

I’m at the point in these episodes where I get tricked in to thinking I figured it out.

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Spoilers Ahead! Don’t continue if you haven’t seen “The Gumbus.”

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We good?

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We are now 7 episodes and 13 stories in (the pilot was 1) and I thought we had a sense of our major villains, main characters, and worlds we’ll see.

I forget that while this is a new series, they still pull from the lore we already know.  The episode seemed like a largely predictable Scooby Doo episode. A young “Can Stacker” with a Youtube channel is being haunted at the Stock & Shop.

Most of the episode, I “knew” what would happen. I knew the stock boy had something to do with the hauntings. The episode featured less turtles than normal, with Mikey, Leo, and April a the only ones to figure out who is haunting the grocery store. Mikey is a believer, while Leo is a total skeptic. The episode throws a few curveballs to keep the viewer guessing, but you’re always suspicious of the stock boy.

At one point, you really think the Gumbus is a real thing. Then he turns in to a robot. He’s definitely real, but the atmosphere is very different. Leo is glad he’s right, and the stockboy comes forward and admits his wrong-doing. That was not the surprise.

We get our first glimpse of Baxter Stockboy! An obvious take on Baxter Stockman, they set it up in a way that surprises old fans. He isn’t a scientist. He works at his parents grocery store. But it’s established that he knows robots and technology. People who don’t donate to his channel are driving him insane. It was a clever twist and I’m glad it surprised me. Baxter Stockboy and the Foot Brutes are the only characters taken from previous series so far.

The next story, Mrs. Cuddles, is another great example of a truly terrifying villain.

Mrs. Cuddles, star of children’s TV, terrifies Raphael. In this state, he’s a cute stuffed bunny. But soon the bunny makes his way in to the turtles lair. No one believes Raph when he says Ms. Cuddles is terrorizing the lair. Soon though, they find out on their own.

Ms Cuddles is really scary. She grows when she hears screams. That’s a nightmare. The artists do a fantastic job of taking something adorable and making it terrifying. Soon they find the only thing that could fight this creature is laughter. Splinter’s laxadaisical “Al Bundy” attitude is the perfect counter to this.

The episodes highlight what is great about the show. Supernatural magic, ninja fights, and villains made of nightmares are the bread and butter of this series. I’m really excited to see where Baxter pops up again, or how his character will progress (will he turn in to a fly?!) I’m excited to watch more.

 

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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 – War and Pizza / Newsworthy

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

Episode 5 of “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” showcases how many different tones a show can take. One half can be made of nightmares from an abandoned Chuck E Cheese, while the other shows how strange the mutants can be.

In “War and Pizza,” we learn April O’Neil isn’t a news reporter (yet). Instead, she’s a teenage working at a Chuck E Cheese imitation pizza place called “Albertos.” All she needs is to get through the birthday song and she’s in the clear. Of course, the robots break. She calls on her pal, Donatello to come fix them before her boss finds out. All 4 brothers show up, because the other 3 won’t turn down pizza. Donatello goes overboard, but it seems to work out at first. Alberto transforms in to a super rad guitar playing Thor, dazzling the birthday crowd. It’s going well, until it doesn’t. Alberto turns in to a Country Bear Terminator hybrid set to destroy birthday parties and my dreams forever. He takes over the rest of the robot band and dozens of Whack-A-Moles. The turtles fight the usual way, and the unexpected way.

Newsworthy is the sillier of the two episodes. We’re introduced to the self-proclaimed “Turtles biggest foe,” Warren Stone. Former newscaster, current mutated worm. He’s always around when the turtles fight others, but the turtles haven’t noticed him yet. The brothers are on the hunt for another villain, Hypnopotomus. Warren Stone sets up traps for the turtles. Raph is quick to jump in, while Leo is the first to point out it could be a trap. Warren Stone is attacked! Only to be chopped in half and still alive. His power is to regenerate, painfully.  It seems like a completely silly episode, until we’re brought to a mutant black market that can sell extra powers! He looks like a steroid worm, but finally gets noticed by the turtles.

I’m glad we got an April centric story.

We learned a lot about her character and her dynamic with the turtles. We don’t know how they met yet, but maybe we will later. We know she’s ready for a fight and mutants don’t phase her at all. She’s a tough kid! I also liked that there was a story told from the perspective of a different character. “Newsworthy” was told from the perspective of Warren Stone, which is pretty cool. Alberto reminded me of Meatsweats. Rise of the TMNT is proving to gives us the franchises most terrifying villains to date.

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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 – The Fast and the Furriest / Mascot Melee

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

Now in to the fourth episode, “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is showing signs of continuity while still introducing new elements to flesh out the world.

We get the most sense of an overall story with “The Fast and the Furriest.” Donatello stays his claim as the inventor of the group when he turns the moon buggy, acquired in a previous episode, in to the Turtle Tank. Donnie is about to show off his new invention when he finds it’s stolen! But not by someone he would expect.

In the quest to find out who stole the Turtle Tank, we get a good look at other mutants in this universe. Maybe most important, this episode gives us our first returning villain. Meat Sweats makes his return on his quest to make everything more delicious. Once the turtles recover their stolen tank, we get a high speed chase showcasing some of of the Turtle Tank tech, as well as some ways other mutants can counter the attacks. Leo gets a nice moment where he’s able to activate his swords magic.

“Mascot Melee” sets up a very light story, but turns in to every New Yorkers’ nightmare.

The turtles are on a mission to buy Splinter a new robe. In disguise, Raph works his way through times square in a giant hippo suit. His giant hippo head gets knocked off, he gets mugged, and people mistake him for the new meme, “Turtle Possum.” I thought I would have tuned out when I heard the word “Meme,” but we get one of our major Easter Eggs to the original series. I barely know what memes are, so this was a good way to keep me interested.  Donnie also whistles to old “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” theme, which made me happy.

Raph takes pictures with tourists to earn back the money that was stolen from him. He does so well, the other costumed Times Square characters take notice. While this is terrifying enough, things get even creepier when the bad guys mascot heads get knocked off. It’s a creepy episode that emphasizes how weird things can get in this universe.

I love that the show is moving along with continuity. I like the idea of building villains and letting them escape to fight again later. The world here seemed almost too colorful at times, and the emphasis on memes was the first time I maybe felt like this show was solely aimed at kids. But the visuals are very striking and getting to learn more about mutants and how they interact with humans is a lot of fun. The first half was the stronger, I felt. But both worked well in different reasons. I think the new Turtle Tank will be a great addition, and it sounds a lot cooler than Turtle Van.

 

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“RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” REVIEW – SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 – Origami Tsunami / Donnie’s gifts

by Kyle Tobey
written by Kyle Tobey

With Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now on the third episode, we’re fleshing out the world and stories a bit more.

This episode in particular slit the episode wonderfully, with both episodes fleshing out the world, giving us new characters, and expanding on the brothers’ relationship.

Origami Tsunami has been my favorite so far.

In this episode, Splinter tells them with some training, they could learn the art of Ninjitsu. In their excitement, they search for low level crimes they can take on. A notice about a string of paper store robberies peaks Leonardo’s interest. They create their own shoddy paper store (that sells “Paper Salami”) to lure the paper thieves. What shows up isn’t a traditional robber, but rather another gateway to the mystical. Two creatures with foot prints on their faces create an army of soldiers created from origami  paper. As the turtles fight off their new enemies, they simply turn to paper confetti.

We get a taste of Leonardo actively avoiding really hard work, as well as Raphael’s use of Magic. I love how the turtles eyes go all white like other versions when they’re in action. I don’t think it was said outright, but I think this is our first look at the Foot Clan. With the enemies being made from paper, it leads to onslaughts of expendable soldiers, ensuring countless battles and bloodless action from the future Ninja Turtles. I’m very excited for this version of the Foot, but a single line really stood out to me. While they examine defeat, one creature states something along the lines of “They may have SHREDDED our plans for now.” Producers have been quiet about the Shredder, so maybe this is our first hint he exists in this universe. Or maybe it’s a paper pun.

Donnie’s Gifts is a fun story about Donatello accepting his brothers for who they are.

He creates new tools for his brothers to fix what he views as weakness. He creates an inflatable outfit for Mikey, a helmet to think for Raph, and a collar to stop Leo’s quips. This also introduces a new villain, Meatsweats (Voiced by Johnny Rotten. Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten). He’s a former celebrity chef who was mutated to become the weird angry meat pig he’s become. He’s obsessed with unlocking flavor and he absorbs other powers. When Donnie is captured, Mikey, Leo, and Raph need to save Donnie from being eaten. The brothers learn to use Donnie’s gifts in a way not intended, and Donnie learns to accept his brothers for who they are.

Meatsweats is genuinely terrifying. He’s a great new villain who I think will keep coming back.  We get a look at how Donnie views his brothers, which tells us outright what each turtle’s weakness is. The silverfish look strangely like mousers.

These are the best episodes so far. It seems to further the overall story as well as push what we know about the characters. I really love this version of the Foot Clan. It fits with the mystical tone of the show and leads to a lot of possibilities of danger for the turtles.

I loved this episode, but what did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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