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TMNT – “The Power Inside Her” Review

by Dan Spitaliere
written by Dan Spitaliere

In the comments of last weeks episode, one of our readers stated their concern that the show might be getting too dark and wondered if the show might lose some of its core audience – children. I posited that the show was just finding it’s line and probably wouldn’t go much further than what it had during “The Super Shredder” and “Darkest Plight.” “The Power Inside Her” just proved me wrong.

That’s not to say that “The Power Inside Her” wasn’t a strong episode. It really was. Circling back to April’s addiction to the Aeon Crystal, we got a powerful episode that focused on the apex of that addiction. Let’s think back to when April received the crystal. The Turtles, Casey, and April landed on their home planet that had been consumed in darkness. After being attacked by giant bat-like creatures, the crew found themselves at an ancient pyramid. After scaling the pyramid, they saved the day by replacing the Soul Star artifact at the top of the pyramid, cleansing the planet of the darkness. The bat-like creatures were actually the Aeons, and ancient and powerful race, who gifted April the crystal for saving them.

Well it turns out the crystal held the spirit of one of the original Aeons, who had been slowing taking over April’s mind as she used the crystal to augment her abilities. April wasn’t just dependent on the crystal, she was losing herself to it. And that’s when things got really crazy. April completely succumbed to the Aeon, named Zal-Naron, who made it her mission to cleanse the Earth, starting with New York. The Turtles, Splinter, and Casey kept trying to help April, but she proved too powerful.

Watching Splinter and Raphael get twisted into torturous positions was difficult enough, but the scariest part of the episode happened when Zal-Naron obliterated Donatello. Donatello, trying to save April and ultimately his own life, pleaded with April to overcome the Aeon, but in the moment April wasn’t strong enough. With a flash of his skin, skeleton, and organs, Donatello exploded. Just writing that feels gruesome. It’s hard to believe that this was, of all things, in a Nickelodeon cartoon. The description feels more like the non-canon Image Comics run.

Now Donatello was revived at the end of the episode. April used the last of the Aeon Crystal (she broke it trying to escape its hold on her) to reform Donatello from the “quantum smear” she reduced him to. But it was still hard to believe the whole episode. April/Zal-Naron was on a tear, force choking people, throwing them around like rag dolls, and twisting them into awful shapes. Hadn’t Splinter gone through enough in the last couple episodes? Blowing up Donatello was just the icing on the horrifying cake.

A couple side notes:

-Rahzar is apparently still alive! No idea how he survived getting crushed by a train, but the episode wisely glossed over that. Besides, April just crushed him with a dumpster anyway, so hopefully Bradford has a couple more lives saved up.

-One of our readers asked about the crews’ space weapons and where they were. Casey pulled out one of his space hockey pucks, and Donatello brought back his space staff again. I guess the writer’s were on the same wave length!

-Shredder’s henchmen are collecting all the mutagen they can get their hands on, in order to maintain Shredder’s super form. I wonder what happens when they run out of mutagen? I’m still trying to figure out why Tiger Claw would seek out Kavaxas in the upcoming episode. Maybe it’s to save Shredder from his mutation?

“The Power Inside Her” took yet another turn down a more mature path for Nick’s TMNT, touching on the topic of addiction and its fallout. More than that though, it felt like a crazy “What If?” episode, where a possessed and super-charged April tore through the ranks of friend and foe alike. You have to wonder how April will deal with this moving forward, and how this will impact her relationships with the Turtles, Splinter, and Casey. The episode ended on a positive note, with April breaking the control of the Aeon Crystal and forming better control over her powers, but after what happened, things can’t be the same moving forward.

 

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

TMNT – “Riddle of the Ancient Aeons” Review

by Dan Spitaliere
written by Dan Spitaliere

After last weeks episode where we watched Fugitoid fight to hold onto his humanity, this week we got to see the Turtles struggle to hold onto theirs.

Having escaped Armaggon, our adventurers continue their search for the pieces of the black hole generator. Tracking Mozar and the Triceraton ship to the planet Xaava-Dal, April’s psychic abilities immediately trigger. Fugitoid reassures her that it’s a beautiful and peaceful planet, but landing there quickly proves him wrong.teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2012-s04e05-riddle-of-the-ancient-aeons-hdtv-x264-w4f-large

In it’s current state, Xaava-Dal answers the question of what Dagobah would look like if it was all dark side cave, complete with demon bats, and an atmosphere that disrupts scanners and induces rage. Basically fumbling blind to find the generator piece, frustration builds as the demon bats attack, but with the atmosphere affecting the boys, the biggest danger seems to be themselves.

We get some really great characterization moments out of this, highlighting not only Donnie and Casey’s rivalry, but also Mikey expressing his frustration at Raph always picking on him. It’s cool to see this side, even shadowed in anger, showing that while Mikey often lets criticism roll of his back, deep down it can really get to him. The rage culminates with the classic Raph/Leo rivalry, including shades of the fourth TMNT movie. Leo calls Raph jealous. tumblr_o0qboyaz7V1rj6kxdo2_500Raph responds by drawing his weapons, and accuses Leo of being Splinters favorite. The nice twist to this formula is that Leo responds not by fighting, but by embracing his brother, giving Raph what he always needs reminding of: he is loved. It’s a Kodak moment.

Our heroes find a marker that leads them to the temple where the generator piece is being held. Meanwhile the Triceratons’ instruments clear up enough to lock onto the Fugitoid, putting them on the Turtles trail.

After a brief, funny, run in with some booby traps, the Turtles find the piece and the Triceratons find them. The Turtles and friends try to hold off the Triceratons (Honeycutt straight up annihilates one!) but they prove too much. Mozar grabs the first generator piece, traps our heroes in the temple, and leaves.

Here’s where the episode pays off its title. Throughout the episode Fugitoid explains the background of the Aeons, the native race of Xaava-Dal. They find ruins of their society, which talk of a Soul Star that used to sit at the top of the temple. While looking for an exit from the temple, April finds not only exit, but also the Soul Star. This leads the crew to fight against the demon bats up the outside of the temple to replace the Soul Star.

After playing keep away with the Soul Star from the demon bats, April finally gets to the top and replaces it, which in turn cleanses the planet of the darkness that took it over. It is also revealed that the demon bats are not an invasive species, but are in fact the Aeons, corrupted by the removal of the Soul Star. They moved it to protect the black hole generator piece that was given to them by none other than the Utrom. As thanks for their help, the Aeons give the crew a piece of the Soul Star, claiming it willAeons bring them “luck and power.”

This episode gave us adventure and some great character moments. It also gave us some food for thought as the Turtles contemplate the corruptive force of power. One final thing to point out. The episode started off with Leo in the hologram room, standing in a simulated NYC. While there, he encounters Splinter, which turns out to be a hologram when Leo reaches out to him. It’s hard to believe one of the Turtles would program Splinter into the room, given the circumstances that got them into their current situation. Could this be Splinter reaching out through the astral plane, back at home on Earth? Time will tell.

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