Today, Mondo has released two new limited edition collectible posters, TMNT: Rise of the Turtles.
Bellybomb’s information from last episode paid off, because in short order the Turtles, April, Casey, and Fugitoid found themselves staring at the Triceraton mothership. Before getting to the mothership infiltration however, let’s give it up for that fighting game reference in the holodeck at the top of show! As stated in last weeks review, the references in this show are great, but this really put it over the top: Leo’s shoryuken, Mikey’s “Balloonality” (itself a reference to classic arcade game Dig Dug). Really fun stuff here. Hopefully they eventually pay off on the “new A-Team” of Raph and Donnie though.
This was a really fun episode, but it felt a little fast. A full episode could have been dedicated to the mothership invasion and the arena each. That’s not to say that what we got wasn’t good. Being outgunned and outnumbered, the Turtles best choice is to sneak onto the mothership, retrieve the first piece of the black hole generator, and get out. It was unfortunate that Casey and April had to be left behind, but like April said, they’re just not as stealthy as the Turtles. It also wound up being a good thing, since the Turtles get spotted pretty quickly, and after a brief struggle, get captured. Someone is going to have to rescue them.
That whole sequence was pretty wild. The Triceratons continue to overwhelm our heroes, they’re size and strength proving to be too much. The Turtles are going to have to find another way to fight them, and fast. Mozar is really brutal too. Can you get more villainous than throwing your prisoners into an airlock and slowly opening it to watch them suffocate? This created a cool moment where the Turtles show that their ninjutsu training isn’t only in physical strength, but in mind as well, slowing their breathing to account for the rapidly decreasing oxygen.
Luckily for our heroes (or possibly unlucky as Donnie points out later), the Triceraton Emperor Zanmoran stops Mozar from just dumping them out in space. Instead, he wants them to fight to the death in the Tri-Arena. This is, of course, a call back to other TMNT iterations, including the 2003 cartoon and the Archie comics run. The Turtles just can’t stay away from space arenas.
They start off by fighting the Spasmosaur, a giant tentacled and multi-mouthed beast, aided with information from their cellmate Zeno. After Donnie finds the weak spot Zeno mentioned, they defeat the Spasmosaur and move on to the next round. Their opponent turns out to be Zeno, because that is how these arena events work. He outclasses the Turtles, and even other Triceratons, towering over everyone in the arena.
With seemingly no way to beat Zeno, the Turtles appeal to his honor, and for his hatred of the black hole generator. He agrees to help them, and publicly insults Zanmoran, which results in a whole squad of Triceratons being deployed to stop the Turtles and their new friend.
Behind the scenes, while all of this is going on, Casey, April, and the Fugitoid set out to get the black hole generator piece. Fugitoid gets captured, but Casey and April manage to get the piece, dragging it back to the ship in one of those bubble/leash gadgets the Triceratons use.
Back in the arena, Zeno creates some space for the Turtles, who rescue Fugitoid by holding Zanmoran hostage! They escape, heading back to the ship. Halfway there, chased by Triceratons, they meet up with April and Casey, who are also being chased, and the whole group narrowly makes it aboard and escapes the Triceraton forces and the Mothership as a whole, leaving Zeno behind.
It was pretty wild seeing how far April’s powers have come. Not only does she use the Aeon crystal to help her open the door to the armory, but she also created a forcefield around herself as they jumped out the airlock. With any luck, April won’t become too dependent on the Aeon Crystal, as that episode showed that power can certainly corrupt.
With one piece of the black hole generator in hand, the Turtles and crew are off to find the next. While “Arena of Carnage” was a fun and fast paced episode, hopefully future episodes won’t be afraid to slow down a little bit and spend more time on interesting places and characters like the arena and Zeno.
TMNT & DaredevilDid you know that there are subliminal references between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel’s Daredevil comics? Keep reading to learn more!TMNT & Daredevil
Half the fun of this series has been trying to catch all the references they pack into each episode. And not just references to other iterations of TMNT, although there are plenty of those here, but to pop culture in general. In this episode alone, there are references to Star Wars, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Pulp Fiction, among others. Then there are more broad references, like the wild west showdown between Mikey and Bellybomb, and the callbacks to the He-Man and Voltron cartoons the guys watched in previous seasons. The writer’s have done such a good job of having layers of enjoyment for audience’s of all ages, and an episode as fun as this one is a good one to celebrate that notion on.
The first half of “Journey to the Center of Mikey’s Mind” has very little to do with Mikey. It focuses on the Turtles and Fugitoid traveling to a “No Terrans” cantina to buy information on where the Triceraton’s are. If anything, Mikey’s more annoying than usual, ignoring Raph’s protests to treat Bellybomb with more respect. Of course, we find out that Bellybomb, real name (in this iteration) Beel-O-Bomb, is not worthy of such respect. He immediately tries to steal the groups money without giving them the agreed information. Not willing to take this 
lying down, the Turtles try to stop Bellybomb’s escape, leading to the aforementioned wild west showdown, and a full blown shootout in the middle of the bar. It’s always a little weird seeing the Turtles using guns, but set in the middle of what could pass as Mos Eisley Cantina, it feels right at home. The Turtles succeed, aided by a stiff punch by Fugitoid, and they leave the bar with their money, but sans any information.
The Turtles return to their ship, but Bellybomb has sent the Neutrinos after them. It was exciting to get the Neutrinos introduction into this TMNT, but it was disappointing to see them reduced to mini mind parasites. Kala, Dask, and Zak these are not. Anyway, the Neutrinos invade Mikey’s mind, and Fugitoid, with help from April’s psychic powers, sends Leo, Donnie, and Raph in after them.
Traveling into anyone’s mind would be a trip, but traveling into Mikey’s mind? Now that is an adventure. At first, the boys just experience memories of their travels; Mazes and Mutants in the sewer; the farmhouse and Sasquatch, etc. The Neutrinos start to chase them through each memory, tearing into the scene, hunting the Turtles. It reminded me of Nemesis from Resident Evil and the first Terminator. Next the Turtles find Mikey’s subconscious. There they meet Angry Mikey, Hungry Mikey, Weird Mikey, and Funny Mikey. It was nice to (literally) go deeper into Mikey’s character. The cheesy rap was cheesy, but also insightful, exactly how you’d imagine Mikey being. Of course Angry Mike was Raph’s favorite, and in true Mikey fashion, Weird Mikey was also strangely smart, ultimately leading the trio to the heart of Mikey’s brain: his imagination.
Imagination land is crazy, but what did you expect? Seeing all of Mikey’s favorite things coming together and clashing styles was a real treat. We got guest appearances by the Mutanimals, the Turtles forest attire, and Ice Cream Kitty. We got all the various cartoons he watches, some living action figures, and even a giant Renet. The finishing move on the Neutrinos was very anime-esque, which is appropriate for Mikey.
Side note: Isn’t it funny how Mikey still looks up to Bradford? I guess our heroes never die.
“Journey to the Center of Mikey’s Mind” was a fun episode. Sure, it was a filler episode, but a great diversion from the serious hunt for the Triceratons. If you can’t have a romp through space once in a while, what’s the point in going? By the end of the episode, the Turtles seem back on track, but with a more clear appreciation for their younger brother.
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.
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. 
Raph 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 will
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.