The Third Act: “Return to New York”, part 1

Written by: Marty Isenberg and Michael Ryan
Original Air Date: September 27, 2003
Teaser Narrator: Raphael
Characters Introduced: Shredder Clones
Gargoyles episode I could make a forced comparison to: N/A

Northampton Bound: “Tales of Leo”

“It is said that the voice of a loved one can guide a lost spirit back to its home.”–Splinter

Written by: Marty Isenberg
Original Air Date: September 13, 2003
Recap Narrator: The Shredder
Gargoyles episode I could make a forced comparison to: N/A

Synopsis:

Thirty seconds before the explosion at the 2nd Time Around store, the turtles, April, Casey, and Splinter are trapped inside a storage area inside the building.  While Raph and Mike try to break through the barred door, April moves some furniture, exposing a sheet of metal covering a hole in the wall, (the remnant of a cooling unit that had been removed back when the O’Neils first bought the building).  After removing the covering, our heroes escape from the building, unseen, just before it explodes.

Now safe outside in the pouring rain, April cries in Casey’s arms as her home and livelihood burn.  Meanwhile, the group tries to consider their options: they need a place to recover and to treat the unconscious Leonardo, and the lair is still being watched.  Suprisingly, it is Casey who appears to have a solution o that particular problem.

The next day, snow falls as  Casey drives the group towards his grandmother’s old farmhouse, a family home made in the classic old New England style–pretty and comforting, if it weren’t for its serious state of disrepair.  He seems somewhat cheery, which makes him the only one: April is still depressed over the events of the past day, and the turtles are miserable due to a combination of cold and concern for their brother.  Once inside the house, they set Leo in a couch near the fireplace and try to keep him comfortable.

Back in New York, Saki has his own worries: with no bodies to be found at the scene of yesterday’s battle, he requires an alternate way to confirm his enemies’ demise.  Enter Baxter Stockman, who looks considerably worse than the last time we saw him: not only is he wheelchair-bound, he is also missing his left arm and sporting a neck brace.  The arrogant scientist makes a proposal: in exchange for the evidence the Shredder seeks, Stockman will be granted full access to the exoskeleton the Foot retrieved with the Sword of Tengu, which, he believes, would allow him to create technological breakthroughs of the sort that resulted in the Foot Tech Ninjas.  Saki agrees, with a caveat: if Stockman can’t provide the evidence of the turtles’ deaths, his next punishment will be his last.

Meanwhile, at the farmhouse, Leo’s family keeps a vigil around the unconscious turtle, waiting for a sign of recovery.  Donatello, hoping that Leo can hear him, begins talking to his fallen brother, assuring him that he can, will, and must pull through.  He recalls the time both turtles had been milling around the sewer, playing with Don’s remote control car when, after a misjudged turn, the car falls into the debris-strewn waterway.  Don tried to retrieve it, falling into the water himself. Unable to swim back to safety due to the strong current, Don is swept away into a central part of the sewer.  His foot trapped under debris, he would have been drowned by the rapidly rising water, if not for Leo–because that’s what he does, Don punctuates: he comes through for people, and he’s sure that Leo will do again.

Raph interrupts Don’s reminiscing, disparaging his attempts to get through to Leo.  Ironically, Leo appears to react to Raph’s comment, which only convinces the group that talking to the unconscious turtle is the thing to do. Michelangelo decides to take a turn, asking Leo to focus on his voice, the way he usually focuses on his ninjitsu.  He reminisces of a time when he tried to distract Leo from practicing his katas, to no avail, and insists that if Leo could remain laser-focused then, he can do so now.

Raph once again comments on the uselessness of trying to bring Leo back from the brink: after his defeat at the hands of the Foot, the turtle leader is too scared to come back and face the world.  His anger soon subsides, as tears begin to well in his eyes.  He recalls how he’d once felt that he’d be the most natural leader of the group, and would compete with Leo for the spot.  One particular time, the two turtles had been playing follow the leader when Raph took them to a part of the sewer Splinter had forbidden them from entering.    A mistake, in retrospect–it’s not long before Raph is attacked by an albino crocodile, and, were it not for Leo, Raph would have died trying to fight it.

Present day New York, 2nd Time Around store.  Baxter Stockman, aided by his mouser robots, has finished searching through the wreckage, with no success–there’s absolutely no conclusive evidence that anyone died in the fire.  Inspired by a mouser carrying a piece of red cloth, he decides that if no evidence exists, he’ll just have to create it.

Back in Massachusetts, Splinter takes his own stab at getting through to Leonardo, telling him that he must gather his courage and confront his fear.  He reminisces of a time, long ago, when Leo had a rather pronounced fear of heights, one that no amount of coaching would solve.  It wasn’t until Splinter appeared to be in mortal danger that Leonardo managed to conquer his fears, in order to rescue his sensei.  Splinter begs his son to return to them, which appears to be enough, as Leo slowly opens his eyes.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly becomes jubilant,  (including a rather overlong hug between April and Casey).  An exhausted Leo thanks his family: if not for them and their words, he would not have been able to return.  Splinter responds by telling Leonardo that it is he who fought his way back to the world of the living, and that the credit belongs to him.  With the danger past, he orders the others to leave Leonardo to rest.  As the group leaves, Raph tells Leo to give him a call if he needs anything.

Back in New York, Baxter presents Saki with his (fake) evidence. The crime lord takes a look at it, and proclaims that he is satisfied: Stockman will receive the exoskeleton in the morning. Saki leaves the room, leaving Stockman alone and free to gloat: with the exoskeleton available to him, he’ll be able to get his revenge on the Shredder once and for all.

Continuity Notes:

• The first part of this episode is an adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 1) #10 and #11, both of which had previously been adapted in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.
• Baxter Stockman’s mouser robots were last seen in “Attack of the Mousers“.  They will not be seen again (at least in this form) for the duration of the series.
• In this episode, Casey makes a throwaway mention of his cousin Sid, who appeared in Mirage’s Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) #1 and who will make his TV debut on episode 4.01 “Cousin Sid”.

So we finally arrive in Northampton.  This was a key part of the original TMNT narrative, the moment when Eastman and Laird showed that they weren’t all about the wacky action and set pieces, and could write more varied, emotional stories.  After their defeat at April’s apartment, the turtles retreat to Casey’s grandmother’s farm house to heal their physical and mental wounds, and spend a year there doing…well, they’re not particularly sure. A lot of key turtles adventures take place in Massachusetts area, to the point where it’s arguably a more important location than New York is.  While it’s not as important at this point in the animated series–only two episodes are spent there before returning the turtles to New York–like the comics, it will become the turtles’ second home, and the place they’ll return to to recuperate after particularly tense battles, or simply whenever they feel like going out in the sun.

In the original comic books, this first Northampton issue was used mostly as an opportunity to take stock of the situation, using April as the viewpoint character, and part of its theme was that the sudden exile had affected them all in different and subtle ways.  Here, however, perhaps because the story begins and ends the very same day they arrive at Northampton (the comic begins after they’ve been there for two weeks, and deals with their arrival in the form of a flashback), the focus is much more narrow and urgent, as the turtles and their friends keep vigil over Leonardo, telling him stories in an attempt to feel like they’re doing something.

It’s a good concept, particularly since, when you think about it, there really isn’t anything they can do for Leo that they can’t do later–he’s presumably not bleeding externally, broken limbs aren’t fatal, and anything else would require equipment they can’t access–all they can do is hope.

Unfortunately, the tales don’t really say anything particularly interesting about the characters–the only interesting bit, that Leo was once afraid of heights, is never really brought up again. Although perhaps the point is precisely that, that the things one remembers are often not those one would consider very significant.  Does Leonardo himself remember those things?  It would be interesting to know.

Much more intriguing are the bits with the Foot, which highlight just how brutal this incarnation of the Foot can be, and how it can backfire: so focused is the Shredder on hunting down the turtles (and it’s nice to see him refusing to underestimate the heroes–it’s not something we usually see in cartoon villains) that he fails to see the more immediate threat. It’s actually kind of odd: even after getting betrayed time and time again by Stockman, Shredder never treats him with the same seriousness he does the turtles, and I wonder why that is.  Is it because Stockman isn’t a physical threat?  Is it because he believes he can deal with whatever he throws at him (Stockman’s blows are rarely disabling, at least until the very end)?  Or does he simply believe that his contributions to the Foot outweigh his potential treachery?  In any case, the chemistry between Saki and Stockman has always been entertaining, and this is probably their best episode together, since Stockman gets off some wonderful bits of snark here.

Random Thoughts:

• This episode hints at a side of Hun we don’t get to see much; while he’s usually presented as more moderate character than the Shredder–something like “letting the floating city of Beijing fall into the ground in order to obtain some crucial tech” would never really occur to him–he is, nevertheless, a pretty dang brutal guy: you can tell he enjoyed gouging out Stockman’s eye, and snapping his arm off, and breaking his legs, and twisting his neck.  It calls back to his first encounter with Raphael, and it’s a nice, subtle bit of character building.
• The origin of the car and trailer the gang takes to Northampton is never explained, and we never really see it again–it’s simply adapted wholesale from the book.  Who does it belong to?   Probably not April–she’s eventually revealed to be the owner of a Volkswagen Bus (also from the comics) and it doesn’t really make sense for her to be the owner of two cars.  Casey has his bike (or had, as it was most likely lost in the fire), and I just don’t see him owning a car, given that he’s an underemployed New Yorker.  A loan from a friend of Casey’s?  Possibly–but it’d be nice to see it confirmed.
• This episode, I think, marks the first instance of what would be come a rather unwelcome and overused gag, where Casey and April spontaneously demonstrate some sort of affection for each other, only to retreat once they realize what they’ve done.  It’s unsubtle, it’s unfunny, and thankfully doesn’t last long, disappearing after the first big Casey/April episode, “Modern Love”.

Rumble in the Jungle: “The Shredder Strikes Back” Part Two

“Like the phoenix, I have risen from the ashes.  And into my fire, you shall fall.“–The Shredder

Written by: Erik Luke
Original Air Date: June 14, 2003
Recap Narrator: Splinter

Meanwhile: “The Shredder Strikes Back” Part 1

“He’s back…The Shredder…”–Leonardo

Written by: Erik Luke
Original Air Date: June 7, 2003
Introduces: Foot Elite
Teaser Narrator: Leonardo

Hail to “The King”, Baby

“Kirby, you are The King.”–Donatello

Written by: Mike Ryan
Original Air Date: May 31, 2003
Introduces: Kirby
Teaser Narrator: Donatello

Synopsis:

In a departure from the usual, the episode opens with a dedication to Jack Kirby before heading into the usual teaser. It’s sweet.

It’s another night in April’s apartment, and the turtles are discussing their current situation vis-a-vis the Foot Ninja that drove them away from their home last episode. Leo and Raph are arguing about what to do—wait out the situation until they know more (Leo’s suggestion), or go in and kick ass (Raph’s). Mikey is worried about them finding the lair and the fact that the Foot is still around after the Shredder’s defeat, and Don reassures him that won’t happen, given the security measures he’s installed. Splinter oversees it all, commenting here and there. And April…well, she’s just trying to watch TV.

The doorbell rings. April tells the turtles to hide, but the warning is unnecessary, since they’re already masters of the Batman vanishing act. She opens the door, and finds that it’s the delivery person for a Chinese take-out place. April is initially surprised, since she hadn’t ordered anything, but quickly catches on, and pays the man. The delivery dude, for his part, notices Mikey hiding behind an easy chair, but a second glance reveals it’s “just” a teddy bear, and he doesn’t get to do much about it before he’s rushed out the door.

With the danger past, the turtles resume their positions as if nothing had ever happened. April somewhat exasperated, hands Don and Mikey, the culprits, their food.

Raph announces that he’s going to take a shower. He enters the bathroom, but it’s not long before he exits again, complaining to Don about the hot water. Don, despite complaining that he’s already dealt with the heater once (we saw him refer to it last episode!) reluctantly agrees to check it out. As he leaves, April warns him to watch out for Kirby, a new tenant of hers living in the basement apartment.

Later, as Don makes his way through the basement, he runs into trouble: not Kirby, but instead a very noisy winged gargoyle-like creature flying through the halls, y’know, like they do. The creature flies out of sight, and Donny follows it into a closed room, only to realize that it’s no longer there.

As he looks for the missing creature, Donatello peeks through an open door and finds a man hunched over a desk, drawing—Kirby, the turtle surmises correctly. Don watches as the artist places the finishing touches on a a drawing of a large, spherical insect, and then gasps the insect pops out of the page (leaving behind the original drawing) and springs to life before Kirby’s very (calm) eyes, flying away from the scene before poofing into dust.

Forgetting all about being a ninja and remaining unseen, Donatello asks Kirby how he did that. Kirby, unsettled but not distraught, concludes that since he didn’t draw the turtle, he must be the original owner of “[his] crystal”. Kirby apologizes for using it, and promises to give it back, and asks Don not to attack him.

Don introduces himself and assures the artist that he doesn’t want to hurt him—he just wants to find out how he brought his drawing to life. Kirby explains that he just draws; it’s the crystal tied to the pencil—which he’d found in a pile of coal one day—that provides the “oomph” that brings drawings to life.

Kirby properly introduces himself and offers Donatello a chance to try the crystal out, which Don accepts; apologizing for his lack of drawing skills, the ninja turtle doodles a stick figure, which, like the insect before it, comes to life.  The stick figure then begins leaps around the room and kicking Donny in the shin before vanishing.

Kirby explains that the vanishing is normal, and has happened to everything he’s drawn. The one exception is something he’d drawn a couple of weeks before—something he’d drawn on a whim without knowing what it was he was creating—a portal.

Don, ever curious, tests Kirby’s invention by sticking his hand in it. It vanishes. He steps inside and disappears from the room altogether, which worries Kirby until Don returns, astounded about what he’s seen on the other side, and insisting that Kirby witness it for himself. Kirby agrees, and after grabbing his notebook, he steps through the portal.

The other side. After a few glances, Kirby immediately identifies the world they’ve stepped into as his own creation—one can see sketches of it in his notebook.

Don spots a creature in the distance; like the world itself, it’s also something Kirby created, and the two new friends decide to follow it to see where its going. The watch as it joins several other creatures in their offensive against a handful of humanoid men (also created by Kirby—one could see several sketches of them decorating his apartment walls) who are fighting to defend the bridge leading to a city floating in the sky.

The defending warriors, although formidable, are outnumbered. Upon seeing them taken down by the monsters, Don decides to help them, fighting the monsters until the men can rally and return to the battle. They succeed, and the monsters are driven away.

Given a few moments to catch their breath, Donatello and Kirby introduce themselves to the warriors, who explain the situation in broad strokes: they are defending the city and their families against the monsters who would destroy it. The breather doesn’t last long, however, as they don’t get a chance to talk much before the monsters—thousands of them this time—return.

Faced by this greater threat, Donatello and the warriors do their best to defend the city. Despite timely assistance from Kirby, who uses his pencil to make a drawing of Don holding an anti-gravity gun (which—and this is important—does not result in the creation of a duplicate ninja turtle, but instead makes the weapon appear on the real Don’s arm) and then a giant scooper robot, the monster hordes continue to advance, breaking the defensive line and heading into the city. Suddenly, as he looks at the drawings of the monsters he accidentally unleashed, Kirby gets an idea, and begins scribbling furiously.

It works. Just as the monsters are about to begin attacking civilians, they find themselves in all manner of bondage—metal straps, handcuffs, even huge blocks of cement. Crisis averted.

With things once again peaceful, a satisfied Donatello and Kirby decide it’s time to head back to New York. As they approach the portal, they notice, with horror, that it appears to be shrinking!

Kirby, realizing that his fate is that of the one-shot character, insists that Don go first. However, as the portal closes in around the turtle, it’s clear that artist won’t get the opportunity to use it; with a push, Kirby pushes Donatello through, and the ninja turtle arrives back in the artist’s cellar. He watches as a paper airplane flies through the gate, just before it shrinks into oblivion.

Distraught, Don can think of nothing to do but pick up the piece of paper and return upstairs. As he makes his wait out of the basement, he runs into Raph, who asks, which his usual non-knack for diplomacy, if the shower is fixed yet. With a look, Don makes it clear that he is not in the mood.

Don makes his way into one of the apartment windows and looks at the city outside. He remembers Kirby’s airplane, and opens it; in it, there’s the drawing of Don holding the gravity gun, along with a message:

*          *          *

Despite fitting squarely under the category of the light, fluffy, so-called filler episodes, there’s quite a lot to say about this episode—more, maybe than any episode so far in this blog’s history.

This episode was based on Donatello #1, a one-shot issue, that, as the name implies, focused almost exclusively on the brainy turtle. It’s status as an adaptation is notable due to two things: 1) it is by far the most literal screen adaptation of a Mirage stories, and 2) it’s actually the second adaptation of the original comic book story.

At this point, there have been a handful of stories adapted from the comic books; there will be several more over the course of the series. At one end of the spectrum are stories are adaptations in only in the sense that they take the basic plot a story, and then add the various details as befit the cartoon universe. The season 2 episode “The Golden Puck” is arguably considered this (some, including me depending on the day of the week, would argue that it’s not an adaptation at all); season 4′s “The Tale of Master Yoshi is definitively this. Way at the other end of the spectrum is this, a story that takes 90% of its beats (starting from the moment Raph complains about the shower) from the comic book, with very few, if any, changes. It helps that the original story didn’t have much in the way of violence, and that as a one-shot story existing in a narrative vaccum, one can simply retell the tale wholesale without worrying about contradicting past or future cartoon stories.

As said before, this is actually the second adaptation of the Kirby story—the first occurred in an illustrated children’s book featuring the first animated incarnation of the cartoons. Like this version, that story was pretty much translated intact (or at least, that’s how I remember it), which makes it something of an oddity: it’s the one non-mytharc story to have that distinction—possibly because Peter Laird has gone on the record about how this is one of his favorite stories.

And an odd story it is, too. It kind of comes out of nowhere, isn’t particularly logical, and in the end swerves from lighthearted romp to melancholy.

Kirby of course, is a rather blatant homage to comic book creator extraordinaire Jack Kirby, whom Eastman and Laird counted on as a major inspiration. Kirby’s world, appropriately, is a pastiche of the real life Kirby’s creations and art style. So basically the story ends up being “Donatello meets Jack Kirby”.

This is actually not the first time a character has been based on Kirby, either. Back in 1996, the creators of Superman: The Animated Series based their version of existing comic book character Dan Turpin on the King. Note the resemblance:

The episode is also notable for it’s pessimistic-sounding ending—at first glance, having you lose a brand-new friend, with his last words being “life at best is bittersweet” isn’t the most life-affirming of events. However, when asked about it by Executive Producer Lloyd Goldfine, Peter Laird had this to say:

“While the story is a downer in a sense, in another sense it’s not. The only REAL downer, as I see it, is that Don had made a cool new friend and lost that friend all in one afternoon… and MAYBE also that Kirby can’t get back to our world. I guess I always thought that there are two reasons that Kirby sacrifices his chance to get back to our world and lets Don go though the shrinking portal first: One, Kirby’s a good guy with great nobility, and Two, if he had to be stuck somewhere with little or no chance of getting back to our world, this other dimension — where he is now a hero in the eyes of the human-types that live there, and they’ve come right out and told him that he’s welcome in their lands — is definitely far from the worst place to be. And when you think about it — he’s a guy living by himself in a crummy little dingy basement one-room apartment!”

Source: plairdblog.blogspot.com

And it’s not a bad point. It would be a better one if we knew more about Kirby’s life—whether he had someone who would miss him aside from Don, for example—but still, it makes a certain amount of sense.

This is the first chronological episode for which Peter Laird has released notes, and his correspondence gives us some insight into what his role in the creative process for the cartoon was. Technically a Creative Consultant for this show, it’s clear that his opinions have a large amount of weight, and that he has a good eye for storytelling—his suggestions usually end up being included in some manner into the final product. And, as one will eventually see in future notes, he is not always the most diplomatic of bosses.

Random thoughts:

• One of the various plot holes in this episode is immediately apparent: if Kirby drew the portal that took him and Don into his world, why can’t he draw one that would take him back? The episode provides no real answer. A second, equally obvious plot hole, is the way he’s able to draw Donatello without having a second ninja turtle come to life.

• Although we never see Kirby again, we’ll see his apartment again in episode 101 “Adventures in Turtle-Sitting”–which given what happens two episodes after this one, really makes little sense.
• This episode was actually slightly altered after it initially aired. As elaborated in Laird’s blog post, the original ending did not feature Raph, and was slightly different from the scene in the original comic book. This was eventually changed for subsequent airings.
• Bonus question, since the episode doesn’t really answer the question: which do y’all think came first: Kirby’s world, or his sketches for it?

Mutants and the Things that Scare Them: “Notes From the Underground” Part Two

“I am Quarry of Tunnel Squad 3; the others are Stonebiter and Razorfist.” – Quarry

Written by: Greg Johnson

Original Air Date: May 17, 2003

Recap Narrator: Donatello

Introduces: Savage Foot Mutants

Weird Science: “Notes from the Underground” Part One

“OOOooh-EEEE-Ooohh…!” – Michelangelo

Written by: Eric Luke
Original Air Date: May 10, 2003
Teaser Narrator: Michelangelo
Introduces: Quarry (unnamed); Razorfist (unnamed); Stonebiter (unnamed); Foot Genetics Team Leader

Yes, This is Still Partly a TMNT Site: “The Unconvincing Turtle Titan”

“We should become super-heroes!“–Michelangelo

Written by: Marty Isenberg
Original Air Date: May 3, 2003
Teaser Narrator: Michelangelo
Introduces: Silver Sentry; Doctor Malignus; Crazy Manny

In Over Their Heads: “The Shredder Strikes” Part Two

“None of you will leave here alive” – The Shredder

Written by: Michael Ryan
Original Air Date: April 19, 2003
Recap Narrator: Leonardo

Synopsis:

Teaser: Leo recaps the events of last episode, focusing specifically on how each successive encounter was more challenging than the last, and how the upcoming encounter with the Shredder may prove to be the hardest of all.

Theme.

Rain pours.  After a few would-be parting words to the turtles, The Shredder orders his ninja to attack.  As his foot soldiers keep the turtles busy and distracted, he is free to attack his foes unopposed.

Eventually, a flung sword hits a power generator, causing it to explode.  As a fire quickly spreads through the roof, Leo and Raph try double-teaming the Shredder, but he easily counters both their attacks.

Inside the turtles’ lair, Splinter has just finished meditating on the matter of the Shredder and is ready to give them his answer.  As he looks for his sons, the ninja master concludes that they’ve done exactly what he’d told them not to do: face the Shredder.  He sets out after them, but not before picking the controller for the Battle Shell.

Back at the rooftop, the Foot have taken the upper hand.  As the Shredder prepares to kill an unarmed and helpless Leo, the conflagration causes parts of the building’s roof to collapse, separating the turtles from their opponents and each other, and causing them to fall to the street.

As Don regains his bearings, he notices Mikey nearby, whose legs had been trapped under some rubble and has hurt his ankle.  After freeing his brother, Don lends him his bo staff and tries to help him walk.  They don’t get far when they notice the Shredder exiting the burning building, unaffected by the flames surrounding him.  As he is rejoined by his Foot Ninja, Saki orders them to find the turtles. They hear the sirens from approaching police and fire trucks, and so the ninja vanish from the scene.

As he avoids the Foot Ninja searching for him, Leo retrieves his swords and sets out to find his brothers.  Not far away, Raph exits the dumpster he’d fallen into when he fell from the roof and sets out to do the same.

After narrowly avoiding the Shredder and his ninja, Don and Mikey enter an apartment’s bathroom to hide, and take the opportunity to search of something for Mikey’s injury.  They eventually settle on a pair of pantyhose, and as Don uses the hosiery to immobilize his brother’s ankle, a kid enters the bathroom and notices the turtles.  However, by the time he’s able to bring his mother into the room, the Don and Mikey have already left.

As two Foot Ninja search for their quarry, they notice the stink of trash, just before they’re knocked unconscious by Raph.  As the turtle takes the time to see if he really does smell that bad, he’s grabbed by a pair of unseen hands.  It’s Splinter.

Leo has been found by the Foot Ninja, and has been cornered into an alley dead end.  As the ninja turtle prepares to defend himself, a man swoops down into the fray–one of the guardians.  Smiling, he takes a glowing katana from his trenchcoat.

In an alley looking a lot like one where the turtles first fought the Foot Ninja back in episode one, Don and Mikey run into Raph and Splinter.  After some inappropriate joking from Mikey, the group sets out to move, but it’s too late: the Foot Ninja have found them.

As Don and Raph fight off ninja, Splinter tries to summon the Battle Shell, hitting every button in the remote except the right one.  Growing frustrated, Splinter hands the remote to Don; now free to join the fray, the rat ninja takes down the remaining Foot Ninja with ease.

We return to Leo, who watches as the newcomer fights off the Foot Ninja in the alleyway.  Once his opponents are defeated, the stranger approaches Leonardo, and identifies himself only as “a Guardian”.  He tells Leo that there is very little that he can tell the turtle, except that he and his brothers have been caught in a battle much bigger than themselves (which mirrors what  Leo had been told last episode–the Guardian comments that it was the only true thing Saki had said during that encounter) and that by rejecting the Shredder, the turtles have made new allies.  The two ninja shake hands.

The two new allies are joined by the Battle Shell, which has been driven by Donny and backseat-driven by Splinter.  Before Leo can introduce his friend, however, he finds that the guardian has vanished.

With his sons now reunited safely inside their armored truck, Splinter slaps the turtles for their stupidity.  He explains that with the hornet’s nest now stirred, they have no choice but to confront and defeat the Shredder.  Hamato Yoshi will be avenged.

Later that night, the Shredder and his ninja find the Battle Shell parked next to a building.  They jump their way into the building’s roof, where they find the turtles looking cool below a water tower and Splinter atop it. “Let the butt-kicking begin,” Raph declares.

Splinter watches and gives directions (or, as Don calls it, “backseat ninja-ing”) as his sons fight the Foot Ninja.  Unfortunately for the turtles, the battle quickly turns into a replay of the first, with the Shredder eventually driving the turtles towards a wall. As Oroku Saki prepares for a finishing blow, he is stopped by Splinter.

As Shredder battles this new opponent, he drives him back towards the water tower.  Splinter is more skilled than the turtles, however, and faster: the Shredder can’t land a blow, instead cutting the water tower’s support beams.  Eventually, Shredder notices the tower teetering above him, but it’s too late: with a kick (punctuated by the words “This is for Master Yoshi!”) Splinter brings the entire structure crashing down,  sending its contents gushing out.  Helpless against the torrent water, the Shredder is sent flying into the streets, and can only watch as the falling tower crushes him.

With the Shredder defeated and Hamato Yoshi avenged, it is time for the turtles to go home, ignorant of the fact that seven stories below them, a fist has punched its way out of the rubble of a wrecked water tower…

—-

One of the good things about this show’s liberal use of multi-parters is that it allows for episodes such as this one, which focus almost entirely on the action without feeling deprived in the plot development area. It also means that I don’t have much to say about it, which is a plus–less work for me!

While this episode isn’t terribly hot–it’s surpassed in almost every conceivable way by its follow-up, “The Shredder Strikes Back”–it still has some notable details.

The first really notable thing is how tough the Shredder is.  The turtles barely manage to lay a hand on him, only managing to hit him once while his back is turned.  Even Splinter has a hard time during a straight-up fight (as we’ll better see in “The Shredder Strikes Back”) resorting instead to outright trickery in order to win.  This formidableness will remain consistent through the series, and will allow the character to avoid villain decay.

This episode also sets up the way in which the Shredder will be defeated in future episodes by establishing his Foot Ninja as a vital part of his fighting strategy.  While he’s still formidable without them, his ability to use them to draw fire away from himself is what renders him untouchable.  Remove them, and fighting him becomes easier (but never easy) due to sheer numbers–it’s a nice aversion to the law of conservation of ninjutsu, and a nice way to give some bite back to the mooks.

While last episode established that Splinter is not motivated entirely by revenge (unlike his comic book counterpart) here we see that while it’s not his main priority, revenge is definitively still on the agenda.  Its a nice contrast to most cartoons, which tend to take “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” as a basic tenet; while I do believe that the idiom holds true most of the time, I’m glad that  avenging Master Yoshi by killing the Shredder is seen as a net positive here (it’s not, as we eventually see–at least as things currently stand), and that the turtles are allowed to want to kill their enemies, as in the original comic books. All well and good, except for one thing: the actual “killing” just doesn’t come off very convincingly. Even if you take away the final scene, having a water tower fall on somebody just doesn’t seem like something that would kill someone in a cartoon–we’ve seen characters survive far worse.  Yes, we all know he can’t be killed off yet no matter what, but the resolution here feels tamer than it could be–why not check the body, and stab him afterwards to make sure he’s dead?  It wasn’t until future episodes that I realized that the turtles assumed the Shredder dead, which undermines the entire scene.

Random stuff:

* This episode is the last part of the show’s adaptation of the first issue of the original comic book.  The first part (the turtles’ origin) was adapted in episode three; the second (Hamato Yoshi’s story) was covered last episode; this one covers the final part, the turtles’ first confrontation with the Shredder, resulting in his “death”.

* The events of this episode will eventually be revisited in the show’s sixth season, in which we learn what happened to the Shredder immediately after he got out of the water tower, and worse still, that apparently Splinter’s gambit did nothing to harm him.

* One of the oft-mentioned  complaints about the first few seasons is how blade-wielding characters are never seen using these weapons directly on their enemiesEm. While this is usually the case here, you can actually see Leo and the Guardian slashing some Foot Ninja in a few shots.

* Splinter’s comments that he instructed the turtles not to fight the Shredder strike me as odd, and a bit of a continuity error.  While yes, he has warned them repeatedly not to engage the Foot, and had told them that he had not told them about the Shredder because they did not want them to try to engage him, the fact remains that the turtles did not particularly hide their intentions last episode after he’d told them of Yoshi–he’s right there when they talk about what their response to his invitation will be?  What the heck was he expecting, then?

* Splinter’s attempts to activate the Battle Shell continue to develop an idea set up in the first episode, that Splinter is rather hopeless with technology.  This is the last we really see of it, however, and in Turtles Forever we actually see Splinter activating the Turtle Hauler’s missiles with little trouble.  Guess that time in the year 2105 forced him to do some learnin’.

* One of the nicer details of the episode is how Raphael is continuously watching his brother’s backs, saving them from the Shredder’s attacks at least twice.  It’s a nice, subtle character detail that feels perfectly appropriate for the character.

* Last episode, Hun was left unconscious inside the building whose roof the turtles and the Shredder are initially fighting in.  Given that he eventually turns up alive and well, one can assume that he regained consciousness at some point and was able to escape before the building burned up.  If so, one wonders where exactly he went to.

* The quote at the top of the post will eventually becomes a catch-phrase of sorts for the Shredder.  While the phrase its sort of awkward–it’s basically a way of saying “I’ll kill you all” without having to say “death”, “die” or “kill”, I like it quite a bit.

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So, not much to say after all.  Next time, we catch a breath, and we learn a very important thing about the TMNT-verse.

Good, Evil, Secrets and Lies: “The Shredder Strikes” Part 1 (Cont.)

Previously on Monsters of New York: Ian posted an unreadably long synopsis of TMNT episode 1.10: “The Shredder Strikes” Part 1.  Now, my thoughts.

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Busy episode: the turtles meet the Shredder, the viewers meet Hamato Yoshi, and we get another Hun fight. Unfortunately, although there are a handful of good things, they’re sandwhiched by a bunch of not-really-good ones, mostly involving this episode’s whole “Leonardo learns not to place his whole faith in weapons” subplot, which feels like something best reserved for another, worse, cartoon. While it makes a certain amount of sense as a character arc, it feels mis-timed: surely this was something Leo would have learned beforehand. It also feels manufactured, since Leo hadn’t shown any particular reverence for his swords before–nor any of the other turtles for theirs. Still, it could have worked somewhat, if the turtles hadn’t called back to it while fighting the Foot. The point had been made; the sledgehammer was not required.

If this subplot does anything right, is that it nicely sets up a moment in the “The Shredder Strikes Back”. But that’s not for a while yet.

This is another one of those episodes that really makes plain how constrained the writers initially were by the standards and practices imposed at the time. Hamato Yoshi’s death is included, but only because it can’t not be–it’s vital to the story.   However, it’s been made as bloodless as possible, by hiding the actual torture behind a conveniently obfuscating curtain and by keeping the actual murder (which I’ve always felt involved decapitation, although there’s obviously no evidence to confirm or disprove that) offscreen.   Still, the scene works rather well by keeping the focus on Splinter and his emotions, although one wonders how it’d had been handled had the writers been allowed the creative freedome they enjoyed during seasons 3 to 5.

I also really like the scene because it works on different levels. Had we never obtained any more context for the Yoshi murder, this scene would have still worked logically–The Shredder wanted some information, and he mistakenly though Yoshi had it; he didn’t talk, and now he’s dead. It makes sense, and it effectively encapsulates how bloodthirsty The Shredder can be. What’s more, it gives a more tragic air to Splinter story: he not just lost his owner/father figure, he lost him for no reason other than tragic bad luck. Of course, we eventually learn that there is a reason why the Shredder attacked Yoshi–one that brings the several ongoing subplots weaves so far together in a neat package–and works on that level as well, as a small part of a larger (much larger, as we eventually learn) tapestry.

This episode introduces the biggest difference yet between the cartoon and its source material: here, Splinter only tells the turtles about Hamato Yoshi because circumstances made it necessary for his sons to know the whole story, while in the original, Splinter specifically tells his sons about the Shredder so they’d kill him as Bushido demanded–it’s what he’d trained them for.  This will eventually come into play in the comic book version of the “City at War” arc, where the turtles have to decide between continuing Splinter’s feud with the Foot or allying themselves with them to stop the gang war ravaging New York.  Given that his original motives can make Splinter seem like a heartless bastard, I’m not saddened that his motivations were altered here.

And finally…the Shredder.  After a bunch of episodes featuring him as the nameless and cruel leader of the Foot Clan, we finally get to see him outside his office.  And he’s awesome.

Of course, we don’t really see him in action here–that won’t occur until the next part.  What we do see here is Saki in his snake in the Garden of Eden moment, and while he isn’t as smooth as, say, David Xanatos, he does a pretty good job of convincing Leo that he can be their ally–despite the fact that the turtles have been fighting his forces since episode one. While the “villain tries to bring the hero to his side” is a standard in cartoons–Gargoyles does it twice, although in a more complex manner than usual–it’s a trope that’s not really busted out once a villain has already been established.  Still, it works here because in theory, the turtles (or at least Leo and maybe Raph) could very well join the Foot, were it not for the Yoshi murder and the Shredder.  Remove those factors, and the prospect of them joining becomes considerably more palatable.  Leo in particular would certainly appreciate the Japanese trappings, and I’m sure he’d think that the group’s resources could indeed be used to do much good.  As for the Foot’s crime empire…he’d convince himself that it’s a necessary evil, particularly if he could help “improve” it from within (wether he actually could is another question).  And there is precedent–after all, Hamato Yoshi was a member of the Foot Clan in the original comics, and it’s relationship with the turtles is not quite as clear-cut as it is here.

An additional factor here is that, at this point in the series, we’ve seen no evidence that the Shredder’s enemies are not what he claims they are.  So far all we’ve seen them do is stalk the other two groups and wax enigmatically–not exactly the stuff good guys are made of.  Until their allegiances are elaborated upon in future episodes, I’d half-thought that they were being set up as another group of villains.

Anyways, the Shredder.  It’s taken a while, but it pays of wonderfully next episode, as he proves to be a formidable opponent–the toughest version of the Shredder in the franchise’s history.

Random thoughts:

• Splinter’s comment about how “Many things are said, but few are true” strikes me as funny, given a similar comment in the Gargoyles comics, “All things are true; few things are accurate.” Comparing and dissecting them both would take another feature and a better logician than I.
• As he tries to persuade his brothers of Saki’s potentially good intentions, Leonardo notes that Mikey always wants to do good and serve a greater purpose. This detail will be further elaborated upon in the episode after the next one, “The Unconvincing Turtle Titan”.
• Hun reaches his season 1 pinnacle here. In “The Way of Invisibility”, we learned that he was smart. In “Fallen Angel” we learned he was tough. Here we learn that he’s also scarily fast. Unfortunately, things go downhill for him here, at least for the near future.  Still, I remember going “whoa” when I first saw him leaping and kicking and dodging–huge guys aren’t supposed to do that!
• By “telling them the whole story”, Splinter means “the whole story as the writers have conceived it so far”.  Eventually we’ll see that there’s a lot more behind Hamato Yoshi’s murder, and that Splinter knows a lot more than he’s telling.
• Although Hamato Yoshi’s story is simplified considerably for this episode–it originally involved a love triangle, revenge, family ties, betrayal, exile, and two other characters–all in the space of five pages–it will eventually expand to resemble the original, and Yoshi himself, although dead, will become a much more prominent character than he was in any other incarnation where he is not turned into Splinter.
• In all the seven years and hundred plus episodes of the series, there is little evidence that the Shredder ever learned the turtles’ names aside from Leonardo’s.  Leonardo himself is the only turtle he’ll ever refer to as an individual, at least if you don’t count the alternate universe Shredder in “Same as it Never Was”.
• I was actually half-surprised when I initially found out that this was a two-parter.  Back then, two-parters were things usually reserved for season finales, so seeing multiple ones within a season was something that made the series stand out among stuff like X-Men: Evolution.