madscientistutm

[madscientistutm]

As a challenge, and a little fun, I’ve ranked the best versions of the TMNT characters upon request. This is technically a Top 4 although it can also be a Top 5 if an Honorable Mention qualifies. The rankings depend on how the character was portrayed from a creative standpoint as well as the performance of the voice actors. For each character/topic, there have to be at least six versions of a character available so Karai (1987 series’ Lotus Blossom doesn’t count), Baxter Stockman (“Rise…”’s Stockboy doesn’t count), Krang, and B&R don’t qualify. Now it’s time to lawyer up and present my cases for each character beginning with Part 1:

Donatello: (5*)I like Corey Feldman as an actor and a person, I really do but the best I can do for him is an Honorable Mention. It has less to do with being in the 1993 live action movie which, let’s be honest is one of the worst movies of all time, and more to do with not only does he provide a voice similar to that of a chain smoker (although you could say the same about 2003′s Raph) but he was also basically just a Mikey clone. (4)Then you have Rob Paulsen who fits Don better than he does Raph and started out excellent in the first season with all the responsibility he shoulders, his reserved feelings about his existence as a mutant, and his balance of being a bit charming at times and snapping during his more vulnerable moments. He’d be higher though if “Apriltello” was handled a lot better and he wasn’t featured in such bad episodes down the 2012 series’ stretch: “A Chinatown Ghost Story”, “The Fourfold Trap”, “Revenge of the Triceratons”, “The Power Inside Her”, and “Heart of Evil” most notably. (3)To me, Adam Carl did a better job as the voice of the live action Don in TMNT II as he had a better voice (very close to the 2003 series’) and an interesting existential crisis about the meaning of his existence with regards to the mystery surrounding the ooze plot device. (2) It is a bit surprising Sam’s this high when you consider he doesn’t have much range as 2003′s Don but, like Mike and Greg who share that same issue, he fits the character like a glove. Some say his voice is sexy but I think it’s the perfect voice for a pacifist like him. He doesn’t feature much in the series but he is so well portrayed as a character that I have to give him the second spot. (1) However, I have to give the top spot to 1987′s Barry Gordon. He had good lines as Don, provided a nasally but very genius-like voice, and was involved in some of the series’ best and even most fun episodes. He also flexed his voice range a bit in episodes like “Donatello’s Duplicate” and “Night of the Dark Turtle”. And despite him not being Don in every episode (hence the asterisk), he stuck around to the end and he deserves some (more) credit for that.

Leonardo: (5)It was so close between Eric Bauza and James Arnold Taylor it was as though a pinch of salt separated them from the HM. For each positive, there was a negative. When no way to distinguish them individually came about, the tiebreaker had to come down to who was in a better movie and although “Batman vs. the TMNT” wasn’t as good a Batman movie, it certainly was from a TMNT perspective and was overall a better movie than the 2007 one. Eric has built a reputation for being one of the best VAs of this generation, as well as one of the friendliest even in this day of big egos in the entertainment world. He does have his shortcomings such as the Scarecrow scene which showed us nothing we didn’t already know about him (nor did it answer the question of why Leo takes his brothers into battle so much if he worries about their safety) and, compared to JAT, it really is splitting hairs between them but ultimately Eric gets the nod. (4)I knew Cam was going to make this list even if JAT or Eric didn’t which is why he’s #4. Cam’s take on Leo is a lot lighter than any of these others, but he does get better as the series goes along and that’s why I have no problem giving him this spot. (3)I used to think Brian Tochi was the best Leo even though he was less prominent as the original trilogy rolled along. His voice fit Leo perfectly and he was around for the whole thing but there’s a lot more character to the next two. (2)Some are going to say I’m crazy for not putting the 2012 Leo at #1 due to his development and growth in the series and they have a point. I however thought Jason was miscast as Leo, in large part due to his real world behavioral problems. Then he leaves to commit full time to “Orange is the New Black” and Dominic, as far as I’m concerned did a better job. He should’ve stayed full time and not Seth. He does have some compelling moments such as his relationship with Splinter and Karai, as well as being her knight in shining armor in “Vengeance is Mine”–unfortunately it takes until “Requiem” for him to get it back. He also suffers a lot of physical and emotional torment from Shredder until he gets to (temporarily, unfortunately) defeat him in “Owari.” He ultimately becomes his enemy in the true finale “Carmageddon!”, which was a nice poetic touch, until he snaps out of it and finds paradise both figuratively and literally with his family. (1)Ultimately though, I’m giving it to Mike. He didn’t have a lot of range and we could’ve done without his PTSD storyline (at least for how long it lasted) in Season 4, but he fit the character like a glove. He exemplified everything the character is supposed to be and it also helps that he and Sam also weren’t affected as much by the spinoff seasons!

Michelangelo: (4)The closest to an HM is Greg Cipes but I can’t do that. Despite some great stuff such as him reaching and befriending Leatherhead, he was so over the top starting from the beginning and he mostly relied on his Beast Boy schtick. No, I have to start with the big surprise of “Batman vs. the TMNT” and that is Kyle Mooney’s take on the character. He had a really good delivery and some pretty good comedic lines while still not coming off as too OTT and getting in the way like Noel Fisher did in the recent live action movies (yuck!) (3)It’s hard not putting Wayne Grayson any higher. He had this Bugs Bunny vibe with his imitations, voice range, disguises that were mostly cross dressing, energy, and lines that really weren’t bad at all. However, it was the spinoff seasons, mainly FF, that did him in as he became far too one dimensional. And in a competition this thick, that’s all it can take sometimes. (2)It’s splitting hairs between Townsend Coleman and Robbie Rist for the top spot but I ultimately have to give it to TC here. He does deserve credit though for sticking around to the end and never missing an episode (like Cam). (1)Robbie may not live down being the often despised Cousin Oliver, but hopefully he can take solace knowing that he’s #1 as Mikey in the hearts of many (most likely) including this guy. Like Townsend, he stuck around for the whole series when most of the cast didn’t. He was also quite energetic without getting in the way. Ultimately, live action movies also have to be given a bit more of a nod than animated TV shows, and with the 1990 live action movie perhaps being the best TMNT screen adaptation out there, Robbie gets the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

Raphael: (5)Rob’s 1987 series version of Raph may not be the true version of the character, but he had a lot of very good lines and had such a charm behind his voice that you can’t help but like him. He faced some stiff competition from the likes of Alan Ritchison, Omar Miller, and Sean Astin but there’s a saying of mine which is totally fair: “When in doubt go with the original”. And, with the 1987 series being the first TMNT screen adaptation out there, Rob gets the nod. (4)It’s funny that they brought back Josh Pais in the suit for TMNT II, yet they hired Laurie Faso to voice him anyway. I don’t understand it myself but Laurie did a heck of a job filling in for Josh’s voice. He still had that tough, New York sounding attitude who would act on his emotions just as much as he acted on what he thought was the right thing to do. (3)Nolan North is a heck of a voice actor. He was a good pick to portray Raphael in the 2007 animated film and it’d be a shame if he never portrays the character again. The reason he’s not higher is both the competition and the fact that he (and to an extend JAT’s Leonardo) hogged the spotlight from the rest of the characters. (2)Usually I’d think Greg’s version of Raph in 2003 would be #1, at least I did for a time. Anyone who would, I have no problem with. Some would say that him not getting the spotlight so much in the series would keep him out of that spot. That’s not me though. What keeps him out is his lack of range (even though that wasn’t much of a problem for Mike as Leo) and his more one-dimensional nature in the spinoff seasons (mainly FF). I don’t mean that as a knock though since he’s still clearly the best animated version of the character. (1)Ultimately, Josh is #1 here. He can over act at times which would make you cringe a bit, and while his and Greg’s versions of Raph are about the same character-wise, I thought Josh had more range, depth, and story to work with and that’s why he’s ultimately #1.

Part 2 coming soon…

[madscientistutm]

As a challenge, and a little fun, I’ve ranked the best versions of the TMNT characters upon request. This is technically a Top 4 although it can also be a Top 5 if an Honorable Mention qualifies. The rankings depend on how the character was portrayed from a creative standpoint as well as the performance of the voice actors. For each character/topic, there have to be at least six versions of a character available so Karai (1987 series’ Lotus Blossom doesn’t count), Baxter Stockman (“Rise...”’s Stockboy doesn’t count), Krang, and B&R don’t qualify. Now it’s time to lawyer up and present my cases for each character beginning with Part 1:

Donatello: (5*)I like Corey Feldman as an actor and a person, I really do but the best I can do for him is an Honorable Mention. It has less to do with being in the 1993 live action movie which, let’s be honest is one of the worst movies of all time, and more to do with not only does he provide a voice similar to that of a chain smoker (although you could say the same about 2003′s Raph) but he was also basically just a Mikey clone. (4)Then you have Rob Paulsen who fits Don better than he does Raph and started out excellent in the first season with all the responsibility he shoulders, his reserved feelings about his existence as a mutant, and his balance of being a bit charming at times and snapping during his more vulnerable moments. He’d be higher though if “Apriltello” was handled a lot better and he wasn’t featured in such bad episodes down the 2012 series’ stretch: “A Chinatown Ghost Story”, “The Fourfold Trap”, “Revenge of the Triceratons”, “The Power Inside Her”, and “Heart of Evil” most notably. (3)To me, Adam Carl did a better job as the voice of the live action Don in TMNT II as he had a better voice (very close to the 2003 series’) and an interesting existential crisis about the meaning of his existence with regards to the mystery surrounding the ooze plot device. (2) It is a bit surprising Sam’s this high when you consider he doesn’t have much range as 2003′s Don but, like Mike and Greg who share that same issue, he fits the character like a glove. Some say his voice is sexy but I think it’s the perfect voice for a pacifist like him. He doesn’t feature much in the series but he is so well portrayed as a character that I have to give him the second spot. (1) However, I have to give the top spot to 1987′s Barry Gordon. He had good lines as Don, provided a nasally but very genius-like voice, and was involved in some of the series’ best and even most fun episodes. He also flexed his voice range a bit in episodes like “Donatello’s Duplicate” and “Night of the Dark Turtle”. And despite him not being Don in every episode (hence the asterisk), he stuck around to the end and he deserves some (more) credit for that.

Leonardo: (5)It was so close between Eric Bauza and James Arnold Taylor it was as though a pinch of salt separated them from the HM. For each positive, there was a negative. When no way to distinguish them individually came about, the tiebreaker had to come down to who was in a better movie and although “Batman vs. the TMNT” wasn’t as good a Batman movie, it certainly was from a TMNT perspective and was overall a better movie than the 2007 one. Eric has built a reputation for being one of the best VAs of this generation, as well as one of the friendliest even in this day of big egos in the entertainment world. He does have his shortcomings such as the Scarecrow scene which showed us nothing we didn’t already know about him (nor did it answer the question of why Leo takes his brothers into battle so much if he worries about their safety) and, compared to JAT, it really is splitting hairs between them but ultimately Eric gets the nod. (4)I knew Cam was going to make this list even if JAT or Eric didn’t which is why he’s #4. Cam’s take on Leo is a lot lighter than any of these others, but he does get better as the series goes along and that’s why I have no problem giving him this spot. (3)I used to think Brian Tochi was the best Leo even though he was less prominent as the original trilogy rolled along. His voice fit Leo perfectly and he was around for the whole thing but there’s a lot more character to the next two. (2)Some are going to say I’m crazy for not putting the 2012 Leo at #1 due to his development and growth in the series and they have a point. I however thought Jason was miscast as Leo, in large part due to his real world behavioral problems. Then he leaves to commit full time to “Orange is the New Black” and Dominic, as far as I’m concerned did a better job. He should’ve stayed full time and not Seth. He does have some compelling moments such as his relationship with Splinter and Karai, as well as being her knight in shining armor in “Vengeance is Mine”--unfortunately it takes until “Requiem” for him to get it back. He also suffers a lot of physical and emotional torment from Shredder until he gets to (temporarily, unfortunately) defeat him in “Owari.” He ultimately becomes his enemy in the true finale “Carmageddon!”, which was a nice poetic touch, until he snaps out of it and finds paradise both figuratively and literally with his family. (1)Ultimately though, I’m giving it to Mike. He didn’t have a lot of range and we could’ve done without his PTSD storyline (at least for how long it lasted) in Season 4, but he fit the character like a glove. He exemplified everything the character is supposed to be and it also helps that he and Sam also weren’t affected as much by the spinoff seasons!

Michelangelo: (4)The closest to an HM is Greg Cipes but I can’t do that. Despite some great stuff such as him reaching and befriending Leatherhead, he was so over the top starting from the beginning and he mostly relied on his Beast Boy schtick. No, I have to start with the big surprise of “Batman vs. the TMNT” and that is Kyle Mooney’s take on the character. He had a really good delivery and some pretty good comedic lines while still not coming off as too OTT and getting in the way like Noel Fisher did in the recent live action movies (yuck!) (3)It’s hard not putting Wayne Grayson any higher. He had this Bugs Bunny vibe with his imitations, voice range, disguises that were mostly cross dressing, energy, and lines that really weren’t bad at all. However, it was the spinoff seasons, mainly FF, that did him in as he became far too one dimensional. And in a competition this thick, that’s all it can take sometimes. (2)It’s splitting hairs between Townsend Coleman and Robbie Rist for the top spot but I ultimately have to give it to TC here. He does deserve credit though for sticking around to the end and never missing an episode (like Cam). (1)Robbie may not live down being the often despised Cousin Oliver, but hopefully he can take solace knowing that he’s #1 as Mikey in the hearts of many (most likely) including this guy. Like Townsend, he stuck around for the whole series when most of the cast didn’t. He was also quite energetic without getting in the way. Ultimately, live action movies also have to be given a bit more of a nod than animated TV shows, and with the 1990 live action movie perhaps being the best TMNT screen adaptation out there, Robbie gets the benefit of the doubt in this situation.

Raphael: (5)Rob’s 1987 series version of Raph may not be the true version of the character, but he had a lot of very good lines and had such a charm behind his voice that you can’t help but like him. He faced some stiff competition from the likes of Alan Ritchison, Omar Miller, and Sean Astin but there’s a saying of mine which is totally fair: “When in doubt go with the original”. And, with the 1987 series being the first TMNT screen adaptation out there, Rob gets the nod. (4)It’s funny that they brought back Josh Pais in the suit for TMNT II, yet they hired Laurie Faso to voice him anyway. I don’t understand it myself but Laurie did a heck of a job filling in for Josh’s voice. He still had that tough, New York sounding attitude who would act on his emotions just as much as he acted on what he thought was the right thing to do. (3)Nolan North is a heck of a voice actor. He was a good pick to portray Raphael in the 2007 animated film and it’d be a shame if he never portrays the character again. The reason he’s not higher is both the competition and the fact that he (and to an extend JAT’s Leonardo) hogged the spotlight from the rest of the characters. (2)Usually I’d think Greg’s version of Raph in 2003 would be #1, at least I did for a time. Anyone who would, I have no problem with. Some would say that him not getting the spotlight so much in the series would keep him out of that spot. That’s not me though. What keeps him out is his lack of range (even though that wasn’t much of a problem for Mike as Leo) and his more one-dimensional nature in the spinoff seasons (mainly FF). I don’t mean that as a knock though since he’s still clearly the best animated version of the character. (1)Ultimately, Josh is #1 here. He can over act at times which would make you cringe a bit, and while his and Greg’s versions of Raph are about the same character-wise, I thought Josh had more range, depth, and story to work with and that’s why he’s ultimately #1.

Part 2 coming soon...

[madscientistutm]

The Top 10 Worst TMNT (2012) Episodes!

With the sneak peek premiere of “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” tonight, the last thing to get to are the worst memories that this series provided. For better or worse, it’s time to close the book on the previous series (outside of rewatches of course) and what better way to do so than look at the ten episodes that (I myself at least) would never watch again!

Comedy and/or filler episodes, especially when they’re in a more serious and more dramatic TV series, are the ones that usually don’t have that much a chance of success amongst their peers. On the plus side, it makes it harder for them to be failures. The opposite in both cases is true for the more relevant and more dramatic episodes. So for a comedy episode like this to gain the top spot is a (bad) accomplishment in of itself! And that’s because nothing gets me riled up more than a comedy episode like this that doesn’t take advantage of its premise and pull off as many insane permutations on it as possible. The old Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies show wouldn’t usually fall victim to that as would any other great comedy series--live action or animation. And unfortunately, that’s the case with “Plan 10.”

The body swap trope can be very funny or very dramatic depending on the tone presented. While the former route is taken here, not much is done with the Kraang inside Raph’s body, from dumping the ostracized feeling it and Raph have from normal society (and vice versa) to providing nothing interesting to watch. And the same goes for Raph being inside the Kraang's body. All he does is flop around in that body for extended periods and that's it! The body switcher is used again on the protagonists again only once after that but nothing interesting is done unless you count when it pointlessly (and I can't stress that enough) have Casey admire April's figure while inside of her! This is so bad that not even the return of everyone’s favorite sea monster can save this project!

The best comedies always take whatever gags may be available in a script’s plot and run with them. And while it's easy to just shrug and say that it may be too much to ask a twenty-minute action show to work out and exploit every available permutation, it's also just as easy to wonder how good it could have been if they could’ve found a way to give us one of the best examples of body swapping in entertainment out there, instead of something as dull and time wasting as this! 

Greg Weisman created one of my favorite animated series of all time, “Gargoyles.” I’ve seen every episode at least nearly twenty times and he really surprised me when he became the show runner of “Spectacular Spider-Man” and “Young Justice.” With him able to go back to work in the wake of the revival of “Young Justice”, I wish him all the best in the world. When he’s not helping run a show he’s freelance writing. He’s written episodes for series’ such as “The Batman”, Ciro’s previous project SRMTHFG!, “Kim Possible”, etc. 

If there are any weakness I can point to, it’s his ability to successfully characterize and write dialogue for the characters on shows that he’s not fully invested in, sometimes having to borrow lines from previous works of his. Unfortunately, it’s evident here.

While this episode’s predecessor (“Race with the Demon”) was a fun time-waster, it was also the point where I personally began to question the direction of the series. “I don’t understand what they’re trying to do with ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’!” I said “What’s the plan?” The plot to this follow up episode is itself pretty dismal and uninspiring, and it definitely doesn’t help that Weisman’s script really does come off like a freelance piece. The synopsis usually reads that it’s about a mutant chimera (created from the mutagen of the previous episode’s villain) who kidnaps Don, Raph, Mikey, and Casey, and that it’s up to Leo and April to overcome their disabilities and rescue them. That’s not a very interesting story in of itself and there’s no new ground here to provide a little more mojo. So DRM&C are trapped in a geyser? Big deal! It’s not a very interesting conundrum, especially when you consider that the rising and falling action consists of two disabled characters pulling off action so exaggerated you almost wonder why the others couldn’t get free on their own. Throw in the horrible direction used to convey April’s link to the chimera, the incredulous action used by her and Leo to come to the rescue, and the stiff characterizations throughout and you’ve got one episode to forget! The fact that the creators reveal the chimera to be alive and kicking when it’s clear that they have no intention of ever using that character again just adds insult to injury!

As I stated in my list of the Top 5 Overrated Episodes, April’s Season 4 arc is a storyline that nobody asked for. And with its dismal conclusion taking place in the series’ 100th episode, it just makes things worse.

Imagine what else could’ve been told instead: Is Donatello finally going to find the cure for the long discarded Timothy AKA Pulverizer character--or at least help him become part of the Mutanimals, as is usually the course for the Mutagen Man character? Is Karai going to get one last opportunity to bond with her father before his departure? Is Shinigami going to get the development and the background needed to justify her existence? Is April finally going to decide between a teenage vigilante and a turtle-human hybrid who most likely still carries salmonella? ...Nah! Those would’ve been just too good for this season to tell! So instead we get this!

First of all, the Kraang were of course the ones responsible for April gaining her powers in the first place and have practically been meddling in her family’s affairs even before her birth. She had such a connection with them that having them no longer be around at this point made this arc not have a personal edge. Second, by this point April’s “My crystal” shtick got really old really fast especially considering how much it ruined or was a total dark spot on the other episodes it was featured in. Next, it makes the Aeons who gave April the crystal look bad, especially when it’s revealed that the spirit inside the crystal that was affecting April’s behavior also put those around April (not to mention the rest of the city) in danger! And while Donnie’s initial death may have come as a surprise to some, his eventual resurrection is as contrived as it gets! ...And don’t let others fool you, it doesn’t count as an “Apritello” moment. And lastly, what payoff is there at the end of it all? Zero!

Bonus down points have to go to the Foot mutants, particularly Tiger Claw who admirably tried to deny Shredder more unstable mutagen at the end of the previous episode. This time? It was though it never happened! Stupid!

In short, the whole entire arc was ill-conceived and was a complete and utter waste of time!

Before we begin: This is the second episode in the series to feature Tiger Claw’s name in the title and yet he doesn’t end up being the main character either time! Karai stole the spotlight from him in “The Wrath of Tiger Claw” and, while Tiger Claw was supposed to share the spotlight this time with Alopex (even though as you’ll see, she should never have been part of this episode), they both end up losing the spotlight to Casey Jones! Infuriating isn’t it? Anyway, on with the episode...

Note the asterisk. Whenever a fan feels the urge to put an asterisk next to the title of an episode, you know something’s gotta be wrong. It's either bad in execution or there's an error in continuity so bad it’s unforgivable. In this case, it's both! 

Way back in "The Manhattan Project", which was Tiger Claw's debut, he mentioned his rival stating that "...and he will pay the price" for slicing his tail. After waiting two seasons for this sure to be exciting showdown, it turns out that the rival in question is a FEMALE mutant named Alopex! Alopex is a famous figure from the IDW issues so the only reasons you can deduce for this egregious oversight of continuity is either incompetence, the desire to put Alopex in this series no matter hell or high water, or both! And before you, Brandon Auman, etc. can rebut on the matter, Tiger Claw was NOT lying! One of the cornerstone rules of storytelling is not to lie to the audience. Usually that means providing telltale signs that a character is fudging their testimony and that usually includes speaking in an uneasy tone, body language, etc. In “The Manhattan Project”, there was none of that! Has Tiger Claw had a history of misogyny towards characters like Alopex, April, Karai, etc.? Of course not! Someone’s definitely a liar but it’s not Tiger Claw, so I don’t want to hear that!  

Still, that doesn't mean that a story involving this error can't redeem itself. The key word is compensation! However many errors a story has or how bad the execution is in some areas, if there's enough good things in a story to compensate for its shortcomings, the overall project can still be salvaged. That unfortunately is not the case here and it all starts with involving not only our protagonists but, most of all, Casey Jones. Casey Jones, who never had a standout episode for himself after "Casey Jones vs the Underworld", has no connection between the two main characters except for the manipulative angle brought about by the episodes plot device known as the Blades of Vengeance. What follows is a run-of-the-mill bad luck/curse story that gets our heroes involved to fix the curse making Casey, like Mikey in "Attack of the Mega Shredder", the aforementioned third who makes a crowd. Not only does the ending put such a bad mark on Tiger Claw’s character, but perhaps its most crowning moment in terms of pointlessness and (pointless) shock value is the severing of Tiger Claw's...handpaw? Ha! 

Honestly though, what was the point in doing that, let alone introducing Alopex, when we're never going to see her again due to the fact that TC himself is also going to be saying "Sayonara suckers!" just six episodes later?! If you know the answer please say so because I certainly don't! 

...And Tang Shen. What else can you say? The poor girl’s Uncle Ben! Her voice actress, Minae Noji, makes a return not as her spirit (which is something both Splinter and Karai could’ve benefitted from going forward) but as the ultimately pointless addition of Alopex...

I’ve made it a rule of mine that when I’m discussing the worst that any kind of entertainment field has to offer, I don’t mention the main artists by name. Sometimes I can’t help it when Michael Bay makes another infuriating Transformers movie or when Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer get permission to make another abysmal spoof movie, but for the most part I avoid doing that. This time, I’m going to break it.

I say that because, whether by causation or coincidence, there is not one good episode with the names of Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” Wyatt on it! Sure I think “Pizza Face” isn’t as bad as other fans make it out to be, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend my time trying to whip up a campaign in its defense.

This is the last of what I call the Failsome Five due to their bottom of the barrel scores. While some of us may have wanted to see an episode about how the three more serious brothers of the TMNT would deal without Mikey being around (for whatever reason they could conjure), they certainly could've come up with something better than this. Mikey's the black sheep of the family and he knows it and has, for the most part at least, accepted it and he’s endured worse tantrums at the hands of his brothers for some of his actions so him running away after making a mess at their cabin is not a good start for this story. He then comes across Napoleon Bonafrog voiced by the very overrated Jon Heder, especially now since his "Napoleon Dynamite" days are over. Jon just does his shtick here before introducing Mikey to a clan of mutated frogs. This group could have played out as a nice contrast to our protagonists, largely in terms of their views on humanity. Unfortunately, not only do the characterizations amongst this clan of frogs vary from cliche to tiresome, but both theirs and the heroes’ viewpoints on humanity are never explored and it devolves into a cliched us-versus-them story with the frogs' desire for revenge against both humankind and the protagonists resulting in them losing the one thing they cared about: their home. Ho-hum.

I know some people like this entry for the team up of Mikey and Leo as well as the idea that it’s a TMNT version of “Attack on Titan.” In the former’s case it’s the little brother teaming up with the big brother which a lot of viewers hold in high regard. Unfortunately, in both cases presented, both prove to be a flaw in an episode that has a lot more where they came from.

I’ve said this before but Karai’s arc, though understandable, is a complete waste of time and the episodes that consist of when she finally gets that brain worm in her head are all bad whether it’d be this, its predecessor “The Deadly Venom”, or “The Fourfold Trap.” Even before they got to these particular three, they spent so long on an arc that was basically a three sentence story: Unable to control her mutation, Karai flees from both her family and enemies. The Foot Clan captures and brainwashes her into destroying her family. Splinter frees her.

This whole thing started in S3E10 and didn't end until S3E23, think about that for a minute! This simple story does not need 14 episodes to tell, so it kept getting both padded out and sidelined! Plus, if they had just one episode showing Karai free and detailing the plans she has going forward, her arc (and maybe "City at War" too) might have been salvaged! But they couldn’t even bother! 

As stated, this has to be the worst of them all! From the very first scene onwards to the happy ending that is totally nullified two episodes later, this one takes the cake! Indeed, the opening scene alone deserves a spot on this list not only because of how it makes Shredder look (a sadist rather than a man fighting for love he can't have) to it turning out at the end of "The Fourfold Trap" that Karai never had more than one brain worm in her. It's nothing more than emotional manipulation on an abhorrently disgusting scale and, as stated, it's deserving to be here just because of that scene alone! As I stated as well, this is the series’ version of "Attack on Titan" but, really, who cares? All the villains have bad characterizations from Shredder to Tiger Claw, Raph's injury plays no meaning except to pointlessly get the Turtle Mech to make another appearance, the beginning of “The Fourfold Trap” makes Leo’s efforts here all for nothing, and Mikey makes that meaningless tag along with Leonardo. Some people may like Mikey and Leo together, but let's admit that the most interesting relationship Leonardo has is the complex one he shares with Karai, and this episode was supposed to give him that knight in shining armor moment that would help to solidify it. And since Karai technically does appear in this episode, Mikey comes off as no more than the proverbial third who makes a crowd.

The Northampton episodes have three in the Bottom Ten (two in the Bottom Five). What an accomplishment, eh? As I stated before with regards to “Plan 10″, the room to fail with a comedy episode is smaller but so is the chance for success which is what the viewer wants. Thus the more dramatic, more serious episodes are usually made "to succeed" while the more comedic/filler, less serious ones are usually made “not to fail.” 

This comedic entry makes it because not only does the comedy fall flat but so does the narrative. So much so that even Jesse Ventura’s performance as the hunter character can’t save it. There were quite a few episodes in this series revolving around Donatello trying to win April's heart which ultimately ended up going nowhere--understandably, the idea of a mutant and human isn't very appealing so the reluctance is understandable. But there's still no avoiding the fact that they did a lousy job! This is also not the kind of episode that's required after a season premiere such as "Within the Woods". I understand that the creators couldn't rush Leo’s recovery, but the fact remains that the six episodes sandwiched between the season premiere and “Vision Quest” had no reason to exist other than to have Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman indulge themselves with a bunch of sci-fi and horror references. In this entry, there was toilet and juvenile humor which is hardly ever welcoming, there’s the expectation that Bigfoot (who had minimal development at best) is gay until it turns out that Bigfoot is actually a girl (it’s a hot button either way and is best to be avoided), and the subplot surrounding Donnie and April underwhelmed. There's a way to do comedy and this episode is an example on how not to do it!

It's hard for me to accept this as a bad episode because this was the beloved Fugitoid's last hurrah and his initial sacrifice pulled at the heartstrings. Everyone complains about Leo's attitude towards the Fugitoid earlier in the episode as well as the fact that their past selves are surprisingly alright with going into space with the Fugitoid forever, and while I'm understanding to a fair extent with the latter, I have bigger issues than these two things. There's the fact that the introduction of the Devastator really downplays if not outright nullifies the significance of the Black Hole Generator, the fact that it took forever to even get to that point, the confusion this episode raises as to the series’ rules on time travel, the unnecessary act of having the present Fugitoid be alive, and of course Tiger Claw! The last three need to be addressed. 

“Tale of the Yokai” and its predecessor established the idea of the inability to change history, or at least the repercussions of attempting to. But after Fugitoid sets things back six months before the events of “Annihilation: Earth!” you know that the opposite must occur! So how are the creators going to reconcile both those things? What must the ramifications be for successfully rewriting history, if it’s at all possible. This is an unenviable task for a writer, especially when they aren’t given leeway to cheat via a more comedic angle which is sometimes what is actually done in impossible situations like these. But if the other route is taken, the challenge becomes as insurmountable as I asserted and only the best sci-fi minds might be able to pull this off: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, HG Wells, and Robert Heinlein may have been able to pull it off but that’s pretty rarefied company. Needless to say Brandon Auman didn’t end up fitting the bill. ...Of course, since the “Mutant Apocalypse” trilogy ended up happening, maybe he didn’t do a bad job after all.  

Anyone, within this paradox of course lies the Fugitoid caught in the middle. Regardless of how overly long or dull the space arc may have come across, you could always count on Tennant’s Fugitoid to provide some warmth, some depth, or some laughs along the way. And his ultimate characterization helps. This was a corrupted man who died, was resurrected, and selflessly devoted himself to both changing who he was as well as making amends. Here, he finally achieved that, even going so far as to try and make the group hate him in order to get them off the ship in order for what needs to be done happen. Not only does he get to hear that they’re feelings haven’t truly changed but then his younger self gets to come along and live out his redemption with his newfound family as his reward. And then it becomes ruined when the end pointlessly reveals that the present Fugitoid is in fact alive. Not only did he just achieve his redemption but there’s also the fact that we're never going to see him again, so what’s the point?!

But most of all, I’m down on Tiger Claw. How Tiger Claw didn't notice Shredder going for Splinter when everyone else did is beyond me...by the way, where were the other henchmen?! It would have made for some good point counter-point going forward at the very least. For him not to think, to not assess the situation, to not be able to put 2 and 2 together, to not even have so much as a seed of doubt planted in his mind with regards to what truly transpired, makes him look like an absolute fool! And this is one of the more rational characters of the series we're talking about here! Ciro Nieli, in a spotlight video about the character that can still be found on Youtube, once mentioned that he thought about Tiger Claw finding a goal outside the Foot Clan and suggesting that Tiger Claw would leave the Foot Clan and find his own way. This is a great idea! Characters reforming or having a powerful character-driven plot is rare in an action cartoon and, let's be honest, this is a franchise that has a fairly dismal Rogues Gallery--whether it'd be comics, movies, or cartoons! This was the best time to make that happen and they blew it! In fact, from that point on, he became just another moronic henchman with the Kavaxas arc being the final nail in the coffin (he should've never been the Crimson Leader BTW) for his character down the road. All in all, a terrible job!

Now I like James Wong, but this is a TV episode you do NOT want your name attached to. Like Mark Hamill voicing Kavaxas, you get the sense that the purpose of Ho Chan’s existence was to allow Ciro Nieli to work with another familiar name from his days on the Hyperforce series. This entry is both shrill, dull, and tiresome, and you get the sense that the creators know it! It’s a story with hardly any redeemable or relevant material whatsoever that just goes through the motions until it mercifully comes to a close.

What hurts this entry even more is its long term effects. Ho Chan makes a pointless return that really helps to sink the potential of “End Times” in Season 5. Not that it didn’t have much potential to begin with, but the episode was at least supposed to bring an official--and hopefully satisfying--end to the Hamato vs. Foot rivalry, with the Foot villains that you’re never going to see again getting the proper sendoffs that they deserve. That goes unfulfilled and when you have more effort being put into referencing Ghostbusters and giving that guy screen time it unfortunately should’ve been a red flag as the story drags along. All that ends up happening is you not only hating “End Times” but also hating “A Chinatown Ghost Story” even more!

I see this episode actually has quite a bit of love around the internet. I myself am at a loss! This is definitely one of the worst episodes of the entire series as far as I'm concerned, and it's not just because I wanted the Shredder (and admittedly to some extent Splinter) to stay dead. 

Aside from the fact that the main plot is generic revenge-in-an-action-cartoon fare that we've seen hundreds of times before (and most of the time better), there were a ton of other problems with most of them centering around the grudge between Donnie and Visiozo. Think about the other characters driven by revenge in this series: Shredder, Newtralizer, the Triceratons, even Karai on her worst days! They become one note characters even if you can understand their desires. This however couldn’t be further from that! First of all, Donnie's grudge against the Don has absolutely no credibility whatsoever! Sure, Visiozo put Donnie and Mondo Gecko (ha! Where was he during this episode?) in a tough spot in "Mutant Gangland", but Donnie--not to mention him and his family and even friends, have been in situations like this before and quite a few of them have been way worse! Where is his grudge against all of their other foes? And I don't care how in character it may be for Raph to revel in Donnie's newfound anger because it was his fault that Donnie and Mondo Gecko found themselves in the situation they were in during "Mutant Gangland", thus Raph is to quite an extend responsible for Don's attitude in this story. In this instance, for Raph to not feel at least a tinge of guilt for Donnie being the way he is makes Raph a very unappealing character. 

Second is Leonardo, who functions better as this episodes critic more than Don's conscience. For one, Leo had no right to go off on Don the first time he did. Sure, Leo may have wanted a stealthier approach, but Don actually had the heart/plot device in his hands before a mix of Bebop and Rocksteady, bad luck, and a cheating script took it away. Then the script came back to bite Donnie again when Don, on his own stealth mission sure but still being very effective at it nonetheless, ends up sending the mission sideways when a screw comes loose from the neon sign he's hanging from! How cheap! Then there's the fact that Leonardo keeps trying to sway Donnie out of revenge and focus on the mission when Leo himself had his own revenge three episodes ago in "Owari." Not that that's an entirely bad thing mind you. In fact, it adds a bit of psychological intrigue when you think about it: Don wants revenge, Leo had his own revenge a few episodes ago, Leo tries to deny Don his own so that they'll have a better chance that the being Leo got revenge on (Shredder) won't rise from the dead. It makes you wonder if Leo's concerns for his brother’s psychological well being are actually genuine, or if his motivations are born out of something akin to self interest. How fun it would have been to see Leo try and answer Donnie's question of "How come you can have your revenge, but I can't have mine?" 

Even then, the grudge still has no credibility due to the character of Visiozo himself! The Don is a joke of a character who shouldn't be taken seriously, even when his flying chair turns into a missile launcher...see what I mean? In other hands, he'd come off as this series's version of Boss Biggis from "Batman: TAS"--one of BTAS's very few low points. Instead, he functions more as a knock on all those mafioso types in entertainment from Don Corleone to Marvel's Kingpin to The Blob. So to have Visiozo as the center of Donnie's grudge is a huge contrast and a big mistake! AND EVEN THEN, it's not Donnie's grudge that does them in at the end, but because the creators cheated!! That was the second time that the protagonists had their hands on the plot device only for the script to take it away in the most contrived way possible! The whole script is one big cheat and not in a good way at all! I mean let’s count the errors: they cheated us into this non-sensical grudge in the first place, they cheated the protagonists out of getting the upper hand on Kavaxas and Tiger Claw--that hot potato scene (as I call it) also deserves a dishonorable mention because they saw and knew how TC used the seal and yet for the script to have them play hot potato with it instead felt like a contrived way for the story to reach the conclusion it wanted...bless Mikey's efforts though--they also cheated us out of a potentially interesting conflict of ideals between Leo and Don, they cheated us out of a proper resolution, and they cheated their way into having the Shredder be brought back into the picture. I didn't like the Kavaxas arc overall, but this is one episode I can't stand!

THE WORST OF THE REST

Just like in my Top 10, ten episodes just aren’t enough! Case in point, “The War for Dimension X”. Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think an story titled "The War for Dimension X” (or even “Monsters Among Us”) should be handled by your comedy writers. Sure it's nice to see the Utroms at long last (and Bishop of course) but there's too much focus on Raph and one-of-two-characters-who-very-likely-shouldn't-be-here and not enough on this "war" itself. The first of those two characters who shouldn't be here is Mona Lisa of course, and as much as I love Keith David, his character shouldn't be here either--his Sal character is as close as Shinigami is to the definition of “pointless” in the dictionary! Their only use to the story was to regurgitate their plot from "The Moons of Thalos 3″ only to point their biases at the Utrom instead of the turtles this time around. Not only is that a waste of time but so are all the gooey interactions between Raph and Mona which takes away focus from the main story at hand. The "war" itself only comes down to the heroes saving the queen Utrom from Kraang Subsubprime and some of his recruits which really downplays the viewers' expectations. 

Think about it for a second! While Mona’s and Sal’s appearances here aren’t as bad as “The Return of Dregg”--who here really believed that Dregg had an army capable of destroying an entire planet? Can you imagine how much juicier this story would have been if the creators not only cut Mona and Sal out of the story, but also ended up replacing them with the Triceratons? We'd have our main protagonists and the Utroms, the Kraang, and the Triceratons, all trying to determine the fate of that world and regardless who comes out on top, there would still be drastic ramifications moving forward! Oh, what could have been!

Like I said in my previous post, this is the worst overall arc from the final season. A weak setup, a campy-as-all-can-be second entry, a good enough third episode, and a conclusion that is problematic at best! Even before weighing all that in, this arc’s story never really had much of a chance. We’ve had nearly four seasons worth of horror, sci-fi, etc. references or rip offs from the creators of this series. Now we have to endure them throwing all this stuff in our faces in the most blatantly way possible? The villains, aside from vampire Raphael from the third episode onwards, are badly characterized and the direction is amateurish. From the second entry trying to oversell how good Renet must look with her helmet off, to vampire Raph’s campiness in the second entry as well, Raph not biting Mikey when he had the chance in the finale, the motivations of Savanti Romero revealed late in the last entry, Donnie being bitten with only a few minutes left in the entire story, the list goes on. Just watch TCM during the month of October instead of this!

One of the most cheat worthy things a TV episode can do is have one of the characters treat an outcome as a victory or even victory-in-of-itself when the whole thing is clearly a loss. The story gets off to a bad enough start anyway with Donatello selfishly comparing his supposed inadequacy to the Fugitoid. It suggests a jealousy of Donatello that isn’t very attractive and suggests an inner superiority that he can’t live without. It becomes more apparent when you think about the selflessness and optimism of the Fugitoid. Once he is contrivedly deactivated and it’s up to Donnie to save himself, the story doesn’t even revolve around that as much as it is about the rest of the team holding off the Gremlin inspired creeplings as well as a deactivated ship. The fight isn’t very interesting and is a complete distraction from the real story at hand but there’s not much point in focusing on that particular story since not much of anything interesting is going on over there! In the end, the Triceratons end up getting away with the two BHG pieces and a fixed Fugitoid ends up going to great lengths to convince Donatello that it’s not so bad even though we as viewers can tell that that’s not the case at all. The whole thing is like the 1975 Red Sox winning that thrilling Game 6 of the World Series and then losing the decisive Game 7 the next night. Do you think the Reds would want to trade places with the Red Sox? No way! So why would the Triceratons here?

I could’ve easily placed “The Fourfold Trap” here. It nullified the outcome of “Attack of the Mega Shredder”, the Foot mutants and April end up doing nothing more than cluttering up the conflict between the turtles (and Splinter) against Karai, and the teamwork theme of the episode pretty much ends up being nonexistent. 

Still, I have to go with “The Deadly Venom” as the last entry here. From its controversial opening--indeed, like “Mikey Gets Shellacne”, it feels like you’re dropped right into the middle of a story rather than the beginning of one; to the bad jokes (KaraixCasey, Don with a pineapple head, etc.); all the way to the conclusion playing out like another version of “The Revenge of the Triceratons”; this was one of the most nihilistic and lamest additions to the series. Leo goes to all the trouble of learning the “Healing Hands” technique, uses it on not only his brothers and Karai, and yet Karai ends up being unaffected? And yet it works for Splinter four episodes later?! 

And unlike “The Fourfold Trap”, it also makes you wonder about the Foot mutants not being apart of this. This would’ve been a better chance to explore their characters than in “The Fourfold Trap.” They’re never seen again after the opening and we’re left at sea as to their mindsets. Karai obviously didn’t get on the right foot with Bradford and Xever in Season 2 so it’s no surprise that they don’t care much about her current condition. But it makes one wonder what their feelings are about Shredder all of a sudden having the power of mind control, that he’s used it on the woman he holds as his daughter, and if he plans to use it on anyone else (themselves of course) down the road. Karai also had such a huge rivalry with Tiger Claw that his feelings should’ve been explored to. Is he no longer second in command? It seems that way since Karai is doing all these things on her own here. If so, what are his feelings towards not only her but Shredder for allowing this?

The whole thing is just so incompetently handled and it’s a bad start to Karai’s brain worm segment. Bonus down points have to be given to this being Kirby O’Neil’s last speaking role and appearance outside of two blink-and-you-miss-it cameos in the S3 and S4 finales. He’s April’s father for crying out loud, and yet he ends up all but forgotten with 53 episodes left in the series’ run!

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

This was another tough call. Between “City at War”, “The Mutation Situation”, and “Mazes and Mutants”, I could’ve easily given it to the latter due to Malachi having more than one-note character potential yet never resurfacing, to the cheating “returns” of Rockwell and Leatherhead, and the pointlessness of turning Raph’s head into that of a turkey’s (indeed, if Raph’s head hadn’t been changed the story would’ve still played out the EXACT same way!) “Heart of Evil” was bad, but this was a disappointment of colossal proportions. More effort was put into referencing Ghostbusters and giving Ho Chan screen time, the Foot villains (and Kavaxas) did not get the proper sendoffs that they deserved, Xever ended up revealing the origins of the Shredder/Foot cultists too late in a flashback he wasn’t even a part of, Leatherhead was the only Mutanimal to show up (did the others decide to stay home and watch TV?!), the conclusion was one of the most contrived this series had produced (bubble gum? Really?!), and most of all was Tiger Claw getting away with his actions (and being mentioned that he made a truce of some kind off screen)! Tiger Claw did not redeem himself in any way shape or form--indeed Shredder was way too quick to turn on him which gave TC basically no choice but to fight back. Sure he fought alongside the heroes against the Shredder but none of his actions were like his leadership abilities, rescuing Casey and April from a Triceraton, or his outrage at the end, all of which are from “Annihilation: Earth!” He should’ve either sacrificed himself in the midst of the battle so that the heroes could win or Karai should’ve killed him (and believe me, the creators could’ve found a way to get that past BS&P) when it was all over, not only for the choices and things he did in past episodes but for everything he did in this arc as well! Of course Brandon Auman was the creator of the Tiger Claw character and he also wrote this episode so it’s unfortunately not that surprising in hindsight that it happened.

Wooo, yet another exhausting write. And yet, now it’s over. Whether I convinced you or not, I at least hope I at least got your brain juices churning. Anyway everyone, enjoy the RotTMNT premiere tonight. See you guys around.

[madscientistutm]

Top 5 Overrated TMNT (2012) Episodes

Only two topics left to cover before the sneak peek premiere of “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. This time, the memories are less fond. Today is a look back at some of the most overrated and why. Remember, episodes in bold type are ones (basically #7-#10) that just missed a spot on this list. 

#1: S5E5; “Lone Rat and Cubs”

This is the episode that, as far as I can tell, gets way too much love for what it is. From having Seth Green speak as toddler Leonardo which is a much more appalling continuity error than having him do the same in the “Darkest Plight” vision to Splinter encountering the Kraang in the past and not giving so much as a second thought in the future, the story is a mess and yet it’s gotten away with it. These may not have been so bad as the error(s) of “The Tale of Tiger Claw”*, but there’s still no way around it. 

Here are a couple of other things to consider. If Kevin Eastman wasn’t the writer and it still turned out the same, would most viewers have still given it the same accolades I’ve seen across the web? Probably not. What if it aired at any other point in the series before Splinter’s death in “Requiem”? Definitely not! 

This is quite frankly, a story that went through the motions and still managed to come across like a rose. I’m at a loss! Obviously the Shredder couldn’t be the villain of this piece because he’s not supposed to know about Yoshi’s whereabouts until the events of the pilot episode, but having the Kraang there isn’t any better with regards to how Splinter’s character ends up playing out. This would’ve been a much better entry if it was Splinter and his infant pupils surviving the elements: weather, shelter, the surface world, hunger, etc. and Splinter coming to the choice that it’s worth it anyway. Instead we get a formulaic piece that breaks no new ground and yet gets away with it. It deserves the top spot on this list!

#2: S4E22; “The Power Inside Her”

Season 4 is filled with overrated episodes such as “Broken Foot”, “Mutant Gangland”, “The Tale of Tiger Claw”*, etc. but “The Power Inside Her” is in a class by itself. The fact that the only thing people really took away from the story was the fact that April had her hair down just goes to show how overrated it really is. 

This was the kind of storyline that nobody asked for. More than half of this season was the protagonists being in space in hopes of saving the Earth, while the other half in New York focused on Karai becoming leader of the Foot Clan, Shredder’s mutation into a force to be reckoned with, and a little more time with Splinter before his ultimate fate. When you’ve got all this to juggle, does anyone really have time for a teenage girl with an attitude problem? That’s what this reduced April to and what makes it even more unwelcoming is the fact that the Kraang, the creatures who have had a long standing connection with April and the powers she has, are no longer around and therefore make April’s story of suffering from out of control powers a lot less appealing.

April and her crystal reared their ugly heads a few times during the New York saga of Season 4. It didn’t mean much in “City at War” even though it did have April acting like a whining child due to her supposed ‘unworthiness’. It did however take up nearly half the material in “Bat in the Belfry” and helped to half sink what would’ve otherwise been a fun little romp about the world of comics as well as the ‘60′s Batman series. April’s arc was just a total waste of time!

Now, “Riddle of the Ancient Aeons” was a good episode that featured a good amount of insight into the motivations and actions of the heroes and the Triceratons as well as some good animation and religious symbolism and it would’ve been excellent if the script had simply allowed the Aeons to simply give April the crystal as a thank you and leave it at that. But no! It evolved into this! The fact that the force inside the crystal making April act all loopy was another Aeon makes them look bad and give RotAA a black eye it can’t recover from. Throw in a contrived way to bring a certain turtle back from the dead and a constant banging of the head against the wall starts to feel like a grand vacation! Again, April’s arc this season was a complete and utter waste of time with “The Power Inside Her” proving to be the moldy cherry on an already rotten sundae.

#3: S5E6-9; The “Mutants vs. Monsters” Arc

Regardless of how much of a TMNT fan you are, if you hear the creators of this series or even the closest TMNT fan you know tell you that watching this should be the new Halloween tradition for you and your children, don’t believe them. This is the worst arc from Season 5 and quite frankly, it didn’t really have a chance. We’ve already endured nearly four seasons worth of sci-fi and horror references from the likes of Ciro Nieli, Brandon Auman, etc. Enough already! Now they have to shove it in our faces by throwing the three main Universal monsters and all the old school horror tropes at us?! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

The setup episode is weak. The next one is campy as hell (largely thanks to vampire Raphael and his annoyingly over the top lines) with two really bad scenes that stand out: Leonardo exclaiming that their adventure is better than the ‘Van Helsing’ movie even though it proves to be just as (if not more) campy than that one, and how the scene that involves Renet taking her helmet off to reveal her golden locks takes its time to oversell us the moment as though we’re supposed to believe it’s one of the best things we’ve seen. The whole thing is so stupid you’d need a barf bag handy! The next one is good enough with a MUCH better performance by vampire Raphael who comes across as convincing that he believes that Savanti’s and Dracula’s plans to make everyone into monsters really is both a good and unifying move. And while the episode plays just about the same way that the Frankenstein novella does, it doesn’t hurt it in the slightest due to how good a story it is.

The real kicker though is the finale, “Monsters Among Us”. Whether by causation or coincidence, there is not one good episode from the series that has the names of Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” Wyatt on it--although “Pizza Face” really isn’t as bad as some people think it is. Four cardinal sins are committed in particular: Although Raph shows off his cunning and skill as a vampire to escape his chains, he also deserves the Worst Decision of the Year award for not biting Mikey when he had the chance (and that would really come back to bite the bad guys later). Second, instead of the first time we see Savanti Romero his motivations aren’t laid out until halfway through this one, three episodes later! That’s inexcusable! Third, all along in this series, the turtles’ lair has been kept a secret even though it shouldn’t have been whether it’d be because of the turtles’ overexposure to people; the Shredder being in a position to prod the location of where they live from Karai when she was held prisoner in Season 2; nor never asking her, Rockwell, Slash, or Raph when he had them under his control. You’d almost come to accept the inevitable safety of the lair no matter what until vampire April and vampire Casey come along and spill the beans right then and there! This is grand scale cheating and I can’t stand it! That is a black eye it can’t recover from as far as I’m concerned! And lastly is Don’s turn as a vampire. Hello?! There’s about six minutes left in the story when it occurs! It’s too late for it to have any impact whatsoever! It also makes you consider why it wasn’t Don who was taken as a vampire instead of Raph since having Don on the side of the villains would’ve made things harder on the turtles the way that 2003′s “Adventures in Turtle Sitting” and “Good Genes” did! What a waste of time!

#4: S5E12-14; The “Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady” Trilogy

Now, these are a fun bunch of episodes so don’t get me wrong. I could’ve easily put “Transdimensional Turtles” on this list. Like “The Mutation Situation”, Brandon Auman tries way too hard when it comes to providing the humor which really dampens the story. Plus, there’s also the fact that that was the episode that represented the series at the Annie Awards for best animated program. No wonder it didn't win! 

As for this entry, bringing in the 1987 Shredder (KMR does an admirable job of attempting to mimic the late James Avery) alongside Krang this time to witness the more versatile versions of Bebop and Rocksteady from the new series was a good and smart move even if you take into account that we already saw how capable 2012 B&R were in “The Noxious Avenger”. A lot of other characters also get in on the fun without, for the most part at least, getting in each others way. And although the conclusion is pretty weak, it still makes for a decent romp. Still, there are two glaring issues it can’t escape from.

The first is due to what’s missing. “End Times” did a bad job of bringing the closure to the Hamato vs. Foot rivalry that it should have. With that in mind, bringing in the modern day Bebop and Rocksteady may also open the door for the return of surviving members Tiger Claw and Xever. Does it? Not even close! The creators of these episodes couldn’t even do so much as the courtesy of telling us what they’re up to right now. Their loss is huge here. Plus, on the Mutanimals side of things, where’s Rockwell? He, Slash, and Mondo Gecko weren’t even a part of the battle in “End Times” which is inexcusable enough but for the creators to not even bother bringing in Tom Kenny this time is mind boggling.

Second, and perhaps biggest of all, is the fact that even though this isn’t the true series finale, a lot of people are under the delusion that it is. Anyone who can pass the eye test or anyone who even has access to the internet knows that the Mutant Apocalypse trilogy is the real series finale. No ifs, ands, or buts. And the fact that those people think otherwise merits this trilogy a spot on this list.

#5: Season 4 Finale, “Owari”

I’m sure there are hundreds of Ninja Turtles fans out there that would’ve put “Owari” in their Top 10, if not Top 5, list of episodes from this series. If they also had a DVD that played 20 of the best episodes from this series and the scratches had removed half of them from being able to replay, they’d choose this as one of those ten episodes they’d want to have salvaged. They can have it because I’m certainly not!

Now “Owari” did one thing right, and that was to show how overrated “Broken Foot” itself really was (even if it’s not on this list). I couldn’t stand how the protagonists railed against Karai for her actions even though she acted far differently from how she did in “Vengeance is Mine.” She actually had a plan and was far from rash and irrational that time. But of course, the script had to overly complicate matters by luring Raph, Don, and Mike into the chemical plant under the most ridiculous of circumstances before it blew and it all goes downhill from there both in terms of the prudential means Leo uses to try and convince Karai to stop, from the over exaggerated danger Karai faces later, to the melodrama that develops as she and Leo are both scolded for their actions. Contrast that with this and “Requiem” and you wonder if Karai was right all along. The fact that Leo returns to his black “Broken Foot” uniform but is joined by his brothers in the process makes one think that its symbolic confirmation that yes, Karai may as well have been right after all.

Still, that doesn’t mitigate “Owari” being on this list here. Out of the five season finales, this is the least successful. It’s a 23 minute action piece with horrendous villain characterizations thrown in to boot. The creators even go so far as to cheat us into believing that Xever and quite possibly Bebop and Rocksteady ended up the same way Splinter did only to see that we had been lied to come the next season. I can’t stand when the TV shows cheat like that and I don’t see how anyone else stands it either. Plus, you know that showdown that Leo ended up victorious in against the Shredder? It becomes pretty much nullified thanks to the Kavaxas arc. Speaking of which...

THE BEST* OF THE REST

S5E1-4: The Kavaxas Arc

As a TMNT fan, I’ll never forget the podcast interview with Ciro Nieli regarding the at-the-time upcoming Season 5 nor his Instagram post indicating his excitement about its airing and how he believed it was the best season he and his team had produced. What a bunch of nonsense! More than half the season is overrated, I myself just pointed out a couple of days ago someone who ranked the Usagi trilogy as the worst episodes of the series (even though I of course adamantly disagreed), and the real season/series finale is the most underrated work that this series has produced. The “Mutants vs. Monsters” arc is indeed the worst of them all and yet the Kavaxas arc isn’t far behind.

The first entry, “Scroll of the Demodragon” is a problematic set up largely because of the revelation that Tiger Claw is the Crimson Leader as well as his goal of resurrecting the Shredder. What’s his plan? Bringing forth something like Kavaxas! How over the top can you get?! First of all, Tiger Claw should never have been the Crimson Leader! As cool a character as he once was, he’s still a gun for hire with no natural connection to the Foot Clan unlike Bradford and Xever. Unfortunately, “Requiem” unceremoniously ended up killing Bradford which greatly complicated things. Second is the lengths that Tiger Claw goes to in achieving this goal. Work must have been really small if he had to go to the trouble of resurrecting a former employer. But this was too much, even for the character that he had been reduced to since “Earth’s Last Stand.” Before that, Tiger Claw was once one of the series’ more rational minded villains. What a shame!

Now “The Forgotten Swordsman”, despite its narrative problems, was a pretty decent episode and is probably the one episode that should’ve been more emblematic of what this arc was about. The main problem however is getting the audience to care about the fact that the Foot mercs that Shinigami hired have turned on Karai. Fourteen episodes ago in the highly overrated “Broken Foot”, they have shown to have the combat skills of tissue paper and the character of cardboard. Now, Nickelodeon expects us to care that they’ve turned on Karai? Pffft! It also casts Shinigami, who has never justified her own existence in this series, in an even worser light than before since it was she who employed these guys in the first place. Still, this should’ve been about Karai vs. Tiger Claw for control of Shredder’s empire and it looked like it might’ve been that way if not for the introduction of some guy who had enough material to be more than just a one-shot character.

“Heart of Evil” though is where it starts to get really bad. Kavaxas, still a slave to the seal-of-a-plot-device, has not improved in character thanks to the device. If the creators were so intent on having him be a part of this arc, he should’ve been freed at the end of last episode or very early in this one. Instead, it gives us Don’s nonsensical grudge against Visiozo which was meant to be a crutch for the turtles stopping Shredder’s resurrection--although it becomes pretty obvious that the one thing stopping them from preventing that was some of the worst, most cheesiest bad luck this series conjured. There’s more to talk about with regards to how bad this one is, but that’s for another post.

While HoE is bad, “End Times” is a disappointment of colossal proportions. When more screen time is dedicated to referencing Ghostbusters and giving Ho Chan screen time instead of giving the Foot villains that you’re never going to see again the proper send offs that they deserve, you know you’ve got it bad! Throw in the fact that they couldn’t include more Mutanimals than just Leatherhead, Tiger Claw is let off the hook for all that he’s done with an off-screen truce, Xever waiting until this episode to reveal the origins of the underlings in a flashback that he isn’t even witness to, plus one of the most contrived resolutions that this series has produced, you’ve got something that in no way shape or form is deserving of the fanfare it gets!

S3E8; “Vision Quest”

If you don’t think “Vision Quest” is overrated in any way, you’re wrong. This is one of the few spots of hope in a season that is arguably the series’ most nihilistic. From Leo trying and failing at every corner to save Karai, to Karai being saved without the heroes even knowing it, to the Shredder having more power than ever in the wake of the Kraang invasion being thwarted, to the end of the world playing out the way it ultimately does in the finale, Season 3 proves to be a mixed bag at best. The season has no structure! First it spends too long out in Northampton and then afterwards tries to do about a million different things it seemed. “Vision Quest” is of course the bridge between Northampton and New York, and while the turtles and Mutanimals end up thwarting the overall Kraang invasion together, there’s not much from the season that “Vision Quest” really leaves any impact. And hey, notice these costumes in the picture here? You’ll never see them again outside this season! Not only does “Vision Quest” not leave much, if any, impact at all on this season (and believe me, it should have!), but it’s totally irrelevant in every way shape or form afterwards!

[madscientistutm]

Top 5 Underrated TMNT (2012) Episodes

After doing the Top 10 best TMNT episodes from the latest series, it’s time to dig into the more underrated pieces from the series before the new one gets a sneak peek airing. This time, I’m shedding a light on the TMNT episodes that don’t seem to get the love that they deserve. Let’s see if you think these deserve another look:

#1: Series Finale, “Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse” Trilogy

Was there really any doubt? From the gloom and doom tone to the questions the fans and viewers keep raising, it seems as if this set of episodes just can’t get a break! Throw in the fact that some don’t consider this the actual series finale and/or attempt to proclaim anywhere and everywhere that it happened in another world of some kind, and you’ve got the undisputed king of the underrated right here. And I hate this season, I really do! The final season has to be dedicated to tying up loose ends, especially when you’ve got a series like this which has a bunch of those. And the creators of this series hardly even bothered! Still, even I know a discarded gem when I see it.

As one of the few advocates out there (or so it seems), even I have to remind myself that there is plenty to like about this trilogy as well as a lot of rebuttals to dismiss. The origins behind the mutagen bomb? It doesn’t matter. The story is neither about it nor how to reverse the damage caused by it. Renet’s claims of a better future back in the “Turtles in Time” and “Tale of the Yokai” episodes? It’s Renet we’re talking about here, so excuse me while I roll my eyes! The fact that every other character aside from our titular heroes is gone? It’s surprising sure, but with both the camp value overriding the initial shock, it’s not that hard to not take this special very seriously--obviously in a good way. Plus, as I stated in my Top 10, the series had by then become so bloated with characters that you could hardly blame the creators for ‘cutting out the fat’, if you will. So what about the rumor going around that it’s really all happening in another world? Use your eyes and think for a moment! I for one certainly didn’t see or hear about anything within the story to indicate that. Every TMNT episode and/or story has always gone out of its way to clue you in to things like that, and there’s absolutely nothing anyone can point out to indicate another world or anything like it. Besides, other worlds, what-ifs, etc. are--you’ve gotta admit it!--basically cheats that instead of simplifying and/or putting a bandage on certain things, do nothing more than overly complicate matters like this. Just keep things simple, why don’t you? There���s more I can get into sure, but for now, let’s focus on the positives.

First and foremost is the Mirage vibe to it. While this obviously is a TMNT copy of “Mad Max”, there’s enough here to remind older readers and fans of the TMNT of the issues that Peter and Kevin used to write back in their days at Mirage. Second is the themes of family, friends, persistence, etc. Everything may be gone but the characters still fight for those that are still there and the family that’s still out there as well. Upon finding Mira, as well as plenty of reasons to leave her behind, Raphael rediscovers his need to fight and protect so much so that he can feel the need to do more than just survive. 

And then there’s the family. So Donatello has been reduced to a robot? Not only is he an awesome one, but try telling Raphael that he’s no longer the same. Same for Mikey as Don and Raph put up with his shenanigans, as usual, while placing their trust in him to find the oasis. And then there’s Leo whom, in a move similar to the Romantic writers of old, turns a dark corner upon believing that those he cared about are gone. So much so that he resembles his most hated adversary, Oroku Saki, the same way that Saki did in the wake of losing the only person he ever loved.

So, in short, if there’s anything from this franchise, let alone this series, that needs to be reevaluated by the fans, this is far and away the one thing!

#2: S3 Finale; “Annihilation: Earth!” 

People talk about “Annihilation: Earth!” only for how it ends. What get’s lost in it all is just what a great 45 minute episode it is from start to finish! Regarded as the second best episode of the series by yours truly, it’s one of several really great episodes that plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy, and while the others get the accolades that they deserve, this one somehow slips under the radar. While there wasn’t any build up to the return of the Kraang until the previous episode, it was nice seeing Bishop as well as the turtles seeing the best in him--even going so far as to convince Leatherhead to work with him. It was a good character examination both into our protagonists as well as Bishop himself, and character as most entertainment enthusiasts know, is first and foremost important. 

Then there’s the showdown with the Triceratons. While they prove to be as fanatical and bombastic as a lot of the other vendetta obsessed villains in this series (which is nearly all of them), they have both the drive and the near invincibility to back it up. This makes Splinter have to resort to the near unthinkable which was to seek an alliance with the Foot Clan. And just when it seems like things have turned their way, the betrayal happens. And while Shredder’s betrayal doesn’t make a lot of sense, if it means that we get to keep the beautiful imagery and the hefty amounts of religious symbolism that follow, I’m all for it! Sure the heroes end up experiencing the lowest of lows when all is said and done, but with the arrival of someone like Honeycutt, voiced to near perfection by the ever lovable David Tennant, you may not know how yet but you just know that there’s a way to go up from there.

#3: S2E7; “Slash and Destroy”

As stated in my Top 10, this is the best episode of the series--you know, at least as far as I’m concerned. While this episode deserves credit for having Leonardo help show New York what it should be: crowded (and thus just as dangerous as it is fun for our heroes), the biggest reason is that it’s perhaps the most psychologically fundamental episode of the series. Spike is reborn as Slash in an attempt to fulfill Raph’s hasty wish of being free from his brothers after his buttons become pressed too hard...again. Since Spike has the mentality of a sponge due to his primitive state and therefore has no idea what he’s really doing, it makes Raph come off as both a (unintentionally) bad parent and the real villain of this piece--especially since Slash’s two main victims, Mike and Don, were both the two turtles that Raph relentlessly spent the beginning of the story chewing out. Raph is Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Slash is the monster he has created. What follows is a conflict that leaves both exhausted with Mikey and Don caught in the middle while Raph and Slash are left fighting for what they believe is right with little room for reason until Raph finally sees just how alike the two of them are. If this isn’t a good case of character psychology, feel free to point me in the right direction.

#4: S4E9; “The Cosmic Ocean”

It may seem filler but there’s a lot to love about “The Cosmic Ocean.” The opening scene with Fugitoid’s holo-room already has the thinking fan’s brain churning with questions like: “What is real?”, “What can you know?”, “What makes someone become real to someone else?”, “How important, really, is a person’s perception and/or memories of someone?” and last but not least “What does it mean to be worthy?” These are the questions that drive Leonardo, helping us understand what makes him tick more than most episodes from even other series’! No answers are given but it gives us and the characters enough to walk away with their own thoughts. Credit also has to be given for Dregg and Armaggon keeping the script afloat, driving the characters from Point A to Point B without derailing the story in the process.

#5: S1E12; “It Came From the Depths”

Season 1 certainly put a lot of emphasis on character, at least more so than the seasons that followed. And while Leo, Don, and Raph have their moments in this entry, the standouts of course are Mikey and Leatherhead. This is the episode that reinforces Mikey’s true weapon: his heart. With it Mikey, who’s often looked down upon as the black sheep of the family, is able to make an ally when his brothers felt that they would be better off otherwise. Of course, Mikey’s heart has often gotten him into trouble as it allows him to come off inexperienced, immature, and/or naive so it’s a nice change of pace to show insight (“Or maybe you just think you’re a monster, because everyone treats you that way”) that allows Mikey to see the tortured yet longing soul in the big gator which allows the viewer to see how more adept he is at making friends than the others in his life. It also helps that Mikey doesn’t speak ill of his brothers to his potential friend in Leatherhead.

THE BEST OF THE REST

S1E8; “Never Say Xever”

This is the episode that deserves more talk among the best of the first season. The main theme of justice vs mercy is its driving force but it doesn’t get sunk by it as most other series’ that deal with it whether by making it too dark or making it come off really heavy. The opening fight, even if it comes off as a walk in the park for the heroes, is one of the most beautifully choreographed of the entire series with the turtles moving as gracefully and as skilled as ballet dancers to the ways that they make the fight look easy whether it’d be looking in the other direction, being distracted, or literally beating Fong with one hand behind the shell. The rivalry between Bradford and Xever was always interesting before it began to fade and Murakami’s sympathetic characterization is quite inviting so the character, from nearly all ends of the spectrum, are there; as is the proper balance between the serious and the non serious which is something that this franchise, whether it’d be the issues or television series’ has always been a priority. 

S4 Premiere; “Beyond the Known Universe”

As underrated as “Annihilation: Earth” is, the Season 4 premiere strangely also suffers the same fate because it came after it! Perhaps it’s because everyone was so wrapped up with the conclusion, both for better and worse, of AE that the travels into space, starting here, almost seem irrelevant. And that’s too bad since, perhaps other than Tang Shen, the Fugitoid is one of this franchise’s warmest and most lovable characters, and having the ever charming David Tennant voicing the character definitely helps. Heck, before he even restores Earth and its denizens to its original state, he already has the audience laughing with regards to his initial interaction with Raphael. Whatever the shortcomings of the space arc, including the mostly filler material of this episode (not to mention Dregg’s dismal debut which doesn’t get better the more he’s seen), you could always count on Tennant’s Fugitoid to provide warmth, depth, or some laughs. That’s the sign of a great character (and performance even), and that’s enough to give the Season 4 premiere just a little more lovin’.

That’s it for the underrated. Tomorrow is the overrated. Until then, let the conversation begin.

[madscientistutm]

The Top 10 Best TMNT (2012) Episodes

With less than a week before the sneak peek airing of “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on Nickelodeon, now’s a good time to look back at some of the best (and worst) of the previous series. Today it’s the best. The next three days will be a look at the 5 most underrated, overrated, and the 10 worst. These rankings are a mix of personal opinion centered around my critical analysis of how well they are told and executed, how enjoyable they are to watch, their long term effects, and (to a lesser extent mind you) their significance to the main story. Those that are just short of this list (#16-20 basically) will be highlighted in bold so if you don’t see an episode you like, keep on eye out for bold type or check out the other upcoming lists. Now, let’s get the brains churning and the conversation started:

Being a critic, and sometimes a fan, is a lot like being a lawyer. You present a case for something, you put forth the evidence, you argue and defend it until you’re blue in the face, and even then you’re most likely going to be hated left and right. 

Perhaps the most underrated episode of the TMNT series, and perhaps the most psychologically rich episode—maybe in the entire franchise—“Slash and Destroy" is almost like a modern day Frankenstein story! Raph's beloved (and now mutated) pet/friend Spike is pretty much reborn into a physical manifestation of Raph's dark side—which the episode goes out of its way to have Raph put on full display from the story's very beginning. This setup allows Raph to appear as the real villain of this piece! And quite frankly he is. However, whereas Raph's anger is always fleeting, Slash never learned to let go, leaving Raph no choice but to fight his long-time friend. And while Raph fights valiantly for those closest to him, he goes about it in the wrong way since, like his own creation, he prefers fists to reason.

In the end, with Raph's words from "Turtle Temper" being thrown back into his own face by Slash (“Our anger makes us stronger!”), Raph resorts to both Splinter's wisdom and action to save the lives of his family over the monster that he had turned Spike into. It's a shame that Slash's character was never better, in fact he only got worse, after this (although the point of no return doesn’t rear its head until “Clash of the Mutanimals”). Still, at least this entry stands as an example of what this series and even its franchise could do when it has all things clicking! 

Special mention has to go to Leo's solo adventure since it showed New York what it's supposed to be: populated. So while New York itself is often portrayed as a playground for the protagonists, it's still one that they should exercise caution on at all times...are you paying attention TMNT franchise?!

I could write a book on all the things this story does right (unfortunately I don’t have that time here). It's a masterpiece from start to finish! Like “The Pig and the Rhino”, there’s so much attention to detail maybe more (of course TP&tR is left out because it serves as the bridge for Karai’s S3 arc which, while understandable, is still awful!) Everyone knows by now that creator/producer/showrunner Ciro Nieli and head writer/producer Brandon Auman are both fans of the horror and sci-fi genres thanks to the numerous references in this series that they've jammed down our throats. But episodes like this make one wonder if they are also fans of Shakespeare, more notably Shakespearian tragedies...because this one plays out just like one. And when that is played out in a fantasy/sci-fi story with a doomsday scenario and even a hefty amount of religious symbolism thrown in near the end, you know you've got something special! 

All along the Kraang have been the enemies of the turtles and their allies, so meeting Bishop (at last!) was very significant, character-wise, for them as well as some of their allies, most notably Leatherhead. With them teaming up with Bishop, it displays a very subtle commentary on the turtles and their allies that goes beyond their main goals of merely saving the day. Now, even though the sudden returns of Kraang Prime and Sub(sub) Prime don't make much sense, the plot involving them functions mostly as background to character not story, and by teaming up with whom they'd always regarded as an enemy, not only can Bishop's character be established but also what the turtles' (and their allies') actions are about: the redemption of the individual in question (Bishop), themselves, and their world. Something that is greatly missing in both the Shredder and the Triceratons! 

After the Earth is gone, the turtles will gladly take the world back the way it was even with Shredder and their adversaries in it, just so long as they can have these other individuals (Splinter, LH, Slash, Bishop, etc.) back! Tiger Claw also got great characterization here and it was a huge shame that it was lost in "Earth's Last Stand". Tiger Claw has said and shown that he does not care for honor before but he proved to be a good leader amongst the other henchmen leading up to the fight in Central Park while also proving to be a team player in rescuing April and Casey from a Triceraton who was about to gun them down. Now of course, Tiger Claw has questioned his master's orders before such as in "Vengeance is Mine", "Return to New York", and "The Invasion" but he's always stood by him and kept his mouth shut afterwards. But after Shredder betrayed the alliance (which, admit it, is at least kind of funny given the circumstances), Tiger Claw was the first and only one to chew him out for it, again establishing himself not only amongst the other henchmen but how much potential he had as a character before he returned in Season 4. 

Bringing in Shredder also brought up Splinter's first message as Leonardo as leader back in Season 1 that there are only choices, since the episode made it quite clear that if Splinter didn't seek the Foot Clan's help they would've lost even though they ended up losing anyway. And that bit of religious symbolism I mentioned? ‘The Rapture’ as I refer to it, provided some of the best imagery this series has ever produced. Director Alan Wan and his team really stepped up! It had the best use of slow-motion I've seen in a long time (suck on that Zack Snyder), good music score (although something similar to "The Leftovers" would've been better), a good use of the Creation of David amongst an already well done scene of ascending characters, the Triceratons celebrating the destruction/Rapture of us mere mortals below them like the vengeful Greek gods gathered around their table, the appearance of Fugitoid in white light as though an angel was coming, and the Earth crumbling dirt by dirt and lava by lava are all successful sequences. Some may have taken issue with the final moment, but not only does the tone match the demographics that this show is aimed for, but also the everyday fact remains that once you've experienced the lowest of lows, the only way to go is up. And that's exactly where Honeycutt is taking them!

This is another episode that plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy with some excellent characterizations. I’ve seen this one get some flack due to its inaccurate portrayal of Japanese life, Saki’s mismatching design and vocals, even Saki meeting the turtles in their present day gear yet not recognizing them when he ‘first’ meets them in “The Gauntlet” (which is why I can’t rail against “Lone Rat and Cubs” too much with regards to Splinter and the Kraang for the same thing). I can even throw in that we didn’t get to see the more darker and vengeful side of Yoshi that he spoke of in “Turtle Temper” and even somewhat put on display in “Panic in the Sewers”. 

None of it matters. There’s a saying out there that character trumps story and it rings true here. Hoon Lee puts up a very good performance as human Yoshi but Minae Noji and (especially) Kevin Michael Richardson knock it out of the park! In his only appearance not as the Shredder, Saki combines pain, pride, pathos, humiliation, insecurity, and confidence all with effortless art as he tries to win the heart of a woman he can't have and how it boils over when it's clear to him that time and fortune have run out. Tang Shen (who also makes a well deserved cameo in "Darkest Plight") is given the treatment that someone who is basically a franchise's version of Uncle Ben deserves as she is presented as an angel rather than the flirt that most girls that guys pine for are. She even makes the decision to go into the burning building because she felt responsible for the conflict between Saki and Yoshi...even sacrificing herself for Yoshi when it could've been him to take the fatal blow! The turtles also are compelling to watch as they struggle to determine how to interfere (or not) with these characters’ lives, their intense yet comedic fight against the Foot Clan, Mikey's and Leo's interactions with Miwa, and the disappointment that follows during and after the tragedy plays itself out.

Yes, you’re seeing things right. The predecessor to “The Invasion”, “Into Dimension X”, is better. It is! I’m aware that this is perhaps my most controversial placement--other than "The Invasion" not at #1. But hey, these lists are about having fun and starting talks afterwards anyway. It’s a lot more fun, character is more omnipresent, and it’s a lot more creative and imaginative! 

Leatherhead has been one of the series’ more compelling side characters even if he mostly served as a function to show off how important Mikey’s heart is in “It Came From the Depths” since it allowed to reach and tame someone like him. Still, LH arose from the episode as a sympathetic figure and it was a shame when “TCRI” sent him away for as long as it did. Thankfully, this features Leatherhead's long overdue return and a story that gives Mikey the chance to shine while still keeping to the series’ comedic roots, "Into Dimension X" creates a beautiful and inventive atmosphere amongst a place that most protagonists usually wouldn't want to be found in. In fact, most TMNT stories, whether they be comic issues or television episodes, are at their best when they stick to a very imaginative story with some creative elements and its characters well characterized. And like a lot of times in this particular series, a guest character is usually left on the side for too long. In this case, Leatherhead spent a total of 33 episodes from “TCRI” to here on the shelf--thank our lucky stars though that he didn’t end up as discarded as The Pulverizer though! This is also another story where character shines since all of these characters have their moments whether it'd be Leo's fascination with some of the creatures from Dimension X, Donnie's retorts to Mikey and Leatherhead (after LH's great battle speech), Raph's worry for Mikey, and pretty much all the times Mikey shows off how good he is in that place. It definitely shows how good a TMNT episode can be even when the Earth isn’t at stake.

Perhaps everyone’s favorite episode, this season finale borrows from two of the most iconic issues in TMNT comic history while providing nearly non-stop action and tension as the TMNT try and fail to stop the Kraang invasion. Now while everyone seems to love this set of episodes, Part 1 gets a little more love than it actually deserves. I for one, am not a fan of the Irma twist, especially with how lame a character that Kraang Sub(sub) Prime ends up being long term, as well as how filler Casey’s and Raph’s subplot comes across as. True, Tiger Claw gets a good character moment in initially questioning Shredder’s alliance with the Kraang and his willingness to see the big picture, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s all about Part 2.  

Whatever the shortcomings of Part 1, Part 2 makes up for them in spades! This ultimately becomes the first season finale in which the goal becomes not about winning but about surviving. Even with New York at stake, the personal battles take center stage as Leo tries to fend off the Foot, get caught in a draining fight, and falls in a valiant fight in which he gives everything he has, just before his father and Leatherhead confront the man responsible for it all. In the end, especially after an exhilarating battle with Don’s new mega invention, they choose retreat after realizing the extent of Leo’s condition. There are some things you can disagree about within the scripts story but you can’t deny its quality. Even Karai gets an important moment of characterization as, even in her snake form, she manages to find and rescue Splinter from drowning--an act he ultimately pays her back when he ends up (unknowingly) freeing her at the end of that awful "The Fourfold Trap” episode.

I once read a countdown of the ten worst episodes from this series and the person in question had (which I still believe is) the audacity to put the Usagi trilogy as the worst episode(s) of the series. How ridiculous! Out of 124 episodes, there are 121 better than that?! I could name about 100 episodes right here and now that are worse! 

Now, the Usagi trilogy is overall the best story arc from the disastrous final season, but “Yojimbo” is nearly perfection and thus it needs to stand apart and alone from the rest of its story. And the first thing that should be recognized is Jei. One of the better known villains from the Usagi issues, Jei is actually one of the series’ better villains as well (and being voiced by Keone Young of “Samurai Jack” fame helps). Sure his methods after “Yojimbo” don’t make a lot of sense (as does some of the latter episodes’ decisions) but its his character that helps him stand apart from the rest of the series’ rogues. First of all, he’s reminiscent of Ra’s al Ghul, a monster who thinks that everyone else is a monster and therefore sets himself at odds with the more heroic characters; each of them thinks that the other is being willfully perverse. Jei also has the traits of being adaptable, collected, and influential. Now compare that with Shredder, Newtralizer, Tiger Claw, the Newtralizer, the Triceratons, even Karai on her worst days.

Sure the turtles are stuck playing supporting characters as well but so what? This is Usagi’s world! And ever since the 1987 series, Usagi and the turtles have been connected; the 2003 series even went so far as to take Leonardo himself to Usagi’s own world. Not to mention that Usagi and his adventures may be the most underrated property out there, Stan Sakai is a silent legend in the comics industry for his work. Let Usagi and the world he inhabits shine while the turtles tag along, please!

The next thing that should be mentioned is the talented yet also diverse cast: Yuki Matsuzaki as Usagi, Evan Kishiyama as Kintaro, Brittany Ishibashi as Akemi, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Sumo Kuma, and of course Keone Young as Jei. All deliver exceptional performances. And while Kintaro gets some flak for his early behavior in the trilogy, it’s part of his character so you can’t blame him. The turtles themselves also provide a great contrast to the more stoic Usagi (whom one must admire in his patience and dealings with Kintaro) with their more energized natures while providing a great outsiders’ perspective on Usagi’s world. With Stan Sakai at the pen and Rie Koga handling directing duties, “Yojimbo”, whose directing and animation are excellent enough to begin with, eventually ends up giving us one of the series’ more thrilling action sequences. Everything is perfectly paced with the heroes on horseback as they try to both evade and fight their attackers while protecting Kintaro before going off the cliff and into the rest of the trilogy. 

Again, while I still hold the Usagi trilogy as a whole to be the best out of those seven storylines from Season 5, “Yojimbo” is nearly perfection and thus it should stick out and stand alone from the rest of its story. It may be at six, but I have never been more entertained by another episode than this.

As some may have read in my analysis of this, “Never Say Xever” is a lot of things. It’s the last of what I refer to as the Super Seven thanks to their perfect scores, it’s perhaps the real best episode of Season 1, and it’s one of the most underrated works from this particular series. So, where to begin? It has a heady theme of justice vs mercy but it has more fun with it than most would dare; its action sequences, namely the first one in particular, are beautifully choreographed with the heroes moving as gracefully and as skilled as if they were possessed by the likes of Gene Kelly and Muhammad Ali; and the characterizations have never been better! The supporting characters also aren’t wasted, whether it’d be the rivalry between Bradford and Xever (something sadly missing from later seasons) which was always fun with some good lines, Murasaki's sympathetic nature, and Fong’s moralistic struggle. The story flows smoothly along as this theme is dealt with while the two latter supporting characters are also caught in the middle while the story itself maintains the action set by the opening sequence. If only Tiger Claw's character ended up going the way Fong did in that episode...

Yet another excellent episode that plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy. Peter DiCicco, who tried and failed (miserably) to duplicate the success of this entry with "Broken Foot", deepened Leo's characterization by having him finally choose Karai and her freedom over Splinter's orders. This gives him that 'knight in shining armor' moment that his complex relationship with Karai needed--only to be taken away and not given back to him until "Requiem". After Karai's brief union with her real family, it smartly goes about by showing that even though she's changed sides, it doesn't mean that she's changed as a character even if her plan to go after Shredder by herself is as rash as story revenges can get. But the shining moment comes during and after Karai's imprisonment and mutation, from Tiger Claw's hesitancy and surprise at Shredder's plan to Sebastian Evans's music score, to Splinter's and Shredder's failed attempts to reassure Karai in her new form. The shot of Leo standing alone miserably in the rain and the fact that Splinter can't even speak to him afterwards shows how much this character thinks and reacts to the belief that the world is on his shoulders.

Another episode I reviewed before going episode by episode day after day became too much, “The Gauntlet” makes the list over other strong Shredder featured episodes such as “The Manhattan Project”, “Super Shredder”, “Requiem”, “Owari”, etc. due to its brisk yet clean pacing; excellent direction by Juan Jose Meza-Leon; mix of humor and lines; and the choreographed fight between Shredder and the turtles that features some excellent lighting and elements from the first TMNT issue (see image above). In fact there’s a lot to cover in a span of 23 minutes: the queer introduction of Pigeon Pete, the introduction of Donnie’s smoke bombs, the discovery and infiltration of the Kraang base, disarming the mutagen bomb, the subtle build up to the mutations of Xever and Bradford , and then the very first battle against the Shredder--which is usually a big deal, which is why it requires the utmost handling. If only “Infinity War” could’ve handled its editing and pace the way that Juan and his team of editors did.

An episode that takes more from the "City at War" issue than the actual "City at War" episode from this series, this is the follow up story that most follow up stories from its previous entry aspire to be. Don’t get me wrong though, the last official spot on the Top 10 was a real toss up between this and “The Cosmic Ocean.” And despite a few shortcomings, it’s hard to deny the quality of this particular story! 

Splinter, even though he spends all his time in this story in one place, is at his most expressive and his best portrayed. Jeffrey Combs, one of the best VAs in the business today, returns to voice the Rat King's spirit at his most sadistic and best conveyed. While there are some great action moments in the episode, particularly Karai stabbing Shredder in the heart, they actually end up playing back seat to this internal conflict. Mind you, those aren’t the only thrilling sequences that play out, whether it’d be April rescuing Karai while suffering a bloody nose in the process (sure it makes April’s S4 arc relevant but at least it showed it in a positive light) or Tiger Claw’s only bright spot this season (and next) when he attempts to stop Shredder’s hunger for more mutagen. 

But of course it all comes back to Splinter who fights to keep his sanity even if at the end of this season he shares the Rat King’s fate. In fact (as stated during my analysis of “I, Monster”), the Rat King trilogy makes a good bridge for Splinter’s evolution as a character, delivering a strong theme regarding the importance of how you live, how you fight, and how you die; all in order of course. Just as his two previous features, Falco acts as the archetypical devil-on-the-shoulder, using deception, half truths, and temptation to convince Splinter not only that his place is (or in this episodes case ‘was’) beside Falco and that he is first and foremast, a rat, and one that he can command. And yet, before Splinter loses his sanity, he sees a necessary vision of his family and Tang Shen right there with them. Now, while the episode commits a continuity error regarding Leo speaking with Seth Green’s voice even though this flashback happened before Leo’s loss of his initial voice (believe me, I can’t stand when the TV shows do this!), it’s short and not as egregious as the errors of “The Tale of Tiger Claw”* and “Lone Rat and Cubs.” Then Tang Shen, who again is this franchise’s version of Uncle Ben, turns and without saying a word reminds Splinter of his humanity and how, even if he shares her fate at the end of this season, is convinced to fight for his life and sanity. At the end, it speaks highly of Splinter's character that he holds the Rat King as a teacher rather than a hated adversary.

Bonus points also have to be given for leaving Shinigami out of the picture.

THE BEST OF THE REST

Episode 87; Written by: Mark Henry; Directed by: Sebastian Montes

It's a shame this can't be in the Top 10--it's that underrated! From the opening scene in Fugitoid's holo-room, this episode plays with the questions of "What is real?", "What can you know?", and the episodes most blatantly stated of all: "What does it mean to be worthy?" Even since “Beyond the Known Universe”, The Fugitoid, played by the ever charming and quirky David Tennant, always provided enough depth, some warmth, or some charm no matter how dull or overly long the space arc felt. Here, he takes a back seat to Leonardo and these questions. Only enough is answered to let the audience, even Leo himself, walk away with their own thoughts. Leo (and to some extend the Fugitoid) is excellently characterized, the animation and voice acting are spectacular, and even Dregg and Armaggon (despite being their usual over the top selves) keep the story afloat by following the Ace Merrill route as described by Kiefer Sutherland: getting the characters from point A to point B.

Episode 122-124 (Series Finale); Written by: Brandon Auman, Peter DiCicco & Gavin Hignight; Directed by: Rie Koga, Sebastian Montes & Alan Wan

Before we begin: I don’t care what anyone says or who gets mad, but anyone (and due to the growing popularity of this rumor, I stress anyone) who tells you that the “Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse” trilogy is A) not the real series finale, and/or B) took place in some kind of ‘alternate dimension’ or whatever, is not telling you the truth. 

And nearly all of these claims are being made by one Lucy Rogers, AKA Asfaloth, AKA PlainsRider, AKA weve-got-science-2 in a selfish attempt to have things the way she wants them to be and to have everyone else convinced of the same thing! And she’s been willing to go everywhere on the internet to do it!

Long story short, there is too much to contradict the rumor that is being helped spread by (biased) people like her: the setting and plot of the arc; the fact that there is NOTHING within the trilogy to indicate this was a non-cannon story (people refer to this as the SAINW version of 2012 but even SAINW went out of its way—like any other TMNT story—to show you it happened in another world); they were the last episodes made; the fact that Nickelodeon has sucked at scheduling since “New Girl in Town" (both in terms of hiatuses and production order—heck every Season 5 episode after the Kavaxas arc aired out of order including “When Worlds Collide” and the “Mutants vs. Monsters” which everyone noticed); the fact that none of the other Season 5 arcs are considered non-cannon (certainly the Kavaxas arc of course); confirmation from Ciro Nieli, Greg Cipes, Eric Bauza, etc; the simple fact that it ended up airing; the list goes on!

Some people, including Lucy, also try to point to Renet’s claims of a better future, but anyone who knows about her character knows that even this version of Renet is clumsy, immature, and erroneous, and therefore shouldn’t be taken so seriously. Others have even claimed that this a failed ‘what-if’ from the events of “The Gauntlet” or “Battle for New York”. If so, what about the Chompy flashbacks from “The Ever-Burning Fire” and “Tokka vs. the World”? Hmmm?

WHAT I’VE STATED IS NOT OPINION! IT’S FACT!

Mad Scientist to Earth: LET’S KEEP THINGS SIMPLE, PEOPLE! No more contrived and complicated theories about alternate worlds, what-ifs, etc.! You simply either like the “Mutant Apocalypse” trilogy or you don’t! And there’s a lot to like about it…

While this ultimately is both a Mad Max rip and an excuse to give the Scale Tail Clan a spot in this series, which is why it can’t be in the Top 10 due to this sort of formula being done for various pop culture material and TMNT references, it’s also a love letter of many sorts to the Mirage issues. Obviously the intention by the creators was to not allow anyone to meddle with the series timeline they had built, but this is indeed the kind of story that Eastman and Laird would've written back in their days at Mirage Studios! 

While every other character is gone, the themes are still there so it doesn’t deserve the flak, especially all the “I-refuse-to-believe-it-happened” kind that it gets. Plus, the series by this point had become so bloated with characters by this point that you can’t blame the creators for cutting out the fat. And even if the loss of all the other characters still hits too hard, this is still a story that's hard to take seriously even if it really is the real series finale. From hair on a turtle (don't worry, the Transformers franchise gets away with this all the time), the final episode of "Space Heroes: The Next Generation", to the campiness of the villains, this entry balances the serious and the non serious with which this franchise has done since its inception. We obviously could’ve done without the toilet humor in the middle entry, but if it means keeping that “Space Heroes TNG” finale and the reactions that follow, I’m still for it. With outstanding animation and artwork, inventive character designs, Leonardo mirroring his worst enemy, and an engaging story that follows Raph and Don from going to having lost everything to a search to find the rest of their family, this arc exemplifies the themes that both this series and even the franchise itself (at least since it hit the TV airwaves) have been known for and does it to a loving degree showing how good even the Best of the Rest are!

Episode 20; 

Written by: Kenny Byerly; Directed by: Michael Chang

Some who saw my analysis for this episode would point out that this was given the spot of Outside Looking In rather than being part of the BOTR. Hey, I’m human, I’m allowed to change my mind! This one ends up playing out like a reverse “Annihilation: Earth” where it’s the good guys who end up betraying the bad guy(s) and nearly end up paying for it. This is ultimately a rousing piece of work not just in terms of action, character, motivation, and psychology with Karai reaching out to the turtles for help in a surprisingly unselfish act and it’s so fitting that trust is as naturally an invisible element as the Kraang ship in this entry is--so much so that even Splinter can’t provide a proper answer to Leo’s conundrum. This marks an important growth for Leonardo’s character and his actions as leader since he is never seen going back on his word again afterwards. 

Karai, in a large contrast to the man she calls her father, sees the big picture and is willing to go so far to reach out a group that doesn’t trust her, more so after the events of “The Alien Agenda” which also puts her at odds with her eventual ‘replacement’, Tiger Claw. Tiger Claw would also ‘say his piece’, perhaps even growl behind his master’s back, but he ultimately wouldn’t be the kind to take the sort of action that Karai does here. So even though Karai and Tiger Claw end up in the same boat with regards to the uneasy loyalties they have towards the same person, it’s their actions that separate them (even though, arguably, that didn’t have to be the case if Tiger Claw wasn’t such a shortsighted idiot down the series’ final stretch) and each of them should’ve had different fates.

Episode 101; Written by: Gavin Hignight; Directed by: Rie Koga

It's what could be considered an ending to the storyline surrounding Raph and Slash. Unable to come to a full agreement after "Slash and Destroy" and choosing to go their own ways, Raph ends up proving how worthy he still is as both a caretaker and a being when Tokka comes to Earth for her son Chompy. Unlike the beginning of "Slash and Destroy", this entry shows a stark contrast to how Raph both interacts with Mikey now and how he treats his family around his pet, setting the stage nicely for his redemption/worthiness at the end when Tokka comes for Chompy. What follows after the opening are some breathtaking moments straight out of the Godzilla franchises, some fun interactions with Bishop (who’s always a delight to see), and even a nod as to how awful the 2014 TMNT movie was.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

It’s a rule of mine that you can’t have more than four honorable mentions, otherwise it’d be more like a Top Ten and a Half list. Still, I yearn to give “Metalhead Rewired” a quick mention. I’ve always said that cameos are cheap and there are a lot of mutant cameos--thankfully this episode isn’t about them, even though we should’ve seen more from Spider Bytz and Snakeweed (not only are they the first two mutants who appear but they were also original and were caused by the turtles inactions). Metalhead, in a MUCH better sophomore outing, follows the AI gaining intelligence route which comes the expected mistrust yet it ends up providing a powerful conclusion on top of an already fun episode.

So, after that long-winded write, other than hoping that your own list (mostly) mirrors mine, I at least hope that I raised some things about this series that you probably didn’t think about before. And remember to keep an eye out for my upcoming Top 5 Underrated, Top 5 Overrated, and 10 Worst Episodes lists. In the meantime, let the conversation begin!

[madscientistutm]

Still Kicking!

So I’m aware that I haven’t posted any TMNT episode analyses let alone Tumblr posts in a while even though that was the plan going in. Obviously I’ve abandoned that job and I may owe apologies to some, but the simple fact is that balancing a full time job, a life of faith, an appetite for entertainment, and other miscellaneous matters made doing what I planned harder and more complicated than anticipated. What I’ll do instead is a list of the Top 10, Top Worst, 5 Underrated, and 5 Overrated episodes from the 2012 series as we head into the 2018 series. I’ll also post more about the world of animation, but I’m putting more focus on building both an audience as well as my live action entertainment page. So, when the next big thing in animation/entertainment comes along, I’ll see you there!

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “Target: April O’Neil” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S2E6 (#32): “Target April O’Neil” Analysis

There’s a lot to say about the free spiritedness of the two females on the opposing forces of this series thanks to this entry. Karai does what she wants and thinks is best, plus has a temper to boot, which is why Shredder should not be surprised that Karai defies him again in going after the turtles and April despite her being on his side so far. 

April, in her own anger, is determined to go back to the normal life of a teenage girl despite the fact that she has lost her father to extraordinary circumstances (again) and she has two different kinds of villains after her. This danger is what would’ve been a better excuse for Donatello’s continuing stalking of April--you know despite the “lesson” he was supposed to have learned just two episodes ago. Instead, he offers up this story’s own theme of “Some things are just beyond our control.” At this point we wonder what that’s going to mean? Should Don not help the fact that he can’t let April go? Does April have to accept that she’s fated to a life involving villains and mutants without fuss or stomping her feet?

Even Casey tries to connect the theme with regards to his own personal life in order to (unwittingly) draw April back into the turtles’ lives. Casey and April have a good relationship so far with Casey’s smooth lines and feelings towards her being very genuine and well paced, and his chemistry with her make April and Casey actually seem like a better duo than April and Donnie. But Casey’s story of a sporting accident involving a former friend of his comes off more as arbitrary than fitting which makes the episodes attempt at having April reconcile with the turtles and Splinter come off as more of a coercion of the script rather than a smooth transition towards a willing return for April. Throw in some ridiculous combat--two teenagers going up against the same adaptable robotic ninjas from “Follow the Leader” equipped with the biggest blades seen in this series so far, and you’ve got one of the first matters of (unfortunately) being unable to take the combat in this show seriously since it serves more as a matter of plot convenience rather than honest character skill. There’s an interesting moment during the fight against Karai and her new robot which has April unwittingly able to have the robot cause her no harm but with what we already know about April’s connection to the Kraang, it comes off more arbitrary than surprising. By the time the episode is over, you’re left wondering more about what’s going to occur next rather than meditating on the events that took place.

P.S. As an experiment, and hopefully to draw more of a crowd (I’ll take all the publicity I can get--wouldn’t anyone?), I’m going to do a review largely consisting of images and bullet points. I’m told Tumblers respond better to pictures than text/essays. It’s fitting that the next one will be what I regard as the best episode of the series.

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “Mikey Gets Shellacne” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S2E5 (#31): “Mikey Gets Shellacne” Analysis

This is notably the first of several (mostly) bad episodes where it feels you’ve been dropped right into the middle of a story rather than the beginning of one. Sure it may not look that way with the hilarious opening breakfast scene but you realize a lot of build up has been missed the further this particular story goes along. A story like that is never welcoming--unless of course you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind stepping into the movie theatre and missing the first scene or two. I didn’t think so.

Towards the story itself, the idea that these characters could get acne is something that would appeal to a lot of viewers their age or even past that age. But then the story throws a curve and we learn that the “acne” is a deadly side effect of Mikey’s foolishness with Donnie’s experimental retro mutagen. With regards to Mikey’s motivation, this along with the opening where it’s revealed that Mikey ALREADY has the “acne”, reveals just how much the story feels like it skipped. Mikey takes the so-called “Super Cool” mutagen to make himself ‘cooler’ in the eyes of his family because of how much they treat him like dirt. But in that particular scene, it’s the others and not Mikey who come off depressingly justified in their thoughts. The creators then try to make Mikey come off as reasonable and then funny all at once, but his dimwittedness negates both of those things!

And so the rest of the story that follows is a by-the-numbers search for a Macguffin device to treat Mikey’s condition while an ensuing party in the form of Bradford, Xever, and Stockman get involved thanks unwittingly via Karai. Here, Karai shows such a lack of respect for her subordinates that Bradford and Xever unsurprisingly respond in kind (although it does make one wonder why they would prefer Saki over her, yet their lack of care towards Karai’s situation in the latter half of Season 3 aren’t so surprising in retrospect). The fact that Karai shows up for Stockman yet leaves him in that mutagen collar only adds to her revulsion so far. 

The story ends up trying to draw a parallel between Bradford and Mikey, having them both of them wanting to fix their current situations. Yet when Bradford ends up becoming the deadly looking Rahzar, he ends up liking it. When the situation is resolved, the script even tries to have Splinter vocalize that with some brouhaha about Mikey finding strength through his heart, but it ultimately doesn’t work. We already know that Mikey’s true strength is his heart, yet his naivety and foolishness are never addressed nor are his brothers feelings towards him any newer than they were before.   

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “Mutagen Man Unleashed” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S2E4 (#30): “Mutagen Man Unleashed” Analysis

A lot happens in this entry: the new cartoon is introduced (a mix of Ultron and Ciro’s previous show SRMTHFG!), Donatello’s wallowing over the loss of his friendship with April because he feels responsible and is a “freak”, a look at how Timothy is ‘adjusting’ to his life as Mutagen Man as well as his aberrant psychology, Leo’s lessons regarding stealth, and of course the introduction of Casey Jones. Because of most viewers’ interests regarding Don’s relationship with April, Casey comes off in this series as the proverbial third who makes a crowd--despite the fact it’s always been about him and April from the start. 

So with all that’s going on, it’s nice to see the story slow down a little during Casey’s first scene when he first meets April. For a character who is going to be underutilized to the extreme in the last couple of seasons despite becoming an integral part of the Turtle Team, director Sebastian Montes (in his first solo effort) has Casey pause for an average time of about five seconds before each of his attempts to woo April. He even takes that amount of time as well before stroking “Red”’s face later that night on the swing set. That sort of pacing is always a welcome, especially when it’s used in a characters introduction. 

And then of course there’s Timothy whose aberrant psychology is unfortunately not really explored, it’s just used to make a point. Ever since his own introduction, it’s been shown that Timothy’s idolization of his heroes has been his downfall and, in his sad warped way, comes to idolize April the same way that Donnie does. The idea of an inhuman imitating another inhuman’s longing and loneliness however is not explored and is instead used as a means for Splinter to install in his pupil the idea of patience and passivity. Splinter’s lesson to Donatello is a great concept on its own merits because it’s taught from a personal level because, in Donatello, Splinter saw the same kind of possessiveness that ate away at Saki which lead to the tragedy that ended his previous life as Hamato Yoshi. If only a more thorough exploration of Mutagen Man’s warped psychology was thrown into the mix alongside Splinter’s lesson as well as Leonardo’s emphasis on stealth (and that was a good use of it in the climactic battle).  

PERSONAL NOTES

THERE WERE 94 EPISODES AFTER THIS FOR DONATELLO TO LIVE UP TO HIS PROMISE OF A CURE! If that’s not something to scream and yell about, I don’t know what is.

Again, there has to be some appreciation towards the creators’ attempts at a darker take on the whole ‘fanboy meets his (anthropomorphic) heroes’ story but there’s no doubt that they could’ve done more! Again I ask, was Roger Craig Smith too expensive to have amongst the cast?

Mutagen Man is usually a member of the Mutanimals in most of his other incarnations. What could have been...   

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “Invasion of the Squirrelanoids” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S2E3 (#29): “Invasion of the Squirrelanoids” Analysis

When having a cartoon within a cartoon isn’t enough it seems, this entry has to take it a step further and include a comic book for every step of the way. This marks the true beginning of this series’ obsession with references to the horror film genre (plus referencing other things in general). Having these things loosely featured may be a nice blast to the past, even more so with a franchise that’s already fun to watch ala The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but I’m an entertainment nut who likes to buck the crowd and demand more from this and other material such as “Stranger Things” and the “Ready Player One” film and demand more from the entertainment I consume. A project can not live on references alone which is why the two projects I just mentioned are at least slightly overrated.

A mix of “Alien” (mostly) and “Dreamcatcher”, this is not the best conceived (certainly not the most original) mutant of the week episode of the series but it does provide a lot of funny lines and funny scares as well as moments that show how close knit this team is whether it’d be the above picture, Raph and Mikey hanging out, the “surgery” situation, etc. It’s just a shame that the events of the episode had to follow Mikey’s comic book so closely: just let the show breathe a little! And of course, there’s the fact that the Squirrelanoids return and yet, within the span of the last 95 episodes we never see them again! As an entertainment nut, I can’t stand when you have unfinished storylines like that and don’t resolve them whether the villains clearly come back (as is the case here) or the door is simply left open for their return--the more important, the less excusable it is to not include them (and that even goes for Blight in “Batman Beyond”). Hence the drop in the rating, even though that trend will continue next episode. 

PERSONAL NOTES

Leo trying to explain things to Splinter was gold. It doesn’t turn out as easy as he hoped, his nervous expressions, his nervous joke, and his hasty turn at attention seal the deal.

The lair actually isn’t so “secret” and “hidden” as Splinter asserts. It’s only that way because the creators constantly cheat to keep the location of the turtles home out of the hands of the Foot. Shredder could’ve easily gotten that information out of Kirby during the events of “Showdown”; finding April and/or Casey any time; having Karai as a prisoner in the second half of this season; even having her, Raph, Slash, and Rockwell as slaves from “Clash of the Mutanimals” onwards. That was a narrative problem that, like the writers, is best left ignored (until “Monsters Among Us” which is the proper time to get pissed about it).

Mikey’s connection to underwear is also something that will never be picked up again despite it being clearly established here. All it gets is a small mention later on in Season 3 that Mikey just likes to collect them. Ho hum.

Mikey luring the creatures with popcorn is a nice bit of continuity, for a change, since it goes back to Splinters advice of catching an animal in “The Mutation Situation” so props have to be given there at least.

[madscientistutm]

You all do know that Raph pulled that pigeon out of his ass right? See?

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “Follow the Leader” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S2E2 (#28): “Follow the Leader” Analysis

Following the approach of “Samurai Jack” in terms of action, the heroes are more free to use their weapons from this point on. But instead of going wild with it or at least taking a more cinematic approach like that series, “Follow the Leader” comes off more as a near carbon copy of “New Girl in Town.” Karai’s still enjoyably overconfident even if this is one of her more serious episodes until she learns the truth about her heritage. 

But the main problem lies in the depiction of the turtles as a team and the scripts attempt to compromise between Leonardo’s desire to be taken seriously and the others wanting to fight their own way. If previous installments up to and including “New Girl in Town” didn’t show Leo being a capable leader, then the season finale just two episodes had Leo risking everything to save the rest of the team while contributing to the aversion of the Kraang invasion. The lack of establishment to justify the disconnect between the team here doesn’t help either. 

Still, this is the first time that the turtles have tangled with Karai since “Enemy of my Enemy” and it’s fitting that Leo is her prisoner. It features one of their best conversations in which Leo starts out talking to himself like he does before their first battle in “New Girl in Town” (although he does it as a way of initially ignoring her this time) while Karai herself personally holds Leo as the one who betrayed her in “Enemy of my Enemy” and it’s perfect on the part of the creators that he doesn’t try to justify himself. Then Karai shares with him the lie that Shredder has been telling her about the fate of her mother and it packs quite the one-two punch: Leo’s unwavering defense of his father and, knowing that she’s been lied to, Leo having the courage to spare her life knowing that she’s been deceived. He may not exactly have his hopes reinvigorated at that point that he can draw Karai in as an ally, but it shows that just like in previous episodes like “Never Say Xever”, he’s unwilling to compromise his morals and look for the best in others. The fact that he further doesn’t deny his previous actions against Karai (“Your grudge is with me!”) further highlights his character as well as his interaction with Karai despite them being on unfriendly terms. It’s practically enough to compensate for the script being unable to compromise between Leo and the rest of the team. Plus there’s also the fact that it leads to the revelation that Karai is actually part of Splinter’s lineage. It’s just a shame that it takes until mid-season for them to follow up on it.

PERSONAL NOTES

One of the most overlooked moments of the series as far as I’m concerned is when Raph pulls the pigeon out of his ass. C’mon you know it’s true.

The trip that Shredder is taking until mid season is obviously to get Tiger Claw who will end up being Karai’s replacement. What’s funny is how he tells Karai not to make any moves against their enemies until that time, yet there was that one scene in “The Alien Agenda” that played out like this: Karai: “What happens if I press this?” Kraang: “Highly undesirable outcome.” Karai: “Well now I’ve gotta.” Good times!

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: 2012 S2 Premiere “The Mutation Situation”

TMNT 2012 S2E1 (#27): “The Mutation Situation” Analysis

*I still have a bit of ways before I’m back on schedule. 2 more episodes to write for until tomorrow...*

Season 1 had a good balance (mostly at least) between the serious and the non serious, but with a more serious tone called for as the series goes along, a new team of writers and Ciro Nieli jumping ahead of his co-showrunners Sternin and Ventimilia (both of whom moved on) took place for this new season. Nieli, whose previous show running gig SRMTHFG! was cut unfairly short, was given nearly full reign and did a very good job with this series even if the sum of the parts didn’t usually equal the whole when all is said and done. And here, the inexperience of new head writer Brandon Auman--who’s a nut and a liar (although the latter is for episodes further down the road), shows in this season premiere whether it’d be in the form of the outrageously contrived attempts at humor, the bad lines, or the non engaging storyline that follows.* All this helps undermine what is actually a good direction for this season (although it doesn’t really follow into the next ones).

*Don’t get me wrong, Brandon Auman was a good writer for this series (probably the best) since he did end up writing some of the best entries for this show. Certainly a lot more than he did bad at least! He is extremely divisive however and that’s where I’ve had my share of problems with him.

The idea of the turtles being unable to prevent canisters of mutagen being scattered throughout (the most abandoned part of) New York City is a good one since it allows for many directions for the show to go in while reinforcing the theme of responsibility from the previous season, which has been a strong driving force for the heroes. The fact that one of the victims is Kirby O’Neil adds more motivation even if it isn’t one of the best remembered moments of the series (see the Personal Notes). Unfortunately it does a bad job getting there since most of what propels this event is the creators borrowing the theme of the turtles being overconfident in “The Gauntlet.” They are so high in morale after their victory over their creators, which is one of the better conflicts in story telling and entertainment, that their feelings here almost make more sense than they do in “The Gauntlet.” However, it’s never a good thing having to revert to old storylines in order to bring up a new one. And the story being as unexciting as it is certainly doesn’t help. In the end, the turtles have a big mess to clean up, a friendship in tatters, and a dismal lead in to the new season. In short; good direction, bad job getting there.

Season 2 may be right up there with Season 1 in terms of quality, but this is a bad start. The thought that the creators believed it was a good idea to screen this at a convention only adds to the annoyance.

PERSONAL NOTES

This is actually one of the worst episodes of the series. It’s just a couple of episodes away from being part of the Worst of the Rest. It’s at least perhaps the worst episode ranked Mediocre here.

The initial humor should’ve been an indication of these new writers having to get their feet wet--and that this wasn’t going to be so good an episode. Mikey’s cottage cheese demon joke was especially appalling.

Many fans have pointed out the lack of suspense when the canisters head toward April since it’s been established she’s immune to the stuff. The creators may have been banking on the viewers accepting the idea that none of the characters knew the full extent of April’s immunity, but even if that’s the case I give it a pass since Kirby certainly doesn’t know about his daughter’s protection from it, hence his actions.

Speaking of which, you can’t blame April for her being upset. This is yet another time she loses her father (essentially) and he didn’t even know about his daughter’s immunity so of course she initially blamed herself. 

You’ve heard from me, now it’s your turn. Share, reblog, like, or comment (Agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything?) away and let yourself be heard.

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: 2012 S1 Finale “Showdown”

TMNT 2012 S1E25-26 (#25-26): “Showdown” Analysis

*Time to get back on schedule. I’ve also learned to write these in Word before posting them here.*

The personal battles are always more thrilling than the battles that deal with the fate of the world. That happens to be the case with this series whether it’d be this, “The Invasion”, “When Worlds Collide”, or “Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse” even though the fate of the world was determined before the story began. The turtles’ battle against the Kraang in “Showdown” is standard action cartoon fare even with all the gimmicks thrown in: Raph using a pigeon to block the view of a Kraang camera similar to the 2003 turtles infiltrating TCRI, Mikey faking a fall from the building to distract the Kraang up top, Donatello hacking Kraang tech with a hula girl toaster. Those are the moments that make you remember how these teens have made crime fighting look like a lot of fun for the past 30+ years.

However, with the more serious approach the last two incarnations of the TMNT have taken, drama has to be in abundant supply and the elements that make up said drama have to have a strong foundation. With Splinter being the turtles’ foundation, half of “Showdown” attempts to diagnose what makes him tick and the creators start via April. The first thing she asks is what a lot of TMNT fans have actually had on their minds: why doesn’t Splinter take part in the turtles’ surface activities, especially now with the stakes being as they are? Of course the answer is easy--although there are two ways to split it: the more professional answer is character building amongst the titular heroes, the amateur answer is the simple fact that it would make things too easy. This incarnation of Splinter isn’t small and old like other versions after all.

Of course a large part of the heroes going up to the surface and doing the things they do is part of both their upbringing and choice. Having lost everything including his place amongst humans, Splinter nevertheless is able to build a second life and use his humanity to help his new family understand both the value of being human and human life itself. Of course, straddling both their human and mutant lives means that they have to find a balance in protecting both human and mutants as well. And instead of confiding themselves to the underground, the turtles have willingly taken both the lessons learned from their father and his personal tragedy and turned it into others’ salvation. So it’s a disappointment to see Splinter’s dismissal of April’s last line of questioning the way it is. April may not be the most strongly developed character but she has still gained a certain level of toughness with two different sets of villains after her and being a part of a mutant family’s lives. She has also come to fill the void left behind by his loss of Miwa. He really does sound like he’s scolding a child here which isn’t very admirable here. Of course, it’s a way to drive a wedge between April and Splinter so that the former will become captured and the latter (or his pupils really) will have to rescue her.

In fact, April works better as a character drawn into these events rather than someone with mental powers coveted by the Kraang. A person with unique powers/abilities that becomes the envy of an alien race that would risk exposure and hasty plans to acquire said person is never welcoming. Nor is an easy answer to ‘resurrect’ a character after a noble and strong sacrifice, yet the Kraang vs. Turtles side of the story is able to accomplish both. As stated, the battles are better when they’re more personal. 

The fight between Shredder and Splinter is executed well enough including a good use of sound. It also balances Splinter’s use of martial arts and his feral ness as a rat. He is fighting both for vengeance and a girl who he has come to accept as his own, so it’s an Earth shattering shock to him to find out that Karai is actually his Miwa. And it makes sense for him to flee after Karai steps in since he has to consider what else he doesn’t know with regards to his foe. It also makes sense that he doesn’t tell his pupils at first because he doesn’t want to dampen their victory (it does feel like he’s lost after all) with his own personal burdens and he recognizes the differing attitudes between him and them: while he concerns himself with what he does and doesn’t know, his students are both confident and willing to deal with what they both know and don’t (like the Technodrome still being active after all).

PERSONAL NOTES

Bradford/Dogpound told Xever that Yoshi was the one who betrayed Saki all those years ago. This is a lie that will not be corrected in the eyes of any of Shredders subordinates including the eventual Tiger Claw and Bebop/Zenko & Rocksteady/Steranko--a significant flaw in this series.

It really is a surprise how much Splinter goes from fighting like this to not being able to beat Shredder in another (significant) fight. The following seasons are going to consist of a fair bit of cheating in terms of combat, something that it’ll become infamous for.

Wasn’t the moral of “Metalhead” that Metalhead was a bad idea? I thought it was manipulative in expressing that theme so I’m not upset that Metalhead was featured here.

Funny how Raph nearly puts that mind control chip on Mikey when he’s going to be able to do it as a vampire four seasons later.

It is DEFINITELY funny how Karai replies “Pretty cool, huh?” about controlling Mr. O’Neil, when the same thing is going to happen to her 45 episodes later.

The people of Earth learning about the existence of extra terrestrials and seeing how they tried to abduct people should have had ramifications going forward, as well as better defenses in place for Earth. Unfortunately, that’s still not the case.

You’ve heard from me, The Mad Scientist. Now it’s your turn.

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series” Operation: Break Out” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S1E24 (#24): “Operation: Breakout”

Television series’ and even movie franchises can be pretty manipulative sometimes either by intention or not. The highly underrated “Person of Interest” created and show ran by Jonathan Nolan, the younger brother of Christopher Nolan, wanted to explore a lot of action and themes with regards to the implications of artificial intelligence on humanity, humanity itself, as well as several other things. They had an all star cast including Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, and Taraji Henson and a good chemistry amongst the production crew--with Nolan and JJ Abrams helping run the show of course. They had themselves set up for seven seasons. Instead after their fourth, CBS gave them a thirteen episode final season to finish off the series. Although they had to cram in the themes they had planned going forward and come up with a quick solution while breaking some rules along the way, they still ended with one of the most underappreciated finales in TV history and ended up as one of the most underappreciated shows overall in TV history. 

I bring this up because, after all the efforts of the heroes (and breaks taken along the way) to find April’s father, the answer ended up lying in one encrypted email. Or so was the attitude of one of the fans on the Technodrome forums as he/she pointed it out. While that is mostly true; some things in television, although worth screaming and yelling about sometimes, can be given a pass under the circumstances. And so it is the case with “Operation: Breakout”. The lead in to the Season 1 finale, it goes out of its way to enticing Donatello into rescuing April’s father on his own (thanks solely to Raph’s chiding him with regards to April). The episode also forces its way into keeping April out of the rescue via a slow churning B-plot. We already know that April has powers and the orb serves more as a reminder than a true game changer in the long run. The breakout itself is not really inspired although it is livened a bit thanks to the release of the Newtralizer. The Newtralizer is a really colorful character even though his use in this series is extremely limited. He proves to be all style and no substance, but what substance he has! From his imaginative design (complete with an orange Punisher-esque coloring on his body) to his Terminator-like resilience, he really is a character worth anticipating and salivating over. Because of him being underused he unfortunately goes largely forgotten by the rest of the fans, even after his big first impression of eating a live Kraang whole.

The episode also, despite its weak interplay between Raph and Don which makes up for a bulk of the story, has good attention to detail although most of that is thanks to how the script doesn’t cheat with regards to Kirby O’Neil. Some of the best twists in a story have to come from attention to detail and often that means having the twist in plain sight for the viewer to recognize it--if there are no clues then it’s a cheat rather than a twist. Aside from Kirby’s tone in the beginning, the creators took a chance by actually showing the control device on Kirby’s neck (which is more than can be said for the majority of the billboard pictures in “The Usual Suspects):

Of course the resolution goes by really fast and the peace made between Raph and Don comes off as forced as it is over the top (although still pretty funny), but the focus is more put towards getting us into the season finale--which would’ve been a better endeavor if the Newtralizer would be carried over into.

You’ve heard from me, the Mad Scientist. Now it’s your turn. 

P.S. No TMNT season finale review tomorrow. I’ll catch up starting the next day. Enjoy the weekend.

[madscientistutm]

Countdown to the New TMNT Series: “The Pulverizer Returns” Look Back

TMNT 2012 S1E23 (#23): “The Pulverizer Returns”

This dark take on the fanboy meeting his heroes, you might say, technically concludes here although the story had a lot on its plate before it got there. This is one of two episodes in a span of (technically) five that borrows the theme of overconfidence first used in “The Gauntlet” and makes the heroes’ hopes of having things turn out exactly the way they all want go belly up.

With the queer return of the Pulverizer who, even to the turtles’ dismay, has not changed since the last time they saw him; the focus should have been, and stayed on, whether or not he should be a Foot spy or quit. And with Timothy’s extreme naivety and lack of understanding of what he’s truly getting into, more effort should go into this conflict of interest--certainly more than taking every shot at this character our heroes can take at him. Although the shots make for some good banter it doesn’t provide much towards this conflict of interest and the implications going forward, nor is the threat of an impending mutant army for Shredder raised significantly here. 

Instead a lot of the story becomes dominated by a subplot of the turtles “embracing the unfamiliar” and switching weapons, but in the big picture of the story what does it really mean? Nothing, since it’s going to get overshadowed by the ramifications of choices regarding the fate of Timothy/Pulverizer. Although the initial weapon swap is hilarious, that’s all it amounts to until their weapons are taken away in a move that has Splinter practically beating our heads with the moral of the story that the script is trying to enforce so hard that it almost seems like he’s breaking the fourth wall: “Then you have not learned the lesson!” Afterwards, all that does is take the situation regarding different weapons and then no weapons from comedy to an attempt to show how impressive the heroes actually are (thanks to their ‘skills’ with a tire iron, broom, piece of wood, and chain link) although, as stated, it really means nothing in the end thanks to Pulverizer’s fate.

Before that even takes place, there’s an overlooked moment that is a sheer point of contention as to who is truly responsible for the Pulverizer’s fate. Although the script at several points makes it seem as though it was truly Pulverizer’s wish to be like his heroes and was insistent on him taking the path he did himself, Donatello at one point urges “We should’ve gotten him out of there when we had the chance” suggesting that Leo’s decision to sacrifice Timothy’s safety in exchange for inside information should’ve received more focus than initially given. By now Leonardo has accepted the role of leadership not only in his own heart but also the hearts of the others. And by leaving Timothy, a being that Donatello accepts is his own responsibility to look after, in the Foot clan; this should’ve been marked not only as Leo’s biggest regret but perhaps the beginning of a rift between Leo and Don themselves. But the series, at least not yet, wasn’t ready for them to butt heads over matters like this so an opportunity to impact Leo’s own character going forward as well as to put him at severe odds with the rest of the group unfortunately goes amiss. And while this storyline deserves credit for going in basically the antithesis of the direction Zack received in the 1987 series, it also can’t be denied that this series has 101 episodes after this to make Donnie at least try to live up to his ending promise of curing Timothy and for some reason the series couldn’t even bother. Surely the price tag for Roger Craig Smith’s services isn’t as high as Kelly Hu’s, right? Whatever the case, that’s a black eye that this series can not recover from!

You’ve heard from me, The Mad Scientist. Now it’s your turn!