#Both Shredders of the show ain’t that intimidating

[junsei-draws-rotasu]

Depends how you define what “scary” is. You can look at Seasons 3 villains of 2012 since the start of the season, the enemies were pretty horrific and nightmare fuel. Or all kinds of bugs in the show.

Or the scary being how intimidating or threatening the villains are. Krang ROTTMNT is quite scary if that the definition your going for.

It sure as hell isn't a contest but I'd they were competing over scariest enemies than tbe Rise turtles would win hands down and their prize would be multiple sets of older turtles being overprotective. 2012 however would have to deal with trauma that's 1000% designed to hit them in a more personal level what with Leo's coma, April killing Donnie, the entire Space Arc, Mikey being trapped in Dimensikn X for ninth possibly years, the mess with watching SPLINTER DIE, watching Splinter die a SECIND TIME, THE ENTIRE MESS WITH THE RAT KING... just to name a few

Honestly I have to disagree because like. 2012 has some pretty horrific villains when you think about it, rottmnt doesn't even compare in terms of how dangerous and violent they are. rottmnt definitely has some villains who would kill the turtles w/o hesitation, but the show is almost never played straight so the characters aren't as brutal or threatening. 2012 was intentionally going for a darker tone with its villains so we would actually be worried when, say, Splinter faced off with Rat King of Tiger Claw because it was possible he would actually die.

And that's not like a criticism or anything. I appreciate what both shows do and I can't even say I have a favorite because it depends on my mood. But 2012 definitely has the more threatening villain line up with Shredder, Tiger Claw, Rahzar, Fish Face, Bebop and Rocksteady alone because they would absolutely kill these teenagers if they could. Of course rottmnt's Kraang are scary in their own right, but we didn't get introduced to them until the movie, so I don't think they out weigh 2012 on their own.

[turtlethon]

"Name That Toon"

Season 4, Episode 10 First US Airdate: September 21, 1990

"Name That Toon" is episode 75 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Susan Stewart-Taggart again is the writer of this adventure, following on from her work on "Four Turtles and a Baby".

It’s incredible how many episodes kick off with the Turtles sitting around watching TV, and today is no exception. The team are enjoying a spy movie when it’s interrupted by Krang, who demands that Earth’s governments supply him with the energy required to revive the Technodrome within the next hour; if they refuse, he warns he’ll vaporise a large section of New York.

After completing his transmission, Krang explains to Shredder that he can’t be stopped now that he’s acquired an “alien computer”. Shreds retorts that he was the one who found the spaceship containing this new technology. Sometimes I wish this series was willing to commit more to long-form storytelling instead of being reliant on cramming everything into self-contained episodes; it’s a big ask for us to just accept Shredder somehow found a spaceship from another world and we didn’t even get to see it.

Krang goes on to explain he used the alien computer’s tech to build a “Dematerializer”, a time bomb beneath the city that will be activated if his demands aren’t met. Shredder orders Rocksteady and Bebop to dispose of the left-over parts, including a motherboard that looks suspiciously like a piano keyboard. Okay, actually it looks exactly like a piano keyboard.

So far, this has been a fairly typical Turtles episode. Brace yourselves, because things are about to go south very quickly.

In Channel 6, we’re introduced to Irma’s new boyfriend Howie, a Woody Allen type who is seen improvising idiotic songs on demand for both Irma and April. When April suggests that he’s “almost as great as the Turtles” - because we’re now well into the fourth year of this show and she’s somehow still never been given any development to flesh out who she is, beyond her job and the Turtles being her friends – he instantly breaks into a song about being a “Turtle dude”. Throughout this, both April and Irma shake their heads as if they’re displaying their disagreement; I think this is one of those times where the Korean animators didn’t quite have a handle on western mannerisms when trying to make it look like they were grooving along to the music.

Burne barges into the room and for some reason is broader, blonder and generally a lot more intimidating looking than usual. He pretty much tells Howie, who we’re informed is a songwriter, to piss off. Irma goes to bat for Howie on the basis that “his piano’s been repossessed by the finance company”. Burne points out that’s not his problem, and for once I agree with him. He adds that if April and Irma don’t get back to work, they can begin singing songs about being unemployed. Howie flees the scene as if his life has just been threatened. In an ideal world this would be the last we would ever see of him, but regrettably this is just the beginning.

Back in Dimension X, Bebop moans about having to take out the garbage, reasoning that he “ain’t even married!” Rocksteady suggests it’ll be good practice for when he meets “the warthog of [his] dreams”. Bebop continues complaining, pointing out there’s no more room for the keyboard-like motherboard in the dumpster. At Rocksteady’s suggestion, he tosses it into a portal instead, sending the component to Earth.

In the Lair, the Turtles monitor proceedings following Krang’s announcement. Donatello spots a portal opening in midtown, and the team head off to check in on things. Meanwhile at Arty’s pawn shop, a salesman attempts to convince Irma and Howie to buy a crumbling piano when a portal opens and the alien motherboard lands on a nearby table. The salesman bluffs his way through selling it, pretending he knows what it is, and manages to offload it onto the couple.

Shredder points out that no-one has given into their demands yet, and Krang re-iterates his intention to wipe out an entire mile of the city. Bebop suggests they could use the Dematerializer on Rocksteady’s head, a joke that just does not land at all, but the animators at least get some fun expressions out of it.

The Turtles talk to the salesman at Arty’s and learn that he just sold the device that turned up in the store to “a nice young couple”. To the chagrin of our heroes, although they were able to track where the unit landed, they now have no way of figuring out where it’s ended up.

Across town, Howie plays his new keyboard for Irma. Historically Channel 6’s resident receptionist has never been choosy when it comes to men, but for some reason she is all over this guy. When the keyboard lights up and begins playing by itself, Irma swoons. “How romantic! It’s playing our song”.

Act one ends with the Turtles charging through the sewers, attempting to figure out their next move. Above their heads is the Dematerializer, which continues to count down, about to wipe out everything in the nearby vicinity.

As we return from commercials, Krang and Shredder gloat upon discovering the Turtles are wandering directly beneath their bomb. Meanwhile Howie continues to play his new keyboard, unable to figure out why every time he attempts to play one melody, another one comes out. April is now hanging around and immediately decides to contact the Turtles, because as we established earlier “great story” and “the Turtles” are her only frames of reference for anything.

In the Technodrome, Krang – who hasn’t been this genuinely evil in a while – wants to get a view of the city as it’s decimated. The bomb doesn’t go off, however, and Howie’s keyboard can be heard throughout the Technodrome, shaking the rolling fortress. Krang concludes that the Turtles must be “using music to sabotage [his] computers”. He provides Shredder with a device to counteract whatever the Turtles have put in place, ordering him to “make them pay”.

The Turtles learn of Howie’s predicament with his keyboard, and after putting two and two together, they figure it must be the device that fell through the portal. The team soon arrive at his apartment, unaware that Shredder is spying on them. Our heroes are introduced to Howie – because at this point, the Turtles are fairly blasé about interacting with strangers – who immediately begins playing a dogshit song on the alien keyboard about being a “teenager with a shell”. Even Irma, who’s supposed to be infatuated with this twerp, is drawn with a horrified expression as he comes up with this. The Turtles eventually intervene and in the politest way possible tell him to please shut the fuck up.

Donatello examines the keyboard’s advanced circuitry as it begins playing by itself. Shredder and his hench-mutants watch on from the glass roofing of the apartment, until Bebop and Rocksteady accidentally fall in. Howie insists on adding his own musical accompaniment to what’s otherwise a pretty solid fight sequence until Rocksteady heroically steps in and retrieves the keyboard. Watching all this from Dimension X is Krang, who laughs at the impending destruction of a sizable piece of the city as act two ends.

The third and final act opens with Krang warning Shredder that he’s within the detonation area, and needs to head for the nearest portal quickly as the Dematerializer is counting down again. Everyone jostles for possession of the keyboard, which is carried out of the building by April, Irma and Howie as a terrific extended fight sequence between Donnie and Shredder unfolds.

Our resident villains are eventually able to escape, blocking off the door behind them. In their most hardcore move for some time, the Turtles use Michaelangelo’s grappling hook to hurl themselves straight through the apartment’s closed windows, and land on the street below without even flinching. Donnie tells the others they need to amplify the music from the keyboard in order to stop Krang’s device permanently. The team decide to use Channel 6’s transmitter to do accomplish this. Donatello and Michaelangelo head off to find the bomb, with Leonardo and Raphael pledging to protect the keyboard.

April and Irma are in the Channel 6 news van with Howie, who sits in the back and plays his longest and most insufferable song yet, in a sequence that accomplishes nothing and brings the entire episode to a screeching halt. I include this here in its entirety so that you can fully appreciate what a new low this is for the series. Even April is visibly disgusted throughout, and I don’t understand why she isn’t intervening to talk some sense into Irma.

Finally – finally! - we get back to the show proper, as it’s revealed Shredder and his mutants are pursuing the news van in a taxi, despite the protestations of a reluctant driver. Meanwhile, beneath ground, Mikey and Donnie locate the Dematerializer.

At Channel 6, April has hooked the keyboard up to the station’s transmitter, ready to play its music across town. Shredder and his men barge in at the same time that Leonardo and Raphael appear. Leo uses his katana to slice some electrified cables that land on the villains, which seems like a real good way to... potentially kill them? (This is an uncompromising episode in a lot of ways, it must be said.)

Howie begins playing the alien keyboard, which reverberates throughout New York, getting everyone’s attention as well as further infuriating Burne. The Dematerializer is knocked out of commission, and the music also reprograms the Technodrome’s computers somehow. Laser blasts begin raining around Krang as Shredder and his mutants return, intervening by smashing the equipment.

Later, it’s revealed that the Turtles chipped in to buy Howie a new (used) keyboard. Donatello explains that he “used some of the parts from that alien computer to buy this one”. A baffling statement as this clearly isn’t a computer, and even the alien keyboard was initially said to be nothing more than a motherboard. It sets up the final gag though, as the piano begins playing without anyone touching it.

I think this might be the most jarring episode of TMNT to date: the Turtles working to defuse this bomb is fine, the fight sequences are probably the best we’ve seen this season, the animation is solid, but all of this is undone by the fact that Howie just fucking sucks. Large portions of this episode are given over to his embarrassing songs, and even the show itself can’t seem to decide if everyone else in-universe is in on the joke of how bad he is or not. Howie is, by some way, the worst supporting character to appear in the show so far. Yes, worse even than Zach and his cohorts. He will return immediately for a second appearance in the next episode, "Menace Maestro, Please", in a giant middle finger to everyone watching this show.