Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) #71: Turtles in Time

It's getting tough for longtime Turtle fans such as I. Or, at least, on the cartoon side of things.

Before I say anything else, I need to say that this show started off with great promise, and continued to fulfill the greatness in episodes continuing from then. And, while I do acknowledge that there is a noticeable decrease in quality in Season 2, I still very much enjoyed the show. Season 3, the show's current season, is when things started to get hard to watch. The seasons' first 7 episodes had the Turtles in a familiar location throughout other iterations of the series -- the farmhouse in Northampton. The problem here is that rather than taking time to develop the characters and kick off a couple character arcs (which, besides Leo, the show refuses to do for whatever reason), we resort to more filler, and more Monster of the Week (MOTW) episodes, which we had already seen an abundance of in the previous season, so this style of episode had worn out its welcome by then.

The Creep (a.k.a: Unresolved Mutant Story #47)

Then, after a run of 7 episodes where only one had anything plot-related, and only one other that was actually fun, the show got back on track with its eighth and last episode in Northampton, Vision Quest. And man did that episode kick some serious shell. Immediately after, we get an abundance of episodes that felt like the show was really getting itself back in order. Then, the previous "Turtle Bomb", as I call it, came and went. Four episodes, one that was filler that would've been fun if it had gone anywhere, one where most of my hate from it comes from some lies talking about a Dark Raph arc from the show's producer, one that was just irredeemable crap, and one that was pretty good barring some repetition, which brings us to this week's episode, which is the introduction to longtime fan-favorite, Renet Tilley.

Renet's appearance in the 2003 4Kids series.

Now, to be fair, I never did see much of the 2003 series, and I'm not a big fan of tracking down a bunch of comic books to read them one time and then toss them aside, so I didn't really have much prior knowledge when it came to Renet's arc (which, I have heard, is a fan-favorite arc in the 2003 series), but the idea of this 2012 series is not to be solely fanservice to anyone who was previously introduced to the Turtles, though it does do it a lot, and brings a smile to my face. No, this show was primarily meant to introduce kids of today to the Turtles, which it has done very well so far.

So, naturally, if the show wants to excel at what it wants to do, it could tell me, who's never seen anything about Renet before, what her deal is in her debut episode. But, that's just this episode's main problem. The episode's entire introduction consists of the Turtles running on the rooftops, encountering Renet, Renet fangirling over the "Turtle Warriors of the Past", a thrown-together introduction of Savanti Romero, the episode's villain, and Renet using the time scepter she has to throw Savanti out of this time. Literally.

Stinks that there are no stills of this episode yet. Oh well, this art still kicks so much butt.

So, there you go. That's about as much information you're gonna get in this episode. Sorry, but gotta cram in a bunch of medieval crap that we already exhausted all the jokes we could get out of in Mazes & Mutants, which was already a mediocre episode as is. Yes, not soon after, an accident happens with the time scepter and the Turtles and Renet get sent to medieval times. At this point I was thinking that this was going to play out similarly to the incredible video game of the same name, and send the Turtles through different times. Unfortunately, we're spending the entire episode in the medieval times, and rather than make something clever out of it, the Turtles would rather wait around for this episode to be over. For a good 10 minutes or longer, the plot, unclear as it was anyway, comes to a screeching halt.

Oh yeah, and Mikey has this weird crush on Renet. One of those stupid "love at first sight" things. At least Donnie and Leo actually gave reasons for caring about April and Karai respectively (and in this very episode no less, which was, in my opinion, the highlight), but Mikey would rather take the shallow route, and literally give us no reason for liking her. He doesn't even say she's pretty or good-looking in the slightest. I mean, that'd be shallow, anyway, but it would at LEAST be a reason. Besides, the whole thing seems rather forced. One more reason to not care for Mikey in this series, I guess. I really wanted to like him, but he seemed to just go through a downward spiral in this series. Eh, better than the movie, who was a flat-out creeper from the get-go.

Anyway, Savanti shows up and steals the time scepter from Renet. ...Oh no? I mean, I get that the thing can alter reality itself, but the thing didn't get much buildup. The time spent on having the Turtles fight knights for no reason could have been used to, if not build up Renet or Savanti, at LEAST build up the time scepter's importance, so when Savanti does steal the time scepter, it at least has impact on the audience.

Property of Nickelodeon. If you didn't guess.

The entire rest of the episode consists of the Turtles and Renet chasing down Savanti. This ends with a particularly good action scene with a bunch of gears, ala a clock, but that's just what it is. An action scene. The animation is definitely great in this episode, I mean, Season 3 has shown a drastic improvement of the show's animation over, say, Season 1. But a really good action scene does not excuse lazy writing.

The episode ends with the Turtles and Renet defeating Savanti and getting the time scepter back. But, when Renet tries to port the Turtles home, some crazy time thing happens (again, no buildup, so not really much impact, hence why I don't quite remember what it was), and the Turtles are accidentally sent to modern-day Japan! Okay, this is interesting! They're surrounded by a bunch of ninjas! Oooh, how are they gonna get out of this one?!

Cliffhanger. It ends on a freaking cliffhanger.

Yes, the one time I was actually excited about the events of this episode, and it's not even in the episode itself. What a waste of an episode. I really want this show to pull up from its doldrums, I really do. But the interactions between the Turtles and Renet are simply awkward, and not the good kind, mind you, there isn't much tension between the audience and Savanti (but the show is clearly capable of creating this kind of tension, as seen with Shredder and The Kraang), and... that's about it. Yeah, the episode doesn't have much going on for it. I've never wanted to like a TMNT episode this much, but there's so much of nothing, it almost comes off as a filler episode, and yet, it's apparently supposed to be a large turning point of the central plot. All I can say is, this show better pull itself back together. Now, there's literally no way this next episode can be bad (when has the Turtles going to Japan EVER been bad, even in the 1987 series?), but I guess we'll see. For now, I'm going to go play a much better use of the name of this episode. See you all next time!

Ohhh it was Hell finding a physical copy of this game...

Episode Verdict

+  Leo's line about Karai

+  The action scenes, though!

+  A few good jokes here and there

+  The Japan Cliffhanger!

-  Renet, an interesting concept with an uninteresting execution

-  Awkward crush between Mikey and Renet

-  Awkwardness all around

-  A strange refusal to build up any important plot points

-  Staying in the Medieval setting throughout the episode, rather than using this episode's idea      to its full potential

Overall: 6/10

Steven Universe #63: Cry for Help

Something that I'm sure would be shocking to some people is why I didn't include Steven Universe on my normal lineup for reviews. This is because, at the time, the show simply wasn't impressing me. I can watch Gravity Falls and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and get easily sucked into their worlds. But, the thing about Steven Universe was that it was a very mixed bag for me. I thought the concept was incredibly creative and, as you would know if you even watched a single episode of the show, the characterization is superb. But, the writing always seemed a little distracted to me. I mean, I know that the show has to make 52 11-minute episodes each season, and there's only so much you can exhaust out of a concept even this creative, but, that's only this show's main flaw.

Garnet, a main protagonist, in the climax scene of "Future Vision"

Episodes like Future Vision are probably the best examples of what I mean. The idea for the episode is so amazingly good. It starts off very promising and its climax is priceless. However, its main problem? Everything else. After Garnet reveals to the titular character Steven that she has the ability to see different paths of the future (not just see THE future, see different paths. Interestingly unique way to go about it, animation wise!), we are subjected to a good 7-8 minutes (over half the episode) of nothing of substance happening. And, this is fine, as long as we get some good jokes. We get one actually funny joke, but most of the time, we're given good reminders on why comedy isn't at the forefront of Steven Universe.

Nevertheless, I did everything I could to give this show a shot. And the episodes themselves ended up becoming mixed bags. By that I mean, episodes like So Many Birthdays, Mirror/Ocean Gem, On The Run, and The Return/Jail Break are spectacular, and are good reminders of why this show is so well-known and respected. But then you have episodes like Lion 2: The Movie, Beach Party, Steven and the Stevens, Watermelon Steven, and even the show's debut episode Gem Glow that are good reminders why no one ever mentions them. That's the thing about Season 1 of this show. There's a dedicated fanbase that will stand by this show until the very end, but they refuse to ever mention the likes of episodes such as Steven's Lion that feel like you're watching a show of completely different quality.

So. Much. THIS!!

Season 2, on the other hand...

Clearly, times have changed, since I am now reviewing an episode of this show (and not only that, adding it to my main lineup). What has Season 2 done that delightfully improved the show over Season 1? Simple. It takes more time to make sure almost every episode is good. Now, even the episodes that are strictly filler and comedic are usually hilarious. And the continuity/story episodes have been knocked up about 11 notches. What was the final nail in the coffin for any doubts I originally had about Steven Universe? This beauty of 3 episodes, fitting together under one nice, neat arc. And I'm going to review all three to further show what makes this cartoon one of the greats.

We start off the episode, innocently enough, with a show within a show. Crying Breakfast Friends is the name, and it's a hilarious parody of the show it's within. And, well, the title says it all. It's a show about friends who cry a lot and just so happen to be breakfast foods. And the Crystal Gems' reactions to this show are nothing short of priceless. The signal of the TV, however, gets a little fuzzy, and it turns out to be because of Peridot! ...She's a recurring villain on this show if you're new. She's broadcasting a signal to all over Earth, signalling any Gems that may be colonizing Earth that she's stranded and needs to get back to Homeworld. The Crystal Gems quickly deduce that Peridot could only be broadcasting a signal like this at the Gem Communication Hub (a recurring location of the series), and even after being destroyed by Sugilite (a fusion between Garnet and Amethyst), it has been rebuilt. However, this time, instead of forming Sugilite, Garnet decides to fuse with Pearl to form-- oh my god, it's happening, is it?!

"Was I worth the wait?"

To be honest, though, Sardonyx, the result of this fusion, is a little bit irritating to me. I mean, she's very close to what would happen if you fused Garnet's personality with Pearl's personality. Thing is, though, Garnet is a very fun character on her own. Pearl is a very fun character on her own. Sardonyx, though, feels very stuck-up, and her voice... just... ugh. But I wouldn't be lying if I didn't say she didn't get a laugh out of me. "And yes, sometimes I am known to smash". Communication hub is down, yay.

And here we go with the Crying Breakfast Friends again, this time, foreshadowing what's about to happen in the episode. That's probably the best way to use these "show-within-a-show" things, and it was used subtle enough here so that your first time watching, you're not gonna catch that, but the second time, you're probably gonna say "Clever!" out loud... at least, I did.

Anyway, Peridot's signal comes in again, and when the Gems investigate the hub, it was, somehow, built once again... overnight! Pearl and Garnet fuse once again, and Amethyst (who goes the entire episode annoyed that Garnet is fusing with Pearl rather than her) sings a song, talking about her feelings of sorrow towards Garnet, and how she wishes she could make up for the Sugalite incident back in Season 1. In all honesty, though, this is the low-point of the episode. The song is very short (it doesn't even clock in a minute), and the lyrics aren't that powerful.

After this, we see Steven and Amethyst staking out the hub, to see exactly how Peridot's been able to fix the hub. After some top-notch banter, it's revealed that Pearl has been using Peridot's escape pod (that had previously been found by Steven) to fix the hub herself so that the can fuse with Garnet again. Amethyst and Steven tell Pearl as she and Garnet are about to fuse that she needs to tell her the truth. But, Garnet sort of figures it out on her own. And she... is less than amused.

Dang, Garnet, you scary!

After an amazingly satisfying outburst from Garnet that just hits all of the right notes, Garnet tells Amethyst to fuse with her, and Sugalite destroys the hub in one blow. Cut back to the Crying Breakfast Friends once again, this time, a little more annoying than they normally are, seeing as how we just had this emotional moment seconds ago, and plus, their crying lasts the rest of the episode, and it's... irritating. To say the least, anyway. We get a nice enough ending besides that and the episode ends.

I seriously changed my mind on Steven Universe after seeing this episode alone. And seeing as how it's only part 1 in a 3-part-series, all I can say is...

BRING IT ON!

Yes, but it was an overall fantastic episode that had all the right words, put all the characters in the spotlight, creates a well-done arc out of a character that is irritating, making Sardonyx a plot device, but, in this case, a good one. I'm excited to see what's next in this series, I'm excited to review the next two episodes I will review, and I guess I'll see you all next time!

Episode Verdict

+  Tension between Garnet and Pearl

+  Well-paced story and great comedy, out of the norm of some of Steven Universe's worst

+  Crying Breakfast Friends

+  Sardonyx creates a great arc, but...

-  ...she is a VERY annoying character.

-  Tower of Mistakes is definitely not this show's best song.

Overall: 8.5/10