This week's Ninja Turtles featured some more of that ass-kicking good time that last week brought us. Only two episodes in and I'm already used to the new voices and the new look of everything. I'm pretty sure that in a couple of more weeks, I'll never be able to see the old series in the same way again. This one supersedes it in every way. I've been waiting a long time for a new action series to come along that wasn't a craptacular anime that I despise with a passion (Ultimate Muscle is an ultimate waste of time ... Dragon Ball Zzzzzz?). The fight scenes in the new Turtles are freakin' hyper with a bunch of split screens and moving backgrounds. If you haven't seen the first two episodes, besides deserving a smack in the mouth, you need to start tuning in! (Fox Box on Saturdays.)
So what happened in the latest episode (Feb. 15)? Donatello modifies the armored truck the Turtles stole from the Purple Dragons and he turns it into a combat vehicle that would shred the old Party Wagon. We meet Baxter Stockman and his assistant, April O'Neil. That's right, April is an assistant to a scientist, not a Channel 6 investigative reporter. She dresses like quite the slut for a scientist, especially compared to Baxter with his shirt and tie. But that's another story. Baxter is revealed to be in cahoots with the Shredder (who is still being kept a mystery) and when April finds out about the mass production of Mousers, Baxter sics them on her. The chase leads to the sewers where the Turtles are slicing and dicing other Mousers. They save April, she sees them, and guess what? She faints. Splinter is going to be pissed that the Turtles have once again let themselves be seen by humans. To be continued ...
As the story moves forward, we see more and more similarities to the comic book origins.
April and Baxter are on the news demonstrating how the Mousers can hunt down rats like the ... rats that they are.
Here, April realizes Baxter's evil plot while she accompanies him on the elevator. She's also dressed more conservatively. In the series, April rides the elevator on her own after Baxter supposedly leaves for the evening. The end result is the same, though, as Baxter wants April dead. She knows too much.
As April runs through the sewers trying to escape the Mousers, it's the Turtles to the rescue! In the series, it's the same deal. But unlike in the comic, the awesome foursome was already nearby shredding up other Mousers that were trying to turn them into Turtle soup.
Vintage April, baby. No matter what the origins, the poor lass faints when she first sees the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
