Official Discussion Topic: S5 E10 - Lone Rat and Cubs

[Darth Knuckles]

This was a wonderful episode! The baby turtles were cute and it was a great story for Splinter. It was very cool to see him transition from Hamato Yoshi and sort of accept his fate as a rat and gain the confidence to raise the turtles as his second chance at having a family. It was great to finally see how Raph got his cracked shell as well. Tough little Raph! It was really neat that Kevin Eastman wrote this episode. It reminded me of the first season of this Nick series and also the Mirage comics so that seems fitting.

[CyberCubed]

Was that a Kill Bill reference when that horn started beeping and the screen went red when Splinter got really angry over Raph's shell getting chipped? For those who saw the Kill Bill movies the same thing happens when the main character gets angry and wants to kill her target.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Was that a Kill Bill reference when that horn started beeping and the screen went red when Splinter got really angry over Raph's shell getting chipped? For those who saw the Kill Bill movies the same thing happens when the main character gets angry and wants to kill her target.

Yes/no.

The sirens in Kill Bill are the opening to the theme to Ironside, a crime drama from the late 60's/early 70's, not only is the song recycled but that sequence itself is also borrowed. A lot of old kung fu & exploitation films from the same period would have stare-downs set to wailing sounds, basically signifying that sh*t is about to pop-off.

No idea if the credit for that moment goes to Eastman or a storyboard artist or whoever else but odds are it's more of an homage to martial arts cinema in general as opposed to Kill Bill, which as with all Tarantino works, is a pastiche.

Either way I thought it was a great inclusion!

[ToTheNines]

Splinter was totally killing all of those Kraang in the sewer. He was mostly slicing right at the torso and none of them ran away squealing like they normally do.

And if you look closely, you can see the he chopped one in half vertically. It's the one he cuts down right before the one Norman comes after the turtles in the cart and Splinter yells "leave them be!"

[BubblyShell22]

Originally Posted by Faster and Cheaper

Fun episode and super cute. I know people were a little off put at first but I was pretty confident that people would turn around and see how cute they were.

This was the first red team episode, team Raphael to be exact. Long overdue as this was the first episode worked on after the Kavaxas arc. They did a great job and they got another episode to come. From my own experience I slightly helped out here. Nothing big as usual but I remember some specific shots that I helped with layout or fixes and a few other minor stuff.

The action was good as usual and it was great to see Splinter for the last time. And we got to see a lot of sides to him in the half hour which is great. His strength, his fears, regrets, humor, and kindness. I haven't watched the pilot in a long time and I remember thinking when I first saw the rough cut of this episode way back when and thought it might muddy continuity. But it seems that isn't too much of the case.

Wait, you worked on the show? Cool! I never knew that!

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I must have completely forgot about that then. After the Nick show ends I'm going to have to marathon through all 5 seasons at once, I really need to give the show a proper viewing again when it's all said and done.

Yes, it seems you have forgotten that. But at least I was here to remind you.

Originally Posted by Kit31

Did anyone else tear up when the Turtles were swimming Splinter to their new home? It just gave me shades of the end of "Requiem" when the Guys were all carrying Splinter back to the Shellraiser. It almost seemed like a "full circle" moment to me.

Yes, I certainly did and I did feel it was a full circle moment as well.

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by Kit31

Did anyone else tear up when the Turtles were swimming Splinter to their new home? It just gave me shades of the end of "Requiem" when the Guys were all carrying Splinter back to the Shellraiser. It almost seemed like a "full circle" moment to me.

They were almost in the exact same position too





It was only Donnie and Mikey that were swapped round but are on the same side.

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Splinter was totally killing all of those Kraang in the sewer. He was mostly slicing right at the torso and none of them ran away squealing like they normally do.

And if you look closely, you can see the he chopped one in half vertically. It's the one he cuts down right before the one Norman comes after the turtles in the cart and Splinter yells "leave them be!"

I screen capped it

[IndigoErth]

Great episode, nice to see it touch on various things. And good seeing Splinter one last time. Adorable tiny Turtles. Don't really understand the lack of eye color - just an artistic choice I guess - but adorable.

This one is a stand alone episode, I assume? Wish there was more to it.


Also, I kinda always figured they really hadn't only been eating worms and algae all those years...

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Don't really understand the lack of eye color - just an artistic choice I guess - but adorable

I thought the same thing.

Also the Kraang's DNA scanner not working underground did not make sense.

Advanced alien tracking device is no match for the walls of the NY city subway system and sewers.

It was a good episode though.

[ABrown]

This might just be my favorite episode of the series. It was very emotional to see what Hamato Yoshi's struggles were like early on after becoming a rat. Also, I really like episodes featuring the Kraang. Whatever happened to them? Are they even still around in present time?

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by ABrown

This might just be my favorite episode of the series. It was very emotional to see what Hamato Yoshi's struggles were like early on after becoming a rat. Also, I really like episodes featuring the Kraang. Whatever happened to them? Are they even still around in present time?

Agreed!

Kraang Prime was killed by the Triceratons in the season 3 finale, along with Sub-prime. Then history repeated itself in Earths Last Stand, but I'm not sure if Sub-prime died this time because he was flung into the Mirage universe at the end of Trans Turtles.

Ever since Prime died, the hive mind effect wore off and they all reverted back to regular Utrom. Pretty sure they addressed that in When Worlds Collide.

[BubblyShell22]

I don't know if all of them reverted back though. Some of them could have gone rogue and are still out there.

And it does make sense that the scanners wouldn't work as this was probably the first time they were used and hadn't been perfected yet.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

I don't know if all of them reverted back though. Some of them could have gone rogue and are still out there.

No reason to believe that. We haven't seen a single Kraang since the space arc. Only Utrom.

[CyberCubed]

There's a small possibility of Kraang sub-prime appearing in the 80's Turtles crossover arc since he's Krang's "cousin" apparently, but if we don't see him there than his last appearance was falling into the Turtle Prime universe. He probably wouldn't survive there very long as the Turtles there are killers.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

No reason to believe that. We haven't seen a single Kraang since the space arc. Only Utrom.

Also worth noting out that Bishop acknowledged the Kraang were still a threat in "When Worlds Collide" when he realized they brainwashed the Newtralizer.

I predict that if the Mirage turtles make another cameo in the upcoming crossover, then Kraang Subprime will also make a cameo setting him up for the series finale where he and Kraang Prime are the main antagonists. So far, the the villains of each finale have been:

1. Showdown (Foot, Krang)
2. The Invasion (Foot, Krang)
3. Annihilation Earth (Triceratons, Foot, Krang)
4. Requiem + Owari (Just the Foot Clan)

Since the Kraang missed out on one finale, I expect the last one to be dedicated to them solely since the Foot Clan are no longer a threat and the Triceratons have been completely eliminated). Plus, they were the main villains in the 1st episode, so I think its fitting to end with them.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

Also worth noting out that Bishop acknowledged the Kraang were still a threat in "When Worlds Collide" when he realized they brainwashed the Newtralizer.

I didn't interpret it that way. The brainwashing had already happened long ago. Bishop was just pointing out the irony of him doing the dirty work of his former captors.

[ABrown]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

We haven't seen a single Kraang since the space arc. Only Utrom.

Yeah, that's what I had thought. Really does seem most likely that the threat of the Kraang is 100% over.

[CyberCubed]

Kind of ironic then that Fred Wolf Krang, the original Krang, would be the last "Kraang" to appear in the show.

The one who started it all. Before him Utroms were just benevolent creatures.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Kind of ironic then that Fred Wolf Krang, the original Krang, would be the last "Kraang" to appear in the show.

The one who started it all. Before him Utroms were just benevolent creatures.

Also ironic that the last Shredder to appear is 80s Shredder and not the Nick version.

[CyberCubed]

Yes, it is doubly ironic. Even more ironic given Kevin Michael Richardson is voicing him too since he did Nick's Shredder, rather than going with any other voice actor who could theoretically imitate the original Shredder's voice.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Yes, it is doubly ironic. Even more ironic given Kevin Michael Richardson is voicing him too since he did Nick's Shredder, rather than going with any other voice actor who could theoretically imitate the original Shredder's voice.

Regarless of how Shredder and Krang are wrapped up, I think no one will get a better final appearance than Bebop and Rocksteady. They not only get to meet their classic counterparts, but they even get to wear their outfits and from we've seen, it seems like they will be legitimate threats in the upcoming episodes.