Official Episode Discussion S4 Ep 21: Darkest Plight

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

Oh god, I never noticed that. Time to sit back and wait for the Stranger Things jokes. However...why is this the only time there's blood in this episode? Between all the times of foot crushing and rat bites (which will bleed like a b****), this is the time that it shows up???

Maybe this is the only time they can sneak blood in and people won't question why its so little, like you said foot crushing and rat bites show a lot of blood but nosebleeds are basically "blink and miss"

[Haalix]

The intro changed as well with this episode. The turtles all wore black. Do you think that they will wear it in a real episode? I sure hope so, they looked really scary.

[ColinStein]

Much like most here, that episode was awesome and dark! I don't think I have anything to add to the conversation that hasn't already been said except... Where's Shinigami? Did I miss something important in previous episodes explaining why she isn't around?

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by Haalix

The intro changed as well with this episode. The turtles all wore black. Do you think that they will wear it in a real episode? I sure hope so, they looked really scary.

I guess they will be wearing it in the season final when they fight Super Shredder.

Why are they are wearing black gear?? for toys obviously but the other reasons, it could make them more tougher or they are in mourning, Splinter death maybe. Episode 25 is called Requiem, which we all know means a funeral.

[TLP]

Great episode, but this is way too dark for kids.

[ColinStein]

Originally Posted by TLP

This is becoming too dark for kids.

Your avatar is perfect for this comment.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by TLP

Great episode, but this is way too dark for kids.

Its not that dark, we haven't seen one of the turtles electrocuted someone to death.

[oldmanwinters]

Hey, the Splinter-Rat King aspect of City at War finally got an animated adaptation! Who would have thunk it?

[TLP]

Originally Posted by ColinStein

Your avatar is perfect for this comment.

Nah, I'm just a huge Ricky Gervais fan.

[Rukitron]

Super Shredder sort of shares more similarities to OT Mutagen Man than Timothy does. He has a heavy mutagen dependence and has similar burns and scars like the fleshy bits on OT Mutagen Man's limbs.

Poor Rat Dad he always ends up incapacitated and going through some form of hell each season.

[lonewarrior20]

i liked it. i almost was hoping to hear a parody of monty pythons sketch.
i'm not dead.
i'm getting better.
i feel fine.

[Powder]

An amazing episode overall. They adapted the CAW Rat King stuff quite well, & I like all the little changes/new stuff they did with it. The actual "rat king" mecha suit, if you will, hahaha, wow. So surprised they were able to pull of the darker/gross elements, props to Nickelodeon for allowing it. Great action, good emotion, been consistently dope so far, this arc.

Originally Posted by TurFlytle

Spoiler:

Something tells me that mutagen isn't just going to refill him. I think it's going to mutate him to an even more grotesque monster with hardly a coherent thought (and probably not speaking actual words anymore), which will lead to his demise.

I'm hoping for this too.

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Spoiler:

Oh, wow. Two righteous episodes in a row!

The beginning stuff with Splinter was brutal, especially the bite. I have a pretty bad fear of falling and they made that pretty freaky, especially him banging off of all the steel. Then his leg was so mangled!

The RK stuff was perfect, too. Whereas Splinter was born a rat in Mirage, it made sense that Yoshi didn't succumb and eat a rat. Although, in the comics it happened over the course of several days, so maybe he eventually would have cracked. So cool that they showed his skeleton! Makes "Of Rats and Men" even cooler in retrospect.

The rest of the stuff was awesome. Leo had some great combat moments, and Raph and CJ had a cool fight with B&R. I was so ready to see Karai finish Shredder, but I guess that won't be until the finale.

Oh, and new opening stuff! And Rise of the Turtles flashback! (Who voiced Leo for that?)

I give it a 9/10. Loses a point for Mikey, Bebop and Rocksteady being so annoying, and April being so powerful.

Great summary. April being OP & B&R too humor-heavy are my only issues too.

Originally Posted by Vicky82

Shocking moments in the episode

Super Shredder deformed arm
Splinter's broken Leg
Splinter putting his broken leg back in place with that bandage
The whole Rat King delusion
Rat King's skeleton
Blood coming out of April's nose
Leo getting beat up by Super Shredder
Karai punching Shredder in the heart and he throws up green stuff

Ok, why couldn't the movie be shocking and dark like this.

This is definitely where the series excels. That stuff was awesome.

Originally Posted by TLP

Great episode, but this is way too dark for kids.

Not at all. It's dark, but nothing too crazy. Action cartoons have had these sorts of things for 20 years.

Oh, and...

Originally Posted by TMNTInsighter

That means absolutely nothing. They're done with his character.

Originally Posted by TMNTInsighter

Cyber calm down for once and think!
What is the point of bringing him back now? How would he even play into next episode? The turtles aren't even going to go back down there seeing as how they've got quite a bit on their plate right now.

[ColinStein]

@Powder Thanks for those quotes! That's all I could think about when TRK started talking.

[CyberCubed]

Man, I didn't even notice the blood coming out of April's nose when she went all Jean Grey psychic...how the hell did they get away with that?

Shredder's gross deformed arm, Rat King's dead skeleton body, the rat monster, and all the violence with Shredder squeezing Leo....this was intense for a kids show. Definitely on the same level as 2k3 episodes.

Bebop/Rocksteady are also awesome, screw anyone who says they shouldn't have been in the Nick show. They're so fun to watch and very fun.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Bebop/Rocksteady are also awesome, screw anyone who says they shouldn't have been in the Nick show. They're so fun to watch and very fun.

Eh, Xever and Bradford were much better

[neatoman]

It was actually kind of nice to see the Rat King's survival training getting adapted, my only nitpicks with the adaptation is that Splinter never ate the rat and claiming it was a fever dream seems a little lame. Beyond that though, it's fine. It sadly didn't happen in the 4Kids series (there's a pretty good reason why it didn't but it's still unforunate it was omitted), so it was nice to finally see such a powerful moment from the comics make it in.

... So... Any ideas of what Shredder will turn into?

[TMNTInsighter]

*I've gotta stop reading those synopses, they are either inaccurate or over hyped. Same with Brandon Auman's assertions that this would be a game changing episode--if there was anything to indicate that, I didn't see it. Still, I'm not going to make so big a deal out of it due to how wonderfully done this episode was.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (B+)
It's been said that Tang Shen is the Uncle Ben of this franchise. Not that that's entirely a bad thing. For how little screen time she has gotten in this series, she has left the biggest impact. Just as Uncle Ben's wisdom and heart have helped Peter Parker saved countless lives, so it is with Tang Shen through Master Splinter and onwards to his "sons." Remember, as Splinter asserted in "Turtle Temper" and even in parts of "Tale of the Yokai", he was not a perfect man and had faults as a human being. Like the Fugitoid, his loss of his original human form is a punishment for past sins, but it's also become key to his redemption and it only happens in the wake of both mistakes and loss. Shen has never gotten this treatment in other TMNT incarnations and so props have to be given to this series for showing how much impact she's had in this series, even if her screen time has been scant.
Now why am I going on about her, when there's so much more to this episode than that? Even with Rat King's similar infamous appearance in the "City at War" arc, his appearance in "Darkest Plight" is still a surprise given his fate two seasons earlier as well as the predicament our protagonists found themselves in last episode. Despite being a ghost/hallucination, he still provides the most interesting part of the entire episode. The creators wisely dropped the mind control aspect (our first clue that he might not be alive, despite our eyes trying to tell us otherwise) and focused more on the act of driving Splinter mad via Splinter's own thought processes. The same has to be said for skipping over his infamous "City at War" act to drive Splinter to eat rats. Beyond demographic reasons, it shows a strong commitment to character that most other forms of entertainment (sometimes even cartoons) will sacrifice in exchange for shock and/or action.
And this is where Tang Shen most comes into play here. She and the Rat King are both memories now yet both provide different paths for Splinter to take. I once predicted that Splinter would follow a darker, vengeful path when he discovered what Saki tried to do in "Earth's Last Stand" and that he actually succeeded in "Annihilation: Earth!" No one would blame him surely, but it would also be understandable if he used what Saki did (and then tried to do 'again') and used it as a justification to not go down the same path. Here, it took Splinter forgetting Tang Shen, and then remembering her alongside his current family to break the spell. And then when he has finally broken free, he is still able to thank the Rat King upon discovering his body for reminding him of those who are still here and those who are not still here who have played a very important role in his life. It speaks very highly of his character that he felt and expressed gratitude in that situation. It shows just how much Splinter is at the heart of this series.
Speaking of heart, it applies to other characters as well, mostly Shredder and Karai. That Karai has the guts to step forward for Leonardo for a change and try to appeal to Shredder is disarming as well as how much Shredder's struggle for a family, even of one not his own, is weighing him down and how much he yearns to be loved even if it's undeserving. That's why, unlike Splinter, we don't need to see how Saki perceives Shen to understand his twisted longing. The fact that Karai has to literally attack his heart in order to defeat him is proof enough.
Now, with regards to the climax of Karai jabbing Super Shredder in the heart in order to defeat him, it must be said that this long developed wait is not unusual in these kind of circumstances. After all, Saw creator Leigh Wannell acknowledged the fact saying that viewers know going in that someone would hack their own limbs off with a hacksaw, it just took 90 minutes to get there. The same thing can also be said of the bullseye on Bullseye's forehead being too easy to miss. Hopefully, I've made the argument that, while the latter two have usually been taken in stride, this versions outcome has more symbolism to it and the way it's played out is more than justifiable.
Character moments also shouldn't be gone amiss as well. Casey Jones has a foolish entrance but makes up for it in making a fool out of someone else (and subsequently saving the day in a way) without breaking character. Tiger Claw also is able to see how much Shredder's drive and madness is hurting him, both in the Undercity and back at their new lair. The fact that he tries to deny Shredder the next mutagen batch (like Stockman last episode) also speaks highly of his character. Then again, he also displayed that sort of character in "Annihilation: Earth II" and look where that led.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by PApagreg

Eh, Xever and Bradford were much better

I liked them too, but they have gotten rather stale lately. Probably because nothing new has happened for either character in a long time.

... So... Any ideas of what Shredder will turn into?

Probably a giant deformed super-duper Shredder.

If you've played Resident Evil 2, he'll probably turn into what William was by the end of the game.

[Ashwolf]

awesome episode and finally starting to get close to my idea of a wicked tmnt version, loved the hallucination bit and the fight scenes though wish the bepop and rocksteady humor bits happened a bit less (though the rock-paper-scissors bit was hilarious cause of rocksteadys mentality)

Originally Posted by Vicky82

I guess they will be wearing it in the season final when they fight Super Shredder.

Why are they are wearing black gear?? for toys obviously but the other reasons, it could make them more tougher or they are in mourning, Splinter death maybe. Episode 25 is called Requiem, which we all know means a funeral.

after leos body getting crushed like that, guessing theyll be wearing the black outfits mainly because metal can take a bit more of a impact so they dont get hurt as badly

i just hope that there isnt more plot amnesia in the next episode cause getting over a broken foot and having part of your body crushed should take at least a few weeks if not longer

[Jester]

Originally Posted by TLP

Great episode, but this is way too dark for kids.

It did spook my 4 year old a wee bit, but he just came up to me and snuggled.