Official Episode Discussion: "Virtual Reality Check"
 

Truth. Fact. Axiom.


Truth: We want this season to go well
Fact: Many are not happy with this season
Axiom: The fandom is entering a recession, and a subpar Anniversary.


In this week's episode, we find out that the boys have been taken over by the Shredder. They live in what they Think is reality, not knowing the truth.

The question I ask is this: How long have they been under this control? One day? One week? Ever since their first run in with Shredder? For all we know, they may Not have fought the Foot, may Not have found as much of Splinter's data as they thought...


I know many of you have been losing your enthusiasm over this season, with the storylines (or lack thereof). But after this episode, we get the final arc, and then *maybe* the mini-movie that will tie things up. I hate to see the end of this series, after meeting so many people Because of getting together to watch this show.

One of the issues I see is that we *know* what is going to happen in the episodes. Who here Hasn't read the leaked summaries? It takes away the intrigue of "What if?" and all we get is an anticlimactic disappointment. No suspense. I know that if I hadn't seen the summary for this week, It would have been much more interesting. No pre-conceived info that everything's fake, no hindsight, so to speak. The same thing happened with 'Bad Day', plot-wise... BUT, we didn't Know. We assumed it to be truth, making it much more dramatic to us the viewers.

We are unfortunately a jaded audience, with expectations of what an episode *should* be. What we consider should be Reality.

But the truth is.. well, you decide what Your truth is.



And even though the FF and BttS factions break out into war when I say it...


Hang in there and Stay Tuned.


((Thanks to Jester for helping me kill my writer's block ;) ))

So far so much better than last week, ugh please no more episodes of them stuck in video lames.
hah I love that Casey called Mikey Mickey, made me think of all the random new people who sign up here who spell his name that way.
Boy the turtles are dumb or is that the writers? Lol @ Donald & Gondola.
Ok I know I can't be the only person who totally had an old toon flashback with April in that Yellow outfit and driving the turtles new Van.
Had another old toon moment with Raph grabbing some random fire hose on a roof, saving Mikey and then climbing up the building.
Damn now this is sooo much better than last week, I love what Raph did to Cyber Shredder that was awesome.
I also really liked when Cyber Shredder sprouted all of those arms.
I'm honestly shocked Donatello is falling for all of this and that of all of them Mikey noticed first.
In the end it finally brought Shredder out this seriously shouldn't have taken them this long.
I'm really looking forward to next week now.

OPEN Sesame!

edit: :lol: Wow, you're quick!

hah I was sitting here refreshing, I work overnight so I really need to go lay down now ZZZzzzzZZzzz

Donny's face when he suddenly found out that he was still in cyberspace was hillarious!:lol::lol:

Even though most of this episode had that "been there, done that" feeling to it... I'm really pleased with it.

It was pretty funny, and I liked the fight. I thought it was cool seeing cyber-turtles fighting in the real world for some reason.

Only complaint is not enough emotion out of Casey's "death", but on the bright side: It's better than too much emotion.

A total 180 from last week's balderdash... and I think that the Shredder fight made the episode. If it was just them fighting in the cyberworld without knowing it until 5 minutes to the end, it would have been a weak copy of that 2K3 episode where everyone was about to die at the end.... I forget the title, but the one the Foot Mystics were screwing with the turtles' heads...

And all I can say:



I agree... Laughin' at Mickey and Donald. Of course, Don probably should have known Serling was a fake when he didn't say the word "Miscreants" at least once. I like the character and all, but he's wading deep in prospects of drinking games.

And, I'll just assume that April was originally going to lose control and crash into the wall more dramatically but the censors didn't allow it.

Now, had they done more Foot Fighting and less playful acrobatics....

Good episode.

I knew Shredder would finally be revived now.

Just saw the sneak peek for next week, both it and today's episode were good. At first I thought this episode was going to be a rehash of "Bad Day" (the one you were thinking about Drtooth) but thankfully that didn't exactly turn out to be the case. Raph's rescue of Mikey reminded me of "Die Hard" and I liked how they made good use of that black cat disguised as Shredder where it's only there for a second or two when the Turtles are up on the rooftops and then he comes back and you see it for what it was. And contrary to one of the other posters, they brought out the emotions of the Turtles pretty well, especially considering how much BTTS has held back as of late.
Pretty good fights with the Shredder too and I liked how they were able to use the old "mind over matter" (or body) lesson that's been common throughout TMNT history--especially when you consider that the whole season has been just cyber this and cyber that, but here they're able to bring both together. Pretty good twist at the end too in which the Foot are able to finish the portal even w/o Don finishing it for them.

As for the preview, the opening was pretty good. Shredder showing off his ture ninja skills even though he's a cyber replica. And I NEVER thought I'd see a Hun vs. Shredder fight! I doubt Don'll get his first date with April while touring cyberspace with her and I wonder what'll happen when they realize what's going on. And might I add that the chaos music was really professional and great! Leo tutoring Mikey on the rooftops was good too as was their hoped rescue of the train car, even though I question what Leo meant for Mikey to turn on the emergency brake 'cus surely I don't really think he meant in front of the passengers. And it was a little funny (mostly 'cus Mikey screamed back) how someone supposedly in a costume becomes their biggest worry...
Really looking forward to how this plays out next Saturday. Thanks for reading.

today's episode was ok, but it should've happened weeks ago. I never thought I'd see Shredder escape the cyber world. Ok, so April talks with Casey's voice, and the Turtles still think she's the real April? The cyber stuff is starting to get redundant and old...I'm kinda glad this wasn't a 26 episode season.

Dude, not only did they have very much time to question it, they also didn't believe Mikey when he said that the building moved, and she was about to (and did) die.

What a rush...

Hey, in the OT, Donatello talked with Raph's voice, and Leonardo talked with Mikey's voice, Don and Raph's voices kept changing and no one knew anything was wrong! :kgrin:

I thought the episodes so far this season were okay. But this one was painful to watch!

Does anyone have the link for the preview of next week's espisode? I've been looking for it on CW.kids and I can't even find teh TMNT page. Thanks!

I see this episode as Bad Day done right. Also agree they brought out more emotions of the turtles. Hell, this probably the only episode I can think of in the entire run of the series that actually brought out their emotions after a death, or at least felt more real.

It's that time again...
To clean our underpants?
To floss?
No, it's time for Jester's Running Commentary!!

Well frak!! That was a major sneaky idea of Shredder! Now he's in the real world and gonna cause major trouble next week!!

But the thing is...the foot made it so that the turtles were familiar with everything right down to their lair. Does this mean Shredder knows where the turtles live??

Next week: Remember that ep of the OS or even the issue of TMNT Adventures where tech was running amok and April saved the day by pulling the plug? Yeah...it's like that....only with subway trains...

What do you mean "done right"? That episode was done right too, it's one of my favorites.

It was a good episode. The cyber world stuff is starting to get old, but as said the season is pretty much over now so it doesn't matter.

If there is a Season 8 I hope the cyberworld stuff is replaced by something new.

This episode was pretty good. I'm glad it got into the more exciting aspects and was what most wanted to see. Shredder's starting to seem like a greater threat, which is remaining interesting. I wonder how things will play out next week regarding Shredder being a threat. Hopefully he'll be quite a challenge for the Turtles, much like previous episodes.

The action was mostly what I expected, but in a good way. The cyber aspect didn't seem to bother me a second time because it didn't seem like there was too much of a focus on it.

All in all, I was pleased with this episode even though there could've been a tad bit more humor, but I can kinda see why there wasn't. Next week's looks good, especially regarding Casey and Shredder.

Well. I hadn't seen the spoilers, so I didn't really have many expectations... though, like "Bad Day", you know something must not be right. The Shredder is not likely to enter the real world as an arthropod, when he can make a big dramatic entrance all at once - where's the drama in that? :P Never mind all the other little slip-ups... those were kind of fun, though. (Mickey? Donald? ...no, I'm not completing that thought... ;))

Not my favorite, but not so bad, in keeping with the new angle of the season. Maybe it's an animator thing... but what enthused me the most was Don working in the lair, and it suddenly ripping back to cyberspace. The change of color, Serling and the tools disappearing, his expression... very nice. :)

For Zarius' sake, I will quit whining about Karai's lack of existence... but I hope it's clear that I do because there is a huge lack of information about just where this Khan guy came from (when the music is your only clue... more information requested! http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y73/Zakiyah/blink.gif), and where she went. Bishop (as concerns some others here) is more understandable... he's a busy guy, and the issue with Baxter aside (freelancing?), I'm sure he's doing his dubious works elsewhere. But having the Foot hanging around, being 'rebuilt', with a new leader... something big happened there somewhere, and we don't get to know, nyah. It's a frustrating gulf in continuity. :-?

*reading other posts* 'Gondola'? Is that what he said? Thought he said it funny... and I was looking askance at the voice actor for mispronouncing it, when he's had that line how many times? My apologies to Marc Thompson. :goofygri: Apparently I'm slow on the uptake today... the lack of sense makes so much more sense now.. :lol:

I'm tired of the cyber world stuff. Otherwise, the episode was okay. Nothing special. They need to find Splinter already and get back to the glory days of the first 5 seasons.

Really good episode from what I heard it was going to be just a ripoff of Bad Day but it really was. It did feel familure like a combination of the Turtles Utrom computer adventure and Bad Day. Heh liked the glitches like the moving building and gondala guess Khan's research wasn't perfect. Also wondering if Shredder is secretly a disney fan Mickey and Dondald. The Cyber Shredder fight was also cool loved Raph's big super punch wished they used there chi powers like that in the Lost Season. My only real complaint is they should have done this episode alot sooner instead of waste time on playing Wold of Warcraft. I mean really it took this long to get Shredder out.

i missed this epiosde because I over slept. second saturday in a row I've done that. Whatr episode number is this?

Season 7 Episode 10...:p

ahh so there is three episodes yet to go. The next three should be kickass!

No it wasn't. The plot twist was given away within 5 minutes and the tension immediately evaporated. When April and Casey were "killed" in the Battle Shell, Splinter and Raph's little exchange already spoiled it. Plus, the lack of emotions when their friends were killed.

This episode actually dwells on death just long enough for you to feel it without dragging it on. Granted, this episode made it pretty obvious when April killed herself, but the twist on how they do it and why they did it was quite good. It's not solved by it being simply a dream, and the bad guys actually accomplished their goal using this trick.

Oh yeah, I kinda cringed when Mikey did his tornado attack on the Shredder. Gave me bad flash backs of the lost season's "fight" scenes.

i liked the episode. it was cool and funny how shredder tried out some nicknames but said them wrong. i especially thought it was funny how casey goes "goondala" or something like that. i just hated when they put the 2k3 theme that goes like "duh duh duh duh duh duh duh deeeeer" :lol: and it wasnt even the ending. overall i give this episode a 4/5

It was a good episode, but I was kinda hoping they'd have splinter back before Shredder got into the real world.

just watch it. it was a oh k episode not bad, not great. About time they got shredder out. now if they got splinter at the same time then it will be awesome. The "deaths" were played out well. I find it funny that in two episodes Mikey was the smart one, not the dumb one. I'm surprised that they didn't add Hun with the purple dragons. It would've been better if Hun "killed" Casey instead of some random purple dragon. It felt kind of rushed to me but it was a good episode. Can't wait for next weeks.

Yeah, I'm pissed Karai hasn't shown up. What the Shell?:x

Well you know. She does have a job as the leader of the foot clan in Japan... either that or she married Chaplan and retired from Foot duties.

I just watch this episode today fantastic Shredder is finally out i hope Don doesn't go back to being angry for helping him get out.

Yeah, because the last thing we need in "happy dappy cartoon land" is any angsty drama from fictional characters you shouldnt think are...y'know...real.

Married the man she loved and settled down. Want more? Watch an older season.

Well, this episode was an improvement over the past several episodes, but still not enough to impress me beyond a simple "eh". The two things I liked were Leonardo actually seeming somewhat intelligent again when he started putting everything together and Shredder being out in the real world, which (I pray) will be the end of the entire Cyber malarky. I have had more than my fill of that junk and those cursed cybernaught uniforms. If they fight their next battle in a cybernaught or stealth uniform, I am going to officially label the entire BTTS series as nothing more than a cruel joke.

::mocking narrator voice:: Next weekend on BTTS, watch as Leo and Mikey stop a train! Will they be able to stop it? Will Mikey scream like a girl? Will Leo act like an actual leader again? Will Jack even give a flying rat's @$$ anyways if they dare to include yet another battle where the turtles wear special uniforms? Find out next Saturday morning!
Jack

Yeah, wasnt a big fan of this one, it's been done to death. People are overrating it just because it had "shocks" that werent really shocks at all. The Turtles at least caring a little for the death around them was better than their lack of reaction in "Bad Day", but they still came off as total idiots in some scenes. I liked that Donatello's angst also has a fresh reason to begin again, rather than lament the loss of Splinter, he'll lament the possible loss of more than one life because of his actions.

666
 

-->> ..absolutely ..

totally diggin' Shredder's abilities too !!


This is one of the wildest versions of Shredder ..

seemlessly powerful..


goddamm he's soooooooooooooo cool !!




>v<

I think people are also overrating this one because they didn't just act like children for a full half hour like last week's episode. Than and the fact they finally had Shredder come out.