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Beautiful episode! It played out pretty much exactly as I imagined, and it was perfect! I feel like I need to put an exclamation point on every sentence!
First off, I really loved this backstory on Saki/Yoshi/Shen, and how it was made a lot more complex than previous tellings in the show. The final fight was intense and very well done. Oddly, Shredder didn't feel like a very bad guy until the last few minutes. Great accomplishment showing his side a bit more.
I loved that it was explained that the Hamato clan was the last surviving ninja clan and that they weren't needed any more. I had been feeling that the show sorely needed an explanation for ninja in the 21st century.
Very few problems with this episode, pretty much only that Shredder's voice seemed off. I expected that some of his voice's deep resoundingness (is that a word?) came from the echoes inside his metal helmet, or perhaps from injuries from the fire. I wish they'd altered his voice so that he sounded
more like a normal human before. I think he probably got his American accent and fluency in English from travel, because he seems to know his way around NYC well for someone, who in the show's timeline, has only lived there about a year.
Loved baby Miwa tugging on Leo's bandana.
My absolute favorite part was when the turtles were pretending to be kappa. The creepy vibe and the visuals in that scene were probably some of the best I've ever seen in the show. The best line of the episode was Leo saying "We will suck out your souls...through your BUTT!"
By the way, that is really part of Japanese mythology. The writers must have done their research.
I'm just confused as to why everyone spoke English most of the episode. In Japan, it is not a skill everyone has to speak fluent English, because it is not taught well or often enough. Whenever the Japanese characters spoke English when they weren't around the turtles, I always imagined they were speaking Japanese. I have a feeling the turtles know at least enough Japanese from Splinter. I really want to see them speak it more.
My rating: 9.5/10
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