Official Episode Discussion S4 Ep 15: City At War

[Vicky82]

April faces a deadly, new enemy when she graduates to full Kunoichi; the Turtles must deal with the return of some old foes.

Yay we are back after a long hiatus.

The Turtles are back and back in New York, Karai returns and she has a new friend Shinigami.

The Episode is up on I Tunes.

[Redworld96]

Watched it. It's the first episode of season 4 I have really enjoyed from the beginning to the end.

Spoiler:

-Karai's finally back! That's all we need
-Shinigami is clearly an interesting character. I hope we're going to see her often.
- So Shredder was really injured. And man that ending ..... hype!
- I will talk about "Dark April" once the episode airs on Nick

[Vicky82]

Holy **** that was awesome.

Shinigami is awesome
Loved the fights in this episode especially the 1 on 1 fights.
ICK is cute as always
The Dragons tail
April isn't as powerful yet as she couldn't beat Shinigami. Also Raph said there are 7 more grades to do.
Shredder and his henchman have abandoned the old lair and in a new lair outside the city, which is a nice house.
Super Shredder is coming.

[JH24]

^ It's great to hear you both enjoyed the episode. Makes me excited for it.

I'm beginning to realize now how much I've missed this series. The Space Arc certainly had some good episodes, but I'm just glad we're back in New York.

[The_Walkman]

YES!!! Awesome!! Hyped you dawgs enjoyed it.

GONNA be watching it all day 2morrows

[Vicky82]

Shredder pics, i'll put under spoilers.

Spoiler:

[Fang Wolf]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

Shredder pics, i'll put under spoilers.

Spoiler:

https://67.media.tumblr.com/21f51b9f...6kxdo1_540.jpg

https://66.media.tumblr.com/d6620536...6kxdo3_400.jpg

https://66.media.tumblr.com/366e5d6a...6kxdo5_400.jpg

https://67.media.tumblr.com/912cdfb9...6kxdo6_400.jpg

https://67.media.tumblr.com/5201c291...6kxdo7_540.jpg

Yeah, Shredder is back.
That was good EP

[Powder]

This one just did not do it for me. How are you gonna name an episode after arguably the greatest TMNT story ever told & have it focus on her many abilities & insecurities? I realize it's an homage in name only, but c'mon, save that for something else. April is straight up OP. I'm glad Raph had something to say about it, at least. I've really come to dislike the liberties this show sometimes takes with respect to X kicking Y's ass for the sake of plot convenience. April besting Tigerclaw, Shinigami besting all 4 turtles & April, just generally turning villains into pushovers (& super goofy ones, at that), etc. Some of it can be explained away or even justified but in this case it felt forced. Splinter's secret technique is a kick to the groin? "Right in the fur-pouch!" was pretty funny, anyway. Shredder is that badly messed up from Splinter's frenzy in the last episode? I re-watched the fight, it's not one I'd have expected Saki to be in critical condition over, let alone requiring mutagen to get better/live. Their temporary housing is cool, very familiar. Can't place it just yet.

It did bring some interesting things to the table, such as Shinigami (whose design I love, I am curious to see what she does), Karai trying to take lead of The Foot Clan, & the potential for more interaction between her & Splinter. I enjoyed seeing the return of ICK & Cheesicles, too. I dunno, maybe this had some hype to live up to, in my mind, after the long ass hiatus & infamous episode title, & it didn't quite meet the mark. I guess I can expect at least a little more of the same, considering the opening revealed that the Elite Guard I was so excited to see, are robots. Oh well, just glad it's back. Can't wait to see what comes as a result of Shredder's absence.

[The_Walkman]

YO POWDA. I DonT GET IT?

STOP WHINING ABOUT THE TV SHOW. THEY PUT WORK INTO IT, UNLIKE YOU AND YO LYFE BOI.

ELITE GUARD ROBOTS ARE OFF DA CHAIN. CANT WAIT TO SEE THEM IN ACTION. BETTER THAN BEING HUMAN TRASH BAGS

[Vicky82]

I can understand were Powder was coming from, it seemed like the wrong title for this episode but it does looks like it's the start of the City At War arc, with episodes coming up like Broken Foot and Mutant Gangland. Also with things said in this episode that gangs and the super villains moving in on Shredders turf and Leo saying things will get worse and Karia said she's going to claim this city as well.

[Fang Wolf]

Originally Posted by Powder

Can't wait to see what comes as a result of Shredder's absence.

Same here...
Come he be Super Shredder now?

[Powder]

I feel like it'll probably be a few episodes before they reveal his newly mutated form, but who knows. I'm surprised they went into that (albeit briefly) right away. Figured it'd be something saved for the finale, if not closer to it.

[NinjaMan]

Quick question for you guys, since they appear to be going the super shredder route is this the final season for the character? Really surprised they are doing this he was already powerful as it was. Ok episode didn't care for the focus on April and not a fan of the new villain girl.

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by NinjaMan

Quick question for you guys, since they appear to be going the super shredder route is this the final season for the character? Really surprised they are doing this he was already powerful as it was. Ok episode didn't care for the focus on April and not a fan of the new villain girl.

I think Super Shredder will reveal himself a few episodes before the season final, maybe the 100th episode.

[ToTheNines]

Man, I really missed the show. It was gone too long.

But yeah, a lot of what Powder said. Mainly, why even call it City at War? It wasn't an offensive halfass adaption like the 4kids version, but it was just a waste of the namesake.

Shinigami was very cool. She looks like a Sophie Campbell drawing, and Yeo is a great VA for her.

Also very confused by Shredder's condition... I thought Splinter just nailed him in a couple of pressure points and pieced him up. Did we miss an episode?

Last gripe... Xever needs to go. He's making Dos Equis guy jokes and perving on April. The writers just need to sweep him under the rug if it's come to this.

Glad the show is back, let's hope it runs straight into season 5.

EDIT: Yeah Powder, that new foot hideout is a reference to another show/movie. But I'm currently blanking on it.

[ObiWanFan4life]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Man, I really missed the show. It was gone too long.

But yeah, a lot of what Powder said. Mainly, why even call it City at War? It wasn't an offensive halfass adaption like the 4kids version, but it was just a waste of the namesake.

Shinigami was very cool. She looks like a Sophie Campbell drawing, and Yeo is a great VA for her.

Also very confused by Shredder's condition... I thought Splinter just nailed him in a couple of pressure points and pieced him up. Did we miss an episode?

Last gripe... Xever needs to go. He's making Dos Equis guy jokes and perving on April. The writers just need to sweep him under the rug if it's come to this.

Glad the show is back, let's hope it runs straight into season 5.

Same here. Although I think I enjoyed it more than you.

[GoldMutant]

Wow... just wow, I don't know if I should be angry, happy, or just fed up. So many emotions of positive and negative, but for the first time in ages, time to talk Nick Turtles.

First up, the good: the fight scenes, especially April vs Shinigami, were really good. Frantic and chaotic, something I feel that was missing from the space arc.

Outside the action though, there's really not too much I can say was great. The interaction between the team was cute prior to Shinigami's entrance in addition to April hugging Splinter, there was slight foreshadowing with the city's great criminals in competition, and if anything else the direction of Karai is decent. Finally, Karai gets an actual story... after nearly two seasons of near nothing.

As for negatives, in my opinion it feels with so much plot progression, it's trying to be better than the space arc. Unfortunately, though it's certainly better than the majority of said arc, it relies heavily on plot convenience from Earth's Last Stand and retreading previous plots to say "Hey, you remember this?" Material like that annoys me, and nowhere is that more apparent than April now a kunoichi and Shredder on the death bed.

Discussing April is one of the most difficult topics of the Nick series to me, some welcome the changes, some don't. Even with Raph's remark of higher levels, I have to agree with Powder: April is borderline OP. Despite my mention of the fight with Shinigami, it feels that April's abilities vary in quality, there's no actual limit. Now for her to kick Tiger Claw in the groin (seriously Splinter?) and beat him... what? Even with April having control somewhat over her psychic abilities, why is she a kunoichi when it's barely been mentioned ever since Kraang Conspiracy? (if there's a more recent mention, correct me)

As for Shredder, the only reason I buy his injuries is Splinter's technique hitting several vital organs. Otherwise, it is literally forced.

Overall, it's certainly not City at War as of this time, it just feels like a name drop to get in an audience. The episode just feels there for me, not bad, not good but more mixed than anything. It's a good open to returning to New York, but even with new concepts it feels like the old is taking a step back. About a 6/10 or a 6.5 at best for me.

Also, Shinigami's cool, just not a fan of the witch hat and wish she had more to do. Maybe next time.

[ToTheNines]

@obiwanfan I did enjoy it. The fights were great, and I was happy to have Splinter, Karai and ICK back. And April's tessen/tanto combo makes for a cool visual.

Also really loved the wide-screen before the theme song. I wish the whole series looked like that.

[NinjaMan]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

I think Super Shredder will reveal himself a few episodes before the season final, maybe the 100th episode.

But is this his last season?

[GoldMutant]

Originally Posted by NinjaMan

But is this his last season?

Not confirmed right now mate; if I recall, at one of the panels this year (maybe it was last year), Kevin Michael Richardson mentioned Shredder's character having a greater role. My memories are a bit foggy though, but it was somewhere around those lines.