Official Episode Discussion S4 Ep 15: City At War

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by 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.

I really like this episode, but I agree with Powder that it seemed a waste to use the "City at War" title on this one ep. However, I have a feeling the rest of the season will be City at War themed, so I'm not too disappointed. I'll even predict that the next DVD release will be titled "City at War" just like Season 4, Part 1 encapsulated the "Beyond the Known Universe" theme. Here's hoping anyway.

One neat homage to the original Mirage comics was Karai acting genuinely independent of Shredder in her efforts to reform the Foot Clan. Even the 4Kids show introduced Karai but did so as an ally of Saki who had a moral code. In that sense, the Nick show comes closer to the dynamics of the Mirage arc, in which Karai has her own motives that don't seem to involve advancing the goals of Shredder.