The Turtles faces a group of mushrooms that have the ability to spread spores that causes the infected to hallucinate their fears! Basically the Turtles meeting Scarecrow.
The episode opens with a scene where April and Casey are hanging out before entering the sewers to meet the Turtles. What I liked about that particular scene is that it takes place on daylight. Not only that, the city is more lively than before. It’s really refreshing to see a different incarnation of the same shot. And what’s surprising is that the whole episode takes place during the daylight!
However that does not mean that the Turtles will fight under the sunlight, as the action takes place completely under the sewers, and that means it’s still dark. To be honest I would like to see a change once in a while. It will probably happen though.
And you know how these shows aired parodies of Star Trek and Super Sentai and tokusatsus in general? Well this time they take it a bit more with Mikey saying that the original, Japanese version is way better and gorier. This is a reference to the Power Rangers-Super Sentai wars that said Sentai is better than PR, and also refer to that dubs almost always cut some scenes that are deemed ‘inappropriate’. It’s a really nice reference.
This episode deals with how the Turtles are facing their fears, and due to the nature of the show, they way they are overwhelmed by their fears are often comedic in tone. But surprisingly, a habit that I saw more often during this season is that the show often includes horror elements to the show. Not parodying, but literally make it scary. And it worked balancing both the comedy and the horror to make it suitable for kids to watch or else parents will complain.
The enemies in this episode is the aforementioned mushrooms that spreads ‘Fear Gas’ as its main weapon. It’s refreshing to see new enemies even though they are mutations, as fighting the Krang and the Foot are getting tiresome even though they haven’t move the plot yet. And the fact that the enemies this time is not a typical brawler makes it an interesting challenge for the Turtles to fight.
But one thing though. One thing. WHY THE HELL DID THESE MUSHROOMS HAVE ASSES?! It’s like the elaborate dick easter egg in Man of Steel, and more infamously The Little Mermaid.
Surprisingly this episode is ultimately a Leo-centric episode, as he was the only one left during the climax, and it focuses on his fear of letting his teammates down and losing them. Truth to be honest the facing your fears thing is played lightly in this episode. I get that they wanted to show you to face your fears by not giving up, but it’s just a show, not tell.
As such while the episode is refreshing in certain areas it’s mostly passable, because this is a filler episode. Watch it if you want to see the Turtles facing something that’s not Krang or the Foot, but otherwise skip it.
SengalBoy 