TMNT "Turtles in Space, Part 5: Triceraton Wars" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

We are at last at the finale of the Turtles in Space arc, I for one am glad its over as the arc was getting boring. Anyway, how will the Turtles get home, what will become of the Fugitoid? Watch today to find out.

[RZetlin]

I felt that the battles were too drawn out.

The Star Wars and Star Trek references were quite amusing.

It would it interesting to see what happens in the next episode with the Federation troops and Triceratons are back on earth.

But since the Utroms have their own teleporter then the Federation and Triceratons doesn't need Prof. Honeycutt anymore.

Rating: 3.5/5

[Simpler Simon]

Glad that's over with. All that running around and worrying and it turns out the Utroms get them back. So much for Fugitoid's teleportal. What a waste of episodes.

-The only mildly surprising point was that it wasn't the slave Triceraton who got zapped back to earth, but 3 nameless soldiers (and 3 federation soldiers too). If you've read the listings on the official site, you know a Triceraton shows up in later episodes. I kept figuring it would be the slave guy.

-Oh: and the Star Wars reference was okay.

[Dr. Daedalus]

This was the first full episode of the new TMNT cartoon that I saw. Can't say I'll tune in every week, but it had its moments, particularly how the robot acted like C-3PO, right down to the "Oh dear!" And maybe I'm out of it, but what was the deal with the tubes coming out of the turtles' mouths?

[Sharklady]

> And maybe I'm out of it, but what was the deal with the tubes coming out of the turtles' mouths? <

Their Triceraton captors provided those, to give the Turtles enough oxygen to breath, since the Triceraton atmosphere has a much different gas-composition than Earth's. They're probably kicking themselves for it now.

I actually like this version of the story better than the original comic; it has more good jokes (*loved* the way the commentators kept blathering about the hostage takeover as though it was just another part of the game! Also hilarious: Mikey's comparing the Triceratron/ General name-calling to daytime TV.)
Also new is that bit with Honeycutt insisting the Turtles kill him to prevent his re-capture, now that it's been pointed out the pursuers don't need Honeycutt's cooperation to get his data (Don, you've got to develop better control over that motormouth.) That was a nice dramatic addition to the nick-of-time transmat-activation scene.

[Skeeter]

Damnit, I set my VCR to record the wrong channel and wound up taping Mucha Lucha *refrains from vomiting* Anyone willing to provide a full synopsis of the episode, or point me in the direction of one?

-Skeeter

[RZetlin]

Damnit, I set my VCR to record the wrong channel and wound up taping Mucha Lucha *refrains from vomiting* Anyone willing to provide a full synopsis of the episode, or point me in the direction of one?

-Skeeter

There's one here (http://www.tvtome.com/NinjaTurtles/).


Basically the Turtles escape the Triceraton, but the Turtles end up fighiting the Federation and Triceraton at the same time.

Prof. Honeycutt was able to build the teleporter, but the machine didn't work.

The Turtles and Prof. Honeycutt was surrounded by the enemies. Leonardo was able to press Prof. Honeycutt self-detruct mechanism. This was to prevent the robot from falling into enemy hands. Just then the Utroms teleport beam picked up the Turtles and Fugitoid, along with some of the Federation and Triceraton attack forces.

[Skeeter]

Thanks.

Next weekend, I'm setting the VCR to the RIGHT channel...


-Skeeter

[Stripe]

A pretty good story arc, it dragged a bit (the actuall comic arc was only three issues) but I liked it. It finally brought Fugitoid and the Triceratons into animted life, which is awesome.


Also, I think one appreciates this arc more when you relize it's just a big homage to all kinds of stuff. (Star Wars, Star Trek, Gladiator, Prison Escape movies)

I wonder if they'll start re-runs next week. I'm so anxious to see Leatherhead, his epp is like five of six eppisodes away I think.

[Anarky]

my guess: the Utrom's teleportal will be destroyed in the next ep.
the Feds and the Triceratons will split and lay low to regroup. they'll probably be the focus of the City at War arc. Meanwhile, I'm certain the Turtles will be reunited w/ Splinter, learn the secret of the ooze, and will face new AND old foes. glad to see the shellbacks back in New York. season two should rock...so hard! i'm waiting for confirmation on season three :D

[ClockStomper]

Differences: This episode is made from the last 3 pages of the comic storyline. The Turtles do take the prime leader at gun point, but he's shot dead by his underlings accidently. Then, just as the Triceratons are about to move in for the kill, Fugitoid, The Turtles and 3 Triceratons are beamed back to the TCRI building by the Utroms.

No leaving the base, no Human Federation soldiers, no Fugitoid building the teleportal. I understand why the Human Federation soldiers were taken, as the Turtles had to fight the US military (who were raiding TCRI) in the comics.

I liked the addition of Fugitoid wanting to commit suicide. That whole scene got rid of some of the implausibilities of the comic (no one thought of downloading his brains in the comics. But to be fair, "downloading" wasn't well known about in 1984.)

I don't think this saga, while excedingly long, is as bad as some make it out to be. It's pretty fun and is a lot better than the very first episodes of season 1, thanks to the mature-ish tone established by RtNY. Did you ever think they would have attempted suicide when the show first premired?

-The only mildly surprising point was that it wasn't the slave Triceraton who got zapped back to earth, but 3 nameless soldiers (and 3 federation soldiers too). If you've read the listings on the official site, you know a Triceraton shows up in later episodes. I kept figuring it would be the slave guy.

As for the Triceraton soldiers being beamed to earth, that was important for later issues of the comics: A Triceraton appears again in the comics version of Return to New York, living in the Earth's oxygen has eroded his brain and he thinks the Turtles are fellow Triceratons. He is a major help in taking care of a lot of Foot Soldiers, but is eventually killed. Another Triceraton appears trapped in a goverment "Area 51" type place that Raph is captured in. He helps the Turtles bust out, then double crosses them by calling a Triceraton Warship over to conquor the Planet. He dies in the ensuing battle. The third Triceraton's wherabouts are unknown. Maybe these things will play out somehow in the future of the show.

Next week: The Utroms explain their connection to the ooze that mutated the Turtles. Some fighting. Some joking. Some filler, as they're going to strech this one issue out to 3 episodes. Sad, since the "City at War" storyline featuring a huge war among the factions of the Foot Clan will be contained in only 3 episodes, wherehas it was 13 issues long in the comics.

Sorry for rambling on with useless information.

[Swag Jenkins]

Next week: The Utroms explain their connection to the ooze that mutated the Turtles. Some fighting. Some joking. Some filler, as they're going to strech this one issue out to 3 episodes. Sad, since the "City at War" storyline featuring a huge war among the factions of the Foot Clan will be contained in only 3 episodes, wherehas it was 13 issues long in the comics.



I love this useless information! :D Don't you think the "City at War" storyline should have been the season finale with 13 part episodes?

[SirLemming]

I don't think this saga, while excedingly long, is as bad as some make it out to be. It's pretty fun and is a lot better than the very first episodes of season 1, thanks to the mature-ish tone established by RtNY. Did you ever think they would have attempted suicide when the show first premired?


That's extremely true. I mean, Season 1, pre-Shredder, struggled quite a bit. These latest episodes aren't gold, but they're a step up.

[lostrune]

Though I'm glad we're moving on to the next chapter, I appreciate how this ep was intelligently enough written. Nothing's perfect, but at least it didn't feel like they made things too easy for the Turtles. They even had to deal with both warring sides at the same time (though I dunno why the Triceraton gave up his Fed mole so easily). Well, the Utrom's transporter may be a bit cop-out, but at least it went against the usual expectation that the Prof's invention would work. So it did a nice job keeping things unexpected.

[Peter Paltridge]

I'm just relieved that they've begun running Turtles episodes from the very beginning at 8:30; as this show has turned out to be good enough to tape, yet I did not when it first ran, and didn't have cable. I hope the 8:30 stays there.

[Aztec]

This episode was very good. Although I really wish they would have condensed this storyline into 4 parts instead of 5. If they did that and gotten rid of 1 or 2 one shot episodes this season then "City At War"could have been longer than 3 episodes.

Those of you who have read the comics know why I'm bemoaning the fact that City At War is only 3 eps. Although the bright side is that the 2 part "Rouge in the House" storyline has elements of both "City At War" and "Return to New York" which are arguably the two best storyline in TMNT comic history. So that's not a bad combination!

[Animelee]

Bah, I find any shows about space, armies, etc. to be boring.

I can't wait until they return to Earth next week.

[Dr Kain]

Are you sure it is over with? I mean they got transported again. Are they going back to the Fugitoid base on Earth? This arc was boring and could've been done in 3 eps. I am not enjoying this season very much.

1.5/5

[ClockStomper]

Are you sure it is over with? I mean they got transported again. Are they going back to the Fugitoid base on Earth? This arc was boring and could've been done in 3 eps. I am not enjoying this season very much.

1.5/5

Well, jeez, it's been one arc. Well, a bloated arc. But that's no reason to judge the entire season as bad. We're getting City at War!

Oh, I just read the next episode is a 3 part arc out of a single issue. It's quite infuriating then that City at War gets 3 episodes to cover 13 issues.

[Ian]

I disagree. I think five parts were just about enough for the story. In fact, I wouldn't have minded another part, focusing exclusively on the new characters, who certainly deserved more screen time. I agree they could have managed their time a little better, but I don't think it could have been compressed more without suffering. And although three episodes for a thirteen part story sounds a bit too little, I'm sure some compression would serve the story well (I've never read the original, though, so I can't tell). And remember, there's a lot more to explain this time, so I think the expansion in secret origins is justified.

As for the episode in itself, I thought it was easily the best in the space saga (which is not to say that the others were bad, just that this one was the best). Is it just me, or are the turtles starting to build up quite the body count? I'm glad the Prime Leader and (hopefully) Lonae survived the story, though, since they're waay to interesting to lose this early in the game. I also liked the suicide angle they added to the story.

Ok, who else wants a space spin-off?

[Sharklady]

> Ok, who else wants a space spin-off? <

What irony! In the original comics, this story arc represented a *merging* of two titles ('TMNT' and 'Fugatoid'.)

[Ian]

> Ok, who else wants a space spin-off? <

What irony! In the original comics, this story arc represented a *merging* of two titles ('TMNT' and 'Fugatoid'.)

Huh? I though the Fugitoid comic was just a one-shot made to establish the character before the space story.

[Sharklady]

The way I heard it, Eastman and Laird originally wanted to do a whole 'Fugatoid' comic series, but sales of the first issue were sluggish. They later launched a second title, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' which was, of course, a blockbuster success. So they decided to do a TMNT story arc which included the resolution of the 'Fugatoid' saga, rather than leave Dr. Honeycutt hanging.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Well, jeez, it's been one arc. Well, a bloated arc. But that's no reason to judge the entire season as bad. We're getting City at War!

Oh, I just read the next episode is a 3 part arc out of a single issue. It's quite infuriating then that City at War gets 3 episodes to cover 13 issues.

I doubt City at War will cover all of City at War. Only the crucuial stuff. Plus there will be added characters and no doubt it will be toned down (it'd have to be). Return to Newyork made me happy so I figure City at War should be just as good over better.

[ClockStomper]

I doubt City at War will cover all of City at War. Only the crucuial stuff. Plus there will be added characters and no doubt it will be toned down (it'd have to be). Return to Newyork made me happy so I figure City at War should be just as good over better.

"Crucial" is relative, since the story has 4 seperate subplots progressing equally each issue. While I know the Turtles and the Foot "civil war" will take precedence, the theme of the story is the "family (Casey, April, Splinter and the Turtles) breaking apart and coming back together after a year. While Casey's storyline will definetly not make it into the storyline, and April's isn't all that compelling and essential, I hope Splinter's makes it. His "conflict" with the Rat King's ghost is awesome, and not something un-doable (they don't have to show him eating the rat...).

[The Clown Prince]

I don't think a new episode is airing on Saturday. According to TVGuide.com, it's a rerun of the season one episode The King. I wonder if Fox is gonna do reruns of this through the holidays like the major networks do with their shows as well.

The Clown Prince