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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review – Season 3, Episode 4: The Croaking

By Nick Tylwalk

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One nice thing about this show is that it does both self-contained and serialized storytelling, often at the same time. Very few if any plot threads are left dangling, and when there’s obvious foreshadowing, it’s usually picked up on right away.

That being the case, you didn’t think that spilled mutagen and the frog we saw at the end of the previous episode were for nothing, right? Let’s see why this episode is called “The Croaking,” shall we?

Not So Quick Summary: While having some fun with Ice Cream Kitty, Michelangelo makes a mess of the farmhouse. The rest of the Turtles are irked and demand he clean up. Upset at always getting so much verbal abuse, Mikey gives Ice Cream Kitty one final lick and tells her to inform his brothers that he’s run away to find someplace he’s appreciated.

Out in the woods, he finds a mutant frog named Napoleon Dynam-… er, I mean Napoleon Bonafrog. Both mutants impress each other with their inventive if false stories about how respected they are among their peers, and Napoleon invites Mikey to see his frog fortress. Oh, and Mikey tells his new buddy he’s team leader.

Back at the farmhouse, the Turtles are even more upset that Mikey ditched on cleaning, though April yells at them (especially Raph) for driving him off. Donatello finds an internet report about trashed campsites, and the group reluctantly decides it might be Mikey’s work.

As it turns out, the treehouse is home to a whole tribe of mutant frogs, the leaders of which have menacing names like Genghis, Attila (who talks like Marlon Brando) and Rasputin. As you might expect, Napoleon is the Mikey of his people, though when Mikey mentions that he lives with humans, the frog leaders ask him to consider staying with them. After he’s out of earshot, the head frogs decide Michelangelo must have been held against his will by the humans and decide to launch “Operation: Liberate Reptiles.” That doesn’t sound good.

Mikey and Napoleon spend some time goofing around and enjoying the presence of a kindred spirit. Meanwhile, the Turtles, April and Casey return from their unsuccessful search to find the warning “Humans Beware” scrawled on the house. They’re in the process of debating what that means when an army of frogs attacks, forcing them to retreat back into the farmhouse.

The frog leaders ask the Turtles if the humans are oppressing them, but when Leonardo and the gang respond that the humans are their friends, the frogs declare them traitors and lay siege to the farmhouse — as in, with “frogapults” and everything. During the melee, the Turtles are overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and April and Casey are taken away.

Mikey decides to come clean to both Napoleon and the frog elders about his brothers and the fact that the humans are his friends too. That doesn’t go over well, and when Michelangelo asks why they all can’t get along, the frogs tell him a story about the humans encroaching on land that used to belong to the reptiles. Now their plan is to take the sacred ooze (that’d be mutagen) and create an even bigger army to wage war on mankind.

Leo has heard enough, figuring that as soon as the bulk of the army leaves, they can drop in and save the others. Unfortunately, Donnie drops in a little too early, and the fight is on. The frogs hold their own against the ninjas since they are in their element, but they get an unexpected hand from Napoleon, and … hey, did the tree just catch on fire?

Freed by Napoleon, Mikey gets an unexpected hug from Raph (“That was weird.” “Let’s never do that again.”) before everyone starts to panic as the fire spreads. Napoleon leads most of the frogs to safety as Attila stands his ground, though Casey and April save him after knocking him out. In a development that’s sure to be important in a few minutes, the jar of sacred ooze goes flying off, propelled by the raging fire.

When he comes to, Attila decides he may have been wrong about the humans. For his wisdom, Napoleon is promoted to general, which he declares “the coolest position ever.” He tells Mikey that the frogs have about 20,000 cousins in Louisiana and leads his troops off. Mikey and his brothers make up, and we get a happy ending.

Except … that jar of mutagen landed and broke open on a nearby road, and we see a muscle car splash through it. I saw what this is going to turn into at New York Comic Con, and it’s pretty crazy.

Favorite moment: Looking back at the burning treehouse, Attila can only go, “The horror! The horror!” Yeah, no kid who watches is getting that reference.

Final thought: Considering the Turtles didn’t bring that much mutagen with them, it’s sure causing a lot of problems. This is almost turning into a “monster of the week” season, but I have confidence the writers will take us in another direction pretty soon. Also, I think Mikey has had enough of the spotlight for a while.

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