Karai's Vendetta

"Karai's Vendetta" is the twenty-first episode of the 2012 TV series. It aired on Saturday, April 27, 2013.

Plot Synopsis
In the Foot lair, the Shredder asks the Kraang he captured why he and the others are after the turtles. At first, he doesn't understand it since it's out of its exoskeleton, but Karai points this out and they need to put it in the exoskeleton she stole from The Alien Agenda. When they put it in the exoskeleton, it refuses to answer, but when shredder threatens it; it begrudgingly tells him the turtles are protecting April, whom they need for their plan. The Shredder takes an interest in this and tells Karai she must find April and being her to them in order to bring out the turtles.

Down in the sewers, April is training with Splinter and the turtles. The focus goes to Raph and Mikey when Mikey flips Raph after a direct attack. Mikey celebrates briefly, but Raph grabs him from behind, demanding him to give up. Mikey complies, only for Splinter to step in and teach them a lesson. He has Raph grab him from behind like he did with Mikey, but instead of surrendering, he licks Raph's faces. Obviously disgusted by this, Raph lets him go and is easily defeated.

Just when Leo, Mikey and Raph are watching "Space Heroes", Donnie comes in, talking about the results of a test he and April completed. He says that the Kraang have put some form of mutagen in the water, which is extremely dangerous. Mikey accidentally knocks the container of Kraang water on April, but it doesn't have an effect on her. She shrugs this off and goes up to the surface. Donnie tells the others that they can destroy an underwater Kraang base with a new submarine invention he made. However, it runs on kinetic energy, which means the turtles have to supply it with pedaling. As they approach the Kraang's base, they encounter a creature Donnie assumes is from Dimension X. They outsmart it and successfully break into the base.

Meanwhile, April meets Karai who has supplied herself with the alias, "Harmony" in Murakami's noodle shop. At first, Karai keeps up the facade, asking April a bunch of personal questions. She decides to reveal herself when April almost tries her order: turtle soup. April tries to leave, but Karai grabs her and tells her that she's coming with her. Thanks to Murakami, though, she escapes. She steals a pizza delivery guy's motorized bike, but is pursued by Karai on her motorcycle.

Just as the turtles prepare to attack the Kraang, April calls Donnie. She tells him Karai is chasing her, which causes him to panic. He and his brothers defeat the Kraang, but he tries to get the others to leave so they can help April. Leo is able to convince him to destroy the tanks instead of rushing to April's rescue. He rigs a Kraang gun to go off in 90 seconds, but the creature from earlier breaks into the room and attacks the turtles. Mikey defeats it and the turtles escape before the base explodes. However, the creature thought the sub was a female and latches onto it, eventually, Leo launches explosives to force it to release them, leaving it emotionally hurt.

Back in the city, April forced Karai to pursue her on foot, but she traps herself in an alley. She pulls out her weapon and Karai compliments on it before disarming her. April tries attacking her directly, but Karai dodges her attacks and starts attacking her. She knocks her into the street and demands to know why she's so important as she continues attacking her. April is able to defend herself and provide her own questions. However, just when Karai has her pinned, she mentions her deceased mother, which distracts her long enough to throw her down the subway stairs and escape.

The turtles and April all meet up in the sewers where April tells them about her fight with Karai. They're all impressed, but Splinter grows concerned and tells her that since now both the Kraang and the Foot are after April, she's going to have to stay with them in the sewers, since it is the only place she will be safe. This results in April protesting and Donnie briefly cheering. At first, she's upset she won't see any of her friends and family for a while, but Leo reassures her that everything will go back to normal once the Kraang and Shredder are defeated and her father is rescued, making April determined to get her life back.

Trivia

 * This marks the end of new episodes on Total Turtle Takeover Friday.
 * Karai and April meet and fight in this episode.
 * Several clues are given to Karai's origins:
 * In this episode, April reveals she lost her mother. Karai's reaction implies that she has also lost her mother. This could refer to Karai's possible past as Splinter's daughter, where Tang Shen, Splinter's wife and Miwa's mother, was killed in the fire.
 * The name "Harmony" Karai uses to introduce herself to April can be read with the kanji 美和, which reads "Miwa" in English, and translates as "Beautiful Harmony".
 * The sea monster in this episode is strongly based off the legendary "Loch Ness Monster"
 * The scene where Shredder and the captured Kraang having difficulty talking to each other is loosely based on their 80's counterparts.
 * This is the first time we see Karai wearing casual clothes instead of her ninja outift. Which includes a leather jacket, jeans, shoes with spikes, and black nail polish.
 * This is the first time April used her weapon Splinter gave her in Baxter's Gambit
 * Donny introduces a new invention: the Turltle Sub (a submarine powered by bicycles ). By accident or deliberation, it could be a pun reference to the Turtle, the first submersible vessel ever constructed, invented by David Bushnell in 1776, which was likewise powered by a pedalling drive.
 * Karai's line that her father "is in kitchen utensils" was likely a reference to the 1987 series, where in the first encounter between Shredder and the Turtles, Raphael replied to the Shredder introducing himself by calling him "a kitchen utensil"
 * Karai's "Turtle Soup" line is loosely based off the well known Shredder quote "Tonight, I dine on Turtle Soup." from past Ninja Turtles incarnations.
 * April knows how to ride a motorcycle.
 * April's caller ID for Donnie is "Donny Boy". It should also be noted that flowers and stars surround his picture as well as a bow or butterfly on his mask and a silhouette of a cat.
 * This is the first episode with Karai where Leo did not fight nor talked to her
 * When the Turtle Sub goes into stealth mode, the lighting makes the turtles look like they all have red bandanas, which was their look in the original Mirage Comics.
 * This is the second time we hear Karai speak Japanese.
 * The first being in New Girl in Town during a fight with Leo.
 * Apparently, April learned Japanese from the turtles.
 * A very adult joke occurs when the sea monster amorously mounts the Turtle Sub as if attempting to mate. As Red Dwarf's David Lister said, "It's either gonna eat us, kill us, or hump us!"
 * This marks the second appearance of Mr. Murakami's invention, pizza gyoza, first seen in Never Say Xever
 * It is clearly obvious that Leo is feeling guilty and/or concered about Karai. Showing at the end, he was concered for her by not sitting with his brothers when April talks about beating Karai and that there might still be feelings for her.
 * This is the first episode to focus on April.
 * When Donnie's tPhone rings during the fight, it is the standard TMNT theme ringtone, rather than the birds chirping one he set for April in "I, Monster"
 * There´s a clue that suggests why April is special, when Mikey drops the Kraang water into April´s arm, which results harmless to her.



Video
promo video clip - http://geek-news.mtv.com/2013/04/24/tmnt-april-battles-karai-clip/



Gallery
See: Karai's Vendetta / Gallery