Follow The Leader

Follow the Leader is the third episode of the second season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series), and is the 29th episode overall. It aired on November 2, 2013.

Plot
This episode begins with the Turtles continuing in their search for more Mutagen canisters in a single alley way. Raphael tells Donatello to relax, and that April will come back to them eventually....Donnie agrees and keeps searching. While Mikey finds a stuffed iguana in the trash, Donnie soon gets a reading from his gadget that a Mutagen canister is located up on a tall roof. Raph says that Donnie's creation is as useless as a trenchcoat on a turtle, but Leo tells Raph to give him a chance, as they must follow every single lead to a Mutagen canister in order to prevent any one else from getting affected by it. They climb the building and eventually find it. Donnie says that they only have sixty-three more containers left...Without the Turtles noticing, Karai is on another rooftop, spying on them with binoculars. She begins to think that it's going to be even more fun all over again to try and defeat the four.

While continuing to search for more canisters with no pleasing results, Michelangelo yawns in boredom, stating that the search is now getting excessively boring, and he then screams very loudly, which causes Leonardo to tell him to stop and that they will do something at least kind of fun: training. He then motions to a Japanese-styled building, saying that the game is going to be somewhat like King-Of-The-Mountain. Leo then goes across the wires to defend his "territory" and without him knowing, Raph has devised a plan. Leo steps onto the wires, preparing to fight with his prepared brothers. Mikey then jokingly puts some headphones that he happened to have, and starts to dance (while balancing himself) on the wires. Leo says that it's not fighting, but Mikey ignores this and starts to make Leo tilt just a little, and Mikey uses this time to his advantage and jumps to the other side.

Leo says that it was not fair at all, but then Donnie quickly steps ahead. Donnie uses his mathematical calculations to determine exactly where he should strike his brother with some of his  shuriken. Leo gets exhausted from blocking one after the next, and soon realizes that Donnie has also already made it to the other side as well, with Mikey. Leo then is prompted to ask Raph what trick he'll get from him. Raph asks sarcastically, "What are you talking about????", and he then throws his twin weapons at Leo and subsequently kicks him off of the wires, causing Leo to fall to the ground, along with his two blades, one of them reading, "Lame-O-nardo". Leo begins to get angry, and objects that they are always not taking his training lectures seriously....Raph argues that they should train in their own manner, and that Leo should train in his very own manner. They then walk away from him, which leaves Leo looking quite upset at his sword. In the lair,  Leo talks to Master Splinter about how his brothers treated him very disrespectfully - and he wonders if he truly has the facets to be the leader. Splinter comments that, how can his brothers really appreciate him if he has a lack of self-confidence.

The scene then abruptly switches to Karai in Bradford's old Dojo, who is solemnly looking at a picture of her now deceased mother. Then, a squad of Foot Ninjas appear out of the blue, approaching her from behind and they challenge her...She is able to hold her ground for a while, but, before she knows it, she is then grabbed by the wrist and ultimately pinned to the ground. The Shredder  then interferes and orders the ninjas to stop fighting with her. It is then revealed by The Shredder that the ninjas that she just faced were in fact robots, when Saki mentions that the Kraang swore that the warriors would be deadly, implying that the Kraang created them (and that Shredder and the Kraang's alliance was kept). He then tells Karai that he is going to Japan right now to attend to an 'urgent matter', and that, should his adoptive daughter make any sudden moves on the Turtles while he is gone, the consequence might indeed be fierce....

Meanwhile, i n the Shellraiser, Raph is the one driving, whilst Mikey is reading one of his classic comic books. Mikey then asks Leo if he is angry with them at all. He then offers that he will give his comic book to Leo if the latter is not mad whatsoever, but Leo says that he doesn't want it. He just thinks that the others have to start getting better at following his orders. Raph then sarcastically says that it's to bad that he can't play his violin while driving. Leo is just about to quarrel with Raph, but Donnie tells him to stop the Shellraiser because there is apparently another Mutagen canister in the area. When they are soon out of the Shellraiser, Donnie says that the canister is located in a nearby basement. Leo then tells them to not make a single sound or move, but the others have already made their way inside...Donnie, Raph, and Leo then search for the canister, with no luck. Mikey, however, manges to find it. He begins to chant with joy while running to it...Leo then tries to stop him, but it is too late. Mikey picks up the canister, which has a string attached to it (which he neglects to see), quickly causing all of the doors to spring shut, trapping the Turtles inside.

This in itself provokes Leo to get angry at Mikey for not following his orders yet again. Karai then suddenly interrupts his sentence, and surrounds them with a squad of Robotic Foot Soldiers (unbeknownst to our heroes). Donnie then says that Karai is getting increasingly better at setting ambushes, but Raph thinks that, with them fighting the Foot, they won't even break a sweat. They then begin fighting. Raph manages to hold his ground for a few seconds, but one of the ninjas then kicks him hard in the gut, knocking him into Donnie, and then, the Turtles begin to lose miserably. Leo then tells them to flee, but Raph disagrees and briefly starts to fight again, but is punched numerous times and utterly defeated - and they are all forced to leave with Leo....They then climb some nearby elevator ropes; One of the robots catches up and grabs Mikey's foot, but he manges to kick it off. Donnie then discovers that the ninjas are robots when one of them falls to it's demise. One of the robots then catches Leo's foot, but then, more come up and engulf him, ultimately causing all of the wires connecting to the elevator to snap in half. Leo then falls down with the robots, and seemingly gets captured.

Back in the lair, the other 3 have alot of trouble knowing what to do. Mikey then wonders how they're going to explain what happened to Master Splinter. Splinter overhears this, however - and his sons then inform him that Leo was captured by Karai. Splinter explains to the Turtles that Karai falsely believes that he killed someone beloved to her. After his little speech, he then tells them to go and rescue their brother, for that is what important in the present. After Donnie Donnie manages to hack into some security footage, they spot what appears to be Karai's van heading into the Bradford Dojo, which Mikey instantly recognizes. Raph then tells the others to be more like Leo and actually try to use his type of moves when they rescue him. Meanwnhile, at that Dojo, Leo is currently being held in a small cage hung from a support pillar near the cieling, as Karai talks to him about if she would make a small fortune if she sold Leo to a laboratory in the city - and that the entire town would be going nuts once they knew that talking reptiles existed and thrived down in the sewers...She then goes on to tell him that he deserves everything he's getting - and that her brand new robots are obsequious to her every command and know every single traditional move after it has been used only once or twice - and she then lets Leo out of the cage by throwing a tanto at the rpe holding it up. She then tosses Leo's katanas to his side (kindly), though he is then forced to fight off over a couple dozen of the robotic ninjas. During the fight, Karai mentions that she never got to know her mother because Splinter took her away from her, which Leo disagrees. He is then quickly outmatched and restrained once again, as mere bait for his brothers.

The others soon arrive at the location and Raph, using his brand new bond with pigeons (and teaching them a certain routine, apparently) forces an individual pigeon to attract several more and they all end up flying right in front of the multiple security cameras, which ultimately allows the Turtles to gain entrance with relative ease. They then peer in through a window up above, only to find Leo tied up and gagged looking upwards....mumbling. The Turtles are able to get inside and they defeat all of the remaining robots that are surrounding him, and they then remove his gag. At the very last second, Leo then tells the others that it's a trap, but it is too late, as even more robots arrive....Karai then states that Splinter will eventually track the Turtles there, and that he will know the true meaning of suffering when he arrives. The robots then begin taking on all four Turtles at once, and, in spite of our heroes' brave and combined efforts, the robots soon end up getting the better of them...

While the fight rapidly unfolds, Karai sits back in a chair and observes, reiterating that the ninjas have the capacity of learning from their foes' every move. The fight is then quick to head outside, where Leonardo (whilst running away) once again laments that the robots can indeed memorize every single one of their moves and use those very moves against them afterwards...Thus, Leo's brothers come up with an idea and decide to fight the wayward robots using their own, distinct form of sheer unpredictability; while Karai appears and attacks Leo with hostility...Both cannot seem to gain the upper hand on one another, until Karai manages to knock the two swords out of Leonardo's hands. Leo then rapidly slips and is about to fall off of the building to his demise. Karai then throws a few ninja stars right near his two hands, but Leo sticks his two katanas into the underside of the roof of the building - and, while using the element of suprise, he executes a pretty intricate move; First, he grasps his two swords, flips backwards with them, and he jumps up from a totally different direction and catches Karai completely off-gaurd. After Leonardo successes in his respective battle, he holds one of his katanas to her head and explains to Karai that Splinter would never, ever harm her mother, and that her grudge lies only with Leo - not his family. Karai does not nod, however. She just stares at him blankly, most likely suggesting that she will still persist in hunting them. He and his brothers then flee and vanish with a smoke bomb, as the robots have already figured out all of their seemingly "unpredictable moves....''

Later, back in the lair, Leo speaks with Splinter in privacy (in the Dojo). He asks Splinter if he actually would and did harm Karai's mother in any way. At first, Splinter is reluctant to answer any of Leo's pressing questions, but he then comes clean and Splinter then answers with a "No" and says that not only is that rumor a lie, but also that Karai is not Shredder's daughter; but Splinter's. The episode concludes with Splinter hesitantly admitting this to Leonardo....

Quotes
"No sign of any mutagen… but I did find THIS! And iguana wearing a top hat! Isn't it cool? I mean, why would you throw this out? -british accent- Hello, governor. How do you like my mon-ockle?"

- Michelangelo "That's 'monocle'."

- Donatello "-real voice- Whatever."

- Michelangelo "You do realize that could be a distant cousin. And its stuffed with sawdust."

- Raphael "EW, SICK!"

- Michelangelo

"We've been looking for mutagen for days now, dudes, it's so boring I'm gonna scream! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…!"

- Michelangelo "MIKEY!"

- Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello "Ok, OK! We'll take a break and do something fun, cool?"

- Leonardo "-the guys give enthusiastic assent-" "Training session! Yes!"

- Leonardo "Awwww..."

- Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo

"I'm not MAD. I just wish you guys did a little better in following my orders."

- Leonardo "Aw, it's too bad I can't play my violin while I drive."

- Raphael

"You know, I bet I could make a small fortune if I sold you to a science lab. Could you imagine the press? 'Talking ninja turtle, Found in Sewer.'"

- Karai "Sweet. Captured, and now totally humiliated. Awesome day, Leo. Awesome day."

- Leonardo

Trivia

 * Donnie says that there are 65 canisters (1 1/2 are already found) of Kraang mutagen remaining in the city.


 * The Shredder goes off to Japan early in the episode. At San Diego Comic Con 2013, it was confirmed that Shredder would head to Japan in this season to recruit Tiger Claw.


 * Michelangelo chants out the hook of Vanilla Ice 's Ninja Rap ("Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!") when he finds the ooze that Karai left as bait.


 * At the end of the episode, when Leo and Karai are fighting, behind them is billboard that says "Stockman Industries" with a picture of a Mouser.