The Manhattan Project, Part 2

The Manhattan Project, Part 2 is the fortieth episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series). It was aired as an one hour special on March 14, 2013. Although the episode was released a week early on March 2, 2014 on Nick.com

Major Characters

 * April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
 * Casey Jones (Josh Peck)
 * Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
 * Fishface (Christian Lanz)
 * Karai (Kelly Hu)
 * Kraang (Nolan North)
 * Kraathatrogons
 * Leonardo (Jason Biggs)
 * Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
 * Rahzar (Clancy Brown)
 * Raphael (Sean Astin)
 * Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Splinter (Hoon Lee)
 * Tiger Claw (Eric Bauza)

Minor Characters

 * 80s Donatello (Barry Gordon)
 * 80s Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
 * 80s Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
 * 80s Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
 * Baxter Stockman (Phil LaMarr)
 * Foot-Bots
 * Jack Kurtzman (Robert Forster)
 * Kirby O'Neil (Cameo)

Plot Summary
Karai prepares to slay Leonardo once and for all, but her attack is then blocked by Tiger Claw. Tiger Claw then reminds her that the Shredder desires to eliminate the Turtles by himself. Karai reluctantly agrees and the two then begin approaching a paralyzed Splinter. Splinter, however, quickly stands up and shoots merely a couple of his several remaining ninja stars right at the ropes binding his sons. With his very last ounces of strength, he instructs his sons to flee now, but he is then kicked down by Tiger Claw. Leo does not want to allow his sensei to be killed, but Raph tells him that they have no choice but to come back for him later on. Tiger Claw then quickly begins to chase them, but Mikey uses a smoke bomb to make their escape. So, both Tiger Claw and Karai then take a completely unconscious Splinter back to Shredder....

Meanwhile, under New York City, Donnie, April and Casey are frantically running away from the Kraathatrogon. Casey does manage to slow the creature down by using a paint bomb to throw into its mouth (which only distracts it briefly). Donnie then spots a nearby sewer ladder, and tells both April and Casey to grab on to his Bo. April is able to jump up and grab on, but, right after she is secured, Casey jumps up and tries to grab onto Donnie’s Bo as well, the Kraathatrogon comes up as well and swallows him whole and then quickly wiggles away. April is very upset that Casey is now gone, and so is Donatello....

Back in the sewer Lair, Leo is tending to one of Mikey’s arm injuries. Raph then blames Leo for getting Splinter involved in the situation in the first place. Leo then responds that he had but no choice. With a vehement little 'speech' on behalf of Mikey, he is able to convince all of them that they must rescue Splinter since they are pretty certain that they are aware of where Shredder’s lair is. The three Turtles then steel themselves and gear up to save their sensei.

Meanwhile, Donnie and April are just reaching the surface. April still feels increasingly sad about the loss of Casey, and tells Donnie that those 'Kraang worms' must be stopped at all costs. Of course, Donnie agrees, and says that they must go to the one and only person who knows more about Kraang than anyone, Jack Kurtzman. So, they go to his apartment and explain the grim situation to him. However, as it turns out, Kurtzman already displays a ton of info about the worms and he has already dubbed this little Kraang scheme, "The Manhattan Project."

In the Shredder's lair, Tiger Claw is pouring a small pail of water on Splinter, thus waking him up. The Shredder then enters the scene (along with Karai), telling both Bradford and Xever to leave the area for now. He then immediately approaches Splinter and purposely tries to exacerbate things by telling him that he has become 'a wretched rat-man only waiting to be put out of his misery'. Splinter then retorts that, at least he is not someone who wears a mask, hiding the extremely little humanity that they have left. Shredder then says that Splinter is but the one and only reason that he wears his signature helmet. After Splinter comments on this as well, Shredder extends one of his gauntlets and prepares to kill his mortal enemy yet again.

However, Karai chooses to halt his terrible action (just when the blade is just at the back of Splinter's nape). The Shredder then asks why she would dare to try and stop him. Karai replies that executing a sworn-enemy while the latter is poisoned and chained is just improper. She then recommends allowing Splinter to perish with just the slightest bit of honour and in a combat situation. Tiger Claw also ends up siding with Karai on this one. Thus, The Shredder offers Splinter one last chance to exhale before fighting with him. Splinter then asks Karai why she helped him out. Karai responds that he might have just looked to be so pathetic. He then mentions Karai's mother, much to her irritation. After Karai tells him that he destroyed all of their lives, Splinter vaguely says that it was Oroku Saki's doing, before passing out once again.

Meanwhile, Kurtzman tells April and Donnie that he hasn't the slightest clue how to stop the colossal worms, but he does know that the Kraang sometimes climb onto their backs and ride them around by pulling their antennas. Donnie then comes up with a plausible, yet strange idea: Salt, but before April can ask what he is implying, she receives a call from Casey, who reveals that he is inside the worm's digestive tract, but he is still unharmed, nevertheless. April then promises that they will be at his aid shortly....

Meanwhile, Leo is climbing up a side of the Foot-Headquarter building with some hand spikes. After destroying a few Foot-Bots on guard, he successfully makes his way into the building and jumps down to rescue his sensei. However, the throne room is then lit up with dozens of orange lights at the sidelines (that were also seen in "Booyaka-Showdown") and the Shredder then appears from behind his throne. Just when Leo is about to pull out his two weapons, Tiger Claw (along with the two other mutants and Baxter) appears out of nowhere and grabs his arm, before pinning him down. The Shredder then asks where the other three Turtles are, but Tiger Claw, using his very keen sense of smell, then claims that they are not currently in the area. The Shredder then removes his own cape, easily breaks Splinter's bindings, and instructs Leo to watch in horror as Splinter's life is put to a resounding end. Despite being poisoned, Splinter is actually able to avoid just a few of Shredder's attacks, but Yoshi is then kicked hard in the torso, sending him flying a good length of the way across the room. Shredder picks him up and is just about to put him out of his misery for CERTAIN, when yet another earthquake occurs, catching the Shredder off-guard. Not only that, but our heroes then enter, armed with some handy fire crackers, which they actually use to distract all of the villains and rapidly escape with their sensei. However, the Shredder then tells his four henchmen to go after the Turtles, no matter what the expense.

Meanwhile, April and Donnie quickly find their way back underground and Donnie begins to use his staff to bang on one of the railroad tracks, creating a vibration to hopefully attract the worm. The plan works and the worm soon arrives. Donnie then gets a bag with cans filled with salt inside of it. April asks why he is planning on using salt, and Donnie explains salt's ionic strength can actually seep into the worm's system (and blood cells) and slow it down quite a bit. April then throws a can of salt right near Donnie and he hits it with his staff, causing the can to fly right at the worm's face and it hits it's mark. This process is repeated again and again and again, until, finally, the worm is stopped and spits out Casey. However, problems are long from over as the nearby Kraang still have the absolutely ginormous Kraathatrogon in their possession and could simply release it at any given time.

Meanwhile, the other Turtles are still escaping with their sensei. However, they are quickly followed by Fishface, Rahzar, Tiger Claw, and Karai yet again. The bad guys and the heroes are soon both forced to face off, while Splinter rests in a secluded place, desperately trying to get the poison to exit out of his system by meditating. After a little while, this does ring true, and just when Tiger Claw is about to finish off Leonardo for good, Splinter bravely steps in, grabs the Mutant by the arm and then drops him to the ground. The Turtles are very happy to see their master back in action, but, on the downside, the team is then forced to face off against the multiple villains....

Back with Casey, April, and Donnie, Donnie plans on trying to reverse the polarity of the Portal located in the large room, while both April and Casey successfully pose as distractions. While Donnie pries open the perplexing piece of Technology, April comes up with a good idea: Climbing on the back of one of the worms and guiding it around by tugging on it's two antenna. This actually works, and, after destroying a few Kraang, she then orders the worm to go right up to the surface (exactly where our heroes are engaged in yet another large battle). Meanwhile, another earthquake ends up causing Karai to trip and fall over the edge of the building that they're on (though she survives by saving herself somehow) and Splinter wants to save her, but Tiger Claw steps right on his tail and utterly prevents him from doing so. The worm (along with both April and Casey on it) then emerge by bursting right through a nearby manhole. Everyone is quite shocked to see this, but Tiger Claw is not and is still quite intent on eliminating Splinter. After being knocked out of the battle very briefly, Tiger Claw jumps right back in, though he is then knocked directly into the mouth of the Kraathatrogon, partially due to a presumed jetpack malfunction. Elsewhere, Donnie has actually and finally managed to reverse the portal's polarity and everything (including the worm, April, and Casey) start flying towards and into it. However, Donnie shuts it down at the last second and both Casey and April are saved, miraculously.

The following day, on the rooftop, all of the team members quickly regroup and Splinter commends all of his sons on their courage in the face of battle (while the Police are shown far down below investigating the giant hole in the ground). Every single one of them is happy that they succeeded in their very own right. Raph then wonders where Karai is now, while April still cannot believe that she is Splinter's very daughter. Splinter stated that, one day, Karai may indeed accept the truth, but that is her decision to make and her's alone. Unbeknownst to all of them, Karai is secretly hiding behind another billboard not too far away from them. She hears every single thing that they said, and (judging by her several facial expressions) not only does she find herself in a difficult dilemma, but finally seems to start questioning the obdurate attitude that she's been carrying for this entire season. The team then gladly celebrates their victory, while Mikey is prompted to curiously ask where that giant worm could've gone.

The scene then quickly switches to the world of the 1987 series, where the Turtles there are up on a rooftop, each having a slice of Pizza. Just then, a portal appears and the very Kraathatrogon emerges in the middle of the street, causing the people to panic as the worm tries to go after them. All of the Turtles observe this, thinking that Shredder and Krang must be behind this. They then vow to take down the worm and then get yet another well-deserved Pizza. They then jump into action with their famous and classic catchphrase: COWABUNGA!!!!.....

Triva

 * Like Part 1, the name used in television listings for this episode, as well as on nick.com, is "Wormquake!".
 * Kirby O'Neil's mutated form appears on a tabloid newspaper that April reads at Kurtzman's apartment, spoofing the Weekly World News tabloid and its most popular character, Bat Boy. On the back of the paper is a human Chris Bradford advertising "organic goat curds".
 * There is an error in the credits to this episode. Townsend Coleman is credited as '80s Donatello, while Barry Gordon is credited as '80s Michelangelo. The credits should read vice versa with Barry Gordon as '80s Donatello and Townsend Coleman as '80s Michelangelo.
 * The scene where tiger claw was knocked into the worms mouth is a reference to a scene in "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" where Boba Fett's jetpack malfunctions and is launched into the Great Pit of Carkoon where he was eaten by a Sarlacc.

Gallery
The Manhattan Project/Gallery