Return to New York, Part 1 (2003 TV series episode)

	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 1; February 8, 2003 - November 1, 2003; List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes
	Episodes: Things Change; A Better Mousetrap; Attack of the Mousers; Meet Casey Jones; Nano; Darkness on the Edge of Town; The Way of Invisibility; Fallen Angel; Garbageman; The Shredder Strikes, Part 1; The Shredder Strikes, Part 2; The Unconvincing Turtle Titan; Notes from the Underground, Part 1; Notes from the Underground, Part 2; Notes from the Underground, Part 3; The King; The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1; The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2; Tales of Leo; The Monster Hunter; Return to New York, Part 1; Return to New York, Part 2; Return to New York, Part 3; Lone Raph and Cub; The Search for Splinter, Part 1; The Search for Splinter, Part 2; Season 1 – Season 2 – Season 3 – Season 4 – Ninja Tribunal – Fast Forward - Back to the Sewer

“Return to New York, Part 1”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episode
Season Code:	S01E21
Episode:	21
Original airdate	September 27, 2003
Written by	Marty Isenberg, Michael Ryan
Supervising Producer	Lloyd Goldfine
Producers:	Gary Richardson
	Frederick U. Fierst
	Al Kahn
	Norman Grossfeld
	Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director	Chuck Patton
Story Editor:	Lloyd Goldfine
Episode chronology
"The Monster Hunter"	"Return to New York, Part 2"

"Return to New York, Part 1" is the twenty-first episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), which originally aired on September 27, 2003.

Information

Major Characters

Secondary Characters

Various Foot Divisions
- Foot Ninjas
- Foot Tech Ninjas
Mutant Shredder Clones
- Claw Shredder
- Mini Shredder
- Multi-Arm Shredder

Main Locations, Vehicles and Accessories

Sewer Lair and tunnels
Foot HQ
Battle Shell
Foot Razor Jet

Episode

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Voice-Over Introduction

Raphael: Someone once said, "The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys." Well if that's true, then I think I just became a man. Or at least an Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle. This particular playroom happens to belong to our sworn enemy, Oroku Saki a.k.a. the Shredder.

The dudes with the disappearing act, they're called Foot Tech Ninjas—quick to act, tough to beat. We've been fighting our way up, floor by floor, to the top of Shredder's skyscraper of evil. It's kind of like a video game with lots of different levels, only there ain't no earning extra lives in this game.

Plot Synopsis

After spending 3 months in Northampton recuperating, the Turtles, Master Splinter, April, and Casey arrive in the lair surprised to see that there are no longer any Foot Ninja looking for them. They conclude that Shredder must have called off the search thinking that they were dead. Master Splinter states that being “dead” will give them a distinct advantage in their battle with Shredder this time.

By accessing city building records, Donatello and April develop a fair picture of the Foot HQ building, although there are some mysterious gaps in the information about several floors in the building. The pair is able to hack into the Foot's computers, offering an opening to a mutant offensive. Don establishes a communication link with April as she and Casey will stay in the lair and provide information about the building to the invading mutants. The guys pack all their weapons and Leonardo is designated to be the one to carry the Sword of Tengu, which they figure might come in handy in battling the Shredder.

Controlling the Battle Shell from afar, Donatello uses the remote to send the Battle Shell into the lowest level as a decoy while the Turtles enter the building stealthily through a sewage pipe. Hun reports to his master that the destroyed vehicle was empty and belonged to the Turtles. Shredder is stunned, but quickly realizes that Baxter Stockman had given him false evidence of his enemies' demise. Saki summons Stockman via a video com link, but the scientist ignores the order and continues working on a project. Shredder tells Hun to begin an immediate search for the Turtles. Meanwhile, April infects the building’s communication system with a computer virus and the Foot lose their ability to communicate electronically. The Turtles begin to make their way up through the building, floor by floor. At the same time, Hun begins the floor-by-floor search and destroy mission.

The Turtles soon find themselves in a huge hangar, filled with a variety of deadly looking weapons and vehicles. Splinter warns his students that he senses a presence in the room. Suddenly, the Sensei and Turtles are attacked by a group of invisible Foot Tech Ninjas. At first the battle goes badly for Splinter and the boys, but the tide starts to turn when Raph hops on one of the Foot vehicles and starts blasting away with its laser, which hits two of the Tech Ninjas and short circuits their suits, briefly disabling their invisibility capabilities. Don pulls a couple of tricks out of his hi-tech goodie bag, namely some electro-magnetic shurikens, which cause their enemies cloaking devices to short out. Only a few invisible Foot Tech Ninjas remain and the Turtles eventually reveal their presence by using fire extinguishers. Once Donatello can see his adversaries, he quickly disposes of them with more perfectly thrown shurikens.

After winning another Battle, the group moves up to the next level through a hole in the ceiling. They are shocked to see that they are in a Foot Genetics lab, like the one in the underground. The lab contains a number of large clear tanks that are filled with liquid and some strange looking creatures. As the guys study the tubes and alarm goes off and several tanks suddenly open, spilling out their contents. The Turtles stand gawking as three rather bizarre looking Shredder clones come walking menacingly towards them...

Quotes

[Just after the Turtles, Splinter, Casey, and April reenter the Lair, Michelangelo dashes to the kitchen to secure his "babies" (i.e., the food).]
Michelangelo: Hello, babies! Mommy missed you! *grabs and chugs a gallon jug of milk from the fridge*
Casey: Uh, wouldn't that milk be about three months old?
Michelangelo: *spits the milk out immediately* Well, that would explain the chunks.
[He suddenly realizes that he spat the milk all over Casey's face, whose hair is standing on end and whose entire head is covered in old milk.]

Michelangelo: (to Leo) Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?
Donatello: I think he's thinking what you think he's thinking.
Raphael: If he's thinkin' what I'm thinkin', then I'm thinkin' we shouldn't just be thinkin'. *points to Casey* What do you think?
Casey: Huh?

Donatello: We're in! We're in!
April: We had to use three different dictionary attack programs to crack the encryption algorithm.
Donatello: Then it was just a simple matter of creating a dummy account and installing a remote access Trojan horse.
[Donny and April high-five]
Michelangelo: (sarcastically) Thrilling.

Donatello: Poor Battle Shell...I really loved that over-sized-gadget-laden-gas-guzzler.

[The Turtles enter the huge hangar with many Foot weapons]
Donatello: *whistles* It's like I died and went to techno-geek heaven!

[While attempting to fight off the Foot Tech Ninja, Mikey hops on a lifter and goes up]
Michelangelo: Ha! In yo face, invisible man! Smoked your transparent butt!
[One of the invisible ninja appears behind him]
Foot Tech Ninja: Ahem.
Michelangelo: Ah, shell.

Trivia

The Battle Shell is destroyed during this episode.
This marks the second appearance of a Foot Genetics lab. The first one was seen in Notes from the Underground, Part 1, abandoned and destroyed by the mutants created there.

External Links

"Return to New York, Part 1" at The Official TMNT Web Site (archived)