BRIEF STORYLINE: The turtles fix together a new device called the Zarnovameter, which was perfectly ideal to track the Third and last Fragment of the Eye of Zarnov. However, Shredder gets to it before the turtles do. Shredder had his hands on ALL THREE Fragments and after bringing them together, he believes he is now a superpower and can operate the crystal. He attaches it to the front of his helmet.
The turtles catch Baxter leaving a Chinese- Take out restuarant and follow him to a filthy freighter that is stationed in the harbour. Shredder wills his new power to bring an illustrated red Chinese dragon to life, which is painted on the side of the take-out box carrier, to attack the turtles. Shredder is delight by the impact this power has. The red dragon's aggressive tactics are too much for the turtles and they retreat, only for Donatello to blindly lose the Zarnovameter which drops to the ground. Baxter Stockman is at the scene to pick it up.
April, Vernon and a batch of Channel Six news reporters arrive at the incident and witness bizarrely, Leonardo and Michaelangelo ride on top of the red dragon as it flies over the border. Blodgett, a wimpy nerd-looking character is the Channel Six news van driver, but gets frightenend and drives off.
Elsewhere, Donatello and Raphael luckily knock Shredder's crystal helmet off, which instantly made the red dragon vanish. Meanwhile Michaelangelo and Leonardo fall into a nearby pool. Blodgett, returns to the harbour, loses steering of the van and hurriedly dives out of the news van as it tips downwards off the edge of the pier. Vernon sacks Blodgett, who doesn't attack his decision and trundles away in low spirits. However, he just by chance finds and takes Shredder's helmet with the crystal intact.
Blodgett is now back at his apartment, wearing Shredder's helmet and whines over having no job. For a confidence boaster, he plugs in his earphones into his Walkman and listens to a self-esteem tape. The tape wants him to think positively and to imagine having his very own limousine. The crystal comes into life and gives him exactly that!
At the turtles' lair, Splinter tells the turtles to find again the Zarnovameter, if they want Shredder's helmet. The guys disguise themselves as pizza delivery boys and reach for the streets.
Shredder is in despair over the loss of his crystal-holding helmet and verbally throws of all of Baxter's previous efforts in his face. Baxter goes out on his own, and takes the Zarnovameter out into the streets. He finds Blodgett and snatches the helmet off him in victory. After this, Baxter selfishly wants the crystals powers bestowed upon himself. Now that he has found what he was looking for, he ditches the Zarnovameter into the trash.
Baxter is now on an ego trip, and feel indestructible. He first creates a life-like Taj Mahal for himself. The turtles come to the scene but Baxter unleashes a viscious blob-like giant monster, which will turn them into "Turtle soup".
What now for our pizza-loving foursome? Can they retrieve the Eye of Zarnov from a power-mad Baxter, which is also the target of 2 other men, a determined Shredder and Blodgett? When will this chase end for the crystal? It's already been going on for 4 episodes!
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: This climax to the Eye of Zarnov saga ends on a not so superior finish. The editing is rather jagged at the start, but the wondrous music is good. It's very 80s music, and was not heard in the next seasons. However, it doesn't take long for the editing to get better.
One of the perhaps, coolest scenes is the special gadget on Baxter's sunglasses, that with a swift click of a button, he can spot the turtles behind him. The fight with the turtles and construction workers at the harbour, which is adequate. The scene featuring Raphael flinging one of his Sai at the construction vehicle's controls is roughly edited though. At the end, we have a bad pun from Raphael with "net project" as the workers get caught in a net, which is made official by the other turtles disdain.
The action with the red dragon come to life is quite good. It gradually improves when Donatello throws his Bo weapon at Shredder's helmet, knocking it off his head. Then there's a the dramatic falling off the disappeared dragon for Michaelangelo and Leonardo. A thought is they might smash into hard ground to their death? But of course our heroes land softly in a swimming pool. Its not all satisfaction guaranteed with the action, because in the part when Blodgett leaps out the crashing-into-harbour TV van, it could of been more hard-hitting.
Strange things happen at Blodgett's apartment. He seems to know what his cat is saying in mieows! There's then a few really bad edits, when the turtles are with Splinter in the lair, dressing up as pizza delivery men. However, after this part, the episodeis mostly strong. For instance, Baxter's change of mood when he has the crystal, and talks himself up(to no one in particular) about him getting a way out of Shredder's control, and tells of his very own plans. He's on a power & ego trip now.
I like the way Baxter creates his own Taj Mahal, as the animation moves round him as the magic is of the crystal is conjured up. It's a powerful moment. Next up is the best fight/action of the episode, which is when Baxter creates a humongus slime monster to descimate the turtles. some very good quick snappy editing here. It's quite a happy ending for down-on-his-luck Blodgett, who gets his job at Channel Six back, but has to pay for damages of the TV van. He decides to celebrate by taking the Turtles and April out. One minor thought, if this was a more adult cartoon, Blodgett, a nerd-type fellow, typical of someone who has no luck with women, might've asked April out on a date!
One nice touch at the end, is when the turtles are switching channels at the end, which includes a few doppelgangers (look-a-likes) of the ninja turtles portrayed as commando's. Raphael or one other turtle points at the Tv, looking at Donatello but doesn't say anything about it. This is still a mixed mash of a episode.
"CURSE OF THE EVIL EYE" GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
