BRIEF STORYLINE: Donatello is trying out new inventions for the Turtle Van, he confronts a family of hillbillies(country folk) known as the Badd family. Back in the country they are rough folk who prefer to be on the wrong side of the law, and they like it that way.
The Badd's family have encountered a problem with their pick-up truck, so Donatello does the good thing, and tries to fix the problem. Unexpectedly for Donatello, the Badd's throw him into the engine compartment and lock him. They hijack the Turtle Van, and play about with the controls and gizmo's installed inside.
Returning to the turtles' lair, Donatello is too scared to tell the others that the Turtle Van has been stolen. He pretends to work on the Turtle Van which is really the Hilbilly truck. The bad news for Donatello is, the turtles have found out about the Hillbillies crimewave, and want to use the Turtle Van to resist them.
Meanwhile, April and friend Irma, also have the Badd family on their minds as well, when they interview Dr. Kepple at his Kebble Research Laboratory. Dr.Kebble tells them about his latest invention which is the "Powersizer", a gizmo that can generate more energy than the sun. Predictably, the device would be very dangerous if in the wrong hands. A giant diamond is the key to igniting the "Powersizer".
The Badd family just happen to be watching the news report inside the Turtles Van. They arrive at the location of the interview and steal the giant diamond and Powersizer.
In the meantime, Michaelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael are out on the streets in their quest for the Badd's and are moaning about Donatello trying to hide something behind his back(the hijack of his Turtles Van that is). The Turtle Van suddenly races towards them and almost flattens them!
To the shock and dismay of the 3 turtles they think Donatello is in "cahoots" with the Badd family after April informs them of the Badd's theft of the device. The double blow is, if the Badd family switch on the Powersizer without calibrating it accurately, the whole city will be drained of its power and cause the whole city to explode!!
Will the city burn to a crisp? Can Donatello prove his innocence to the other turtles?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: Not exactly an overtly impressive episode. It's quite a bad start which shows Donatello busy working away, while the other turtles are having pizza. Michaelangelo predictably complains about Donatello to waste good pizza and gives him an excuse to praise his favourite food.
Next up, the April news report is scrappily edited. When Donatello unveils one of his new gadgets, which is like big doors that come out on either side with the logo of a lolly on it, to fool people into thinking they are an ice cream van. Well, you would have to be very stupid to think it's not the Turtle Van, as the shell design you can still see, along with "turtles" printed at the front. However, a cool gadget narrows the Turtle Van through small spaces, and then the Badd family turn up. This is all nicely done.
What an unimaginative name for a trio of hillbilly villain "Badd". It just seems like a lazy addition, and the turtles looking at a newspaper saying "These Badd's are Bad!" is a terrible part of the storyline. However, some imaginative humour from Raphael, after see their picture of the ugly Badd's, "looks like waxworks at the Hillbilly House of Horrors", but not that funny in practice.
The Badd family are, to disappoint, goofy and simple apart Big Bad Badelia, the mother who is the leader over her 2 dim sons. Plus, the hijacking of the Turtle Van isn't edited well. But it is a first, the Turtle Van to get hijacked. Quite exciting though, when the Badd's mistakenly unleash one of Donatello's gadgets, including a parachute.
However, mediocrity returns when the Badd's invade the Kepple lab and hold up April and Irma to retrieve the giant diamond and powersizer, it's all bad editing and also no action. The moment the turtles almost get run over by the Turtle Van is let down by jerky editing.
In a more positive note, the best thing about this episode is the story twists that invole the turtles thinking Donatello rode the Turtle Van that alnost led to their death, and Donatello has been lying all along, that the Turtle Van was still in his control while it wasn't.There's some good humour from Donatello unexpectedly including, talking to the audience about how he knew about Kebble's devices before this adventure began, as he reads a magazine called GQ Genius Quarterly. Donatello tickles the funny bone again later on, taking a shot at cartoons in general, even though this is a cartoon, "like they say in cartoons, phew, that was close!".That is a piece of irony!
The sequence where the Badd's try to foil the turtles using Donatello's own gadgets from his Turtle Van is a mixed affair and not too great. The epsiode features not on fighting in terms of action, but as a long car-chase thriller. However, woah! Not that thrilling.
"DONATELLO'S BADD TIME" GETS A: 2/5 RATING.
