BRIEF STORYLINE: The turtles think that there is a pattern of whenever April reports on the TV about some new invention, Shredder will turn up to steal it. Putting this into practice, they make their way to the Top Notch Scientific Corporation and watch over the place, especially the Sonic Disintigrator device, that can turn metal to powder.
Big Louie, a crime gangster, breaks into the lab with his henchmen. The turtles uphold and withstand the gang, and the henchmen tell what they were up to, while Big Louie escapes. Just like the turtles predicted, someone to see the Tv report and steal the device, which Big Louie wanted for robbing banks. However, it wasn't Shredder.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a UFO glides across the city and then crashes. A killer robot called Destructor X appears from the crashed spaceship.
The turtles are convinced Shredder and Krang are behind the robbery. They unexpectedly meet an old friend. He is Kerma, the Turtleoid from Shell-Ri-La on another planet. He has a "small" problem he explains, which is Destructor X. Suddenly the turtles find themselves facing off with the killer robot, and discover that bright light disrupts Destructor X's sensor functions.
The turtles, in hiding at Channel Six, get the full story from Kerma. Destructor X is a law enforcement drone he tells them, who hunts down criminals. However, due to some typing error, the target is Kerma instead of Nerma, a space villain.
Big Louie is still looking for more trouble. He finds out the turtles are at Channel Six. To make matters worse, Destructor X arrives the same time as Big Louie at Channel Six. Admidst the battle, Louie catches an eyeful of Kerma's portable gold making machine, which would make him a very rich man on Earth. He agree this device is more important than the Sonic Disintegrator. This means he won't have to rob banks anymore.
Meanwhile, the turtles are running low on light to distract Destructor X, so they make a quick escape. Kerma annouces a second little problem to the turtles, about the disappearance of his gold-maker. The turtles decide to take him to April's apartment.
The turtles contact Splinter to look after Kerma, while Donatello and Michaelangelo ironically, are going to steal or borrow the Sonic Disintegrator from the lab, as they hope that it can put a stop to Destructor X. Leonardo and Raphael scan the streets for Big Louie to return Kerma's precious gold making machine. Will the Sonic Disintegrator have the power to turn Destructor X into a heap of powder? Could it be made of a highly advanced alien metal, that no Earth device can halt it? Can they stop Big Louie's "golden" oppurtunity to live the easy life and never have to work or cause crime again?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: Quite a good episode, here is another one that rips off "The Terminator" storyline. Remember "The Turtle Terminator" from the 3rd Season(1989)? Well this time a robot is hunting down Kerma the turtleoid. At the start, we see our heroes learning about a pretty cool device called the Sonic Disintegrater which turns the very table it's sitting on, into sawdust in April's TV report. Shame about the editing though.
One of the best scenes is early on, when the turtles are engaging in a fight with Big Louie and his gangsters at the Lab. Some imaginative action when Donatello throws the Bo at one gangster and blasts and blasts the damn thing, until it's just a little piece of wood, but still blocks the air-hole of the laser. Even good humour is heaped upon in this scene, when Raphael disses Big Louie as he speaks/looks like something out of a 30s gangster movie. The capture of 2 of Big Louie's minions and the interrogation from the turtles is well done too.
The entrance of the killer robot Destructor X isn't too spectacular with lousy edits. Just like in the Terminator movies, the robot, through his own eyes, can only see in one colour of red and words proping up like a computer screen. Strangely, he has one thick leg, and one as thin as a walking stick. Don't ask me why.
When the turtles are figuring who is the cause of the robber, there is one of those lines said from the turtles that remind people this only a cartoon, to give something else for the viewer to chuckle about. After Leonardo thinks it may be Shredder and Krang, Donatello comes out with "Krang and Shredder aren't in this episode!". It's true, but really not that funny. It may even let down the first-time viewer that the regular villains are not present for the whole 22 minutes!
There's an amusing sequence of events, when it takes ages for the turtles to notice it's Kerma trying to attract their attention and not one of them. A good flow to it, with each turtles saying "not now, Leonardo"(or whatever turtle it is), and the turtles get so worked up about someone tapping them, they all shout angrily "NOT NOW"! But are surprised too see Kerma. The action that takes place in Kerma's spaceship with the Destructor X is a mixture of good and bad.
It's quite amusing to see Leonardo saying a pun, as he is the least comical turtle. He's even surprised himself! Since the robot's weakness is bright light, Leonardo has a "bright idea" to go to the Channel Six Building where there are loads of bright lights. The scene where Nerma explains his "little problem" is not well executed.
The action scene at Channel Six is one of the best parts of the episode. The turtles face double trouble, comprised of Big Louie and Destructor X. An impressive feature to the robot is it can fire laser from it's knees and nose!
Kerma really is naive and too polite. Needs to stand up for himself because he simply hands over the gold-making machine into the gloved hands of Big Louie. One really nice part is when Destructor X is on the search and rampage for Kerma, colliding into April's apartment. The music intensifies the hunt for little Kerma, as the robot scans in his red vision for the turtleoid.
At Big Louie's hideout there's some witty dialogue between the gang, meanwhile there's a really surprising twist when the turtles have to steal the Sonic Disintegrator, the very one they were suppoesed to protect. The elimination of Destructor X is short and simple as the device does work on its metal. Could've been better. It has an ending with a difference where the turtles have to fight crime again with bank robbers but the episode ends on them charging the degenerates. The turtles also beg Kerma to not make his problems seem like a small insignificant threat, and change his language on it correctly. An appropiate ending. An episode thats score well on action and sometimes suspense.
"RETURN OF THE TURTLEOIDS" GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
