BRIEF STORYLINE: The episode starts with Donatello and Raphael deciding to go out of the sewers in their human disguises to buy pizza. On the way back, they are ambushed by a gang of young street punks. Out of nowhere, a kid wearing a turtle costume, tries to fend off the punks, but falls flat on his face, while the turtles get on with it and win the fight. The kid's name is Zack, and he is a big fan of TMNT and would love to help them fight crime. Raphael doesn't agree and believes he would only be a pest, and does not have the skills. Down-hearted but not out, Zack picks up the Turtle Comm Donatello drops during the fight, as he leaves.
Down below the Earth's surface in the Technodrome, Krang and Shredder plan to steal Capsidium Crystal from the local planetarium and place it under the base of its telescope, at the exact time when the planets of Earth, the Moon, the Sun and Mars are all in alignment with each other, a rare event. This is of course, to help raise the Technodrome to the surface.
At Channel Six news, April and Irma find out that Bebop and Rocksteady are intruding illegally into the Marconi Labs. When April contacts the turtles on the Turtle Comm, Zack also gets the message on the Turtle Comm formerly of Donatello's.
Inside the Marconi Labs, Shredder is on his way to stealing the Capsidium Crystals when the turtles break onto the scene. Zack turns up too but trips and falls into a pit at the centre of the room. This gives Shredder a lucky oppurtunity to escape. The turtles then have to abide their time saving Zack, about to be squashed by a moving pendulum.
Zack then escapes on his own. The turtles return to their lair. Shredder is going to raise the Technodrome to the surface with the crystals. To their shock, Zack finds their secret home without being told where it is. Nobody has ever done that! The turtles give Zack a tour of their lair and he promises never to interfere with them again.
Shredder has managed to obtain Zack's address and he sends Rocksteady and Bebop over to kidnap him. Zack evades capture from the two cretins, and overhear them muttering about a trap for the turtles. Zack finds the urge too much to take, and sets out to save his idols the turtles, which is breaking the promise he made with them.
Donatello, with his great brain, finds out the whole plan Krang and Shredder are brewing. They are met with gunfire by the Foot soldiers at the planetarium, which gives Shredder time to seize Zack!
Can the turtles rescue their biggest fan? Are they still angry at Zack for breaking the promise? Shredder and Krang's plan to raise the Technodrome; good, eh?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: The fifth turtle, no, it's not Venus De Milo (female turtle for another TMNT series), but according to this cartoon it's Zack, the human kid, who is a big fan of the TMNT. It's a quite a good episode. Action from th very beginning, as the turtles take out crooks but then Zack intervenes. How did Zack find out about the turtles? It was never explained but it's most likely he saw them on the TV news reports
Zack's nosing into the turtles business does have its funny moments. Donatello thinks he hears his echo of "we're on our way!" on the Turtle Comm, but its actually Zack hearing the same message from April on the stolen Turtle Comm. Raphael also hints that this is not "the Shredder Show", after Shredder once again promises to finish off the turtles this time around.
A new phrase is born in the TMNT universe dictionary, as Michaelangelo can't stop calling Zack a "micro-dude" in this episode.
One stand out scene to make note of is Zack figuring out a new use or irritation of the Turtle Comm, which is utilizing the feedback and creating a very loud noise that causes the turtles to hold onto their (invisible) ears. The music changes suitably to a chaotic fast beat.
There is a stupid part of the storyline, which could only happen in the world of the cartoon. Shredder simply phones up the police, tells the registration number of Zack's bike, and gets his address. If only a kidnapper had it that easy. This leads to a well edited action scene where Bebop and Rocksteady try to kidnap Zack at his home, and predictably fail.
Later on, all four turtles unpredictably, fail to get rid of Shredder from the planetarium. Michealangelo and Raphael get tied up as soon as Raphael thinks they will get the job done and save the other 2. How they couldn't defeat Shredder is not shown, but that is skipped over for comic effect.
The episode does end strongly with the final action involving the Technodrome started to move finally but is foiled by Zack and the turtles. A nice final scene, with Splinter showing his trust in Zack and gives him a spare Turtle Comm. A very good ending i feel, which is the moment when his skeptical older brother is in disbelief that Zack really did meet the turtles. The music adds alot to this as well.
"THE FIFTH TURTLE" GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
