BRIEF STORYLINE: The turtles are abruptly surprised when in the middle of a Ninjitsu lesson, an alien spaceship crash-land into a pond in Central. The alien in his unfortunate dying last words, tells the turtles to find the “Three Fragments of the Eye of Zarnov” which were 3 pieces of his spaceship that are now littered about the NY area. If these 3 pieces are joined together, it will give unimaginable powers to any Earthling. The turtles are given a crystal converger to locate the whereabouts of the fragments. Then the alien vaporizes. With great unluck, Shredder has heard the whole conversation.
Shredder demands to Krang to give him Foot soldiers but Krang stubbornly refuses to give any help until the turtles are taken out.
The turtles get one over Shredder by finding the first fragment of the Eye of Zarnov at the NY dock buried in a garbage barge. However, Shredder pops up at the wrong time and steals the fragment and before you know, Shredder finds out what the special power of it is! It shrinks people! The turtles are now tiny, and Shredder tries to seize the Crystal Converger but they escape to the sewer to find Splinter. With Shredder shrinking NY buildings and on route for victory and Baxter creating the Heat Seeking Turtle Scope, is there no way the turtles will return to their normal sizes?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENT’S: This is the first episode of four that follows the turtles quest to find the 3 fragments of the Eye of Zarnov. Sort of like a mini-series. The action scenes are especially well done which includes Shredder’s tussle with the Turtles for the fragment at the dock. It was at it’s best after the just-shrinked turtles scramble to get away from him. Then there’s the struggle between Shredder and Splinter near the end with some high-octane moments like Splinter almost getting mushed to death by machinery making cheese. Then there’s also April and Splinter’s dramatic entrance with the Turtle Van into Shredder and Baxter’s HQ.
There’s a good variety of obstacles to the tiny turtles, such as a Piranha, a street cleaner vehicle and a snake that lives in water. The turtle’s voice’s sound different when they’re small, but not terribly high-pitched or anything, which might make this episode sound like a joke. There’s also Baxter’s introduction of the Heat Seeking Turtle Scope done well and also expresses well Krang’s anger and frustration at Shredder, who is usually seen on the little screen of Shredder’s communicator. It’s also funny too. The questionably dying alien’s dialogue is memorable and important as it sets the plot for the next 3 episodes.
Some awkward editing involved in this episode such as the turtles swimming in the park pond saving the alien, and the Shredder/Splinter confrontation. Maybe some more originality with the troubles of being the size of an insect? A colourful episode though, where Shredder wins in the end, which is few and far between.
"THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING TURTLES" GETS A: 3/5 RATING.
