BRIEF STORYLINE: At Carter's hideout, Carter and buddy Michaelangelo are playing video games. However Suddenly, the TV screen goes all fuzzy and Carter believe's its only a malfunction.
At the turtles lair, April gets in touch with the turtles to tell them that all the TV channel signals in the city have been jammed. In it's place on the TV, is a hypnotizing spinning wheel picture that strikes her mind from her TV.
Carter coincidentally bumps into an old enemy named Jet McCabe. Jet is a teenage boy who has a grudge with Carter that has lasted since Carter threw him out of a local martial arts club for cheating. Jet now wants to exact his revenge on him, but Carter has no time to deal with him, and makes way for the turtles lair, where he is needed.
Meanwhile, the dreaded Dregg has initiated contact with a minion of his, called Sleazebug. Sleazebug is a recruiter for life forms all over the galaxy, who are martial arts skilled, for an upcoming tournament. Sleazebug has other plans in mind when the turtles come over to his alien world, without Dregg to get in his way and bungle HIS plans.
Carter plans to confront Jet McCabe once again, but this time, Sleazebug is there to zap all of them -except Raphael and Donatello who escape- to the alien world where the tournament will be staged.
The zapped bunch are kept contained in a cell. The tournament is taking place in territory controlled by the evil Karg. The contestants must fight to the death. For the moment, Carter and Jet work together to get rid of the other alien participants.
Back on planet Earth, Donatello is trying to tweak the Techno Tracker device, in the hope that Sleazebug has left remnants of particle traces. If that's the case, he can follow its path to locate the teleporter.
Can Carter, Jet, Michaelangelo and Leonardo survive this grizzly reality of a "fight to the death" tournament? Can Donatello and Raphael get them back to home sweet home? Also, can they put a stop to Dregg's latest scheme?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: Anyone for a stinker? No, i didn't think so. It does get off to an amusing and interesting start, when Michaelangelo and Carter are playing a "Street Fighter"-like video game, and quarrell over whose intergalactic moves set is better.
Then we meet whiney Jet McCabe who confronts Carter outside. This scene is not well done. This is an excuse to give more depth to Carter, but it doesn't pay off, as we have to contend with one of the most unlikeable characters in the series, who shows nothing but show utter contempt to our good guys.
Raphael makes way for a funny-byte, when Dregg has unleashed a hypnotic symbol on people's TV's, when he jokes the "Junior Camping League" have caused this chaos. He does so again, when the turtles are trying to shift and budge the door, into where they confront Jet McCabe in a cyber suit with mega strength powers. After that we hear some punlines from the mutated "hulked-up" turtles during their fight with the Techno Gangsters.
Sleazebug is a new character who sound very similar to Rocksteady in voice. He brings a more humourous feel to the villain side, and makes the older TMNT fan yearn to see Bebop and Rocksteady, who haven't appeared since the last season.
When we get to the battles inside the alien arena Karg has to hold his tournament, a couple of them are good, but most of the fights aren't well edited. However, the aliens appearances are varied and somewhat original. Another funny moment from Raphael who suggests Donatello's tracking device should be called the "Goof-a-meter".
The best looking animation i like the most and appreciate, is the moment Carter and the TMNT mutate into their larger forms.
One suprising moment is when the Techno Gangsters take Sleazebug away, and he thinks he has failed Dregg's objectives, but they modify him and his gangly physical frame is no more and he becomes muscular.
Its a stupid ending as Jet McCabe, still bitter/jealous of Carter wants to stay on Karg's alien planet rather than travel back to Earth, and nothing is resolved. Things between Jet and Carter never get resolved as thats the last we hear of Jet...thankfully. However, its also the only episode Sleazebug appeared in, but he should've been in more, as he had comic potential with that voice, and give the villainous side more depth. Well, thats one postive of the episode anyway.
The episode ends in amusing fashion, as we go back to the videogame Michaelangelo and Carter were playing, but this time, its been modified and the characters in the game shakes hands instead of fighting.
"THE SHOWDOWN" GETS A: 2/5 RATING.
