The turtles try to round up a swarm of "oozesquitoes", whose bite turns humans into mutants. In the process they find out about a hidden society of other mutants, or "youkai", hidden in New York. Not all is as it seems, though...
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: After all the turtles went through to round up the oozesquitos, they lose them at the end of the episode. The only takeaways they get are that they learn Draxum created them and Big Mama is running a gladiator-style arena.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Big Mama acts friendly to the turtles and recruits them to catch the oozesquitos. However, once they fulfill their end of the bargain, she proves herself to be just as evil as Leo suspected.
- Dull Surprise: Leo isn’t surprised at all that Big Mama and Lord Draxum know each other.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Draxum forces Raph into choosing to lose either the oozesquitos or Leo. Raph starts to call his bluff, but Draxum carries out his threat to drop Leo off the roof.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Big Mama plans on having the turtles be "bumbling arena clowns" for the battle nexus. Mikey tries to refute this, only for him and his brothers to slip and fall into each other.
- Mythology Gag: When Baron Draxum's bragging about the army of mutants he'll create, the first two example soldiers who appear around him are Bebop and Rocksteady. Another one might be Leatherhead.
- Properly Paranoid: Leo distrusts Big Mama as soon as he sees her. His concern turns out to be justified.
- Shout-Out: Leo paraphrases Die Hard while climbing through air vents.
- Villainous Rescue: Just before Big Mama forces the turtles into becoming her rodeo clowns, Draxum shows up to reclaim the oozesquitos. The turtles use their fight to free themselves from Big Mama’s web.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Raph thinks that Draxum won’t actually drop Leo off the roof when he’s demanding the bugs. He’s proven instantly wrong when the man carries out his threat.
