The Turtles end up smack dab in the middle of a civil war against the Foot, the Purple Dragons, and the mob as they fight for control of the city. While Leonardo believes they are responsible and must get involved to set things right, Raphael tells him it's none of their business and that they should keep out of it.
First appearance of Karai
This episode provides examples of:
- Bystander Syndrome: Raph considers the turf war someone else's problem.Raph: We shouldn't be here, it's not our fight.
[The Turtles find themselves surrounded by Foot ninjas.]
Mikey: Looks like it's our fight now. - Chekhov's Skill: Leonardo is trying to perfect his aim with his katana by hitting the center of various bulls-eyes. Although he repeatedly fails, by the time it comes to using it in battle he hits his target.
- Enemy Civil War: the Foot Clan, the Purple Dragons and the Mob battle for control of New York following the Shredder's supposed demise.
- Evil Laugh: Stockman over unleashing his new weapon on the Foot. Big Boss finds it rather silly.
- Evil Power Vacuum: With the Shredder gone, the major criminal organizations under his banner have fallen into a gang war to assume control of the city. This becomes a plot point for Leonardo, who believed removing the Shredder would make things better, not realizing the consequences of suddenly removing a crime lord from power.
- Family-Friendly Firearms: Justified. The Mafia characters are shown wielding such weapons early on, but we later learn that Stockman is providing them with advanced technology to help them go toe to toe with the other two factions.
- Heroic Neutral: Leo and Mikey feel responsible for the gang war and want to help put things right. Splinter and Raph feel it isn't their business and that it's too dangerous to get involved. Donnie is caught in the middle, and while he listens to Mikey's presentation on the issues, never expresses his own opinion on the matter.
- Hidden Depths: Mikey says he understands why Leo thinks this situation is their fault, feeling somewhat responsible himself. He later reveals he's been watching assorted news reports on the subject, which has allowed him to fully work out the current state of the gang war.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Foot Clan is hit with this hard after the Shredder’s apparent demise. This is symbolized by their new base: a decrepit husk of a building with the only furniture being a couple of mats. Compare this to the Foot’s high-tech skyscraper from the previous season.Leo: So, this is what happened to the Foot since we got rid of the Shredder? How the mighty have fallen.
- It's All My Fault: Leo believes the Turtles, and in particular himself, are responsible for the war in the city.Leo: I don't get what Master Splinter’s thinking on this one. Do nothing? Innocent people are getting hurt because of us. Because of me. I just wish I knew what the shell I was going to do.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The male host of Butting Heads is very blunt and insulting to his co-host, but he accurately describes the situation as a full-blown gang war between factions vying for total control of the city's criminal underworld.
- Kingpin in His Gym: Karai
- Laser-Guided Karma: Three Foot Ninja knock Mikey through a hole in the roof. Raph immediately returns the favor by crashing into them and then uses them to break his own fall.
- Let's You and Him Fight: The second time Leo and Raph fight against each other.
- Mob War: An entire arc centered around this. Without the Shredder unifying them, the New York Foot, the Purple Dragons, and the Mob are locked in a fierce turf war, with innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire.
- Moral Myopia: Leo is so caught up in his perceived moral obligations to the situation that he repeatedly says he can't even understand why Splinter doesn't want them involved or where he's coming from. Leo himself should be able to at least see that it's a complex and potentially dangerous situation for them, even if he ultimately decides it's worth the risks, but either doesn't realize or doesn't care about those factors.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Leonardo has this reaction when seeing different news shows covering the gang war, particularly when one reporter says several civilians got injured in the crossfire of one brawl.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Leo believes they've caused the war due to taking out the Shredder.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Leo and Raph stumble onto a transaction, with the Mafia paying the Foot for some goods. It goes south because (much to Weasel's surprise and displeasure) the Foot Elite Ninja opts to count the payment before handing over the goods. Finding only half the agreed upon payment in the briefcase, the Elite orders the mooks to kill the mobsters.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Leonardo ignoring Splinter's orders to just do nothing by walking out of the lair.Mikey: Dude!
- Outrun the Fireball: When Leo fails to defuse the bomb.
- Planning with Props: Acting as Mr. Exposition, Mikey uses a map of the city, and some toys, to determine and demonstrate the Evil Power Vacuum going on in New York City to Donatello.
- Saw It in a Movie Once: Don tries one of his favourite movie stunts, only for it to fail miserably in 'real life'.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Leo goes out to help resolve the gang war, even when Master Splinter tells him not to.
- Shout-Out: In the beginning, when Raph and Leo are traversing through the cityRaph: Just your friendly neighborhood Turtle Man.
Leo: You look more like Raph-zan, Lord of the Jungle to me.- Don later attempts a stunt straight from The Matrix Reloaded.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Big Boss freely admits that he hates Stockman, but he'll gladly follow his battle plan if it means taking down the Foot and the Purple Dragons.
- Time Bomb: Leo fails to defuse one of these in the warehouse and has to Outrun the Fireball.
- True Companions: While the family is divided on whether to get involved at all, the brothers still ultimately go out and support Leo, because they don't want anything happening to him from trying to take it on alone.
- Villain Team-Up: Having no love for the Foot or the Purple Dragons, Stockman has allied with the mobsters.
- Was It Really Worth It?: When the building is coming down at them at the end, Raph bitterly tells Leo he hopes it was worth it "doing the right thing".
- Wham Shot: How Stockman is revealed as the Mafia's tech supplier.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: The situation hits Leonardo so hard because he genuinely thought things would get better without the Shredder around, only to see innocent people getting hurt during a gang war.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Don tries a move he's seen on TV, only for it to fail miserably in 'real life'.
- Your Television Hates You: While watching TV, Leo gets constantly reminded of the gang wars that plaguing the city, and how innocent people are getting hurt due to get caught in the middle of the violence.
