Leo regrets his act of mercy when Xever holds a local store owner hostage.
This episode provides examples of:
- All There in the Script: The three Purple Dragons are named Fong, Tsoi, and Sid.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Mikey gets distracted by a bowl of noodle soup in the middle of the fight with the Purple Dragons.
- Badass in Distress: Bradford is a villainous example. The turtles kidnap him hoping Xever will swap him for Murakami.
- Blind and the Beast: April takes the turtles to Murakami's restaurant specifically because he is blind and can't see that they aren't human. He later figures it out through his other senses, but is not afraid and is very grateful to them for saving his life.
- Blowing a Raspberry: Mikey does this to one of the Purple Dragons during the battle in the fortune cookie factory.
- Call-Back: Mikey recognizing Bradford and Xever.Mikey: Aww, man, this is awkward. It's my ex-friend Chris Bradford! And...that other guy!
- Cliffhanger: The ending has Shredder swearing to destroy the Turtles himself.
- Comically Missing the Point:April: It's Murakami. Someone took him and left this. (points at note pinned to the wall with a knife)
Mikey: Sweet! Free knife!
Donnie: The note, dummy. - Declarative Finger: Donnie does this briefly when he tells Mikey that needles are used for making tattoos.
- Diner Brawl: The turtles fight the Purple Dragons for the first time in Murakami's diner, stopping them from ruffling him up.
- Distressed Dude: Chef Murakami.
- The Dog Bites Back: The Purple Dragon that Xever kept smacking around tosses Leo (who let him go before) his sword while Xever and Bradford are arguing.
- Don't Look Down: Parodied. Mikey says this to Murakami, then remembers he's blind and tells him not to listen down. Murakami doesn't take offense.
- Evil Is Easy: Discussed. Raph frames this as though showing lack thereof mercy would make it easy to defeat their enemies and send a message. However, Splinter also frames it as an indication of a weak character. Later, it's exemplified that Xever wins out on the hostage situation because he had no compassion towards Bradford, indicating lack of honor among other things.
- Freudian Slip: Donnie slips up when talking to April at the end of the episode, saying that "sometimes things that don't seem like they should go together actually make a great couple! - I mean food."
- Gangbangers: The Purple Dragons.
- Get Out!: What Leo says to Fong after taking mercy on him and his gang.
- Good Is Not Soft: The central theme. Raph chastises Leo for showing mercy, saying brute force is the only thing punks like the Purple Dragons will ever understand. Splinter reminds him that mercy is not a sign of weakness at all. When push comes to shove, Raph finds he doesn't have it in him to throw Bradford off the roof. The abused Purple Dragon also repays Leo's earlier mercy by helping him out.
- Heroic Bystander: April saves Mikey by throwing a pot's lid at the Purple Dragon sneaking up behind him. She also gets Mr. Murakami safely out of the store during the fight.
- Hostage Situation: The Purple Dragons take Murakami hostage. The Turtles try to one up them by doing the same to Bradford in order to secure a release, but Xever really couldn't care less if they threw him off the roof.
- How Did You Know? I Didn't: After Bradford is freed from being the Turtles' hostage, he angrily asks Xever how he knew they were bluffing, with Xever smugly remarking he didn't, meaning he was willing to let them throw him off the roof.
- I Owe You My Life: Murakami reveals he knows the Turtles aren't human, but it doesn't matter because they saved his life.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- While part of the reason for his protest was simply due to pride, Raphael points out that Leo showing mercy to the Purple Dragons would just allow them to terrorize Murakami again in the future. Leo himself implicitly admits that Raph has a point.
- Bradford said he's the reason Xever managed to defeat the turtles, and to be honest, he wasn't wrong. He took down Don and Mikey by himself, and double teamed Leo with Xever. Raph was the only turtle Xever defeated on his own. If you do the math, Bradford defeated two and a half turtles while Xever defeated one and a half.
- Mythology Gag:
- Subverted. Murakami seems to be named after Jimmy Murakami of Murakami Wolf, the animation studio responsible for the 1987 series. In reality, Ciro Nieli named him after a friend of his, possibly Teen Titans (2003) collaborator Glen Murakami.
- A more straight example occurs when Mikey's telling the others about how he wants to get a tattoo of his face on his face which is briefly overlaid with the '87 Michelangelo's face.
- Not So Above It All: April when she eats the pizza dumplings.
- Offhand Backhand: Mikey does this in the fight with the Purple Dragons. Even while distracted by a bowl of noodles, he knocks a guy back and forth between him and Donnie without even looking or turning around.
- Supreme Chef: Chef Murakami. Even being blind doesn't prevent him from cooking up "Pizza Gyoza" for the turtles.
- Tattooed Crooks: The Purple Dragons.
- Terrible Trio: The Purple Dragons.
- The Triads and the Tongs: Although they are a New York street gang, the Purple Dragons appear to be Chinese.
- Unwilling Suspension: What Xever does to Murakami.
- You Have Failed Me: Averted. The Shredder is most disappointed with his lieutenants' failures, but the worst he does is demote Bradford and denounce both him and Xever.
