Should you watch this, Wiki this, or wait for the recap? Watch it.
Mikey’s hunger causes friction between him and the rest of the Turtles, especially when they think he’s making up stories about living pizzas. But when New York falls prey to a new mutant, can Mikey and the Turtles save the day?
I have to admit it, there’s no way the episode synopsis for “Pizza Face” is enticing. It’s the 18th episode of Season 2 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It sounds like an incredibly lame plot, and to be honest, it doesn’t advance the series arc at all. But it’s a Mikey episode! You can’t say no to that.
In addition, it features a villain that had an interesting, or rather, freaky toy – his peg-leg was a chopper! Visually he was memorable, but he didn’t quite make it to the TV series. So it’s great that this series is taking all those toys we remember but didn’t see in the cartoon, and reimagining them for this series (and presenting wacky antagonists for the Turtles to battle).
Highlights:
Mikey saves the day
I’m a Mikey fan (which you would know by now). And this counts as the second time he had to rescue the other Turtles who get zombiefied/mind controlled (the first time was in “Parasita” when the Parasitica Wasps laid eggs in them). He always overreacts in a hilarious way, but really rises to the occasion to defeat his enemies and save his brothers.
In a way, this confirms (to me) that Mikey is really the most powerful of the Turtles, since he can single-handedly defeat all of them, and is usually the one who doesn’t get turned into a zombie. And since I like powerful characters… I like Mikey. Heh.
Donnie’s naginata & Mikey’s kusarigama appear
If you don’t know by now, both Donnie & Mikey’s weapons were given an upgrade in the 2012 reboot. Being blunt weapons, they weren’t lethal, so Donnie & Mikey have an option to activate the sharp edges in their weapons, changing the bo to a naginata and the nunchukus into kusarigama.
We don’t see that happen very often, since being a kid’s show, there’s no need for lethal force. It’s a treat when we get to see it, and it happens to both brothers here! Sharp weapons all around!
Pizza zombies
Everyone (except Mikey) gets turned into a pizza zombie – including Splinter! This 2012 series takes the most random concepts and rolls with it until it begins something both effective and entertaining. I like the pizza zombies. I hope the Pizza Face toy (if there ever is one) gets a bunch of rubber pizza faces that you can stick on other action figures to turn them into pizza zombies too.
Like Shredder. What’s the Foot Clan doing during this zombie outbreak, by the way?
Letdowns:
Pizza Face
Pizza Face was a well executed concept, funny and unique… but he was actually pretty useless as a villain. His plans didn’t seem to go anywhere, and he was defeated pretty easily by Mikey (then again, Mikey is the most powerful, remember?). I would have liked to see more fighting between him and the Turtles (or just Mikey), instead of the battle being against the pizza zombies. Then again, I guess it was to build up the tension and mystery of the antagonist of the episode, so it works. Just not as well as I would like.
“Pizza Face” is technically a filler episode, but it’s a fun episode to watch and also to see some character development and moments of awesome for Mikey. It takes you on an unexpected ride that’s full of weird surprises, and for a filler episode, it really delivers on the entertainment and laughs. Watch it! For Mikey!
Leave a Reply