In the sewer lair everyone can hear Michelangelo scream.
Nick's latest episode of TMNT, "Invasion of the Squirrelanoids" is basically a love letter to Ridley Scott's Alien. As you may remember, Season 2's premiere scattered mutagen canisters across the city and now it's time to get just a glimpse of the chaos that's creating. We've seen a wealthy variety of scary mutants, but nothing compares to... THE SQUIRRELANOIDS!
After their... dramatic... tease in the last episode, this follow-up shows just how closely these new enemies are linked to xenomorphs. To say any more would spoil the enjoyment that ensues, but it's clear the creative team has a lot of love for the Alien franchise. There's plenty of amusing parallels throughout the episode -- the most obvious being their final form -- and it's adorably frightening. Nothing can top the fear of being hunted by something that makes beyond cute squirrel noises right before it attempts to destroy you.
Splinter's involvement in this episode is a real treat. The outcome while he's attempting to meditate is predictable yet it's still totally fun. That's topped when he gets yet another chance to show off just how skilled he is. Then his speech about what the turtles must do was motivating and the reaction from the team is beyond priceless. Let's just say this is one lesson they didn't want to immediately take to heart.
The final action sequence has a lot of build up but truthfully, it's not as nearly exciting as many of the other great battles the series has thrown our way. It's a tad disappointing, but that's okay since Splinter's segment rocked and the rest of the episode was legitimately enthralling.
"Invasion of the Squirrelanoids" is yet another solid episode. There's a tight script, offering consistent laughs and steady pacing. The constant nods to the Alien franchise is quite entertaining as well and kept a smile plastered on my face. Just please don't ever show us Mikey in dirty tighty whities again. That's debatably more frightening than the Squirrelanoids.
Oh, and I'm not the only one who wanted to tell Mikey the comic with rips on the cover isn't near mint condition, right?