As Leo tries to convince the team to attempt to rescue Karai, an unknown master thief steals Shredder’s helmet.
- Animal Jingoism: Discussed between Tiger Claw and Bradford, who find the concept that two martial artists should hate each other just because they are a cat and a dog kind of silly... Though Tiger Claw admits that he does want to eat Fishface because he's a fish. Bradford also wants to eat him, but just to shut him up.
- Artifact Collection Agency: Steranko must have one set up considering the amount of stuff that he he has aquired, because he seems to be affiliated with The Russian Military, even if he is a criminal, he is able to keep it all in what appears to be a Secret Government Warehouse. You can look at screen shots of Steranko's collection here.
- Ascended Extra: Steranko, who sent Zeck after the Kabuto, putting the plot into motion.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Shredder gets his helmet back, and the Turtles are still no closer to getting Karai out.
- Bait-and-Switch: The Shredder switches Karai with a volatile dummy to fool the Turtles.
- Big Eater: Mikey, who is willing to steal pizza from his brothers.
- Big "NO!": From Leo, when Baxter brings down a giant billboard on his brothers.
- Brutal Honesty: When Leo asks Shredder what would stop him from just attacking immediately after handing over his helmet. The Shredder simply says he IS going to immediately attack him. Of course, it turns out he never planned on giving Karai over so the trope is zigzagged.
- The Bus Came Back: Steranko makes his first appearance in over a year.
- Delinquent Hair: Zeck got a mowhawk that doubles as a Battle Boomerang
- Eye Scream: It's reveal Steranko lost his eyes because Zeck accidentally shot him there.
- Fastball Special: Donnie and Mikey use one against Tiger Claw.
- Foreshadowing: A rhino can be seen among Steranko's collection.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: At hearing from Shredder that he had Karai imprisoned for learning the truth, Leo is pretty put off that Shredder would put his own adoptive daughter in a dungeon, despite raising her himself. If anything, this indicates that Leo somewhat believed Raph's previous words about how Shredder wouldn't think about hurting her.
- Hostage For Macguffin: Instead of the villains doing this, Leonardo proposes the trade when he recovers Shredder's helmet from Zeck. Doesn't quite work out.
- I Am a Humanitarian: Tiger Claw admitted he does want to eat Fishface, while Rahzar said he'd probably eat Fishface just to shut him up.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Lampshaded by Mikey, who remarks that the Baxter Fly's "got a gazillion eyes - you'd think his aim would be better."
- Internal Reveal: Raph has previously pointed out to Leonardo that Shredder would most likely welcome Karai home with open arms, regardless learning the truth about Splinter. It's only now that Leo learns (to his horror) that Shredder actually had Karai imprisoned in his dungeon.
- Invisibility Cloak: Anton got one of these (Though useless against a opponent who can smell you out, like Rahzar).
- Look Both Ways: Anton tries to run across the street while invisible and gets run over by the Shellraiser.
- MacGuffin: As expected, it's Shredder's helmet. When Xever points out why he doesn't just get a new one, Shredder reveals that the Foot Clan's founder (being a expert swordsman) utterly devastated hundreds of his enemies and took their weapons as mementos. He then took all of those mementos and combined them to eventually form a metallic helmet that was beyond the strength of steel; that helmet is Shredder's helmet.
- Musical Spoiler: Of the Mythology Gag sort. Zeck is accompanied by a Leitmotif that is quite jazzy. One of the biggest genres of Jazz? Bebop.
- Museum of the Strange and Unusual: Steranko has his own private museum which houses an impressive assortment of antique military weaponry and a large stuffed polar bear, among other things. It's actually more of a Mishmash Museum than anything else
- Mythology Gag: Much like his 2003 counterpart, Shredder swears none of the Turtles will leave his lair alive.
- Out-of-Character Moment: The entire episode happens because Shredder removes his helmet, something he's never previously done willingly during the show. He apparently did so to show emotional intimacy when he was talking with Karai.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Anton Zeck and Steranko don't get the Kuro Kabuto, despite being very close to success, and the Turtles fail to get Karai because the Shredder anticipated them getting away with her, so they ended up getting a Karai-shaped bomb instead thanks to the Shredder being surprisingly savvy.
- Shout-Out: Zeck does quite a lot of Michael Jackson cries during the episode. He's also got Bebop's hairstyle.
- Sudden Downer Ending: The turtles trade the helmet to Shredder for Karai, but wind up with a Karai-shaped bomb instead, meaning the trade was completely in vain.
- Symbolism: After Shredder tells Karai his motive for kidnapping her was to keep her out of the hands of "scum like Splinter", we get a shot of Karai in her cell and Shredder outside it. However, Karai's cell looks rather spacious with soft lighting (as though she were free), while the hallway Shredder stands in looks cramped with red lighting (as though he himself were a prisoner). It gives off a feeling as though Karai has been freed by the truth, while Shredder is still captive to the lies he tells himself.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Shredder calls Leo "pathetic" after defeating him. Remember in the previous season when he spoke of some positiveness about their skills. Then again Leo went down much faster this time and could've been either killed, taken prisoner or beaten if the other turtles hadn't arrived right there and then.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Tiger Claw and Bradford actually get some level of respect towards each other. It may qualify as a Villainous Friendship.
- Tron Lines: Zeck's outfit is full of them.
- The Voiceless: Splinter and Stockman don't have any dialogue in this episode aside from Stockman's fly buzzing.
- Why Am I Ticking?: A rather ingenious one by Shredder: he fakes a fight with the Turtles (making it seem like a double-cross when the helmet is being traded for Karai) and it turns out the Karai he gave was a bomb, so Shredder still has Karai and got his helmet back. You gotta admit, that's clever.
