April O'Neil, an ace reporter for Channel 6, investigates recent break-ins, allegedly by Ninjas, which have resulted in the thefts of numerous technologies. However, a chance encounter with a gang of thieves soon leads her to a bigger story when she is saved from the criminals by four Ninja-trained, mutated turtles.
This episode has examples of
- The Coats Are Off: After the Robotic Reveal of the Foot Soldiers the Turtles decide it's time to quit holding back and ditch their trenchcoats and fedoras.
- Deadpan Snarker: After a sexist remark from Rocksteady, April gets back at him by faking sex appeal.April: Sure. No problem.
- Dramatic Unmask: Shredder removes his faceplate the last time he's seen in the episode, confirming that he is in fact Oroku Saki.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Two of the punks that were after April would become recurring mutants Bebop and Rocksteady.
- First-Episode Twist: Shredder is Splinter's rogue pupil Oroku Saki.
- Forgot We Could Swim: When the Foot Clan flood the office building, Donatello claims they need to get to safety or they'll drown. Then he remembers they're aquatic.Donatello: Hey, what are we worrying about? We're turtles!
Raphael: (Referring to April) Yeah, but she's not! - Frame-Up: Saki pulls what is perhaps the easiest in animated history. By jabbing a sword into Yoshi's cloak to pin it to a wall, he prevents Yoshi from bowing to a visiting Sensei, making it look like he's disrespectful. Then when Yoshi removes it from his shirt, everyone assumes he's attempting to assassinate the Sensei, resulting in him being throw out of the Foot clan.
- Get Out!: When the gang members are unable to properly identity the Turtles after fighting them, Shredder angrily tells them to get out of his sight.
- Hypocritical Humor: When April asks if the Turtles find anything suspicious about the "Ninja Pizza" restaurant they're in, Raphael insists that the name is just a gimmick—you wouldn't find ninjas in a pizzeria. April points out that the Turtles are ninjas in a pizzeria.
- Never Mess with Granny: The first thing the turtles encounter on the surface is an old lady who whips out a gun and starts making threats.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Immediately after discovering the truth about the Foot Ninja, Michelangelo leads a charge against them, shouting "Robots?! Let's rock!"
- Robotic Reveal: Leonardo slices open one of the Foot Clan soldiers, revealing that they're all robots.
- Wham Line:Shredder: They are Hamato Yoshi's Turtles! They must not discover the Technodrome. [through the speakers] All Foot Soldiers return to the Technodrome at once!
Raph: Technodrome? What's that?
