BURNE'S BLUES

01PLOT

A summer heat wave has struck New York, which the Turtles are fighting by eating steaming hot pizza at Plink's Pizzeria restaurant. Chef Wolfgang Plink grumbles that his refrigerator has broken down, despite being maintained that very day. Immediately after, the Turtles deal with a trio of thieves holding up the restaurant.

Back at Channel 6, Burne berates April for not searching deep enough in her reporting, since she didn't get any footage of the Turtles really doing anything. He begins recalling about "his day" as a reporter. Vernon makes the mistake of calling him "old and out of shape," which prompts Burne into going back into journalism in order to find the Turtles.

Despite the heat up above ground, the sewers are icy cold, which Donatello can't figure out. April summons them to help her investigate the broken refrigeration and air-conditioning units, which were all serviced by S&K Refrigeration.

April finds their refrigeration truck and tries to ask the driver some questions, only to find out that it's Bebop. Sure enough, the company is Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady, who are stealing freon for the Technodrome for "Operation Ice Station." Krang dismisses the idea of stealing relatively unstable freon, in favor of Nutrifreeze.

April manages to leave a trail of freon behind the truck, allowing the Turtles to follow them. They manage to catch up before Shredder and his followers can steal all the Nutrifreeze. Unfortunately, Michelangelo touches a ruptured canister and is frigid solid, and the other three are frozen as well when Shredder sprays them with Nutrifreeze. With April as a prisoner, Shredder and his minions flee.

Fortunately, the ice melts shortly thereafter, and the Turtles pursue their enemies down into the sewer. They manage to pursue the pneumatic modules on their Cheapskates, and narrowly avoid being blown up by a missile. One module fires on the other, and Shredder and his mutants eject from their broken vehicle, leaving April to be killed when it crashes.

The Turtles manage to get her out, leaving the modules to crash into each other, and sending the Nutrifreeze blasting into the air. Snow begins falling.

During all this, Burne and Vernon have been captured by an ominous unfamiliar agent, the mob, and finally some Elvis-lookalike aliens. All of their captors tickle them mercilessly. Upon returning, they finalize that they've been gone for months because of all the snow.

Down in the Technodrome, they have to resort to a treadmill-powered fan to cool the place down. And at Channel 6, Burne rants on the air about the "Elvis clones from Mars invade Earth," and is dragged off by Irma and April.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

04SCREEN GRABS

9 frames. Screencaps via Turtlepedia (CC BY-SA).

05MEMORABLE QUOTES

Donatello: We've gotta stop Shredder before he puts that Nutri-Freeze to some horrible use! Michelangelo: Well like what? Raphael: Well it isn't to open a chain of frozen yogurt stands!!

April: Well, Burne...what did you think? Burne: I thought it lacked some....._basic ingredients._ Irma: Are you talking about the story, or the pizza?

Vernon: Are you sure you're still up to this Boss? Burne: Of course I am! A good reporter remembers everything. Vernon: Uhh, _Everything_? (Holds up Burne's pants) (Burne looks down at his boxers) Burne': Well, _almost everything._

Foreign Agent: Enough! If they knew anything, they would have talked by now. No one can withstand three hours of intense tickling.

Krang: Well Shredder, it looks like Operation: Ice Station was a failure. Shredder: Failure? We cooled the place off, haven't we? Bebop: Can't we take a break now, boss? Shredder: Oh, shut up and keep running.

06NOTES & GOOFS

• When Michelangelo says "...there's nothing better to beat the heat than a steaming pizza!", watch the table as he finishes his line. There is no pizza there (other than the slice that's already in Michelangelo's hand.) A few seconds later, the pizza appears on the table as Donatello's about to speak.
• Also, observe the pizza carefully as the Turtles reach for it. Donatello and Leonardo both reach for slices at the bottom half, while Raphael takes a slice from the top right hand corner. Inexplicably, a slice from the top left hand corner disappears as well. You could probably explain this away by saying the missing slice was taken by Michelangelo earlier in the episode, but the pizza was completely intact when it's first seen. Two errors for the price of one?
• When the Turtles cast aside their disguises to confront the robbers, Michelangelo's nunchucks are missing, despite the animation suggesting that he's whipped them out. As is, it's looking like he's flexing his muscles.
• When the robbers are flung into the dessert display, the cabinet breaks into four even quarters, despite the fact that there should be glass,wooden splinters and various dessert puddles all over them. In addition to that, the broken edges look more like ripped paper, despite the differences in materials. And, to top it off, it turns completely grey.
• When Krang mentions the effects of the Nutri-Freeze, Shredder's Comlink is coloured grey and part of the back plate is coloured grey when April undoes the valve on the freon drum.
• When Bebop said "He never told ya to brain me!" Rocksteady's dagger sheath was coloured brown and April's face was animated blank.
• Burne's trench coat is white at some point and not brown.
• Don Turtelli looks completely different than he usually does.

07TRIVIA

• One of the goons holding up the restaurant makes a reference to the movie _Casablanca_ when he observes the Humphrey Bogart style trenchcoats the Turtles usually wear.

08HOME MEDIA

09FAN REVIEW

No fan review for Burne's Blues yet. Got a take on this one? Write the first review in the forum and we'll feature it here.