THE MEAN MACHINES

01PLOT

Since the batteries of the Crystal Converger have died, Donatello uses spare circuits from the crashed spaceship to make a new tracking device, in order to locate the second fragment of the Eye of Sarnath.

They've nearly located the next fragment when they are distracted by a bank robbery. While they are chasing the robbers, Shredder and Baxter Stockman locate the second fragment in a garbage dumpster (presumably due to Baxter having thrown one fragment out in a previous episode).

Shredder contacts Krang and says that his plan is to hook up the second fragment to a computer, and that whatever he's planning will be enough to destroy the Turtles. Krang is doubtful.

Donatello tries to amp up the power on the tracking device by hooking it up to the Turtle Van, but only ends up triggering malfunctions and a near accident. They end up asking April O'Neil for help finding anything weird going on instead.

Meanwhile, Shredder breaks into a Hi-Tech Lab and hooks the second fragment from the Eye of Sarnath up to a computer mainframe called: O.M.N.S.S. (OMNIPOTENT MULTI-PROCESSING NEXUS SUBUNIVERSAL SENTIENCE). The computer is artificially intelligent and already extremely powerful, but the fragment allows it to use electricity to control other machines.

The Turtles meet April at a construction site, only for the machines to activate and turn on them. They manage to destroy or disable the various machines (including April's news van).

O.M.N.S.S. needs more power and begins to drain energy from the power plants in the city. Soon, machines everywhere in the city are going berserk, creating total chaos in the city. Shredder believes that this can destroy the Turtles.

With the tracker unable to lock onto the fragment's energy because of the widespread mayhem, the Turtles consult a nasty robot meter maid to get Shredder's location. But on their way, O.M.N.S.S. takes control of the Turtle Van, locking its doors and taking control of the steering. Just as the Turtle Van is about to crash, Donatello uses the tracking device to short-circuit the Turtle Van.

Meanwhile, O.M.N.S.S. is developing more power so Shredder can open a dimensional portal to Dimension X. Before this happens, the Turtles and April storm the building and are assaulted by a variety of Robodyne machines, including a fire hose and various robots. They avoid several of these by climbing up the side of the building.

When they reach the lab, Leonardo ruptures the power line leading to O.M.N.S.S., only for the computer to turn off completely, leaving Shredder and Baxter defenseless. The pair escape, and it's revealed that O.M.N.S.S. was defeated by April unplugging it.

In a small apartment, Shredder rages about the failure of his plans. At the lair, the Turtles are frightened by the outline of a killer robot on the wall... only to learn that it's a small electric toy that Michelangelo is controlling.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

04SCREEN GRABS

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

05MEMORABLE QUOTES

OMNSS: "Warning! Warning! Insufficient power to complete mission!

_- OMNSS after Leonardo cuts off his power._

06TRIVIA

• When the Turtles are scouting the city for the fragment, there is a billboard of a pizza with the words "Pizza by Michael" which could be a reference to this episode's writer Michael Reaves.
• First appearance of the Turtles' wall climbing suction cups which will be seen again in "Enter: The Fly" and "Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady".
• The Flying Robot seen briefly on the TV was an obvious Parody of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.

07HOME MEDIA

08FAN REVIEW

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