War and Pizza

**"War and Pizza"** is the fourth episode (Episode 3A) of the first season of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It first aired on September 17th, 2018.

## Characters

* Albearto (Tom Kenny)
* April O'Neil (Kat Graham)
* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* April's Manager (Eric Bauza)
* Birthday Boy (Henry Kaufman)
* Cheery Tomato (Jill Talley)
* Claw Machine Kid (Eric Bauza)
* Helmet Kid (Vanessa Marshall)
* Nine Year-Old Girl (Alina Foley)
* Party Kid (Vanessa Marshall)
* President Pepperoni (Eric Bauza)
* Robotic Voles

## Plot

April, after some searching, got a job at the pizza restaurant Albearto's Pizzeria, but with her self-selected specialty of organizing children's parties in the restaurant, she gradually got into trouble with the manager due to the unpredictable nature of her guests. He gives her one last chance to get the current party guest - the boy Timmy, who is celebrating his birthday - in tune; and April is using the restaurant's animatronic mascot, Albearto and its companions Cheery Tomato and President Pepperoni. But Timmy decides to do his own joke by throwing a drink in Albearto's mouth and shorting it out.

In distress, April contacts Donatello, and he and the rest of the Turtles rush to help her. Donatello can repair Albearto in record time, but also gives the robot some personal modifications. In the midst of a furious guitar solo on the stage of the restaurant, however, Alberto begins to spin as Donatello's new programming strains his battery, coming into contact with the circuit of a stage headlamp. The sudden short circuit brings Albearto to a sinister life of his own and twists his programming so that he now decides to turn the birthday boy's neck over to celebrate the day.

The Turtles intervene, and April manages to evacuate almost all children from the pizzeria. But by hooking up to the restaurant's other animatronic features, Albearto, in the guise of Cheery Tomato, President Pepperoni and the moles of a Smack-a-Vole game, calls for reinforcements. While April and Timmy fight off the robotic voles together, the Turtles pick out Albearto, Pepperoni and Tomato. The latter two are quickly defeated, but Albearto proves to be too tough for the Turtles. Therefore, Donatello comes up with the idea to distract Albearto with a (fake) birthday party for himself; this gives April the opportunity to smash the raging robot into junk.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by the battle between the Turtles and the robots causes the restaurant to collapse; the Turtles are hastily forgiven, and although Timmy is now completely satisfied, April quits her job before the manager can fire her. But unnoticed by all those involved, Albearto's remains, which were half buried by the rubble, suddenly start to light up again...

## Trivia

* The episode's title is a reference to Leo Tolstoy's *War and Peace*.
* This episode, along with four other episodes, were posted early on July 20th, 2018 as a sneak preview on Nick.com.
* This episode's premise seems to be inspired by the indie-horror video game series *Five Nights at Freddy's*:
	+ Both take place at a children's-oriented restaurant.
	+ Both feature animatronic bears as the main villain.
	+ In both instances, the animatronics come to life at night.
		- However, unlike the animatronic characters in *Five Nights at Freddy's*, Albearto goes rogue due to a glitch.
* The glasses Albearto wears after being reprogrammed are reminiscent of Kamina's from *Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann*.
* When April calls Donnie, it is 7:08 PM as said on April's smartphone. The news headlines of the Channel 6 News app April opens on her smartphone are:
	+ Delivery truck carrying fruit on expressway creates traffic jam.
	+ Tortoise theft from pet store leaves owner shell-shocked.
	+ What's weak this week.