Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man

**"Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man"** is the thirty-ninth episode (Episode 22A) of *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*. It first aired on October 26th, 2019.

## Characters

* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Splinter (Eric Bauza)
* Big Mama (Lena Headey)
* Hypno-Potamus (Rhys Darby)
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Meat Sweats (John Lydon)
* Yōkai bellhops
	+ Fox bellhop
	+ Otter bellhop (Nolan North)
	+ Owl bellhop
	+ Penguin bellhop (Nolan North)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* Repo Mantis (Fred Tatasciore)
* Warren Stone (John Michael Higgins)

## Plot

The episode begins with Splinter's dream about himself as Lou Jitsu. He is in the Battle Nexus fighting a monster and his fans cheer him on. He defeats the monster, and even winks at a cute cat girl, who swoons and faints. Splinter is woken up by his sons, who are playfully throwing cereal at him. Splinter yells at them to leave. The Mad Dogs run away as Splinter is left alone, lamenting the day that he lost his fame and glory due to his mutation.

As Splinter looks through his belongings, he glares sadly at his reflection in his trophy. He then notices a flyer. It contains information about Doom Dome death races on Friday nights. Seeing this as the perfect chance for him to reclaim his glory, Splinter goes to the arcade, where Donnie and Mikey are playing a racing game. Splinter asks them if they would like to enter a car fair with him, with the Turtle Tank as their entry. Donnie and Mikey see this as a perfect chance to bond with their father.

As they drive to the arena, Splinter, who was given a special booster seat by Donnie, is happy that he can finally drive the tank properly. He is about to say of how proud he is of his sons, but stops himself short after arriving to Doom Dome. Mikey is frightened by this place and wants to leave. But Donnie wants to stay, as Splinter was about to say "proud" and wants to do anything to hear it. Splinter drives the tank into the arena, and they are promptly rammed by another car. The announcer, Operator, commands for the arena doors to be sealed. He declares the only rule of the match: last car standing gets the trophy.

Splinter rams and bumps the other combatants around, reducing the tank's shields as he does. Donnie is upset that his "baby" is being damaged, and Mikey notices something alarming. The rival racers are the Turtles' most hated enemies: Meat Sweats, Repo Mantis, Hypno-Potamus and Warren Stone(who the turtles don't recognize). When asked what is really going on, Splinter says this is all in good fun.

Donnie, not having fun at all, pulls the emergency brake and cuts the power. This stops the Turtle Tank as one driver smashes against it, causing it to flip. When Splinter strictly orders him to turn the tank back on, Donnie (who's both heartbroken and furious) lashes out at his father in rage for using the tank for a selfish reason and lying to him and Mikey about spending time with them. Donnie even starts to cry a little, which makes Splinter feel guilty. Mikey points out that since the tank is off, the three of them are at the mercy of the other mutants, who are getting ready to pulverize them. Splinter tells Donnie that while he *did* lie about the event being a car fair, he *didn't* lie about wanting to spend time with the turtles. He says that while he loves them dearly, he wakes up every day as a short mutant rat instead of a handsome human, and he wanted to reclaim some glory from his youth. He apologizes to Donnie, and suggests that they all leave while they can.

Donnie fires the tank back up, and launches a projectile at Repo-Mantis, destroying his truck. Donnie tells Splinter that he is awesome for being Lou Jitsu, and if winning the death race is what Splinter wants, he and Mikey will help. One by one, Splinter and the turtles eliminate the other cars with evasive driving, oil slicks and ramming. Eventually, this gets the attention of the Doom Dome's manager and reigning champion, Big Mama. She recognizes the tank and demands that her employees get her car ready.

Splinter is about to say he is proud of his sons, but is cut off again when one of the arena doors opens, revealing Big Mama's car. She, and her snarling, armed employees start firing missiles at the tank, reducing its shields further. Donnie opts to use a Shell Hog to distract her while Splinter and Mikey return fire. But, Splinter opts to be the distraction instead. He leads Big Mama directly into the path of the tank's guns, but she manages to destroy the Shell Hog. When the dust clears, the tank fires on her, destroying her car and defeating her.

The crowd cheers for the turtles and Splinter. The cute, but much older, cat girl is even in attendance. Splinter winks at her, and she swoons, then has a heart attack. Splinter looks towards his sons, and says he is proud of them. Donnie stops celebrating, and asks if Mikey heard that.

## Trivia

* The title is a nod to the 2006 film, *Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.*
* This episode, along with "The Ancient Art of Ninja Hide and Seek", was leaked early online.
* Splinter calls Donatello by his real name, a first in the series.
* Donnie quoting, "It probably would've been cooler if you were a tiger," is a shout-out to Splinter's voice actor, Eric Bauza having voiced Tiger Claw in the 2012 TV series.
* Big Mama's vehicle is reminiscent of the Mad Max film series.
* This episode marks the final in-person appearance of Warren Stone in the series. His last in-person appearance with any significant character development was in "Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree", and his last appearance of any kind (not in person) would be in "One Man's Junk".
* Right about the time he was knocked out of the derby, Warren Stone supposedly refers to someone named "Hound Blitzer." This is a reference to long-standing CNN reporter, Wolf Blitzer.

## Transcript

* Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man/Transcript

## Gallery

Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man Gallery