It Came From the Depths

"It Came From The Depths" is the 12th episode of season 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on December 15th 2012.

"Shadows work better."

Official Description
Michelangelo befriends a mutant alligator, Leatherhead, who possesses a strange piece of Kraang technology.

Plot
The episode opens in a Kraang compound, where a squad of Kraang are chasing after a large creature that has cables trailing from its limbs. It seems to be crocodilian in nature and extremely strong. It puts up a vicious fight and, even though one of its arms gets wounded by a Kraang's laser gun, it is able to escape into the sewers.

We then join the Turtles relaxing in the the Sewer Lair. Mikey unveils his latest culinary creation, the P-Shake, a Pizza milkshake. Its taste does not go over well. After the boys finish watching Space Heroes, they see a news story reporting a sewer worker being attacked by a reptilian mutant monster. Leo and Donnie automatically (and playfully) turn to look at Raph, but he denies having any involvement in the situation. The film footage shows the same mutant alligator from the Kraang compound, unbeknownst to them. Out of fear of being discovered, the Turtles decide that they can't have a dangerous mutant giving incentive for news crews to come down into the sewers. Donnie notices a tunnel number when he rewinds the news bulletin, so the Turtles head out to look for answers there. They discover a long trail of large footprints and follow them. They then stumble upon the mutant gator battling against another squad of Kraang. At first, the beast savagely defeats the Kraang, but the Kraang shock him with electric stun batons. They start to interrogate him about some kind of "Power Cell". The gator refuses to answer their questions and the Kraang zap him repeatedly. Mikey remarks that they have to help this gator. The others are hesitant, as they know nothing about the animal, but Mikey goes to the rescue anyway and his brothers follow him and fight the Kraang for the heck of it. Two Kraang try to drag the unconscious gator away, but Mikey stops them. Leo says that they must get away before more Kraang show up, but Mikey flatly refuses to leave the gator behind. Eventually, he convinces the others to help him take the gator with them and they all start dragging the heavy behemoth back to their lair. Mikey believes that, because they saved the beast, he will be grateful. However, once the gator comes to, he unprovokedly attacks the Turtles, grabbing Donnie's head and swinging him around like a club. Raph is able to distract the gator by covering its eyes, allowing Leo to subdue it with Donnie's stun gun. Master Splinter comes in and is surprised to see the gator. The boys explain the situation and Splinter commends Mikey on his kindness. He believes the creature to have a genuine heart and instructs Mikey to befriend him so that they can learn what he knows about the Kraang. He also orders Leo, Raph, and Donnie to find the so called 'Power Cell'. Donnie asks Splinter if they should restrain the crocodilian with chains and Splinter tells him that he should, commenting that he is compassionate; not insane.

The gator soon awakens and finds himself chained to a wall in the Turtles' lair, with Mikey sitting in front of him. Mikey introduces himself and explains that they brought him here to recover. The gator demands to be set free and, at first, he is very hostile toward Mikey. Mikey offers him some of his homemade Pizza Noodle Soup. After drinking a spoonful of it, the gator calms down, saying it is the best thing that he's ever tasted. Mikey is delighted to find someone who enjoys food he's made and begins feeding the gator spoonful after spoonful. Mikey then asks the beast what his name is and, after learning that he doesn't have one, dubs himLeatherhead after examining him to come up with ideas. He asks Leatherhead why he attacked Donnie for no reason and Leatherhead explains that, at times, he loses control of himself, though always becomes guilty about what he has done. Mikey reasons that Leatherhead might view himself as a monster since that is how he has always been treated. Leatherhead agrees.

Meanwhile, Leo, Raph, and Donnie go back to the tunnel where they found Leatherhead and explore a sewer pool, thinking about where an alligator would stash something. They come across a tunnel that is riddled with homemade booby traps, including flying road signs, floor spikes, and rolling spiked barrels. They are able to avoid the booby traps, in the process reaching the end of the tunnel and finding what looks to be a 'Power cell'; a glowing crystal within a glass cylinder. Donnie discovers (with a shocking pain) that the crystal puts out a startling amount of energy and, with the right components, it could power anything from a flashlight to a city on the Moon.

They bring the Power cell back to the Lair, only to find that Mikey has set Leatherhead free. They can't believe that Mikey would do such a thing, as Leatherhead is extremely dangerous and unstable. Mikey explains that Leatherhead is completely mellow. Leo attempts to ask him about the Kraang, but the gator loses his sanity whenever this word is spoken by some one. Mikey is able to calm him and lets the others ask their questions. Donnie holds out the Power cell and tries to confirm what it is. Leatherhead loses control again when he sees the cell, calling Donnie a thief and seizing his head again. The Turtles attack Leatherhead, with Mikey trying to calm him down again. Leatherhead defeats them all, including Mikey, and seizes the power cell. Splinter enters the room, demanding Leatherhead to step away from his sons. Leatherhead attacks him, but, through skill and speed, Splinter is able to use Leatherhead's own size and strength against him. Splinter demands that Leatherhead leave, and he does, taking the cell with him. Splinter rushes to the Turtles' side and they discover that Mikey has already left to chase after Leatherhead.

Leatherhead retreats to his own lair: an abandoned, graffiti-covered subway car. He plays an old vinyl jazz record that seems to calm his rage. Mikey enters the subway car, demanding an explanation for Leatherhead's actions. Leatherhead reminds him that there is a dangerous force within himself that he cannot contain, therefore he must be alone. Mikey's brothers arrive and command Leatherhead to leave Mikey alone...or else. Leatherhead pleads that he means Mikey no harm and tells the story of his past. He was raised as a baby by a kind human child, until the child's parents discovered Leatherhead and flushed him down the toilet, after which he ended up in the sewers. The Kraang found him, took him back to their homeworld, and performed horrifying experiments on him. Leatherhead endured all of this, and his spirit remained unbroken. He escaped captivity six months ago and used the Kraang's dimensional portal to return to Earth, and stole the Power cell that runs it. Without the cell, no Kraang can enter or leave Earth. He took it for the sake of sparing the Earth from the Kraang's future malice, at the cost of his own life.

Seconds later, a squad of Kraang approach the subway car and attack it. The Turtles defend Leatherhead to the best of their ability, but they can't hold their enemies off for very long. Leo suggests that Donnie use the Power cell to get the subway car moving. Leatherhead entrusts Mikey with the cell and confronts the Kraang to buy Donnie time. Leatherhead decimates the Kraang forces (with him demanding some payback time) and Donnie manages to hook the Power cell into the subway car's motor. The cell sends the car, with the Turtles inside, rocketing through the tunnels at an unbelievable speed. When they finally come to a stop, they find themselves near the entrance to the Sewage Treatment Plant. Back in the subway, two badly mangled Kraang are preparing to warn other Kraang that the Turtles have made off with the Power cell. Leatherhead approaches them and says that they won't be telling anyone anything and the episode ends with a closeup of his open jaws and the implication that he annihilates the Kraang droids...

Splinter's Wisdom
"There is no greater monster than a lack of compassion."

"The enemy of my enemy is my bro (friend)." (paraphrased by Mikey)

Character Debuts

 * Leatherhead
 * Garson Grange (Human form of Muckman)
 * Joan Grody

Errors

 * Before Mikey ran off to fight the Kraang, who were attacking Leatherhead, Mikey's & Donnie's lips didn't really match what they were saying.
 * Leatherhead is shown to be able to slip into the sewers through runoff gutters, which he should not have been able to do as he is too big.