New Girl in Town

"New Girl In Town" is the 14th episode of Season 1 in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered February 1st, 2013.

"You will know her name."

Official Description
Leonardo, tired of Raphael's constant criticism, lets his brother try his hand at leadership for a while. Meanwhile, Leonardo meets a beautiful and dangerous female ninja who tries to lure Leonardo to the dark side.

Plot
The episode starts off with Leonardo and his brothers trying to trap Snakeweed, who is currently running amok throughout the city. The mutant grabs a Pizza delivery man (which, of course, makes Mikey want to rescue him just because he delivers Pizza) and runs into an alley way with him. Leo tells his brothers that they should attack their enemy from above and tie him up in some nearby clotheslines, but Raph sneers that this would take forever and suggests attacking their foe from the ground, believing that this would prove to be more successful. This results in an argument between Leo and Raph and Snakeweed finding a way out of the alley. Having heard enough of Raph's complaints during their recent missions, Leo decides to let his brother try his hand at leadership for a while, with Donnieand Mikey following Raph's lead. While moaning and sulking on another rooftop, a dissapointed Leo encounters a few Foot Soldiers that followed him for a short distance. Leo easily defeats the ninjas and is elated that this victory has 'made his night', but a teenaged female ninja (with a mask concealing the bottom of her face) appears from behind a water tower. She commends Leo on his skills and Leonardo thanks her hesitantly. The ninja comments that Leo might actually be a challenge for her, but she then takes out a sword coated with blinding powder and flashes it in Leo's face, causing him to get blinded and allowing the ninja to knee him in the chest. She aims her sword at his neck and and, instead of finishing him off, the girl introduces herself as Karai, willingly spares Leo's life, and then runs away, majorly confusing Leo.

Back in the Lair, Donnie is trying hard to pinpoint the exact location of Snakeweed's lair (with Raph urging him to work faster) when Leo suddenly steps into the room. He asks them about what they're doing, but Raph refuses to keep him informed. While Donnie, Raph, and Mikey head out into the sewers, Leo stays in the lair to watch an episode of Space Heroes (which explains why you should never trust beautiful or handsome aliens from another planet), but Master Splinter walks in on him. Leo tells him that he has grown tired of carrying the burden of being the leader, but Splinter scolds him for this and tells him that he should never be in the position to abandon his responsibility in the way that he has. The sensei then tells him to go out and search for his brothers. While back in the city, Leo walks through an alley way and suddenly encounters Karai, who he fights. The two exchange some banter about swordsmanship, the appeal of New York City, and the Shredder's constant vendetta, but this conversation ends when Karai holds her blade across the span of Leo's neck. She tells him that she thinks that he's tired of being the good guy all the time (a possible reference to his burden of leadership). He breaks free from her grasp, however, and holds his own swords at her throat. She tells him that he should meet her on top of a nearby highrise called the "Biarly Building" at midnight sharp so that she can 'show him something'. Uncertain about what to do, Leo heads over to April's apartment and talks to her about Karai. At first, April is all for his interest in her, but she quickly slaps him when she's told that Karai is a part of the Foot Clan. She tries to convince him not to see her, as she may be planning to do something evil, but Leo wills himself to have some freedom and listen to what Karai has to say.

Meanwhile, while that's happening, Karai meets up with the Shredder in his exclusive throne room. He warns her that the Foot ninjas have told him that she let Leonardo go and chose not to kill him. She tries to spin a lie on the Shredder by saying that Leo escaped, but the Shredder doesn't believe her. She then comments that Leo has escaped from the Shredder before, but he ominously unsheathes his gauntlets and holds them above Karai, telling her that she must finish Leonardo off the next time that she comes across him...or else. The scene then wraps up with the Shredder exiting the room and Karai calling him "father", revealing to the viewers that Karai is the Shredders "daughter". Meanwhile, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey follow the path in the sewers to where Snakeweed's lair seems to be located, judging by Donnie's calculations. On the way there, Mikey learns from Donnie why sewers seem to stink. They discover that Snakeweed has set up a countless number of plant-like tubes throughout the entire area. It turns out that he has been using the people that he's kidnapped as fertilizer, even going to the extent of 'preserving' them in a bizzarre fluid. The Turtles manage to set all of the people free without being spotted by them, but Snakeweed notices the Turtles and attacks them. Raph has no plan or strategy whatsoever and uses the same tactics over and over again, such as yelling 'Go for the head'. In addition, Raph starts to panic when Mikey is knocked unconscious, so Donnie tells his brother that their best option is to make a hasty retreat. However, Snakeweed secretly attaches 'tracking' pods on to the back of their shells before they are able to leave his lair. They arrive back at their own lair and Raph tries to explain to Splinter what happened. Raph may be willing to risk his own life, but he cannot handle the responsibility of keeping track of his brothers' lives. He manages to realize how difficult it must be for Leonardo...and vows to set things right. Donnie receives a text from April telling him where Leo went and, in turn, Donnie tells Raph. Back in the city, Leo meets Karai on the top of the highrise and finds out why she called him there. She wants him to steal a famous and priceless Katana blade once owned by Miyamoto Musashi, one of the greatest swordsmen in the history of Japan, telling him that he deserves to have it. He refuses, however, and Karai tells him that, whether or not he will agree, she will be taking it. Leo says that he will not let her, which upsets her. He tells her that he believes she has somewhat of a good side in her. This causes Karai to pin Leo to the ground, just in time for Raph to arrive. He is shocked to see that his older brother is "hanging out" with who appears to be their sworn enemy. Leo tries to come up with a reasonable explanation and, just as he starts to, the tracking pod on Raph's shell has given off a scent that Snakeweed has finally pinpointed. The duo then try to tackle Snakweed, but the mutant plant gains the upper hand and ties them up in his numerous appendages. Leo asks for Karai's help out of desperation. She throws her Tanto into the wall right above Leo's head and she leaves with a cunning "sayonara". Leo cuts himself free and manages to freeze Snakeweed with a canister of liquid Nitrogen, giving Raph enough time to leap into the air and shatter Snakeweed into miniscule pieces with his Sai. Raph finally apologizes to Leo for not trusting him, returning the leadership of the team to him. As the two walk back to the Lair, Snakeweed's heart starts to beat, hinting that he has revived and will likely return.

Later, at the Lair, the brothers are able to wake Mikey up with the only way they know how to: the scent of Pizza. Raph and Leo are still curious about whether or not Karai was simply trying to kill Leo or if her actions were simply part of an obscure invotation for him to be her friend. The episode comes to a conclusion with a comic-style image of Karai looking over her shoulder, along with the revelation that Leo decided to keep her Tanto with him as a memento of her.

Splinter's Wisdom
"Leadership is not about being appreciated, it is about responsibility."

"It does not matter that the burden is heavy, it matters that you carry it."

Character Debuts

 * Karai

Errors

 * After Leo and Karai get one of their swords out after smack-talking, Leo's sword pouch is seen with no swords in it. Even if he only had 1 sword out.