| A Chinatown Ghost Story | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 23 | |
| |
| Airdate | September 12th, 2014 |
| Writter | Randolph Heard |
| Director | Alan Wan |
| Prev. and Next | |
| Prev. Vengeance is Mine |
Next Into Dimension X! |
A Chinatown Ghost Story is the 23rd episode of Season 2 and the 49th episode of the series. It aired on September 12th, 2014, although it was released a week early on the Nick.com website.
"Turtles in three cool hats!!"
Official Description[]
Donnie becomes increasingly jealous of April and Casey's relationship; April is kidnapped by an evil spirit that intends to drain her powers.
Plot Synopsis[]
In an alley way, the Purple Dragon gang has formulated a plan to break into the museum across the street from them. Meanwhile, above them on the rooftops, Donatello and Casey Jones are showing off their athletic capability to one another while searching for the mutant Karai and attempting to impress April. April doesn't seem to be thrilled about her friends' attempts to win her love and, when Casey decides to appease April by giving her a 'peace hug', Donnie purposely directs his attention to the Purple Dragons as they are breaking into the museum down below. In the museum, the Purple Dragons approach a sheathed blade and set their sights on stealing it for Steranko. Just then, Donnie, April, and Casey enter the museum and engage the gang members in battle. Even though the Purple Dragons are quickly outmatched, Donnie and Casey start to argue about one another's sly attempts to impress April, which allows the street gang to escape back to the alley. There, Fong (the Purple Dragon leader) reveals to his comrades that he was able to steal the dagger that they set their sights on. Fong then removes the blade's sheath with all of his strength and from the blade rises a mysterious figure that introduces himself as 'Ho Chan', ordering the Purple Dragons to bow down before him.
The Purple Dragons start to wonder if the figure that's speaking to them is a ghost, and the 'man' quickly explains that he was (and is) a supreme master of one of the first Martial Arts to ever exist and an art that, when performed correctly, appears similar to magic...Ho Chan explains that his spirit was trapped inside the dagger that they stole. He promises to give the Purple Dragons remarkable powers if they agree to become his minions and help him rule the world. The Purple Dragons quickly accept the offer and are given inscrutable powers (Fong gets lightning, Sid gets thunder, and Tsoi gets wind), which they demonstrate. Then, Ho Chan demands them to find him a 'lair of opulent beauty', which results in the Purple Dragons leading him back to their own lair/headquarters (an abandoned Fortune Cookie Factory). Ho Chan immediately dislikes the condition of the inside of the building, but admits that it will have to do...
Meanwhile, in the Sewer Lair, Donnie tells his brothers that their search for Karai has been going on for at least a week and that it's possible that they'll never find her. Leo and Raph point out that Master Splinter would disagree, and that he hasn't been the same ever since his daughter's mutation. Raph tells his brothers that, to get better results in their search for Karai, they will need Casey and April (who are at the ice rink) to help them out.
Back at the Purple Dragon's headquarters, Ho Chan continues to get disturbed by his messy surroundings. Meanwhile, the Purple Dragons start to use their powers against eachother, but Ho Chan demands them to stop and says that he has a very important task for them to perform. He orders them to go out and capture a girl that has a power within her that can return him to physical form. This girl turns out to be April...O'Neil!
Meanwhile, Casey is hanging out with April and Irma at the ice rink. April is having quite alot of trouble keeping her balance on the ice, but Casey tells her that not every one can be as 'cool' on the ice as himself, as, when he was really young, he was taught how to ice-skate by his father. Before long, the Purple Dragons force their way into the rink through the ceiling, and Casey wonders why they have come here if they just got their butts kicked. Casey bravely squares off with the powerful gang, but is quickly defeated by the gangs' powers. Once Casey has been struck down, the Purple Dragons grab both April and Irma and, with that, they become airborne and fly out of the hole they made in the ceiling, with April and Irma in their arms.
The Purple Dragons bring April and Irma back to their headquarters, where Ho Chan looks April over and tells her that she has power in her that has barely been tapped, which Ho Chan intends to have for himself. He then walks over to Irma and takes off her glasses, informing her that she has power in her as well, although Ho Chan doesn't understand it...yet. Then, April takes out her Tessen and breaks away from the Purple Dragon that's holding her. She then encourages Irma to break free as well, but, when Irma pointlessly kicks at Ho Chan, her foot passes right through his semitransparent body and she asks him if he's some kind of ghost. Ho Chan replies 'Indeed' and tells Irma that he's been cursed without flesh for 2,000 years, before restraining both Irma and April with glowing ropes and informing them that a ritual is about to start...
Meanwhile, the Turtles have arrived at the ice rink and Casey has already told them about what happened. Donnie immediately chastises Casey for allowing April to get taken away, but Casey replies that the Purple Dragons have powers. Donnie adamantly refuses to think that the Purple Dragons are powerful, firmly believing that they are only a gang of third class wannabes. Raph starts to think that Casey might be right, but, even so, they'll need to search for April and Irma and rescue them both. Casey humorously asks if they can save April and leave Irma with the Purple Dragons, but every one ignores him and rushes out.
The team soon arrives at the Purple Dragons' headquarters and Raph questions how tough the Purple Dragons could possibly get. Casey then rides up on his bicycle and attempts to hit one of the Purple Dragons with a hockey stick, only for the Purple Dragon to knock him to the ground with a blast of wind. Raph then finds the answer to his question...The three Purple Dragons then attack with their mystical powers, but the Turtles defeat them after a little while. Ho Chan then appears and, having just seen the Turtles' fighting abilities, he makes Leo, Raph, and Mikey become his minions after revoking the powers from the Purple Dragons and giving them to the Turtles. With this, Ho Chan starts to attack the Purple Dragons, making them cower in fear and run away, while Casey and Donnie are in shock that the other turtles are now mind-controlled. Casey and Donnie make haste and board the Shell-Raiser to make a retreat, while Leo, Raph, and Mikey pursue them. Casey is able to drive the Shell-Raiser into an alley way, where Leo, Mikey, and Raph fail to spot them. Donnie and Casey then find the Purple Dragons hiding underneath the Shell-Raiser and Casey pushes them against the side of a building, interrogating them about their connection with the ghostly man. Fong (the Purple Dragon leader) tells him that the man promised them great power and gave it to them, though he had the power to control them all along. Fong then reveals the man's name: Ho Chan.
Back in the Sewer Lair, Casey and Donnie decide to research Ho Chan on Donnie's laptop. They find out that Ho Chan is actually an ancient sorcerer that dates back to the Shang Dynasty. They then read that the only plausible way to defeat Ho Chan would be to use the mystic dagger against him, which is what the Purple Dragons stole from the museum. Casey then asks Donnie what they should do about his mind-controlled brothers. Donnie replies that nothing can get them out of their super-hypnotic state, but Casey disagrees, as an advertisement for free Pizza pops up.
Donnie and Casey drive the Shell-Raiser back to the Purple Dragons' hideout, but Leo, Raph, and Mikey quickly spot them and descend from the clouds. The three brothers work together to create an enormous gale of wind that quickly sucks Casey and Donnie up into it. While Casey is quickly defeated by Leo and blown down to the street, Donnie remains in the gale of wind and bravely tries to battle his three brothers, but he is defeated by them as well. Casey then reveals what his and Donnie's plan was - to distract Leo, Raph, and Mikey with Pizzas! Casey fires several pizzas out of the Manhole Cover Cannon in the Shell-Raiser and this entices the Turtles long enough for Casey and Donnie to go behind their backs and break into the Purple Dragons' headquarters. Meanwhile, inside, Ho Chan has nearly finished the process of draining the 'essence' from April that can make him become human. Casey asks Donnie if they should just whack Ho Chan while his eyes are closed, but it turns out that this plan won't work, as Ho Chan is listening to his every word. Ho Chan mentally tries to call the other turtles to his aid, but the three are still preoccupied with eating the Pizzas out in the street. Casey then leaps at Ho Chan and tries to attack him with his hockey stick, but misses. Ho Chan mystically extracts some of the 'essence' from April and starts to become human as he outwits Casey and Donnie in battle. Donnie manages to recover the mystic dagger from the floor and, just when he and Casey are about to be crushed by Chan's gigantic hands, Donnie throws it at Ho Chan's face and Ho Chan catches it. Then, April jumps down, grabs the mystic dagger from his hands, and thrusts it into his torso, after which he returns to the inside of the dagger and Donnie covers the dagger with its sheath. Leo, Raph, and Mikey then enter and are no longer under the influence of Ho Chan, as he has been defeated. An exhausted Irma then comes down to rejoin Casey and April and the Turtles hide, after which April convinces Irma that she has a bad bump on her head and that everything she saw was just a nightmare...
Later, Donnie and his brothers drive down to the docks and Donnie throws the mystic dagger (with Ho Chan inside of it) into the ocean water and it sinks into the depths, while Ho Chan vows to return, ending the episode in a comic style...
Splinter's Wisdom[]
Splinter appears briefly, but does not speak.
Transcript[]
A Chinatown Ghost Story/Transcript
Debuts[]
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- "Maybe we let him keep Irma in exchange for April?" (Casey Jones)
- "Be gone before I send you to the abyss of infinite morons!" (Ho Chan to Purple Dragons)
Production[]
Trivia[]
- This episode is based on the film "Big Trouble in Little China".
- Ho Chan is voiced by the same actor who played Lo Pan (the film's main antagonist), James Hong.
- The powers Ho Chan gives the Purple Dragons and the Turtles are both references to the three storms, Lo Pan's servants in the film.
- When Ho Chan catches the dagger Donnie threw at him, he says the same line Jack Burton said when he killed Lo Pan, "It's all in the reflexes."
- According to Kevin Eastman himself, "Big Trouble in Little China" is one of his favorite movies, and one of the inspirations for the TMNT franchise.
- When Ho Chan detects April in his mind, his initial and false description of her is a red-haired girl with a yellow jumpsuit. This is a reference to April's looks in the 1980's cartoon episodes.
- As the Purple Dragon member Sid attacks Mikey, he yells "Shoryuken!" as a reference to an attack from the Street Fighter games.
- When Casey is electrocuted, we can see a shot in which there is a large crack on the front of his skull. Most of the crack is covered by a metal plate.
- While confronting Irma, Ho Chan detects a power within her that he does not understand. This is yet more foreshadowing to what Irma reall is.
- The character Ho Chan conjured up during his incantations to absorb April's power means "soul". It is worth noting, however, the font in which Ho Chan wrote it did not exist in his native time period of China's Shang Dynasty, and would not exist until at least several centuries later.