EPISODE FIVE - CHALLENGE

Tunnel Rat loses a bet and must train to become a ninja. He joins Kamakura, Snake Eyes, and Jinx on a trip to Central America, but Storm Shadow and The Baroness are waiting...

Detailed Synopsis:

The epieosde starts with Tunnel Rat and Heavy Duty are facing off in, believe it or not...a hamburger eating contest, while Duke and Scarlett are actually kicking back a little bit enjoying some peavce and quiet. Hi-Tech interrupts their relaxation to tell them about the Tunnel Rat/Heavy Duty conflict, so they all go to watch.

Jinx and Kamakura are the ones reffing this contest, and the two decide that the loser of the contest must train with Kamakura and Jinx to be a new Sigma 6 ninja. They plow through a pile of burgers, and Heavy Duty manages to choke down one more than his opponent...Tunnel Rat must do the training!

The next shot we get is over a Latin American jungle, where the Dragonhawk screams over the trees and drops the ninjas off in a river. Jungle Ops Snake Eyes, Jinx, Kamakura, and Tunnel Rat disembark in the Thunderwave Jet Boat!

CLIP ONE (.wmv)

The team of ninjas come closer to a temple where the ninjas perform their training. Jinx tells the tale of an ancient king who once ruled the area, and is buried with his treasure in these ancient ruins. But the ruins are also filled with traps to protect the treasure from grave robbers, and it's these traps that the ninjas use for their training. The Dragonhawk takes off and we see Storm Shadow and The Baroness watching from the distance. Storm Shadow has plans to ambush Snake Eyes, and informs The Baroness for the first time that there is a spy within Sigma 6's ranks. We also get introduced to some new upgraded Ninja BAT's.

CLIP TWO (.wmv)

The ninjas enter the temple and begin introducing Tunnel Rat to the ins and outs of these ancient ruins. Kamakura and Jinx take Tunnel Rat and continue on their initiation, while Snake Eyes lets the apprentices do their thing. The first test involves Tunnel Rat making it through a room with hidden laser traps. Kamakura and Jinx make it through with very few troubles, each using their own methods. Tunnel Rat is considerably less graceful, but does end up making it, only a little worse for wear.

Outside the temple, Snake Eyes exits, and immediately comes face to face with Storm Shadow. They clash swords, and come to a quick standoff.

CLIP THREE(.wmv)

Back inside the temple, the two ninjas and Tunnel Rat come across the next trap room, a small chamber with collapsing floors. Kamakura and Jinx skillfully hop through the room with no problems at all, but Tunnel Rat isn't too sure about this. He doesn't like the deep pits in the room, and he just can't bring himself to do it. Tunnel Rat tells the two ninjas to go ahead while he hangs back. They both promise to circle around and pick him back up after they complete the tests.

Back outside, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow continue their battle.

CLIP FOUR (.wmv)

Back inside the temple, Tunnel Rat just can't bring himself to test the room's traps. He does manage to find a hidden button that opens a secret door in the wall. Inside the wall is a tunnel not on his map, so he does some quick calculations.

A few rooms beyond, Kamakura and Jinx continue weaving in and out of the various traps, but they still remain concerned about Tunnel Rat. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow continue their fitful battle out in the jungles, while Tunnel Rat deciphers the map and maps his own route through the temple's traps. Jinx and Kamakura continue travelling through the tests, and make it to the end. However, they are greeted at the end by the Baroness and the new Ninja BAT's! They clash, but the new Ninja BAT's are tougher than before, upgraded with new "carbon plating". They go head to head in true ninja fashion.

CLIP FIVE ( .wmv)

Tunnel Rat crashes the party wearing the king's crown and dubbing himself "King Ninja Tunnel Rat", and informs the Baroness that he has found the King's treasure! The Baroness sends the BAT's after the Ninjas, then follows Tunnel Rat down into the caverns beneath, hoping he'll lead her to the treasure.

Back outside, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes continue to clash swords by a tall waterfall.

Down in the temple caverns, Tunnel Rat is leading The Baroness through tunnels, and leads her right into a trap. Tunnel Rat activates the trap and the Baroness goes plummeting into raging water below.

Meanwhile, Jinx and Kamakura continue to face off against the Ninja BAT's, and even with the reinforced carbon plating, they take all three of them down.

CLIP SIX (.wmv)

Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes face off by the waterfall, ready to make their last stand against each other...when The Baroness comes flying out through the waterfall! Storm Shadow catches her and decides her safety is more important than his revenge. He carries the Baroness off and Snake Eyes heads inside to assist his apprentices. They find Tunnel Rat inside, and Tunnel Rat is very pleased with himself for completing the initiation. They exit the temple, with Tunnel Rat singing "King Tunnel Rat the Ninja" all the way...

THE END

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EPISODE THOUGHTS

Yikes. Look, I know this cartoon is made for kids, not 32 year old collectors, but I would think even for kids this particular episode was a little bit goofy. Tunnel Rat is his regular comedic self (which isn't a good thing) and the ninjas vs. temple traps theme wasn't all that fun either.

I liked seeing some more eclectic characters being used like Kamakura, Jinx, Baroness, and Storm Shadow, but ultimately the juvenile humor, silly premise (Tunnel Rat becomes a ninja because he loses a burger eating contest?!?) made this episode the worst of the season so far. It did have a few high points.

The Good:

- Jungle Ops Snake Eyes was pretty cool. I really liked how he was used in this episode, and the green was a nice departure.
- Thunderwave Jet Boat was used again, and was great to see. I liked seeing the Dragonhawk sweep in and drop it off just like in plastic form.
- The new Ninja BAT's were very cool in color and overall appearence. I love this new black/dark red look, and can only hope we end up getting an action figure out of it (maybe without the gimmicky arm, dare I hope?!).

The Bad:

- Tunnel Rat continues to make me cringe, and this episode was no different. The whole burger eating premise got pretty old pretty fast.
- Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow conflict. It continues on ad infinitum, yet we still have no idea what Snake Eyes even did to betray the clan, and we get no closure to the conflict whatsoever. We continue to get Storm Shadow yelling at "his brother", we get a sword fight, and it ends when something interferes and Storm Shadow is forced to withdraw. While I enjoy their battles, I do wish we'd get at least SOME sort of closure to this whole thing after a season and a half, or at least a solid reason for the conflict besides Snake Eyes' mysterious "betrayal".

Overall, there were some good points, mostly toy-related, but ultimately the episode left me pretty cold.

Next Week on Sigma 6!