Casey Jones makes his “true” vigilante debut in “The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones”. How was his team up with the Turtles?

Warning Spoilers: This review contains complete, to near complete spoilers of “The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones”. If you have yet to see this episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then this review will spoil it for you, so avoid until you have actually watched it. You have been warned people.

This was essentially a Raphael episode.

THE GOOD: “The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones” is probably going to end up being one of the more memorable episodes of the most recent batch. A lot of great dialog and action put this one above some of the others, especially the opening narrative from Casey Jones (played by Drake & Josh’s Josh Peck). While it took some getting used too upon it’s original reveal, I have to say that Casey’s character design has seriously grown on me. It initially received a ton of heat from fans due to the missing teeth and what not, but fans have to remember, in previous incarnations of the series the Turtles and other main characters have always been considered adults, in Nick’s incarnation they’re literally teenagers, so it pretty much had to be forgiven, and not to mention they gave the reasoning behind the design a legitimate back story to explain it (Kudos Nick). 

Casey Jone’s bad ass vigilante design.

Jones wasn’t the only person this week’s Turtles focused on, as we got another look at Raphael’s budding anger issues, which has been a focal point in quite a few episodes. I’m starting to think that it’s only a matter of time before they do some kind of tease where Leonardo & Raph’s rivalry will reach the highest it’s ever been, which will lead to some kind of momentary villainous turn for Raph, at least that’s how Nick is coming off with the Raph episodes that deal with his anger/rivalry. Master Splinter had a noticeably cool action scene against the robotic Foot Clan this week. I always find it funny that the Turtles know what Splinter is capable of, in yet he can still surprise them.

Casey after his fight with Raphael.

“The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones” also featured what’s probably the coolest fight sequence for awhile. It involved Raph, Casey, a robo Foot Soldier, and a train, and it was beautiful. Casey using a paint can as a sort of tracking device was pretty cool to see as well, and it was fun watching Raph & Casey play a game of “catch up” as they chased down the enemy. I’m also digging that Nick has built Casey up as someone who can actually hold his own against (and probably even best) a Turtle or two, considering the Turtles have been training all their lives and the only thing Casey have ever done that involves physicality is playing Hockey. It makes Casey seem like more than a danger junkie teen. Hopefully Master Splinter will train Casey in some form so he can actually help the Turtles out against Shredder & the Kraang.

Casey & Raph, together again.

THE BAD: I didn’t really like that it only took one episode for Raph & Casey to become best friends. It would have been fun to see their relationship grow over time, with the two budding heads here and there. Another thing that would have been fun to see was a comedic scene between April, Donnie, and Casey. I’m sure it’s coming down the line, but considering this was the Turtles first real introduction to Casey and the fact that Donnie has seen Casey with April before it would have been a funny scene, missed opportunity.

Casey’s body is ready.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Great action, fantastic dialog, and a little focus on Raphael. “The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones” featured some pretty cool stuff compared to more recent TMNT episodes. Master Splinter (and Leonardo) had his little action moment this week, and the opening narrative from Casey was great. There was a great fight scene between Raphael & Casey within the first few minutes of the episode as well. It would have been great if Casey, Donnie, and April had a little moment, but I’m sure they’re saving it for down the road. I also wish it would have taken more than one episode for Raph & Casey to be besties. “The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones” is an excellent start up to the upcoming episodes, and will be memorable for quite some time. Otaku Dome gives TMNT “The Good, the Bad, and the Casey Jones” an 87 out of 100.