Heroes and Villains...Working Together?! *Spoilers*

When I first heard the title of TMNT 2012's newest episode, "Baxter's Gambit," I wondered if it would be anything like "Bishop's Gambit" from the 2003 series. The answer was no, not in the least, but it was still one of the best episodes I've seen in this series. So good, in fact, that it is now competing with "Never Say Xever" for my favorite episode.

I liked a lot of things about this story. The #1 thing I like about it is the connection that Raphael and Xever are forced to realize as they make their way through the maze together.

Actually, I should probably explain the plot first. In "Baxter's Gambit," the techno-geek Baxter Stockman (who works for the Shredder along with Xever and Bradford) creates an optical-illusion maze that he manages to get both the Turtles and his co-workers into. His intention: have both parties destroy each other so that neither group emerges alive. Thus, the enemies are forced to work together in order to get out.

Back to Raph and Xever (I think it's funny that I still call him Xever when everyone else calls him Fishface). While in the maze, the two of them are separated from the rest of the gang and must go in a different direction to find their way through. During this time the two of them end up talking to each other and, after Raph asks about Xever's background, they realize that they aren't so different on the inside. That was really cool to watch, as well as learning about my favorite bad guy's history.

The ending of this episode was pretty thought-provoking as well. Once they've finally made it out the two groups are too tired to fight, so they decide to call it quits for one day and each go their separate ways. Mikey says that Raph and Xever made a pretty good team, though Raph says that they are still enemies and will still try to finish each other off.

Another thing I really liked about "Baxter's Gambit" was watching Splinter and April's relationship grow. April has kind of taken up the role of Splinter's "daughter," since she is so close to the Turtles and is now training under him as well. Throughout the story it kept flashing to scenes of the two of them, in which April was trying to find a weapon for herself and ended up seeing the picture of Splinter's lost family for the first time. Splinter then gave her a Japanese fan that also had a blade on the end, which he had intended to give to his daughter if she had lived.

All in all, this is a great episode. Lots of cool things for TMNT nerds like myself to drool over. Haha. Make sure you keep up with the series! This episode is now available on Animeflavor.com! :D