The BEST episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) season 1

Every episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) season 1!

This version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles draws more references and plotlines from the original comics than the original television series did. Four turtles are contaminated with "ooze", a radioactive substance that causes four turtles to change into humanoids. Their Master Splinter, a rat whom also came in contact with the ooze, teaches them the art of ninjitusu. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo are Splinter's disciples who are now ready to take on forces that oppose them, including the Shredder. The Shredder is the Turtles' nemesis, as he killed Splinter's Master Yoshi. The Turtles become envolved in a complex trail of events to uncover just who or what the Shredder really is.

Last Updated: 11/7/2024Network: FOXStatus: Ended
Return to New York (2)
star
9.12
60 votes

#1 - Return to New York (2)

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 10/4/2003

The Turtles and Splinter continue to fight their way up through the Foot Headquarters skyscraper to face the Shredder. But they now have to face off against some Shredder Clones, the Foot Tech Ninja and the powerful Foot Mystics! As if that wasn't bad enough, Baxter Stockman decides now is the time to make his move...

Directors: Chuck Patton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Return to New York (1)
star
9.08
64 votes

#2 - Return to New York (1)

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 9/27/2003

With Leo fully recovered the goal is clear: to destroy the Shredder once and for all. With April providing remote computer assistance, the Turtles begin their assault on the Foot HQ skyscraper, fighting their way to the top floor by floor. They battle an army of Foot Ninja Guards and the deadly cloaking Foot Tech Ninja. But no one is quite prepared for what they encounter inside a Foot Genetics lab...

Directors: Chuck Patton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Return to New York (3)
star
9.00
60 votes

#3 - Return to New York (3)

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 10/11/2003

With Stockman showing up in the middle of the final battle, our heroes must temporarily join forces with the Shredder to defeat his exo-suit before he annihilates them all. With everything working against them, high atop the Shredder's skyscraper, can our turtles emerge victorious?! And what roll does the Sword of Tengu have to play?

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Attack of the Mousers
star
8.81
106 votes

#4 - Attack of the Mousers

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/22/2003

When April O'Neil wakes up in the Turtle's lair she has major trouble dealing with the reality of four giant talking Turtles and a Zen-master rat. She soon learns of the origin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and they realize their common enemy is Baxter Stockman and his army of robotic Mousers.

Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Shredder Strikes (1)
star
8.39
99 votes

#5 - The Shredder Strikes (1)

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/12/2003

Shredder attempts to convince Leonardo that the Foot are fighting the good fight and the turtles should stand with him. Leonardo is taken in and almost convinces the others until Splinter reveals what he knows of the Shredder. Leonardo realizes he's been fooled - it's never a good idea to fool a turtle at least not a Teenage Mutant Ninja one.

Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Way of Invisibility
star
8.33
112 votes

#6 - The Way of Invisibility

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/22/2003

After Casey Jones makes himself an unwanted guest in the Turtles' lair, Raphael takes him topside for a "breath of fresh air," where they encounter the Foot Tech Ninjas - enhanced soldiers able to turn themselves invisible. Raph is caught and interrogated, but Casey manages to slip away and warn the others. Raph escapes his captors but, unbeknownst to him, is tailed by a squad of cloaked Foot Tech Ninjas. Will Casey and the others get to Raph in time before he leads the Foot directly to the Turtles' lair?

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The King
star
8.33
89 votes

#7 - The King

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/31/2003

With all the turtles living in April's apartment, things are getting a little crazy. Donatello meets up with Kirby, an artist renting April's basement apartment. Through the powers of a mysterious crystal tied to his pencil, Kirby is able to create anything he draws including his own world - a world that he and Donatello get sucked into where things get more and more curious.

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Shredder Strikes Back (2)
star
8.31
94 votes

#8 - The Shredder Strikes Back (2)

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 6/14/2003

When the Foot Ninja attack April's apartment in force, the Turtles fight against overwhelming odds to get the wounded Leo to safety. The Shredder raises the stakes, trapping our heroes in the burning Antique Shop with no way out!

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Unconvincing Turtle Titan
star
8.30
94 votes

#9 - The Unconvincing Turtle Titan

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/3/2003

Believing the Turtles can accomplish so much more for the city, and inspired by iconic superhero Silver Sentry, Michelangelo decides to take a crack at being a superhero. But he soon discovers superhero-ism is not all it's cracked up to be. Worse still, he stumbles upon a mind-control experiment by Silver Sentry's arch nemesis Dr Malignus!

Directors: Chuck Patton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Darkness on the Edge of Town
star
8.26
113 votes

#10 - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/15/2003

The Turtles, investigating a strange blackout, discover the Foot Ninja stealing a Japanese ceremonial sword from the Museum. But this is no ordinary sword. And just what do the Foot intend to do with it?

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Fallen Angel
star
8.23
111 votes

#11 - Fallen Angel

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/29/2003

On a nightly training run, the Turtles and Casey Jones break up a Purple Dragon robbery. One of the perps is Angel, a girl Casey knows from the neighborhood who's going through her initiation rites to become a Purple Dragon. Casey tries to stop Angel from going down the wrong path, but ends up getting captured by the Purple Dragons and offered up as the "prize" in the gang's fight club competitions. It's up to Angel to bring the Turtles in to help rescue Casey. The Turtles must battle it out against the biggest, meanest Dragons, including Hun, their man-mountain of a leader.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Nano
star
8.23
120 votes

#12 - Nano

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/8/2003

When a scientist accidentally unleashes a super-powered Nanotech monster with a childlike mind, it adopts a small-time thief as its father figure, and the mayhem begins! Their crime spree targets April's new antique shop, and the Turtles come to her rescue. But how do you stop something that rebuilds itself as fast as you bash it apart? It's a question the Turtles better answer fast, cause the Nano-matic slices, it dices, and it purees turtle soup in seconds!

Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Shredder Strikes (2)
star
8.22
98 votes

#13 - The Shredder Strikes (2)

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/19/2003

Our four turtles stand facing their most formidable foe to date - the Shredder. Battle weary, the turtles cannot stand against the Shredder and manage to slip away getting separated in the process. Can they survive apart? Can they get back together in time to save themselves and face the Shredder?

Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Notes from the Underground (1)
star
8.21
94 votes

#14 - Notes from the Underground (1)

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/10/2003

When Don's examination of some mysterious crystals attracts the attention of a subterranean monster, the Turtles underground exploration unearths a Foot Genetics Lab! A video record of strange experiments reveals more of Shredder's mysterious agenda, but when the mutants attack, the boys better watch out, or it's everybody out of the gene pool!

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Shredder Strikes Back (1)
star
8.21
91 votes

#15 - The Shredder Strikes Back (1)

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 6/7/2003

On a training run Leo is ambushed by a major Foot attack force, including Foot Tech Ninjas, Hun, and a new threat: the Foot Elite! At their temporary home at April's apartment, Don, Raph and Mikey tire of wait for Leo to get back and decide to go look for him. But is it too late?

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Search for Splinter (1)
star
8.16
89 votes

#16 - The Search for Splinter (1)

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 10/25/2003

As the Turtles continue their search for Splinter, they turn their attention to the Guardians. The trail soon leads them to a building marked as "TCRI" - the same letters on the canister of ooze responsible for their mutation! Now with two reasons to infiltrate that building, the Turtles recruit both April and Casey to help get them inside.

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Greg Johnson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Search for Splinter (2)
star
8.13
84 votes

#17 - The Search for Splinter (2)

Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 11/1/2003

The Turtles successfully infiltrate the mysterious TCRI building, and locate the unconscious Splinter inside a stasis tank. But they also discover that there's more to the technicians inside then meets the eye...

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Greg Johnson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Notes from the Underground (3)
star
8.13
92 votes

#18 - Notes from the Underground (3)

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/24/2003

When the Turtles and their new allies start vanishing one by one, only Michelangelo is left. He finally finds the perpetrator in the underground city - it's sole survivor. Though his intentions appears noble at first, by restoring the creatures to their normal human selves, there is a catch...

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Greg Johnson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Tales of Leo
star
8.13
94 votes

#19 - Tales of Leo

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 9/13/2003

The Turtles, Splinter, Casey and April just barely manage to escape from the explosion that destroys the antique store. They hit the road and hide out at Casey's grandmother's old farmhouse, but Leonardo is badly wounded, drifting in an out of consciousness. As he attempts to recover, the Turtles and Splinter tell tales of Leonardo's early adventures, using the stories to help guide him back to the real world.

Directors: Chuck Patton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Notes from the Underground (2)
star
8.10
86 votes

#20 - Notes from the Underground (2)

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/17/2003

After discovering an abandoned underground Foot Genetics Lab, and being attacked by the once-human Quarry, the Turtles assist them in trying to repair a force field to protect them against the mindless beasts roaming the tunnels. But the force field needs a new crystal power source, and the only place to get one is by travelling deeper underground, to the seemingly haunted catacombs, where many have mysteriously vanished...

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Greg Johnson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lone Raph and Cub
star
8.10
82 votes

#21 - Lone Raph and Cub

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 10/18/2003

With Splinter mysteriously vanished, the Turtles are feeling frustrated, not knowing where to start looking. Impatient with strategizing, Raph heads off on his own - and straight into trouble, of the mobster kind!

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Better Mousetrap
star
8.03
166 votes

#22 - A Better Mousetrap

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/15/2003

The Turtles discover the source of the Mouser robots that trashed their old lair: Dr. Baxter Stockman a noted technological genius/inventor, who tries to pass off the Mousers as a means to eradicate the city's rat problem. Donatello gets one of the broken Mousers working and the Turtles chase it through the sewers. Meanwhile, Stockman's lab assistant April O'Neil uncovers a secret subterranean facility where hundreds of Mousers are being manufactured and stored - but to what end?

Directors: Chuck Patton
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Meet Casey Jones
star
8.03
117 votes

#23 - Meet Casey Jones

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/1/2003

Raphael is a little cooped up underground with only his brothers and Master Splinter. When Raphael almost clobbers Michelangelo in some brotherly sparring, it's apparent that Raphael needs to get out let off a little steam. But when he meets up with Casey Jones, a vigilante erring a little to the right of justice, Raphael must face the reality of his own hothead ways.

Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Garbageman
star
7.87
97 votes

#24 - Garbageman

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/5/2003

The boys have made friends with a group of homeless, and are worried when they start mysteriously disappearing into the night! Some Turtle-style detective work leads them to the Garbageman, an immense, smelly egomaniac, who is kidnapping the homeless for slave labor to build an empire on a foundation of garbage. Sounds like it's time for the Turtles to take out the trash!

Writer: Eric Luke
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Things Change
star
7.78
211 votes

#25 - Things Change

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/8/2003

On one normal night in New York city, 4 fully grown Mutant Turtles do their evening training with Master Splinter at their Sewer Den below New York. They've spent their 15 years with their sensei, Master Splinter and learning the arts of Ninjitsu. They've never reveal themselves to the outside world, due to their appearances. As it would lead them to trouble. But when all seems fair a pack of rubble eating tiny machines came into their Den and start chewing up the place. They battled these machines one by one with their Ninja skills. Unfortinately their den starts to collapse and they're'e now separated from their master. They contacted him by their own cell phones "Shell Cell" and they agree to meet up with him around the other side. But the way to the other side is blocked. So they'll have to go "top side" in other to get to the other side. And this will lead to battling one of New york's toughest gangs "The Purple Dragons".

Directors: Chuck Patton
Writer: Michael Ryan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV