If there's a thin film of plastic covering the bottom with a tab to let you peel it off, by all means peel it off. If there's something that looks like metal, or hard plastic, I wouldn't try peeling that off. I've not seen a recent Epson cartridge, so I couldn't tell you if they, like most others, have that thin plastic film over the ink holes at the bottom of your cartridges. (My old Cannon printer did not have film, just a plastic cap on the bottom).
I'll point out one thing, though, since I haven't seen it mentioned: Ink jet printers often have 2 parts to replace. Ink cartridges, AND, print heads. HP printers, (which I prefer them for the following reason), have the print heads built into the cartridge, meaning you never have to replace the print heads, since each cartridge you replace includes the print heads. (Of course, this makes them more expensive). Most other brands I've seen you should buy new print heads ever after every 2 or 3 ink changes. (Most never bother, and just replace the printer since they are becoming very inexpensive). Last set of print heads I bought were for a Cannon printer, and set me back 50$, but as a bonus they came with fresh ink cartridges, too.
If after replacing ink cartridges your printer doesn't print, or if your printer has sat for some time without being used, then suddenly won't print, often replacing the print heads will fix it. Hope this is useful info, you might want to dig into your Espson's manual and see if it has any info about print heads.
