How to improve the Northampton arc...

[GoldMutant]

(My apologizes everyone for writing an essay on this, but I wanted to summarize my thoughts on this.)

Northampton/the farmhouse is always a main story arc within the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Following the near death of Leonardo (Raphael in the 90's movie) from a fight against the Foot Clan with the Shredder back from the dead, April, Casey, the Turtles, and Splinter are forced to retreat from New York City. We've seen four times at this point: the aforementioned 90's movie, the Mirage Comics, the story arc The Shredder Strikes Back from the 2003 series, and the recent IDW comics. It always deals with emotional burden on the team, leading them to get stronger to return home and take back New York. Frankly, you can't have Ninja Turtles story development without it.

So far, it seemed with The Invasion, it would lead to this with how the Kraang's invasion when down. Splinter suffered near death at the hands of Shredder, Leo's valiant fight against the Foot Clan (AMAZING FIGHT TOO), and the takeover of New York into a new Dimension X. Our main six/seven protagonists all suffered in some way during the two-parter while giving us some of the best moments of the Nick T.V. show. It seemed all was falling together like the pieces of a puzzle to give us major weight on everyone and make the defeat of the Kraang and Shredder much more satisfying in the end.

However, it didn't go this way. We've had 8 episodes at the farmhouse (9 if you count Return to New York) out of a possible 13 visits. (Is that confirmed by the way?) Instead of giving development, which was very little and very far between, we got plenty of homages to horror movies such as Friday the 13th, The Shining, and Nightmare on Elm Street. I have nothing against these homages at all, but felt they could have been used to benefit the characters.

Now, many people have argued on different threads on if these episodes were excellent like past episodes or held the series back this season. Needless to say, it's been extremely mixed with reception. We all have our different perspectives on what makes a good Ninja Turtles arc, and it seemed that a lot of missed potential wasn't realized at the end.

The Northampton story had a lot of flaws even with being fun, light-hearted filler. That brings the question similar to me asking what your ideas were for the show, how would YOU, the fans, improve this story arc? It doesn't mean stretch the story to half the season before Battle for New York, far from it in fact. Rather, what would it have take to make interest stay and give the season much more weight?

Episode lineup (minus the Foot Clan except for Return to New York):
1. Within the Woods
2. A Foot Too Big
3. Buried Secrets
4. The Croaking
5. In Dreams
6. Race with the Demon
7. Eyes of the Chimera
8. Vision Quest
9? Return to New York
10-11. Battle for New York

[Tarris Vaal]

Its biggest problem was its episodic nature. Almost every episode was pretty much a self contained story that had very little follow on from previous episodes or even seasons.

1. Within the Woods -
Should have taken more time to look at the fall out from New York. Casey's family, Raph/Don/Mikey's reactions to Leo's comatose state, Don's guilt over his failure to lead. We got a little of it, but it was all over within 5 min.

2. A Foot Too Big -
This was like they had an ending in mind and werent sure how to get to it. The Finger was easily the worst villain in the series. Bigfoot was poorly animated and looked ridiculous. Although the core moral of the story did come across it was very jarring compared to the actual end. Again no calling back to previous episodes which would have given something for everyone other than Donnie to do.


3. Buried Secrets -
This was a lot stronger - to me at least - It harked back to the Kraang, delved deeper into April's past and added to the mystery around her abilities.

4. The Croaking -
I know a lot of people really liked this, but to me it added nothing to the story and almost no development. Particularly as it followed from Buried secrets we could easily have had a chance to look at April's reaction to the previous ep. Again, it became a self contained episode.

5. In Dreams -
A nice self contained episode. But no referring back. Particularly as this started with a love triangle scene there was no mention of even Foot too Big.

6. Race with the Demon -
This episode at least did mention the Kraang ship and helped set up the following episode. It did also add a bit to the Casey/Don relationship. This was good, but again everyone else got a bit sidelined. Even that would have been more forgiveable if there had been more done with the others in previous eps.

7. Eyes of the Chimera -
Again some connection back, but still very stand alone. At least more was made of April's development and focus on Leo.

8. Vision Quest -
Lots of connection to previous episodes and characters and equal screentime throughout. This was probably the strongest of the Northampton eps. Albeit really short (but that's just a personal gripe really, it was good :) )


I sometimes wonder if the early episodes of the season were all written by different writers at the same time - all of whom drew a theme out of a hat and were told to go away and write an episode about it - and then didn't talk to each other much or compare notes.

[oldmanwinters]

Personally, I loved the off-beat, horror-movie referencing, episodic nature of the whole thing. It did seem to drag on at times, especially when you assumed Leonardo had made a great gain in his recovery only to find out in the next episode that he seemed to be back at square one. Some of the episode plot resolutions seemed very deus ex machina like Plant Raph easily getting his original integrity restored by Donatello... just because. And April's vague powers manifesting themselves against her evil Mom Clone and magically restoring everybody else to safety after it appeared they had been consumed and digested into the beast.

[Luckyday]

Most of these establish horror them episodes would serve better somewhere after the Return to New York arc.

They need to create some throw away dialogue explaining why they're there and it was because they feel the need to get away from New York while city is rebuilding and recovering from the second alien invasion, and while ironically fighting and running from monsters. They would have to explain why Splinter isn't there but in my head it would be because they meet up with Karai again during the Return to New York arc and Splinter decided stay behind in the lair to help her control her mutation. Kirby would be with them but having him there wouldn't change a lot except for the Buried Secrets episode.

The exile to Northampton should been five episodes.

The first episode should have been a breather episode or more about them dealing with the aftermath. No monsters. The conflict is strictly them dealing with their grief and inner turmoil.

Everyone is losing it with exception of Raphael, who puts himself in charge of everyone but he's not use to being the main care giver or being the emotional support which frustrate him and makes him feel useless and unintentionally takes out on Donnie because he thinks Donnie should be the one supporting everyone since he wanted be in charge. Donnie is withdrawn from everybody, in stage of bargaining. Planning a way to fix to everything but he can't think straight due the lack of sleep which cause by his guilt for Leo. He keeps doubting his plans and himself. Each turtle is dealing with their grief separately and are at different stages. In sa ubtly scene depicting Mikey, he is still in denial but there hints of angry bubbling underneath the surface.

Shifting between denial to angry would be hard to imagine and even harder to depict but I would think that Mikey would try his best visualize Splinter surviving but he ends up thinking of how limp Splinter's body was when it splash into the water. The image keeps get brighter and brighter all while hearing sound of Shredder laughing sadistically in the background. In this scene he training by punching on a scare crow and like in the comics but he starts loosing it and starts choking the living day lights out of it. When the heads comes, he snaps out and lays wondering what the hell is wrong with him.

Since Casey trying desperately to find any source of information on the going ons in New York, and he stumbles across arm men and women from around the area that are organizing themselves into a militia called "H.A.T.E" with their own plans of going after the Kraang in New York. Casey finds a kinder spirit in the leader of the group who call himself Skonk. In Casey's mind, his family is stuck and the turtles have given up so he plans to join H.A.T.E and tells April to stay at the farm with the turtles. April gets rightful angry and telling him off for abandoning them. Casey argues back that there is still an alien apocalypse going on, and that his real family is stuck in New York.

The episode ends with Casey driving off. Before the episode ends, it reveals that H.A.T.E have a nuclear bomb and they're going to bomb New York to Kingdom Come.

The next episode is the Creep episode, and almost same with April narrating on what happen so far up to the lastest episode. The difference is Casey is not there but earlier on in the episode it switches back to Casey with the militia. Casey still doesn't know about the bomb.

The next episode deals with H.A.T.E and after that concluded, Spirit Quest episode comes up next. The change is to make it a two parter and that the episode deals with their hangs up rather their character flaws, which is how they get over it to return to New York.

That's pretty much it.

[victory_angel]

The northhampton arc easily could have been a season to itself if played right.

First episode:
Turtles arrive at the farm house, everyone is distressed by all that's happened. Mikey is subdued with all that's and wonders around the property listlessly when he isn't flopped down somewhere, Donnie is watching over Leo but he is so consumed with guilt that he hardly eats or sleeps. Raph is adjusting to the new surroundings and tries to be a rock his brothers can cling too. Eventually he takes over watching Leo when Donnie passes out after reviving Leo from cardiac arrest.

2: Tales of Leo plot, Casey, April, or Both are checking on each of the Turtles and each of the Turtles provide them with a memory of Leo when was there for them. Ending with the three brothers sitting together around Leo's body and remembering a time when Leo had been there for the three of them.

3: Within the woods

4: A Foot to Big...Remove the finger as the villain and make Big Foot the villain instead.

Things play out as usual with Donnie trying to impress April and she doesn't seem interested. And Raph suggesting they get some training in along with the Turtle hunt. Donnie and Mikey encounter big foot, however this time she grabs Donnie. Both Raph and Mikey are about to attack to save their brother only to find Big Foot is hugging him and saying she's chosen Donnie as her mate. She follows the turtles back home and everyone (but Donnie and April) finds it amusing that Big Foot is smitten with Donnie. However Bigfoot doesn't understand why Donnie keeps rebuffing her feelings. She later sees Donnie talking with April and becomes enraged with jealousy and attacks yelling "Donnie mate with Bigfoot. April can't have." Donnie pushes April out of harms way, the others arrive to protect and defend their brother. Donnie however stops them and reasons with Bigfoot that he doesn't return her feelings as a mate because his heart however belongs to another person.
But he wouldn't mind having her as a friend...Bigfoot snarls and seems to look like she's about to rip Donnie's head off only for it to turn out that she was pulling Donnie into a big bear hug saying "Bigfoot love Donnie...Donnie good friend to bigfoot." and walks off. Donnie later appears to April and says he'll stop pursuing her affections if it bothers her.

[GoldMutant]

Its biggest problem was its episodic nature. Almost every episode was pretty much a self contained story that had very little follow on from previous episodes or even seasons.

1. Within the Woods -
Should have taken more time to look at the fall out from New York. Casey's family, Raph/Don/Mikey's reactions to Leo's comatose state, Don's guilt over his failure to lead. We got a little of it, but it was all over within 5 min.

2. A Foot Too Big -
This was like they had an ending in mind and werent sure how to get to it. The Finger was easily the worst villain in the series. Bigfoot was poorly animated and looked ridiculous. Although the core moral of the story did come across it was very jarring compared to the actual end. Again no calling back to previous episodes which would have given something for everyone other than Donnie to do.


3. Buried Secrets -
This was a lot stronger - to me at least - It harked back to the Kraang, delved deeper into April's past and added to the mystery around her abilities.

4. The Croaking -
I know a lot of people really liked this, but to me it added nothing to the story and almost no development. Particularly as it followed from Buried secrets we could easily have had a chance to look at April's reaction to the previous ep. Again, it became a self contained episode.

5. In Dreams -
A nice self contained episode. But no referring back. Particularly as this started with a love triangle scene there was no mention of even Foot too Big.

6. Race with the Demon -
This episode at least did mention the Kraang ship and helped set up the following episode. It did also add a bit to the Casey/Don relationship. This was good, but again everyone else got a bit sidelined. Even that would have been more forgiveable if there had been more done with the others in previous eps.

7. Eyes of the Chimera -
Again some connection back, but still very stand alone. At least more was made of April's development and focus on Leo.

8. Vision Quest -
Lots of connection to previous episodes and characters and equal screentime throughout. This was probably the strongest of the Northampton eps. Albeit really short (but that's just a personal gripe really, it was good :) )


I sometimes wonder if the early episodes of the season were all written by different writers at the same time - all of whom drew a theme out of a hat and were told to go away and write an episode about it - and then didn't talk to each other much or compare notes.

I agree with how this goes down Tarris, though the mutants have connections, it doesn't feel well-connected in the episodes outside that. Even if it's said more mutants are needed to make toys, I feel they should have a purpose instead of being the mutant of the week. I'm not expecting to have complex villains like something straight out of Batman, but at least with purpose for the heroes.

Anyways, I think we needed a character driven story each episode, possibly increasing emotional weight while still adding more to make the characters develop.

1. Within the Woods (Leo is focus with Raph as secondary)
-In addition to callbacks and emotional moments, the main story coming into this is Leo's injury. I'd keep the injury around for a small amount of time and just have him regain his confidence. The fear of the team with the invasion should be their downfall when encountering the Creep.

Also, the Raphael turning into a plant issue is also something I still loathe of wrapping up too quickly. I get all the Turtles appear in every episode, but I think Raph should have been out for a few episodes, returning around The Croaking. (I'll get to that for why)

2. A Foot too Big (Donnie is focus and love triangle close to concluding)
Easily the worst episode for the ending and just an unscrambled mess. I'd keep Bigfoot so Donnie can understand April's perspective on his "moves". Also, just write the Finger out and possibly turn Bigfoot into a villain, maybe have the creature kidnap April because Donnie reveals he likes someone else. Rework the ending and then I can see it being a decent episode.

3. Buried Secrets (April is focus)
I sort of like this episode, just keep focusing on the Kraang story with this and keep April as the focus like before. Maybe more clues on her mother? Unsure, but it's a fun episode and the best of the homages in my opinion.

4. The Croaking (Michelangelo is focus)
I really didn't like this either, it's easily the weakest episode besides that episode. Mikey has rarely gotten development and to know he made a mistake and got away with it is terrible writing. I'd rather have Mikey mature and realize his goofball nature should come at a cost.

Also, throughout these three episodes, have Donnie working on a cure to bring Raph back as the secondary focus outside the Punk Frogs here. When the team is losing, have Mikey find a way to finish the cure before going back out to assist in the ambush so Raph can return. (or anyone finishing it for that matter)

5. In Dreams (Raphael gets focus)
Out of all the characters, Raph got no episode dedicated to him during the arc. This could be the episode fans of Raph have wanted, perhaps giving him origins of how he came to be. It can show Raph feeling useless to the team as Donnie made retromutagen, Mikey braving Dimension X, and Leo always being the hero. Although the Turtles are still important, I feel we need something for Raph to be impacted by. It can show us the chip of his shell, his relations with everyone, and at the end show him as the Shredder if his anger gets the best of him. In addition, have the team try to wake and possibly at the end have the three brothers enter Raph's state of mind to show he does matter.

6. Race with the Demon (Casey gets the focus)
I didn't really find too many flaws here, continue with this interaction of Casey and Donnie, just give Casey more weight here too. Have him realize Donnie is a really good guy if he fails the race and his family if he gets controlled by Speed Demon. Add in a little bit more of the others and it could improve.

7. Eyes of the Chimera (Everyone gets focus)
Combine a second plot of Casey, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph working together to escape the Chimera in addition to Leo and April's plot. The theme should be on teamwork before realizing that they need to prepare to return home, that they have had enough time spent here.

8. Vision Quest (Turtles gain the strength to return)
Best of the arc, albeit short. I'd make it a two parter personally. Part 1 would have the same focus as the entire episode: going into the woods, Splinter contacting them, then training in the woods. The main difference is not only growing in power, but giving them all a second fight before their respective battles. These fights are meant to ignite emotion for leaving everyone behind, citing the invasion getting horrible too. Here's who they each get:

Leo= Karai (reason: failing to rescue her)
Raph= Slash (reason: abandoning New York)
Donnie= Mutagen Man (reason: return to Donnie's ignorance of never helping him get cured, using the retromutagen as an example)
Mikey= Leatherhead (reason: emotional clash due to Mikey being miserable of the possible death of Leatherhead. Splinter would inform them a little of the invasion too to help this make more sense.)

Have the episode end with all of them about to lose their fights against these four.

Part 2:
Continue and conclude the fights. Then have their respective battles with the Foot Clan afterwards. Maybe throw in a fight with the Kraang too for the middle of the episode that transitions to the fights which can foreshadow the fight upon returning. It would tie most of the plots together, bringing characters back to help establish the showdown in New York while also tying the previous stories together to make it an epic battle.

In addition, throw in an origin episode for the Mighty Mutanimals with what has happened in the city or make Return to New York two parts. Then, wrap everything up with Battle for New York.

Could this work for everyone?

[ssjup81]

Personally, I loved the off-beat, horror-movie referencing, episodic nature of the whole thing. It did seem to drag on at times, especially when you assumed Leonardo had made a great gain in his recovery only to find out in the next episode that he seemed to be back at square one. Some of the episode plot resolutions seemed very deus ex machina like Plant Raph easily getting his original integrity restored by Donatello... just because. And April's vague powers manifesting themselves against her evil Mom Clone and magically restoring everybody else to safety after it appeared they had been consumed and digested into the beast.But the powers really aren't vague. April's powers seemed to be at its strongest or most heightened time whenever she's super stressed out and if the thing causing the stress is Kraang related. We've never seen it go haywire around anything or anyone else, have we? The pattern in this regard is a bit obvious...well, to me it was.

That aside, I liked the North Hampton eps too, for what they were. The only part that did bother me some was plant Raph. I had no problem with him being the victim there (it's just a toned down version of the Bloodsucker story from the comics where Raph was the vic anyway)...I had a problem with him being turned into a plant when just turning him into an unmutated turtle would've sufficed fine and the fast resolution where Donnie miraculously cures him with no explanation on how. So...yeah. I liked the other eps fine. Still love the Dream Beaver ep.

The only thing I would've changed or added, was if they would've had some eps prior to Leo's walking to see how the gang was functioning without him as opposed to April just writing about it...or turn the entirety of the North Hampton arc into diary entries in general. Like right before returning to NY, they could've shown April writing out everything, having her going on about the odd things that happened while in North Hampton. I think that would've been nicer.

As for the Vision Quest episodes, imo, they really should've been longer than just one ep. At least two or three. Like maybe the first ep focusing on all four of the turtles. The second ep focusing on two of them and the third ep focusing on the remaining two so we can get to know them more and maybe learn more about their fears, challenges, etc. I really did like the Vision Quest ep, but even I'll admit it was disappointing with how quickly resolved everything was.

[victory_angel]

The northhampton arc easily could have been a season to itself if played right.

First episode:
Turtles arrive at the farm house, everyone is distressed by all that's happened. Mikey is subdued with all that's and wonders around the property listlessly when he isn't flopped down somewhere, Donnie is watching over Leo but he is so consumed with guilt that he hardly eats or sleeps. Raph is adjusting to the new surroundings and tries to be a rock his brothers can cling too. Eventually he takes over watching Leo when Donnie passes out after reviving Leo from cardiac arrest.

2: Tales of Leo plot, Casey, April, or Both are checking on each of the Turtles and each of the Turtles provide them with a memory of Leo when was there for them. Ending with the three brothers sitting together around Leo's body and remembering a time when Leo had been there for the three of them.

3: Within the woods-Raph turned into a regular turtle not a plant.

4: A Foot to Big...Remove the finger as the villain and make Big Foot the villain instead.

Things play out as usual with Donnie trying to impress April and she doesn't seem interested. And Raph suggesting they get some training in along with the Turtle hunt. Donnie and Mikey encounter big foot, however this time she grabs Donnie. Both Raph and Mikey are about to attack to save their brother only to find Big Foot is hugging him and saying she's chosen Donnie as her mate. She follows the turtles back home and everyone (but Donnie and April) finds it amusing that Big Foot is smitten with Donnie. However Bigfoot doesn't understand why Donnie keeps rebuffing her feelings. She later sees Donnie talking with April and becomes enraged with jealousy and attacks yelling "Donnie mate with Bigfoot. April can't have." Donnie pushes April out of harms way, the others arrive to protect and defend their brother. Donnie however stops them and reasons with Bigfoot that he doesn't return her feelings as a mate because his heart however belongs to another person.
But he wouldn't mind having her as a friend...Bigfoot snarls and seems to look like she's about to rip Donnie's head off only for it to turn out that she was pulling Donnie into a big bear hug saying "Bigfoot love Donnie...Donnie good friend to bigfoot." and walks off. Donnie later appears to April and says he'll stop pursuing her affections if it bothers her.

5: Buried Secrets

6: April is still down because of the events of buried secrets. She tells the turtles about what happened when she lost her mother, or what she remembered from that time. The Turtles tell her perhaps her mother is still out there somewhere and on day they would meet again.

7: The Croaking part one...Beat for Beat the first half of the Croaking, ends with Mikey looking out towards the farm house. Mikey: This is my family now.
Ending shot of Genghis leading an army of frogs to attack the farm house while the Turtles are looking for Mikey.

8: The Frogs attack the farm house and demand the Turtles be set free. Donnie and Leo tell the frogs they aren't prisoners but friends of the humans. Genghis then orders the capture of everyone in the farm house (seriously it made 0 sense for April and Casey to be taken prisoner but the turtles were left behind) They are all brought before Attila, Genghis says the turtle played them all for fools. He said they were prisoners of the humans, but the Turtles are human sympathizers. Rasputin insists this is proof that the Turtle was not to be trusted and he should suffer the same consequences as his brothers. Ends with the tree catching fire and everyone escaping. Rasputin is supposedly killed in the fire. Ends with the Turtles and company returning to the farm house. Final shot is of a badly burnt Rasputin vowing revenge on the Turtles and their human friends.

9: In dreams all the Turtles are given nightmares and creatures called the dream beavers effect their sleep. All the turtles except Raph wake up...they realize that the beavers must exist in the world of dreams and Raph must be trapped in his dreams. They at once go back to sleep to get their brother out. April and Casey wake up and check on the Turtles and finds them all in almost states of death like sleep. Each of the Turtles faces their greatest fears.
Leo fear is Splinter telling him that he has failed him as a son and student.

Mikey's fear is that all of his brothers have turned against him and that they don't need an idiot like him on their team.

Raph's fear is facing off against the Shredder, the Shredder taunts him telling him to give into his anger and hate. His brothers all hold him back they are the enemy. Raph at one point looks at himself in the mirror and sees his reflection dressed in the Shredder's armor which appears on him. Shredder says that he is the most worthy to don his armor.

Donnie's fear is he is being hunted like an animal by Karai, Fishface, Rahzar. All of them demanding the Retromutagen. April appears to him and tells him that her father is a kraang mutant because of him. She counted on him, she trusted him, and this is all she gets from it. Donnie tries to tell her he wanted to save her father, and would have prevented it if he could. She doesn't want to hear it. Then his brothers show and have their own taunts for him. April tells him that Casey is better man then he ever will be.

10: All the Turtles get a dream vision where Splinter is telling then they should go out alone and face the lessons of the Spirit World. They wake up and realizes that they all had the same dream to an extent. The group all forage new weapons for themselves and go out in different directions with the hope of understanding their quest and learn to accept their spirit element.
Rest of the episode focuses on Mikey (He would be one of the ones having an easier time with the Spirit Quest)

11: Focuses on Donnie and Raph's journey and how they face their quests. They learn whats holding them back from reaching their full potential. Raph being his anger and how he uses it as fuel for his attacks. When really he should harness his anger and use it as a weapon. Donnie it's how his intellect is useful but it shouldn't be a substitute for skills.

12: Focus on Leo and his journey then finally everyone returning to the farm house.

13: Return to new york

[GoldMutant]

(The quotes drags out my character length, sorry)

I'm assuming Eyes of the Chimera is removed then as well as Race with the Demon? I do agree with half the season being here victory_angel. Even if it does drag to some, it would give the arc more meaning then simply wacky adventures in the wilderness. However, there are a few things here I disagree with a little and I would like to build off of:

1. The first two episodes
Even though it would give us more time to reflect on New York, I think we should combine Within the Woods as two parts. Part 1 could focus on the recovery from New York as well as the Turtles telling their stories of Leo. It could be a tad rushed come to think of it, but I still think this idea would work as a stand alone episode if cards are played right. (after all, it did work in the 2003 series and the Foot are absent here so there's more time now.) Then, part 2 could focus on the actual Within the Woods portion. This time, 3 things to make the Creep dangerous:

1. The team is defeated from lack of concentration/fear- New York's invasion will have affected the team, even if Leo recovers. Due to little focus with that in the back of their mind, all the characters screw up fighting Creep and easily get defeated.
2. Leo questioning himself- The injury should be half this arc and more of Leo trying to get back into the swing of things. Having him doubt if he can save his team following the near-death he suffered.
3. Raph turned into a plant/turtle- Either option, but keep him out for a few episodes. A sub-plot could be made of bringing him back to normal and reviving him in the Croaking as a perfect timing.

2. In Dreams becomes a Raphael episode
Personally, I'd turn this into a Raphael themed episode more than conjointly shared with the Turtles. The reason is because all the characters got an episode dedicated to them as the stars whereas the hothead takes a backseat. The outline could be Raph is still angry for being turned into a plant or normal and his control causes him to attack someone during their training. (setting at sunset) Later, when he's forced to go inside for his actions, he could be frustrated that everyone of his brothers got something awesome accomplished and that he's useless. (Leo battling the Foot on his own, Mikey in Dimension X, and Donnie with retromutagen)
The Dream Beavers then come into the picture when Raph rests, where he's manipulated with his origins (we could learn about the scar :)), his family, and ultimately a seemingly terrible fated showdown: himself as Shredder.
Meanwhile, the subplot has everyone trying to wake him up, with Donnie inventing a machine that allows EVERYONE to go in.
Back in Raph's mind, everyone arrives, where Raph fights his own self while the others battle the demons. At first, he questions why they'd help, but realize he's just as important as everyone else. We then see a buttkicking moment where he solos the four and destroys the Shredder image. If anything, this episode could also be the last one before the Vision Quest due to a dream I have for him.

3. Vision Quest should be more emotional
Whether it be two or three parts, this episode should tie loose ends with plots not addressed and haven't since coming here. I imagine it as at least a two parter. The outline is this:
Part !:
-The Turtles decide to go into the woods to prepare for a return
-They start training in the woods following words with Casey and April
-Following brief training, Splinter arrives (commercial)
-This time, have Splinter get 2 or 3 minute of screentime, where he motivates the Turtles on what to do and informing them of the invasion. (Leatherhead could also be mentioned to Mikey's sadness)
-The weapons and costumes are forged and they go out on their own
-Instead of just the Foot Clan being fought, add in the Kraang because of their alliance together (commercial as Leo falls like last time)
-Brief fights with the united forces
-Before having their respective fights, a second fight is added to tie previous plots together and for emotion (Leo v. Karai, Raph v. Slash, Donnie v. Mutagen Man, and Mikey v. Leatherhead. Episode ends with them all about to lose)

Part 2:
-The fights are continuing with the Turtles winning barely
-They end up meeting together deciding it's time, but more of the goons arrive (commercial break)
-After a tussle, have a Kraang (possibly Kraang Prime or even Baxter?) fire a powerful blast which divides the team again
-The four fights in this episode begin (break)
-The Turtles finally win and return to New York (end)

I could see an individual focus if this were to expand into three parts, but I still feel each Turtles needs to clash with their closest ally first and then the final part they battle the Foot Clan.

The only thing I'm not a fan of is Casey not getting individual focus compared to the others. Even if Eyes of the Chimera removed, I'd like it if he got an episode too to see how he was affected; it'd seem fair if everyone else does. Otherwise, I agree mostly with this outline done.

[Luckyday]

The only thing I would've changed or added, was if they would've had some eps prior to Leo's walking to see how the gang was functioning without him as opposed to April just writing about it...or turn the entirety of the North Hampton arc into diary entries in general. Like right before returning to NY, they could've shown April writing out everything, having her going on about the odd things that happened while in North Hampton. I think that would've been nicer.



That reminds me of season 1 of my little pony: friendship is magic, but hey that's not a bad thing to be compared to. :lol: ;)

[drgon78]

Make the arc longer.