The Official Venting/Whining/Criticism Thread!
 

To unclog the official info thread, post all criticisms and problems you have with the show here.


I'll start. I think that the show would benefit if the MOTW episodes were spaced out more. Don't get me wrong, I love fun episodes like that and they have some great action figure ideas in them, but I'd say 1 story and one MOTW.

We should of had this in the movie thread :lol:

I agree.

And also there should be emotional development for the characters. Like maybe a heart to heart between Donnie and Leo about their argument in the season finally. Because why have the argument and end the episode with Donnie beating himself up about what happened if you aren't going to do anything about it.

Have Raph pulling him back and remind him that he's leader currently and the rest of them need him to be there for that reason.

Have Mikey and/or April maybe Casey reasure Donnie what happened was not his fault.

Heck if you must had a filler episode, make it one where the Turtles are sitting around talking about times Leo had been there for them when they had been children.

We did. But then the pro-movie fans came in and it fell into chaos.

yes we should

I miss Splinter and Karai.

I just wish all the people whining in general would take it to tumblr. At least there their rants can be ignored.

Yeah, I miss them, too, Penny. But other than that, I'm okay with everything else that's gone on, though I do wish they'd mention New York more or have more of a reaction like they're missing it or something.

When did this become a thing? It's SHOULD HAVE!

The only thing that really bothered me in this series thus far (other than some of the episodes being a wee bit predictable) is that the writers can occasionally get really insistent when trying to get their point across. Worst offender for me being the episode "Newtralized!" where Cassey suddenly turns into a complete clod and they really want you to get that because otherwise you couldn't understand the conflict of the story. I guess they amp this stuff up for the kid's entertainment value but it still tends to annoy me.

We can still give our actual opinions in the episode threads spite this thread being open right? Negative or not?

Any ways, for me I wish they'd stop with the horror flicks type episodes, it's getting tiring and repeative and gross out humor.

I hope when they return to New York we get back the actual plots, with the fourth season being the last well.

I'm enjoying these eps and the horror parodies. However, I was really hoping for lots more character development and perhaps more reflection on what happened back in New York. That tends to be the staple of Northampton stories and it seems like some opportunity for that has been wasted. As I say, I'm still enjoying the show so this isn't a complaint per se - I just feel the show is currently lacking some continuity.

I remember reading on Wikipedia that we were gonna get a "Meanwhile, back in New York" sorta side story during the Mom-Thing episode. Does anybody know where that rumor came from? Because I honestly would've rather seen that then April and the gang fighting another creepy monster.

Okay, one complaint: this version of Northampton? It doesn't work.

(Note, the following was hastily paraphrased from a Tumblr post, so I can't assure coherence.)

Now, I love Northampton. It's not something I want in every incarnation, but I understand why it was in the original, why it keeps getting adapted, why Mirage and 4Kids kept it as a second home, and why the Nick creators decided to incorporate it into the show. I really wish they wouldn't have, though, because it doesn't work for the show they've created.

The reason why Northampton is feasible in the other incarnations is because the stakes are low enough that the turtles can afford to drop off the face of the Earth and go through a change of pace and atmosphere while they rest. In the Mirage and 4Kids takes, the turtles' disappearance changes nothing in New York, and no one is placed in danger by their absence. In the film and IDW versions, where the turtles leave behind loose ends that desperately need tying, their rest time is considerably more limited, and the story doesn’t try to make it seem as if the rest of the world has stopped existing.

This last thing is what’s wrong with Nick’s take. Yes, Leo needed a few episodes to recover, which is something. That said, stuff doesn’t actually stop happening just because it can’t be seen, and yet that’s precisely how the turtles and the show act—as if the Kraang weren’t an ongoing concern, and one that grows increasingly more dangerous the more it is left unattended. There’s no sense of object permanence, and it makes both the show and the characters look incredibly childish and irresponsible. The turtles may not be physically capable of returning to Manhattan just yet (debatable) but that doesn’t stop them from actually doing stuff to prepare while they're at the farm. Planning out strategies, considering their options—maybe recruiting the army of Mutant Frogs they’ve just met—shoring up their defenses in case the Kraang expand to upstate New York or heck, even making the slightest attempt at keeping up with the news. If any of that is happening, it’s in offscreen-land, along with any sense of logical plot progression or any portrayal of women that isn’t deeply sexist.

But no; the writers have bigger fish to fry, like keeping the love triangle spinning in its wheels or have the Nth iteration of their standard Mikey plot or introducing yet more mutants. Because, you see, when they claimed that the invasion of New York was important, they were lying. Had it actually been important, they would have given it the barest amount of thought, instead of giving us stock invasion footage and mixing it with a tepid “twist” and an adaptation of beloved Mirage material. It would have consequences which flowed naturally from what came before, instead of just being written in accordance to the whim of the day. Instead, it is no longer a factor, and will likely not remain so until the Kraang are once again onscreen, when the writers will once again try to convince us that it’s all terribly important and dramatic, even when it makes no sense and contradicts everything we've been told before.

The really ironic thing is that the Northampton stories have been some of my favorite in the series (by which I mean that they've been mostly inoffensive, except when they aren't). The context they exist, though, doesn't work at all.


This has been a rant.

I miss Splinter and Karai as well. I also miss Shredder! Hey, the Kraang too. I actually like those guys. Other than that, I think I'm good. Oh wait! Someone needs to thaw Timothy out and let him do some damage when they get back to NYC. Poor kid.

I wish Casey mingles with other turtles more besides Donnie.

Other than that I have no problem, the show is frightfully entertaining. :D

Can't say I have much to vent on this show, I'm pretty lenient on it.

I simply wish they could just fully own their time slot. No matter which day or hour they decide to put it on, it's theirs. If there is no new one to show then there is a repeat of TMNT, not some other show that's on at other times already, or to add insult to injury a repeat of said show.

8pm Friday? Then let it be fully theirs. Not just theirs unless you feel like airing something else.

This is the only issue I have, unless they're saving all that emotional angst for the Vision Quests.

ya I even miss the ones called the Kraang who want to destroy the ones called the turtles.

The character development is pretty poor, considering all the constant praise about the 'writing' of this show.

And why have Raph act like such a heel about how worthless Mikey is after the whole 'Mikey hugging Raph/getting him under control' in the finale (let alone why would Mikey NOT want a hug from Raph...it's very Out Of Character for Mikey to say something like that, and if it was just 'a joke' it wasn't funny).

It's like all of the characters keep having memory loss on what happened in the past...even for a cartoon, it is getting ridiculous.

And give Raphael an actual arc, or an actual storyline, or some actual badass fight sequences to himself, or make him a hero in an episode...recently he's been treated like crap.

April needs to bond with the other turtles.
Mikey needs some real episodes. Not the "bros don't get me/I was right bout something/shove it in their faces that I'm right/ still clueless
I miss Biggs a ton. :(
We need ICK toys! (Not really a show problem but whatever.)

This is exactly what's wrong with this season. We wouldn't be nearly this piss off about these episodes if they were after The Return to New York arc. Had the head writers made a wise move to have them air after they save New York (except the Woods and Buried Secrets), editing out the scenes with Leo limping, and having just one scene, just one scene of dialogue with Master Splinter telling them that they should take themselves away from the city to rest then all of these fillers wouldn't feel so ****ing distracting in the first place!

That's all it takes to fix this. Even it means that Season 3 finale wouldn't be the Return to New York. I. DON'T. CARE! Just fix it.http://i.imgur.com/oDEgUqI.gif

The finale won't be Return To NY. Northampton is only 13 episodes.

It does seem like much of the criticism concerns the failure of the writers to deliver ongoing plot in the current season. I agree. Just some acknowledgment of the loss of Splinter and some grief would help. My concern is that if the writers don't recognise this and continue dishing out horror-flick parody one-shots then the ratings will continue to fall and the show will die a death. I really hope this doesn't happen because this show is at its best nothing short of brilliant. To lose it would be an incredible shame.

There is really no reason excuse then. I get that these were suppose to air during October but, honestly, if October were no longer available for these episodes then cut the time in Northampton. Use only the episodes that would be reference later on like The Buried Secrets episode with the stealth ship and The Woods episode and maybe even the Dream Beaver episode, and then get to the Spirit Quest and then to them going back to New York.

The only down side to this is that Leo's leg being injured wouldn't feel as long as suppose to feel when you're waiting someone to heal but at least you would giving the people a reason to stay tune instead falling off the face of the Earth.

Maybe it was a mistake, to have an invasion in the season 2 finale. If it was only just Shredder chasing them out New York then I would sorta understand the lack of concern on what's going on with New York because there wouldn't such a incentive to back if they had really thought that Splinter was dead until one receive a vision from him or like the original comic of Raph going off on his own to New York.


It would be a tragedy but how necessary was it for them have so many theme horror episodes?
It's like they put a 11 year old horror fan boy as head writer and he only wanted to see what he thought would be really cool to reference from.

Since everyone else pretty much voiced all my problems I have another one that's been bothering me...(and this is probably just me XD)

I don't like how Mikey is becoming this innocent character just for the cute factor.

I feel like how he was better portrayed in season one....where he was more aware of things around him (like he got more things) and he was more of a chill dude...less of a young wittle brother that needs hugz.

I know, just give it up. Mikey probably won't be getting any more serious or whatever in this show. Too bad, because the potential is there.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. My only issue with Nick is that there is so much potential that they seem to be ignoring in favour of an inter-species love triangle and movie rip-offs. They could do so much!

If I think back to the very early episodes, it was completely unique, completely TMNT, embracing lots of different aspects from different incarnations whilst setting itself apart as its own thing, completely fresh and completely brilliant. Soooo much potential.

I know, but ever think it's the Nick execs who are doing this?

"MOOOOORE TOYS! MOOOOOORE MUTANTS! NO MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!"

:lol: Yup. I think that's exactly what's happening.

But then my fear is that it will be 'Fast Forward' all over again. The greed for toy sales ruined and then killed a great show. I'd hate for Nick to shoot itself in the foot in the same way.

Criticism? Well OK then, here's a list:

1. The story is too simple.
2. There are too many self contained episodes to develop the story.
3. Very little in the self contained episodes are built upon and often forgotten.
4. There seems to too much of treading old ground.

And that's about it for general criticisms that I don't think are too subjective. That's the main stuff, problems with storytelling, I feel like they should have decided between a strong strong story or a decent anthology. Sadly they decided to split the difference, and as such it feels like we have a weak story with too much filler.

As for stuff that might be more personal:

1. I don't like how Karai totally flipped her moral center as soon as she figured out the "who's daddy" thing, remember she did some pretty nasty things but figuring out who her father was totally changed that over night? I really don't like that.
2. I don't like that Krang was merged with the Utroms to make the Kraang, it's such a stupid and needless compromise. It's made worse by the fact that the Kraang just suck on their own, they're not at all menacing and they're annoying as all hell.
3. I don't like that the Foot-bots were brought back, an army of androids does not quite enforce the same sense of power in it's leadr as a human army.
4. There are too many mutants, I woul like a little diversity in the origin department.

As I said in another thread, I am hating every episode of this season. After all the 'Courage, The Cowardly Dog'-ish type horrors and weirdness they have faced, even Mikey would be smart enough to know that they would be much safer in New York.

Possible, but unlikely, I'd say: works which are pulled into too many different directions by too many cooks, or are victims of executive meddling, have certain characteristics, many of which tend to be rather obvious--see the "City at War" arc in the 4Kids cartoon for an example. The Nick cartoon, on the other hand, has always been the way it is. It has always been mutant heavy. It has always been lacking in character development. One could argue that it's possible that the producers have been constrained by executive meddling from the beginning, except that if that were the case, one would expect the producers to actually get sort of better at dealing with it with time, which is also not the case.

I like the Halloween-themed episodes, but they really need to stop them now. It's getting ridiculous, it's almost frickin' December for crying out loud! :lol:

Thank you!

I blame that on Nick's air dates.

Please, stop with the monsters of the week. Have the Foot come to Northampton in pursuit of the Turtles and try to keep them under house arrest. Have Hun come over to try and fulfill his vendetta with Casey Jones. Have Rat King or Newtralizer seek a new dugout for themselves. But pleas, no more weird "Courage the Cowardly Dog" monsters. It's getting tiring.

Also, make a human Karai figure.

I dunno, I suggest trying Jersey as an alternative to the two. :lol:

This show will never reach the levels of absurdity that was Courage. Never. :P

I find Season 2 to be almost as good as Season 1, which except for a couple clunkers, was consistent and really showed the heroes/villains as a mini-community, and there were some great fights. Season 2 had some annoying episodes such as Shellcane and the premiere was sort of meh, but the great episodes of that season topped the best of the first season, but Wormquake, the Dimension X episode, and The Invasion are episodes I'd long to return for. It appears that the writers are now on cruise control by applying various horror parodies. Chinatown Ghost Story near the end of S2 was fresh for its time and occassionaly we throw a bone with returning favorites such as the Punk Frogs, but the Ninja has been removed from the show as it becomes too Mikey and Don focused. Have an episode where the Turtles are only featured for a couple minutes with the rest focused on the Kraang/Splinter/The Foot since when people think of TMNT and the way this series has developed, its important to see what happens during these breaks. I really don't want to say that the best of this generation of Turtles has happened, but without good promotion and improvement, this show will be ending before the next movie comes out. At least its not terrible where its boring, but its definitely slipped compared to the first two seasons and while I wouldn't say this show has jumped the shark yet, I've definitely spotted a fin.

You know, you've actually pointed out something! You would think they would spend a few episodes trying to prepare for the battle in New York to make the plot much more consistent but instead why are we still getting horror based episodes when it' almost the end of November. If this continues to December, I'd have to ask what were they thinking. I am curious to know what the plot of the Spirit Quest episode is about but if it's literally going to take just one episode of preparation for their return then that's lazy writing on their part.


Now for my criticisms, some have already been spoken by others but I'll list what my main ones are:
1) Please stop returning so many OT characters and elements. I know they are bringing in Mirage characters and even a 2k3 character but they still seem to insist on bringing back more than enough aspects from the OT. The Punk Frogs were reinvented poorly that they might as well have been different characters. There's a difference between reinventing characters and changing them into characters that are radically different.
2) Raphael needs some focus. Out of all of the turtles, he's the one you can tell the most interesting stories with. None of the Don and Mike episodes have been that interesting and the Leo episodes are mostly stories we haven't seen before.
3) I would like to see some more original characters to help make this show stand out. I really like Tiger Claw and Fish Face, even if they are mutants. I think you guys have some good ideas for villians of this show. Maybe we can get another ally or something.