2012 - Anyone else reliving it?
 

My feelings on the show from the start where mixed. I loved the theme song. I loved the animation. I loved the music. Xever and Bradford pre mutation where awesome. New Shredder wasn't bad. I loved Tall splinter.

I hated Teen April and Casey. I hated Casey's design. Weakest Baxter Stockman ever.. he wasn't even a scientist. more like tech support.

But, I was willing to give it a chance for at least two seasons like I do with most new shows. And being Corporate TMNT now, I wouldn't feel so bad if I decided to stop watching, as they wouldn't miss me being a big empire :).

Somewhere around Season 2 I began to loose interest, and it all but plummeted during the super weird farm retreat episodes of season 3. Season 4 renewed interest a little...but for the most part i had stopped caring as a die hard fan by then and didn't mind if I missed episodes.



Now that Season 5 is confirmed to be the last, I feel like it's time to finally go back to the beginning and re watch it from scratch. No long breaks. just 4 seasons back to back to back. I want to see if it runs better that way, also with no pre conceived notions of what it could be.

So far, I'm 8 episodes in...and I forgot how fun Season 1 was. Going from Memory, Season 1 to Season 2, something seemed to change. It'll be interesting to see if I can figure out what.

Anyone else doing the same thing?

This is like your umpteenth post whining about the Nick cartoon. If you do decide to marathon the show properly without any breaks, you'll probably like it a lot more.

And teen April works fine for this show. If April was a 25+ year old woman interacting with Nick's Turtles, it would look weird as hell.

Season 2 just sucked and everything since then has fluctuating levels of quality. Season 1 is so damn good outside of maybe 1 or 2 episodes.

I rewatched Season 1 a while back and it reminded me how damn good it was. Sucks that we get only one season with Sternin and Ventimillia serving as excellent head writers, only to get four seasons after with Auman.

Honestly I loved Season 2, though. For its mediocre episodes, it really made up for it with some of its greats. It was Season 3 that started the horrible turn of events for me, with Season 4 just flat-out cementing it. Bleh. I feel like a broken record at this point.

so do I ;o). but what the hell, not much else to talk about with everything all but dead again.

Is that really what changed? hmm..I'll have to pay more attention to the writers.

I DO remember more weird stuff from season 2 on and less 'grounded' material.

Season three also has the WEIRDEST villain ever created in stage, screen, or film. who was that idiot that talked to his thumb?

Not really, but like the Mirage comics, after her introduction she's probably back off and not be so involved in their adventures. She definitely won't be running around with them, and she probably wouldn't have a father to kidnap which was the main reason she was so involved in the adventures.

when i see some of these quoted texts, I sometimes wonder who works for nick on here and who doesn't with the quoted company lines ;o)

There was really no reason to get april so involved in their adventures, as it's pretty clear they don't know what to do with her. first they made her a ninja, then psychic powers...and now, she's just kind of there after her plot line with her father wrapped up.

MY guess was making april and casey a teen was a direction from Nick, because most ceo's think kids hate watching adults on screen.

That, and just about every show on a kids network has to have kids helping to save the day. 4 mutant turltle kids are not enough ;o)


I still sometimes wonder why they made Xever a Fish if they never intended to have any underwater adventures.

HE was pretty much written out of the show once he got mutated.
despite being included in the intro.

How so?

Correction! They made her half-human/half-alien, then Jean Grey, and finally, a kunoichi. Initially, I did like the idea of April being a teenager as it was something different but they've made her less interesting for me.

I forgot about the half human crap. and the invulnerability to mutagen for some reason, but also not ever touched upon again.

I'm guessing the jean grey reference (not a big xmen fan) was the Alien Crystal finale?

what little iremember of x 3 was something like that i think.

No it was human/alien hybrid, kunoichi then Jean Grey/Tetsuo, she had her little Phoenix force after she was made into a ninja.

The producers went with April being a contemporary to the Turtles because they thought a grown woman with a job hanging out with a bunch of teenagers looked a little too inappropriate.

Season 2 had tons of great episodes. The only real weaker/bad ones was the Sir Malachi ep, and depending on what your view on the Pizzaface episode was.

All the other eps were pretty great or average. Season 3 again started off with a mixed bag as the Northampton eps were hit or miss, but after they got back to New York most of the eps were good.

Nearly all of Season 4 was enjoyable too. Only one I didn't care for was that one they went inside Mikey's mind at the beginning of the space arc.

I know the reason for that. I'm asking CC why he thinks an Adult April wouldn't fit this version.

The thing is though, that's how it's always been. And she's not hanging around normal kids. She's hanging with talking humanized turtles that at their age are capable of fighting ninja clans and alien invasions and saving the world. And she doesn't have to hang with them all that much since she has her own life to live.

The show is 1-1,5 years awy from it's rumored end(that it might not be true since Nickelodeon willl be stupid to end my show so soon) and you are talking like it has already ended. Wait until season 5 ends and if by then we have OFFICIAL confirmation from nickelodeon thati t ends then come and make a thread like this. For now it is just a rumor. Delete it now and if needed recreate when we realy are at the end of the show. Dont believe anything rumor you read on the internet.

None of the other shows had a problem with it, ESPECIALLY when 4kids april moved in for a bit. they looked after her like an adopted sister, and it was cute :).

Nothing creepy at all..so I call bull on that excuse.

I'm not able to rewatch (broken computer and Wii U cannot run Amazon vids) but I remember the excellent first season too. Season 2 became hit and miss, with good episodes like Wrath of Tigerclaw and Lonely Mutation, along with introducing Razhar. However, it was also the season that first emphasized how much they overdo it with the Fred Wolf elements, with an initial cameo by the FW Turtles later followed in the third with introducing B and R, displacing this show's native original mutant duo (who had pretty much degenerated to comic stand ins at this point.) Season Two is the season where characterization started to fall apart, with less development of the villains and overuse of the Kraang.

Season Three had a bad first half. Some of the episodes had good bits in them, but mostly they sucked. I watched all of the way up until Return, but after that, couldn't keep watching. Initially it was because of the bad computer, but by then most of the episodes didn't seem to be all that appealing after I read enough about them. I didn't like April's increasing Mary Suing, Rahzar and Fishface's further degeneration into generic mutant henchmen, Splinter's strange tendency to act like a cartoon rat at times (like being overly fond of cheese and having a giant exercise wheel) when he was originally a serious character who would fight to hold onto his humanity.

Season Four, even though I haven't watched it, I know the space episodes would not have appealed. I liked somewhat the idea of a crossover with the OT, it sort of introduced the idea of each 'universe' having their own 80's and Mirage dimension, which I liked as it minimizes TF's insult. However, this still comes off as relying too much on the OT, since it was pretty much done to appeal to older fans, and ultimately didn't seem to do much for the show thereafter. Now in this season Tigerclaw is in the process of getting nerfed, and April has reached the level of Jean Grey's Phoenix. I don't know if she'll stay that way without the crystal, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I know there is yet one more OT crossover to do, probably the last gasp to draw in fans before this show ends. If this show didn't rely so much on the OT already it would have been cute, but enough's enough already. I hope the next show doesn't do this this degree, even though I like the OT.

Uh, well, looking back at it, season 1 is probably the best season. Just looking over an episode list, I see that it was a lot less "Mutant of the Week" and a lot more of establishing characters and plotlines.

This is probably why I find the show to ultimately be a bit of a disappointment, after season 1 the show just kind of stopped having an organic narrative. After that, most things just started to seem kind of forced.

Nick's Turtles behave like young teenagers and look younger than all other incarnations, so yes an adult April with these Turtles would be weird.

In the original cartoon, 4kids, Mirage, etc....the Turtles all looked and behaved like 20 something year old College students. So April being a 28 year old woman fit better.

I've found that early season 3 is a lot better when watched in one go. The delays we had to suffer through really didn't do that segment any favours first time around.

Yeah, of the Northampton eps the only ones I didn't like was the Bigfoot episode and the one with the Dream Beavers. The car mutant one wasn't that good either.

But all the others were fine. The Creep, April's mother ep, the Punk Frogs, the one with the giant bird, and the final one where they were training in their spirit gear were all good.

Generator Rex had the main character who mostly interacted with adults and no one thought that was weird.

that's apparently the company line that i remember from somewhere way back when the show first started. i think it was in an interview somewhere and it's stuck around ever since despite being ridiculous...

I don't think adult April would fit in this show at all. The teenage aspect of her works perfectly for this show.

Not really, the only thing we got out of it was the crappy love triangle and her dad which the writers only use for angst.

What on earth are you talking about? April has gone on missions with the Turtles, she had an arc with Karai, she grows up alongside them, and she's been developed throughout the show.

Yeah, keep focusing on a few aspects like a love triangle that isn't even played for anything but laughs.

What the hell do you mean "arc with Karai" also she can't go on missions and grow as a person while being an adult because?

There are a lot of things about this show that have changed, and to me, not for the better.

The main one to me being April. When we were first introduced to April, I loved her. Having April be a teenager felt so fresh, new, and breathed a lot of new life into the character. She was an absolute joy to watch with the turtles, but now...not so much. Not at all, actually. I really hate what they've turned her into, trying to make her more interesting by giving her a weird past and superpowers has actually done the opposite for me. To me, she's not even April O' Neil anymore. I don't know what she is anymore, but she really does not feel like the same character anymore. I miss when she was normal, when having her be in an episode was exciting because we'd get to see her with he turtles and have the turtles exposed to more human things, heck, when she wasn't even IN every single episode. I miss that. She went from one of my favorite main characters in this show to one of my least, and it's sad. I want to still like her, but I just can't get behind all of this new stuff they're doing with her.

Karai also, to an extent. Not nearly as bad as what they've done to April, but I hate that they mutated Karai. Actually no, scratch that. I hate that they had Karai still retain her mutant powers even after being cured. Not only does it really not make much sense, but it's just stupid to me. It feels like they didn't know if they wanted her to stay a mutant or stay a human, so they did both. It doesn't pop up that she even is a mutant THAT much, but when she does just randomly turn into her mutated form, it feels shocking and out of place. Again, this is more of a nitpick I guess, but I really just wish they would have gone with one or the other.

Shredder. He seemed extremely threatening and dangerous at first, but now...honestly not so much. Maybe it's just that we see so much of him now compared to what we used to, but I don't know. something just feels off about him now. I remember "The Gauntlet" was the most mind blowing and epic episode to me due to the first fight the turtles had with Shredder, and also the in the Season 1 finale with Splinter and Shredder's first fight, and to me we haven't reached the level of awesomeness again in any fight scene with Shredder since. I don't even really like what they're doing with Super Shredder that much either, to me he should have been saved for one epic "final boss" type of fight so to say, not have an entire arc about him. It's not BAD, just kind of weird to see them stretching it out this far. Also, Super Shredder's design is awful.

I miss the original mutants they made for this show. Remember Snakeweed? SpiderBytez? What happened to them? Remember when everyone thought Dogpound and Fishface would be the new Bebop and Rocksteady? I wanted that, but they replaced them with actual Bebop and Rocksteady and even changed Dogpound completley just to make one reference. To me his original design as Dogpound was actually much more appealing. Fishface is still how he was but we barely see him now anyway due to Shredder having like twenty new recruits for henchmen with each season.

Casey I never really LIKED, but I tolerated him. Now though, whenever he does pop up, it feels more of a like "oh yeah, you exist in this show" kind of thing. They could have done him a lot better or just not have him at all honestly, he really only felt relevant for a very small amount of episodes.

One thing that has been a blessing though, is Splinter and the turtles. They've all remained super likable throughout the entire show, and to me have developed a lot and have become even more interesting with each episode, arc, and season. If anything, I think Mikey does deserve a little more focus/growth in terms of character, but other than that they've been perfect.

As for the show itself:

Season 1 was the greatest.

Season 2 I liked, not as much as Season 1, but I still enjoyed it. I feel like my enjoyment of it had a lot to do with just coming off of the first season though.

Season 3 is when things started to go downhill for me. Did not really enjoy any of the weird farmhouse episodes, and honestly I can't even remember that many of them to begin with. We still got some good stuff after those, but looking at the season as a whole, it's defintley weaker than the first two.

Season 4 has, to me, been the worst season so far. The whole thing with Splinter being "dead" held no emotional impact because 1, they've done it in this show before, and now have even done it again after, and 2, they introduced the whole reset button plot gimmick pretty much as soon as they lose Splinter. The space episodes felt like a complete chore to watch honestly, I really can't say I liked any of them and certainly would not want to rematch any of them anytime soon. Despite all this though, I will say that the stuff we got and are still getting after that whole arc, is pretty good.

I really loved this show a lot in the beginning, and I still am interested to see how they wrap things up, but I don't even know. Something is just missing from it recently, it doesn't have the same charm it used to. After writing all of this I guess I am kind of glad it's ending after Season 5, because god only knows how much more they would have changed had it went on for longer.

I will still continue to watch and support this show until the end, because I am a fan of it, but I do wish some things would have been done differently.

The space arc was fantastic. I rewatched it a few weeks ago, and the eps were quite good. Only ones I didn't care for was the journey inside Mikey's mind, and maybe the Wyrm episode, but all the others were fine.

The one thing I've really grown to dislike is April, she was fine in the beginning but the later seasons when she developed this strange powers and they began to focus more on her putting the turtles in the background well, I started to get more and more annoyed with her character. Sure I hated the love triangle plot but at least she wasn't shoved in our faces and over used powers, I hate her being able to match up against Shredder like that while the turtles are still having a hard time. I preferred 4kids April by along run.

Casey, meh. I could live without him, Nick writers seem confused how to write him. 4kids Casey may not have been the brightest but at least he was funny and helped the turtles, he didn't go ewe and awe sparkles type character this version does.

Shredder I think is too powerful and while I know Spliner and Shredder rivalry should get focus I feel like the turtles don't get better fighting him as seasons go on or that they don't have a reason to get involved, Splinter handles his own and well. 4kida at least gave good reason for the turtles to be involved and improved in fighting skills as fights went on.

^These.
And PApa's right. There was no 'arc' with Karai. April and she have had moments together on the show (mostly being at each others throats though) with "Karai's Vendetta" being the most prominent, but there wasn't anything really resembling an 'arc' involving them.

I agree with the teenager part, it was not an issue for me either. To me, the weird past and powers also were not an issue; how they were developed and utilized was the problem. They were all over the place with her past, her powers, her martial arts skills, her training in both, AND her crystal arc this season and they have not come together satisfactorily (if at all).

This is where I disagree. There was nothing wrong with her mutation in my eyes since it helped provide the excellent "Vengeance is Mine" with an almost Shakespearian kind of tone as well as how her form was useful in rescuing Splinter at the end of Season 2. Not only is she also a mutant now like her family but it also is fitting in terms of her character traits. How they've utilized her mutation this season though is another matter, one in which I can definitely agree with you there.
It would be nice to see her in her snake form help Splinter alongside in a fight against enemies like the Shredder for example, if just to provide a more poetic contrast to Saki's plan in ViM about a mutant snake being the end of a mutant rat.

P.S. By 'cured' I assume you mean the expulsion of the brain worm right? I was wondering what you meant by that seeing as how Karai has never been cured of her mutation.

These last three points I agree with you though the last one about Splinter and the turtles is pretty much a given to me. The reason I say that is because I've always felt that this is a franchise whose success is derived from its protagonists rather than both them and their antagonists. They're always the most developed and have the best dynamic amongst each other. The antagonists are pretty much standard fare. Some of them are creative don't get me wrong, but they're neither well developed nor come close to the iconic status of the heroes.
Back to point, I definitely share your frustration with Casey. It seemed that he definitely had a lot of interesting material to come following his debut episode, though for some reason it never came to fruition. I've never understood why we've never gotten to know his family (they're a huge reason he does what he does after all) being my most prominent. After the last good episode involving him that I recall ("Casey Jones vs the Underworld"), he's basically just a more comedic version of Raphael now.

For the show itself I think it's a toss up b/w Season 1 and 2 as the best. Season 1 had the best overall quality of episodes while Season 2 had some of the best episodes of the entire series to compensate for its not so good ones. Season 3 was somewhere between good and mediocre with two of the best episodes of the series ("Tale of the Yokai" and "Annihilation: Earth!") to fall back on. Season 4, other than a few bright spots; I agree with quite a few others here, has been a real mess. I'd definitely like to marathon this series at some point though I just can't bring myself to it since we don't really know when Season 5 will kick off, let alone the last four episodes of this one!

I don't know why, I felt like Season 4 was the most impressive since Season 1.

It felt like it finally got it's act together. and had a cohesive story line with a start and a finish.

one reason why i feel like now is a time to rewatch this series, is because we know season 5 is the last. and mostly because i've only seen all but three of these episodes ONCE in this series. that's never happened before in a turtles series with me.

So far.. i'm up to episode 14, and it's amazing how different and fun the seriesin season 1 is compared to later season 2 or 3 episodes which felt like so much of a chore, some i didn't finish watching until two weeks later..

Season 2 and Season 3 after the Northampton arc had tons of great episodes. Season 4 has been fantastic in both the space arc and the NY episodes.

Man. I can't believe how similar my opinion is to yours. Nice post. If we could +1 posts then there's one from me.

Agreed above that Season 2 had an abundance of great episodes and, from Vision Quest onward, Season 3 had some gems as well. Can't say the same for the space arc, partially due to how long it was drawn out, partially due to episodes being so boring/humorless/lame they practically blend together. The one time this series there wasn't character oozing out of the, y'know, characters for me was definitely the space arc.

I mean, going through the episode list, there are about 5 episodes from the space arc that I would watch again. And only 3 of those 5 that I actually remember enjoying.

3. Out of 15.

Now, that is purely subjective and really just me, but man episodes like The Moons of Thalos 3, The War for Dimension X, Earth's Last Stand and The Evil of Dregg just outline some of the worst of the series, and episodes of the arc tended to lean more toward the latter extreme than the former.

But, credit should be given where credit is due, and after Broken Foot, the show really has pulled itself back together. I really hope Season 5 can at least be as good as Season 2 was. Wishful thinking, I know, but in a perfect world, all the seasons would've been as good as Season 1.

You're right that's just you, because I enjoyed nearly all of the space episodes. War of Dimension X especially was great, although I do agree The Evil of Dregg was lackluster.

Nah, I'm not interested in rewatching the Nick series. It hasn't entertained me nearly enough to rewatch it. The original cartoon or the 4Kids series on the other hand, I'm always up for rewatching.

Rewatching in chronological order is always enjoyable

I'm probably in the minority when I say this, but I miss the stealthy take down attacks and staying in the shadows. They are ninjas in name only and the latest episodes haven't done anything except for running straight at the enemy.

Nope, it's not just you. I found those episodes to be total garbage and pretty unbearable.

I also sort of missed the sense of pragmatism the Hamato Clan had, it made them feel like legit ninjas in a way.

Even the "Dark April"