Why do people obsess over "Same As It Never Was"?!

[Jephael]

I swear I've seen this story used time in time again in fan comics, artwork and videos! Sometimes people will take it in a more creative direction, like imagining what an older version of Donatello might look like in that scenario or something, but most of the time it's just a blatant rehashing of the scene where Mikey, Leo and Raph all get killed.

[Davetello]

Probably because people have a liking for more dark and gritty storytelling, as well as time travel or alternate dystopian futures. A large part might be how the latter factor is similar in theme to the Days of Future Past comics, which are very popular.

Personally I really enjoyed SAINW. I thought it was a fantastic episode and my only gripe is that it wasn't a double or triple parter. I liked the time travel episodes in FW as well.

[CyberCubed]

Because it was a great episode? Its pretty obvious the most talked about episodes of ANY series tend to be the best written ones.

[TheBlueTurtle1]

It was awesome, thats why.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Because it's one of the best 2k3 episodes, and one of the best episodes in TMNT Episode history IMO

[Xiewin]

For me it's mostly due to the emotional aspects of the episode.

[DarkLightDragon]

Like most have said already, it was a dark and emotional episode as well as demonstrating how 2k3 could really push boundaries of what is deemed acceptable in a "kid's show." It's not common practice to have all or most of your protagonists get killed off for good, regardless of it being 'just a possible future' or not.

Plus, it was only place that wasn't in another dimension that the other Turtles went to.

Mikey- Super Turtles
Raph- Planet Racers
Leo- Usagi's world
Don- A potential future where Shredder rules a dictatorial regime.

*One of these things was not like the others*
*One of these things just takes you off guard*

[Rooish]

I think people love it because the older Turtles were so badass boss awesome, and because it was dark. Its script is pretty cheesy and unoriginal though.

[snake]

It was a dark and well written episode.

[Refractive Reflections]

As most have said, it's one of the most prominent dark episodes where in this alternate reality there IS no happy ending. It's a bleak, pessimistic future, especially at the end of the episode with Mikey, Raph, and Leo dying. It of course has deeper themes of tragedy and despondency, which is not expected for most "kids" cartoons or with TMNT cartoons in general.

As for why it's used in so many fan works, I think it's used as a starting point for gloomy TMNT fanworks and used as a cathartic, creative outlet of sorts.

[Shark_Blade]

I love seeing the gloomy future and the turtles getting killed. I'm sure many others share my dark fascination as well.

This is no different than the stories of where Superman got killed, Robin's death, Batman's murder, etc. We like to see closure of our favorite fictional characters.

Originally Posted by Rooish

I think people love it because the older Turtles were so badass boss awesome, and because it was dark. Its script is pretty cheesy and unoriginal though.

I think their design looks awful and they kinda look fat, but it's a terrible future so I just take as it is. Still a treat to see them die.

[tmntpower1988]

I'd actually like to see a similar episode in the Nick series where the turtles, Casey and Splinter die.

[neatoman]

It's an interesting episode to be sure, it gives us a look into how the world would be if the Shredder really took over the world. I know the FW cartoon did an episode like that but it was played for laughs, this is sort of the "real" Shredder controls the world episode, his government is opressive, he has enslaved two planets, he will go on to conquer the universe, Splinter and Casey are dead, the turtles have changed for the worse and there's a lot of sacrifice. Yes technically none of it happened in the real timeline but the story is still good, and gives us some insight on what a threat the Shredder really is.

As for the fan fiction? I avoid fanfics since I've never seen a fanfic that's better than mediocre, but I do see traces of this episode in TiT #4.
Still, TiT #4 is very different:

Only Donnie is left of the turtles (the opposite of this episode)
The world is split between Shredder, Krang and maybe Stockman
North America is full of mutants who seem to live in relative peace

[Netkeeper]

Because it's the best episode.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by Netkeeper

Because it's the best episode.

I don't think so. I think Tales of Leo is the best. When something happens to actually make Raph cry, speechless. That whole scene of him going to the window and just looking out, one of the best scenes ever for TMNT. I could actually feel his pain at worrying what is going to happen to his brother.

[Netkeeper]

Nah. It's the best episode.

[shuriken]

^^ Best? Probably Return to New York part 3. SAINW was just a solid episode. I wouldn't say people obsess over it but would be fantastic to see and explore how the turtles got to the point where they don't communicate or interact with each other, and how far-gone things have become with Shredder ruling the world.

[Netkeeper]

Nah. SAINW was the best episode.

[pennydreadful]

There's actually a lot of people who would like to have seen either more SAINW episodes, or even a spinoff arc which showed a bit more of that world.

Myself, I agree that SAINW is a really tight, well-written, dark episode - I rarely watch it or even look at fanart from it because it's too dark for me to handle most of the time; I just get way too mopey afterwards. Yeah, I get emotional over cartoon characters I love being hurt and killed - sue me.

[PangolinFeets]

Originally Posted by pennydreadful

There's actually a lot of people who would like to have seen either more SAINW episodes, or even a spinoff arc which showed a bit more of that world.

Myself, I agree that SAINW is a really tight, well-written, dark episode - I rarely watch it or even look at fanart from it because it's too dark for me to handle most of the time; I just get way too mopey afterwards. Yeah, I get emotional over cartoon characters I love being hurt and killed - sue me.

I was never a big fan of the 4kids show, but I went back and watched it after it was hyped as being the best episode ever ever ever and it fell short for me. I mean, its dark and its interesting to see what happens in that potential future of that universe, but I guess I need to be more invested in the 4kids version for it to be truly impact-ful.

I feel like if there were more episodes or if it was a mini series in its own right that explained and fleshed out everything that was happening, I might have been more into it.