The episode idea thread (Turtle Torture Edition)

[Tarris Vaal]

Really must catch up on Berserk's revamp at some point...


Anyway - we were discussing the idea of a 'human Turtles' ep a while ago, there was even a dedicated thread for it. Generally mixed feelings from the community, but some very good ideas of how it could be done. I forget whose idea it was - certainly not mine - but someone came up with the idea of it being a 'dream' scenario whereby Rat King was manipulating Donatello and Donnie was seeing everyone he knew as normal humans in this 'perfect high school scenario'. I thought that was a genuinely very clever idea.


And as for Raph becoming the new Shredder I would love to see something move towards doing that. I know I was probably one of the worst for hoping Dark Raph would be an arc and not an episode fragment, but I would still love to see the show revisit that idea - I still think it would have worked best if he had chosen to become like that himself without mind control - even if some coercion or manipulation had been involved.

[GiveMeBackMyRaphXLeo]

Pttf it d make more sense if splinter is the new shredder

[Mew]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

Anyway - we were discussing the idea of a 'human Turtles' ep a while ago, there was even a dedicated thread for it. Generally mixed feelings from the community, but some very good ideas of how it could be done. I forget whose idea it was - certainly not mine - but someone came up with the idea of it being a 'dream' scenario whereby Rat King was manipulating Donatello and Donnie was seeing everyone he knew as normal humans in this 'perfect high school scenario'. I thought that was a genuinely very clever idea.

I would watch that! Although I would only want it to be one episode, since we have already had a dream scenario with the Dream Beavers. It would be a fun one-off episode, and another appearance of the Rat King. But, I would want him to go into everybody's minds, instead of just Don's, and then at the end maybe have them all meet up and discuss their weird, shared dream in an awesome conclusion.

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

And as for Raph becoming the new Shredder I would love to see something move towards doing that. I know I was probably one of the worst for hoping Dark Raph would be an arc and not an episode fragment, but I would still love to see the show revisit that idea - I still think it would have worked best if he had chosen to become like that himself without mind control - even if some coercion or manipulation had been involved.

I would like to see that. I think it could be very well done. The writers on the Nick show are very good, and I think they could handle an arc like this. But, this raises a couple questions for me:
1. Will Raphael stay like this forever? I doubt he would just turn on Splinter...but he is quite rebellious, so I don't know. I think Shredder would definitely have to manipulate Raphael a bit, or maybe it will be like the Image comics..
2. What will he do to his brothers and Splinter? Will he completely reject them, taking over New York first, or rage a war against them in an awesome arc?

Anyway, for me, I would like to see an arc based on the Image comics, where Donatello is part cyborg, Raph dawning the Shredder name, Leo having a cybernetic hand ect. Who else would like to see this? Hope I'm not the only one!

[Tarris Vaal]

1. Will Raphael stay like this forever? I doubt he would just turn on Splinter...but he is quite rebellious, so I don't know. I think Shredder would definitely have to manipulate Raphael a bit, or maybe it will be like the Image comics..

We were discussing these ideas before as part of the Dark Raph arc discussions. I quite like the idea that Raph goes too far with something whilst working alongside the Turtles - such as his rage getting the better of him in a fight and he actually kills Fishface or Rahzar instead of merely defeating them.
He then becomes so ashamed that he leaves the others, unable to face them for what he has done. That's when Shredder offers to take him in, train him and starts manipulating his perceptions of what happened to turn him against his brothers.

I quite like the idea that even after the arcs conclusion and that Raph manages to forgive himself, realises he's been manipulated and rejoin his brothers, that he still doesn't actually return to being part of the group for a while. I think it would be cool to have him leave and become a lone vigilante - especially if other members of the group are also splitting off (say Leo to train, Mikey to find Renet, Don to leave to join a research group finding a cure for something). It'd be nice to really have a strong focused episode for each turtle following an arc like that.

Anyway, for me, I would like to see an arc based on the Image comics, where Donatello is part cyborg, Raph dawning the Shredder name, Leo having a cybernetic hand ect. Who else would like to see this? Hope I'm not the only one

I'm not a great fan of a cyborg Donnie, though I could well imagine him ending up with a cybernetic hand (in similar vein to Star wars). I'd be very impressed if Raph doesn't end up with an eyepatch at some point, or Leo spends at least 1 episode blind (alongside some heavy foreshadowing)

[Mew]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

We were discussing these ideas before as part of the Dark Raph arc discussions. I quite like the idea that Raph goes too far with something whilst working alongside the Turtles - such as his rage getting the better of him in a fight and he actually kills Fishface or Rahzar instead of merely defeating them.
He then becomes so ashamed that he leaves the others, unable to face them for what he has done. That's when Shredder offers to take him in, train him and starts manipulating his perceptions of what happened to turn him against his brothers.

I quite like the idea that even after the arcs conclusion and that Raph manages to forgive himself, realises he's been manipulated and rejoin his brothers, that he still doesn't actually return to being part of the group for a while. I think it would be cool to have him leave and become a lone vigilante - especially if other members of the group are also splitting off (say Leo to train, Mikey to find Renet, Don to leave to join a research group finding a cure for something). It'd be nice to really have a strong focused episode for each turtle following an arc like that.

I agree. Maybe we would see Raphael being the Nightwatcher like in the 2007 movie. That's what I loved about that movie. Their jobs made sense, because of their character. Maybe April and Casey will grow up a bit...

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

I'm not a great fan of a cyborg Donnie, though I could well imagine him ending up with a cybernetic hand (in similar vein to Star wars). I'd be very impressed if Raph doesn't end up with an eyepatch at some point, or Leo spends at least 1 episode blind (alongside some heavy foreshadowing)

Yeah, going full-out Image wouldn't fit the tone of the Nick show.

[victory_angel]

Anyone think that Donnie's video game character getting decapitated foreshadows that something might happen to him in the next episode.

We know Karai is being brainwashed by the Shredder and in the Preview we see her in her human form. So perhaps the Shredder is able to force her to remember she was human,as her inability to return to her human form is because her mutation was consuming her so she had probably forgotten what her human form looked like.

In the preview she attacks and poison's Casey as a means of bating out the turtles. There is only a moment with Raph and Mikey with Casey and only one small moment with Leo.

In the past three episodes, Donnie has been pushed into the background giving his brothers more room to shine is a good thing. But this is also done when something major is going to happen to a character.

So with Casey attacked that would affect the triangle. April's reaction to Casey getting poisoned gets Donnie to believe she has made her choice with them. He doesn't like it but he can't interfere with it.

However later at the climax of the episode. Karai has a moment where she is about to poison April, and Donnie pushes her out of the way only to be poisoned himself, and that where April reveals her true feelings for Donnie.

[Tarris Vaal]

Well Karai does seem to have something against April whilst working with Shredder - maybe that feeling re emerges. It should be an interesting episode regardless.

I'm actually hoping they reveal the worms were a test run for the serum and that Baxter has been looking for a more reliable means of administering it (spray or even using Karai's own poison to administer it?)

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

Well Karai does seem to have something against April whilst working with Shredder - maybe that feeling re emerges. It should be an interesting episode regardless.

I'm actually hoping they reveal the worms were a test run for the serum and that Baxter has been looking for a more reliable means of administering it (spray or even using Karai's own poison to administer it?)

If anything it would get the love triangle moving towards a conclusion rather then have it being stuck in a stalemate where April has feelings for both guys but ultimately hasn't really picked a suitor. I mean yeah we have seen signs she's leaning in Donnie's direction with the "Your my mutant" thing. But ultimately it hasn't gone anywhere.

And Karai does hate April because she is jealous of her or at least that was part of the reason behind it. After all Karai has been taught her whole life that respect must be earned through fear and intimidation. And then she encounters April who is a seemingly insignificant girl, who is somehow wanted by a race of aliens, and is able to get love and respect by four mutant turtles and their master just by being their friend. And then later it was more like she wanted to kill April so they would understand the feeling of losing someone they loved like she lost her mother. But at the same time she also wanted to spread discord among the Turtle's unity, with April's demise. After all if she didn't suspect that one of the Turtles (i.e. Donnie) had feelings for April before. She was likely thinking it after the events of "Target April O'Neil." As she does say "I was expecting all the Turtles to show up." And Donnie was all set to kill Karai if it had come to that. If he hadn't gone to rescue April, Donnie certainly would have been mad at his brothers for not allowing him to go to help when she needed it. Or at the very least mad at himself for not going to save her.

Also in Wrath of Tiger Claw, Karai influences April into believing that she really does suspect that the Shredder is lying to her about being her father. And when April says "I believe Splinter and her" Donnie says "I believe...April" because she was the only one who was really saying the truth here.

Much like Raph, Donnie has no real reason to accept Karai as one of them aside from the fact she's Splinter's daughter and Leo has a thing for her. And I believe that's why Donnie was defending her to Raph in that episode because he wants to believe Leo is right about her...that she is good. Mikey wants to trust her because she is technically their sister so he's more or less pro-neutral. However Donnie doesn't trust her, so he keeps leans towards the opinions of people he does trust such as Leo...but even then there is a point where he can no longer play a neutral role. And I think this is that point where he is sure that Leo is fooling himself into believing that Karai is salvageable. Raph is more likely to say it to Leo's face...but Donnie would put his life on the line to prove a point. Especially when the lives of his kith and kin are involved. So if Karai to bite or poison April...or Leo...it is likely to be Donnie who gets it. After all we still have that unresolved dispute that's up in the air.

So if it's April who is attacked, it would be the push April to indicate which boy she truly loves.

If it's Leo however...it might give him a taste of what his brothers went through (particularly Donnie) when he was in a coma.

[neatoman]

A scientist kidnaps a mutant (I suggest Mondo Gecko), the Turtles bust in and demand he'll release the mutant, his response is "Yeah sure, take him. If you can stitch him back together that is" and we cut to a shot of the mutant's organs bottled up individually.

[Tarris Vaal]

Well we've 8 episodes to go so not much room left to set up and conclude a season climax.

I think Don being injured or poisoned trying to defend April, Leo or even Splinter would be interesting - though I wonder if it should go further;

There's still the mind control thread to tie up, so I'm hoping Baxter manages to modify the serum based on initial tests. The worms were impractical on a large scale, so they have now two versions - one based on the cheesy puffs made in Hun's factory, and another more potent one to administer it as part of Karai's venom.
Hun is put in charge of distributing the tainted cheesy puffs across the city. In the meantime, with Karai firmly back under control, he uses her to attack the turtles, hoping to distract them long enough to keep them away from disrupting his plan.

In the meantime, Don is nearly done on a retromutagen variant that should work on Karai, but its not finished and Raph has discovered that Shredder's goons are up to something..

The Turtles are ambushed by Karai whilst trying to track down some other of Shredder's goons. Raph is bitten but appears ok. Leo tries and fails to get through to Karai, realising she must have been mind controlled.

Karai disappears and the Turtles split up to try and find her. Mikey, Casey and Leo go one way, while Raph, Don and April go the other.

Mikey, Casey and Leo bump into the Mutanimals who are also trying to track Shredder's goons. Rockwell, Slash and Pete go with Leo's group and find Karai first. Leo tries again to talk sense into her - trying to goad her the same way as he did Raph. It doesn't seem to work. Rockwell determines she is much more powerfully controlled. Karai spits at Pete and hits him with the venom. Pete almost immediately becomes mind controlled and starts attacking Mikey. Mikey realises that Karai's venom is causing mind control, making the fight with her that much more dangerous.

Karai withdraws again, Pete is subdued and Leo realises in horror that Raph was bitten earlier. Casey immediately rushes off to try and get to them.

Meanwhile, Don and April are talking trying about where to look next as Raph seems to be itching at the bite wound and getting increasingly impatient and irritable. As Don and April are talking, Raph suddenly attacks, overpowering Don and pushing him back. Don tries to ask him what's wrong, but Raph isn't responding. April tries to intervene and realises that his mind is completely clouded with rage and that Raph is trying to fight the control off.
She calls out to him to try and encourage and help him fight it but it backfires when it draws his attention to her.

He turns and flings a sai at her. Don leaps to her defence and throws himself in its path, taking the hit. He staggers but doesn't fall and desperately tries to defend her as Raph shoves her out of the way. Don can't hope to defeat Raph in his wounded state and does his best to buy time for April to escape.

April pulls back as Donnie asks. Casey arrives first but some foot soldiers and some of Shredder's goons (Hun?) have arrived to slow him down. Mikey and Leo arrive too late and watch as Raph escapes. They don't find Donatello, but find his mask and a broken bo staff.



I think that would set up nicely for Donatello's capture, forcing Mikey to step up to finish the retromutagen. Leo to confront Karai, Casey to be more heroic, Raph to return to the dark side, April to be separated from Don and vaguely explaining how the serum plan is going to work.

Hope that makes some sense anyway

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

Well we've 8 episodes to go so not much room left to set up and conclude a season climax.

I think Don being injured or poisoned trying to defend April, Leo or even Splinter would be interesting - though I wonder if it should go further;

There's still the mind control thread to tie up, so I'm hoping Baxter manages to modify the serum based on initial tests. The worms were impractical on a large scale, so they have now two versions - one based on the cheesy puffs made in Hun's factory, and another more potent one to administer it as part of Karai's venom.
Hun is put in charge of distributing the tainted cheesy puffs across the city. In the meantime, with Karai firmly back under control, he uses her to attack the turtles, hoping to distract them long enough to keep them away from disrupting his plan.

In the meantime, Don is nearly done on a retromutagen variant that should work on Karai, but its not finished and Raph has discovered that Shredder's goons are up to something..

The Turtles are ambushed by Karai whilst trying to track down some other of Shredder's goons. Raph is bitten but appears ok. Leo tries and fails to get through to Karai, realising she must have been mind controlled.

Karai disappears and the Turtles split up to try and find her. Mikey, Casey and Leo go one way, while Raph, Don and April go the other.

Mikey, Casey and Leo bump into the Mutanimals who are also trying to track Shredder's goons. Rockwell, Slash and Pete go with Leo's group and find Karai first. Leo tries again to talk sense into her - trying to goad her the same way as he did Raph. It doesn't seem to work. Rockwell determines she is much more powerfully controlled. Karai spits at Pete and hits him with the venom. Pete almost immediately becomes mind controlled and starts attacking Mikey. Mikey realises that Karai's venom is causing mind control, making the fight with her that much more dangerous.

Karai withdraws again, Pete is subdued and Leo realises in horror that Raph was bitten earlier. Casey immediately rushes off to try and get to them.

Meanwhile, Don and April are talking trying about where to look next as Raph seems to be itching at the bite wound and getting increasingly impatient and irritable. As Don and April are talking, Raph suddenly attacks, overpowering Don and pushing him back. Don tries to ask him what's wrong, but Raph isn't responding. April tries to intervene and realises that his mind is completely clouded with rage and that Raph is trying to fight the control off.
She calls out to him to try and encourage and help him fight it but it backfires when it draws his attention to her.

He turns and flings a sai at her. Don leaps to her defence and throws himself in its path, taking the hit. He staggers but doesn't fall and desperately tries to defend her as Raph shoves her out of the way. Don can't hope to defeat Raph in his wounded state and does his best to buy time for April to escape.

April pulls back as Donnie asks. Casey arrives first but some foot soldiers and some of Shredder's goons (Hun?) have arrived to slow him down. Mikey and Leo arrive too late and watch as Raph escapes. They don't find Donatello, but find his mask and a broken bo staff.



I think that would set up nicely for Donatello's capture, forcing Mikey to step up to finish the retromutagen. Leo to confront Karai, Casey to be more heroic, Raph to return to the dark side, April to be separated from Don and vaguely explaining how the serum plan is going to work.

Hope that makes some sense anyway

The cheese balls don't have much involvement in the story, that was just the means to connect the turtles to the plot.

For example there are companies that have markets and connections to other products such as Frito-Lays, Nestle, and General Mills being subsidiary companies of Pepsi Co. So they are essentially saying Auman Chemicals also makes cheese puffs as a sub-product to their product line. (Possibly because of all the chemicals and preservatives and stuff that are used in it) Think of it as Bayer Aspirin having a subdivision that produces popcorn.

It's possible they didn't know about the cheese powder chemical, as none of the Shredder's goons realized what Donnie was trying to do until it became vary obvious he was intending to contaminate the chemical vats.
So it could be possible the cheese puffs could be a means of distributing the serum to the general public and mutants alike. The same would be true about putting it in the city's water supply.

However we do have at lease four more episodes involving the farm house this season as it is confirmed that we have 13 episodes using the farm house and we've only had about 9 so far. One episode would likely be the finally as that is a second base for the Turtles and they would normally use it a place to rest and recover from intense battles. So after defeating the Shredder they are likely to be cooling their heels at the farmhouse as an actual vacation while the city is recovering itself. But that still leaves three episodes unaccounted for.

Unlike the beginning of the season they can't hang out at the farmhouse until whenever this time, and they can't go there for some random reason. So a good plausibility is if someone got seriously hurt.

Karai's involvement in the "Deadly Venom" feels more as a means of distracting and eliminating the turtles and co while the Shredder carry's out the rest of his plan to control the city.

Since she knows where the Turtles live, they would be sitting ducks down there. And if one of them is sick and injured the Shredder is not going to give them the time to recover. So that would be the excuse for the Turtles to return to the farmhouse, regroup and return.

One episode could be a flashback the off screen moments from the beginning of the season. (That could easily be just a triggered memory or conversation that was a moment off screen. Such as maybe whatever Donnie and Leo may have talked about when Donnie was saving Raph's life.)

One would likely be a flashback episode so maybe a Tales of Leo plot involving Donnie or whoever.

A tales of Leo plot is reference to the 2k3 episode of that title. In the episode the Turtles had just arrived at the farmhouse for the first time with a brutally injured Leonardo. Splinter tells them that there is a belief that the voices of loved ones can bring back a person from the brink of death. So all the Turtles, first Donnie-Memory of a time Leo saved his life when they were kids.
then Mikey-Memory of trying to break Leo's concentration.
Then Raph- Memory of Leo demonstrating a leaders wisdom (Raph also yells at Leo about not wanting to wake up because he's too scared.)
Splinter then gives a memory of Leo concurring his fear of heights.
Leo wakes up and everyone rejoices.
Mikey: We thought you were gone, dude.
Leo: I was gone....but you guys brought me back. (Goes back to sleep again)


So if a Tales of Donnie plot happened-I can see this
Mikey would be the first because he's the one who likes to try things first.
Leo would be next thinking it's worth a shot.
Raph would be reluctant thinking the whole thing is stupid.
Splinter would offer a memory instead.
April maybe offers the memory of when Donnie risked his own life to save her in rise of the turtles. (if there's time)
Raph insists he doesn't have any memories to share. Leo however called Raph on his BS and says he does have a memory, but it's of an event he has never forgiven Donnie for. Raph then tells about the day he got that crack in his shell.

And then last episode could be everyone preparing to return to New York when they encounter Renet and get sent on the adventure against Savantei Ramero. Then after that they are returning to the city to end Shredder once and for all.

[Haalix]

Wouldn't it be twisted if Hamato Yoshi (like the past one before he became Splinter) hurt one of the turtles, thinking they are the enemy?

[Jephael]

Originally Posted by Haalix

Wouldn't it be twisted if Hamato Yoshi (like the past one before he became Splinter) hurt one of the turtles, thinking they are the enemy?

Um that's already happened. Remember the Rat King episodes?

[Haalix]

Originally Posted by Jephael

Um that's already happened. Remember the Rat King episodes?

I mean like really hurt, and it isn't even their father.. but in a way he is. Can you imagine what it would be like if he were to attack them because they were 'freaks'?
They are called freak a lot, but never by their own father.

[victory_angel]

April and Casey are walking home. While the two of them are walking, Casey comments about that Retromutagen thing Donnie believes would work on Karai.
April says that she would be happy when this whole Karai thing is over.

Karai in the mean time is listening and reports to the Shredder that Donatello has created a retromutagen he believes would cure her mutation. Tiger Claw offers to retrieve the Retromutagen from the Turtle. The other Foot Mutants want to go retrieve it

Shredder however says no. The Retromutagen is too much of a threat...it should be destroyed and the Turtle who created it along with it.

Karai comments that Donatello is the weakest and most pathetic of the Turtles. It won't require much effort to take him out, however he needs to be away from his brother first. She has a plan for that however but she would need Razar and Steranko for the task.

April is headed towards the lair on her own when she senses someone is following her. She suddenly finds herself face to face with Rocksteady, she gets away from him only to narrowly avoid Razar. She is cornered by Karai. April attempts to use her mind powers to try and force Karai to see that the enemy is Shredder, but she is knocked out.

In the lair Donnie receives a call from April. Only to learn it's Karai that calling. She tells him that She has April and even allows April to scream "Donnie it's a trap." to prove it. Karai then tells Donnie to come alone and bring the retromutagen with him, or else his girl friend would pay the price. Donnie is torn but grabs the retromutagen and leaves. Casey spots him and follows a bit, but gets the feeling that somethings not right about this. He contacts Raph about it, Leo checks the lab and finds a note from Donnie saying that Karai had April and would kill her if he didn't go alone.

[Tarris Vaal]

That scenario could easily work at this stage I'd like to think that there would be something worked around it -

Maybe something like Kirby thanking Donatello for keeping her safe and then guilt tripping him for the danger she's been in - 'I know I've been a bit over bearing recently, but you've been a good friend to her. Thank you. But you have got to let her go. She's not safe with you.'

Something like that anyway, just enough to put more emotional weight on Donnie and make him more defiant to prove he can protect her/save her.

I'd also like it if either Raph or Mikey figured out what he was about to do (walk in on him ruining the research in his lab for instance) and figuring out that something is up. Leo would never let him go alone, and Donnie has gone off on a solo mission before. It'd be nice for one of the others to step up and decide to secretly support him - Either Raph as the big brother supporting his geeky brother's crush or Mikey stubbornly refusing not to offer some help.

It'd neednt effect the outcome much but imagine the ambush goes as Karai plans, Mikey/Raph (delete as appropriate) intervenes and between Donnie and him get April mostly from danger. However it ends with Donnie having to stay behind to keep the exit open or unable to escape due to injury. Raph/Mikey get April out as Donnie sacrifices his chance to escape.

Donnie is now captured, but April is at least safe and it means that one of the other Turtles is aware of what's happened - setting up nicely for the next episode.

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

That scenario could easily work at this stage I'd like to think that there would be something worked around it -

Maybe something like Kirby thanking Donatello for keeping her safe and then guilt tripping him for the danger she's been in - 'I know I've been a bit over bearing recently, but you've been a good friend to her. Thank you. But you have got to let her go. She's not safe with you.'

Something like that anyway, just enough to put more emotional weight on Donnie and make him more defiant to prove he can protect her/save her.

I'd also like it if either Raph or Mikey figured out what he was about to do (walk in on him ruining the research in his lab for instance) and figuring out that something is up. Leo would never let him go alone, and Donnie has gone off on a solo mission before. It'd be nice for one of the others to step up and decide to secretly support him - Either Raph as the big brother supporting his geeky brother's crush or Mikey stubbornly refusing not to offer some help.

It'd neednt effect the outcome much but imagine the ambush goes as Karai plans, Mikey/Raph (delete as appropriate) intervenes and between Donnie and him get April mostly from danger. However it ends with Donnie having to stay behind to keep the exit open or unable to escape due to injury. Raph/Mikey get April out as Donnie sacrifices his chance to escape.

Donnie is now captured, but April is at least safe and it means that one of the other Turtles is aware of what's happened - setting up nicely for the next episode.

I was thinking about my previous scenario. And Casey seeing Donnie and realizing something isn't right might not have been the good idea. As you pointed out Leo wouldn't have let Donnie go alone. However Leo does have an uncanny knack of sensing when something is wrong. (such as when he wakes up not long after Donnie leaves in Operation: Break out)

So maybe April is ambushed walking home, Donnie receives a call telling him to come alone and bring the retromutagen with him or else. Donnie knows he should inform his brothers about this, but Leo wouldn't let him go into this situation alone. So instead he leaves a note saying what has happened and where he has gone.

Kirby arrives at the lair and asks of April is still there. Leo tells him she left their lair over an hour ago. Kirby tells him that April never arrived home and all calls go to voice mail. Leo gets a bad feeling and goes to the lab and finds the note Donnie left.

He goes tells the others, Kirby gets upset and says that he knew allowing April to continue to visit them would be trouble. Splinter calms him down and reassures him that she will be alright. Raph contacts Casey and tells him where to meet them. Splinter also joins in, Kirby insists on going as well.

On the trip Raph grumbles about what Donnie was even thinking about going to face Karai on his own. And maybe makes a gripe that Donnie isn't effective in battle and has no chance against someone of Karai's caliber.

Leo however says "No...it's not that he's a weaker fighter...he's a different kind of fighter." He has a few glimpses of watching Donnie training in the dojo when they were kids. Splinter smiles slightly at Leo about this insight, but Raph just feels this proves his point.

April in the mean time tries to reason with Karai and that she shouldn't do this and that Donnie created the retromutagen in order to help her. Karai just scoffs and says she didn't ask for his help nor does she want it. All she wants is to end the Turtles lives because her father wants them gone.
April once again tells Karai she is making a big mistake and that the Shredder is the true enemy. Karai however says, maybe I should kill you in front of Donatello first, it would be a pleasure to see his heart being crushed as he watches you breath your last.

April then uses her mind powers on Karai forcing her suppressed memories of the image of Splinter and her mother holding her as a baby, images of having the Turtles as friends. However Karai breaks free of April's mind abilities but the impact still leaves Karai confused.

Donnie shows up and demands that April be released. Karai coyly asks "And let her miss all the fun of watching your life come to an end?" She then has Rahzar and Rocksteady attack Donnie for a while before she jumps in herself. And while she fights she taunts Donnie about being a weak fighter...how if he was part of the Foot Clan the Shredder would have executed him long ago. And that his hopes that April would ever love him were pathetic. In the onslaught Donnie is over powered and seriously injured, Karai takes the retromutagen and destroys it so it can't be used on her or anyone else. She then tells the two mutants to take their time with him, as his brothers would doubtlessly be arriving soon only to find they are all too late. However when she turns away from them a tear is shown sliding down her face and she feels a pain in her chest as though something inside of her knows this is wrong.

The other Turtles, Casey and Splinter arrive and rescue Donnie. Kirby in the mean time unties April and tells her they are getting out of there. April however says "No! I need to help my friends!" He gets agitated and says that this is no place for his precious baby girl. April however says "I'm not a little girl any more...I'm a Kunoichi." Pulling out her fan she rushes into the fight. The Foot clan retreats and Karai tells them that things aren't over.

Mikey comments that Donnie doesn't look too good. All the others agree that things look really bad, April is in tears as she sits by him and checks his pulse. She comments that he his heart is barely beating. Casey asks Leo and Splinter could do that healing hands thing that saved them when they were all poisoned. Splinter says it can slow down the poison that is in his blood stream, but his physical injuries are also serious and could limit how effective the healing hands could be.

April insists that they have to do something...they can't sit and watch him die. She's experienced that once to feel him essentially die in her arms and she didn't want to feel that again.

The turtles gather Donnie up and move to the party wagon, Kirby on the other hand tells them all to do whatever they need to do. As everyone drives off we see Kirby's hand clinch into an angry fist.

In side both Splinter and Leo are sitting over Donnie's body and performing the healing hands which appears to work for now. During the trip, Mikey points out that Karai knows how to get to the lair. This causes Raph to stop the van because he knows that Karai could simply attack them all in their sleep any time she wishes. They all agree there is only once place they can honestly go and as much as they loath the idea of abandoning the city to the Shredder, they would return and take it back. They only risk returning to the lair to get some provisions (and Ice Cream Kitty)

After the Turtles, Karai arrives to destroy the lair. At some point she comes across the photo of Hamato Yoshi with her as a baby which helps bring back some of her memories. She secretly slips the photo under her armor.

Rocksteady comes in and says they founds something she should see in the Turtles Lab. She goes to Donnie's lab and smirks when she sees mutagen man.

[Tarris Vaal]

I'm really intrigued to know how they are going to deal with the Lair thing. You're absolutely right that Karai would be able to lead the Foot straight to it. Its got to happen eventually and you're probably spot on that she'd pick up the photo as a nod to her starting to break free.

"I'm not a little girl any more...I'm a Kunoichi."

I'd pay good money to see a scene like that

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Tarris Vaal

I'm really intrigued to know how they are going to deal with the Lair thing. You're absolutely right that Karai would be able to lead the Foot straight to it. Its got to happen eventually and you're probably spot on that she'd pick up the photo as a nod to her starting to break free.

Well we do have four more episodes of the Turtles at the farm house. So they are going to need the reason to go there. A wounded brother one reason, as they know said brother is going to need time to recover from his injuries and that is time the Shredder is not going to let them have.

So the only option is to evacuate the lair. After all the lair is merely where they live, but home is where they all are.

The turtles arrive at the farm house and settle Donnie on the couch. Leo and Splinter have helped drain the poison from his system but it is too soon to tell if he would recover.

Raph is upset and starts saying Donnie had no business in going against Karai on his own and other things. April gets fed up with it, but before she can do or say anything. Mikey snaps and tells Raph that he has no right to judge Donnie for what happened. He did what any of them would have done in that situation and all he was doing was saving the girl he loved. That shouldn't be something that is he should be criticized for. If anyone is to blame it would be the Shredder and he would get whats coming to him.

Later on Mikey is shown talking to Donnie while Splinter is meditating. Raph and Leo are venting frustration by sparing in the yard. April checks in on Donnie and notices Donnie is reacting to what Mikey is saying. Splinter comes out of his meditation and checks. He then says there is an ancient belief that those even on the brink of death can be brought back by the voices of loved ones. April asks if Donnie can hear them, and Splinter says perhaps he is listening.

Mikey then starts talking to Donnie and tells him a memory of a time where Donnie had been there when they were kids. Raph and Leo enter the house. Casey tells them whats going on, Raph is dubious and says the whole thing sounds to far fetched. Leo however says it's worth a try. He then tells Donnie a memory from their childhood. Raph still is against the whole idea, April offers a memory, as does Splinter. Raph is still reluctant, but then reveals the memory of how he got the chip in his shell.

While he's giving this memory he takes Donnie's hand i one of his own. Donnie's hand lightly grips Raph's and his eyes open slightly. Raph is so relieved to see Donnie awake he hugs his brother. April also hugs Donnie and tells him not scare her like that ever again.

[Tarris Vaal]

I like the Mikey shouting at Raph parallel with IDW particularly

I'm not sure whether Splinter would go back to the farmhouse with them. It just seems off somehow, not sure why but its hard to imagine him with them there - its a place they go to 'grow up on the their own' and having a father figure there just seems to upset that impression. On the other hand they would be repeating themselves to have Splinter die/go missing/be captured again just prior.

It just works better in my mind that they talk to an unconscious Donnie separately of their own accord. Not really expecting anything to come of it but just talking. Similar to how Raph was at Leo's side previously.

You could show them taking shifts to watch Donnie, each one of them taking the chance to talk in hopes he might be listening, or just to get their own feelings of their chest. Then you could cover their feelings of a recent event they feel guilty over (perhaps an argument or teasing from Casey, Leo feeling he failed him, etc), an admission of some kind or a memory.
Kind of similar to when the family comes into a hospital to talk with coma victims.

You'd cover the exact same bases that way but remove the need for mystical element. Donnie just wakes up on his own accord following Raph's apology/memory/admission.

Would probably take most of an episode to do though. So would make for a very quiet emotion driven ep overall