Season 4 Discussion Thread

[TigerClaw]

How much are you guys willing to bet, Mikey is the one that names her Mona Lisa?

I can see her trying to pronounce an alien name that's unpronounceable, and Mikey just says. "Ok, How about, Mona Lisa?"

Its interesting cause we never really know the Newtralizer's actual name, And it was just a name given by Donnie at the time.

Do these salamandrian warriors have actual names?

[Luckyday]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

How much are you guys willing to bet, Mikey is the one that names her Mona Lisa?

I can see her trying to pronounce an alien name that's unpronounceable, and Mikey just says. "Ok, How about, Mona Lisa?"

Raise hand.

That's actually a great idea rather having this alien with a strangly familiar earth like name.

[IndigoErth]

I kind of hope that "Mona Lisa," or something that sounds very close, will be within an actual longer name (i.e. "Mona" is the first four letters of a long first name and likewise for "Lisa"), and Mikey just cutely shortens it to something easier for them to pronounce.

Might be a tad less awkward then basically saying, "Hey, I'm going to call you this totally unrelated name instead without your input."

[Meliwen]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

I kind of hope that "Mona Lisa," or something that sounds very close, will be within an actual longer name (i.e. "Mona" is the first four letters of a long first name and likewise for "Lisa"), and Mikey just cutely shortens it to something easier for them to pronounce.

Might be a tad less awkward then basically saying, "Hey, I'm going to call you this totally unrelated name instead without your input."

^ Yes. Sorta like in Atlantis: The Lost Empire where instead of Kidagakash, Milo just calls her Kida. Even if it's Mikey who gives her the nickname instead of Mona herself, it's still referring to her own name.

And I am so glad Mona's debuting in the first episode, because going by that book that was released...

Spoiler:

...this means she won't be officially set as Raph's love interest in her first episode. Even though it happens at the end of the very next episode, it's nice to have something other than love at first sight again.

[Foombamaroom]

The sooner Mona Lisa shows up, the better. If a love interest is what it takes for Raph to get better development, hell yes.

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Foombamaroom

The sooner Mona Lisa shows up, the better. If a love interest is what it takes for Raph to get better development, hell yes.

Yeah, with Mona Lisa showing up early, It helps Raph develop more as a character, and understand why his brothers have a thing for the other ladies in there lives.

I can see Donnie and Mikey teasing Raph, when they notice Mona Lisa flirting with him.

[Meliwen]

http://only-fornow.tumblr.com/post/1...-got-his-shell
I supposed we can consider it official that we'll see how Raph got that crack in his shell. Nice to see that it hasn't been dropped.

[TigerClaw]

I can see Raph saying. "I gotta go find Mona Lisa."

Mikey "You mean your girlfriend?"

Raph "Shut up Mikey! She's not my girlfriend! She's just, a friend."

[Foombamaroom]

It makes sense that we're getting an origin for Raph's shell in season 4. Considering that this will probably be Raph's season (2 was Don's, 3 was Leo's), I'm super excited.

[Bitsy83]

Originally Posted by Foombamaroom

The sooner Mona Lisa shows up, the better. If a love interest is what it takes for Raph to get better development, hell yes.

THIS!!! THIS RIGHT HERE!!! THANK YOU! FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT!!!

Sorry, but I've been keeping my mouth (mostly) shut whenever it comes to people hating on romance in shows because I didn't want to cause any more hoopla or uproars over how "All female characters are just Mary Sues and love interests." I know this is true in most cases, especially TMNT, but maybe the reason why we've hated the Donnie and Leo shipping so much was because they happened so early in the series. (That and over excitable fan girls). The writers were probably still learning how to write proper romance without it clashing with the story too much. Maybe, this time, it can help with the story. Just because a character falls in love doesn't necessarily it'll go to being badly written fluff fic. Love is an emotion. Emotion builds character. Character adds depth. See where I'm going?

With the introduction of Mona Lisa and the possibility of her becoming a recurring character (Peter DiCicco confirmed that on Tumblr), then maybe we can see another side of Raph. Almost every character he's paired up with has supported his anger and rage (Slash, Casey, Zog, even Spy Roach). He needs a Yin to his Yang (HEADS OUT OF GUTTERS!) We see Mona Lisa is going to be a "warrior", but she might be a calm-headed one.

Spoiler:

Perhaps the Alien Attack events were her following orders from the other Salamandrians. I have this head cannon that, in the beginning, the Salamandrians and the Triceratons are allies. However, the Salamandrians don't know what the Triceratons have done or do to take out their enemies. They could very well be in the dark about destroying whole planets to take out one race that doesn't even dominate said-planet. With the help of the Turtles, Mona Lisa could find this out and be horrified with what the Triceratons are really like and agrees to help the Turtles fight them.

If she does go on missions with them, she might notice how easily Raph gets angry or rushes to fight without thinking things through. So she gradually helps keep him calm. Maybe by looking in his eyes or grabbing his shoulder to restrain him. Raph really needs a character who doesn't fuel his anger, but instead balances it. We've seen it touched on numerous times, but there weren't many lasting effects.

Spoiler:

For those who haven't seen "Avengers: Age of Utrom", it would be like Black Widow's "lullaby" for the Hulk.

So, yeah, hopefully fourth time's a charm and we can finally see a TMNT romance done right. (At least, done right enough for the haters, but that's a tall order).

[tmnt_LRDM]

I agree. We haven't seen any real Raph episodes since season 2. It would be nice to see some development in his character, and if Mona Lisa is the key to doing that, I'm all for it. Besides, I really liked her in 1987. I'm upset she didn't appear in any other episodes after "Raphael Meets His Match".

[Ninturtle]

Originally Posted by tmnt_LRDM

I agree. We haven't seen any real Raph episodes since season 2. It would be nice to see some development in his character, and if Mona Lisa is the key to doing that, I'm all for it. Besides, I really liked her in 1987. I'm upset she didn't appear in any other episodes after "Raphael Meets His Match".

We had "Dinosaur Seen in Sewers" recently and that was one of the best episodes of season 3.

[Sabacooza]

Originally Posted by Ninturtle

We had "Dinosaur Seen in Sewers" recently and that was one of the best episodes of season 3.

Agreed. Lets hope we get more of those sooner than later in season 4.

[snake]

Originally Posted by Meliwen

http://only-fornow.tumblr.com/post/1...-got-his-shell
I supposed we can consider it official that we'll see how Raph got that crack in his shell. Nice to see that it hasn't been dropped.

Didn't they say that every season?

[Meliwen]

Did they? I've only heard people mention seeing it in a book, but maybe I've missed some things.

[tmnt_LRDM]

Originally Posted by Ninturtle

We had "Dinosaur Seen in Sewers" recently and that was one of the best episodes of season 3.

Ah yes! How could I possibly forget that one? My bad. My mind was thinking in terms of the rest of the season that was mainly focused on Leo.

[Drose18]

When will this series end? How do u ppl want mona lisa shes a stupid character. They could give raph developement by showing how hes taking it really hard that the earth got destroyed or something anything else.

[tmnt_LRDM]

Originally Posted by Joshdonnie

When will this series end? How do u ppl want mona lisa shes a stupid character. They could give raph developement by showing how hes taking it really hard that the earth got destroyed or something anything else.

I believe they are planning on having 5 seasons. And this is the way I see it. If you can remember back in season 1, the one thing Raph trusted with his inner feelings was his pet Spike. He could yell, get angry, etc., and not have to put on this "tough guy" persona like he does around everyone else.

In season 2, Spike mutated into Slash. Even though Slash is the leader of the Mighty Mutanimals and they are on good terms (at least before the finally), Raph lost the "go to" thing he had before. Since he feels he has to keep this "tough guy" act, he holds everything in thus pushing him down from developing as a character.

Now Splinter is dead, the world is blown up, and the only Earthlings left are the turtles, April, and Casey. I have a feeling Raph won't be able to handle this on his own. So, in my eyes, Mona Lisa is essentially his new "go to" thing. I mean yeah he could try for one of his brothers, Casey, or April if Mona Lisa wasn't being introduced, but I don't really think he would develop as much as he will with Mona. At least that's the hope!

[ObiWanFan4life]

*sighs* I really hope that Mona Lisa isn't just a love interest. We already got over the love story between Donnie, April, and Casey, do we really need another one?

[Avatar Yuffie]

Same. It was bad enough April's mom and Irma aren't human in the first place, and Karai got saddled as the only female mutant that never even appeared in the finale (I know it's plot reasons), but April cementing she's the show's Smurfette really stood out surrounded by her mutant friends, and it's depressing.

I would buy a Mona Lisa action figure though since I was denied last time.

I don't mind romance, but I'd want her and Raph to be just friends first. Let him be turned off that she like eating roaches or something.