#squirrelanoids

[sleepis4theweak]

Ooo uh- hmmmm

Squirrel? I don't think I've ever seen a squirrel drawn by you!!

Listen whoever decided to put squirrels in Disney movies as these friendly little creatures is WRONG, and whoever put them in TMNT 2012 as the little demonic creatures of your nightmares was RIGHT.

SQUIRRELS ARE SO SCARY THERE ARE SO MANY OF THEM ON MY COLLEGE CAMPUS AND THEY SCARE THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME 24/7

[littletrash1027]

"Shhh...it's okay. You're okay. It's just a bad dream. You're safe now." 

 it's been a journey yall. see you in March

au by @madychi

[angelmichelangelo]

they are in some deep doodoo

[madychi]

Art dump for my 2012+ AU (mainly my OC Oliver)

[shantechni]

I like this scene to a normal degree😀

Mikey almost drowned?? After getting dragged towards the septic tank Alien style??? Like he needed that to happen after already developing a fear of mutant squirrels😩

Raph had the balls to straight up dive into that swirling abyss and wasted no time going after Mikey total contrast to him freezing up last season, but that's unimportant

He also fully trusted that Donnie and Leo would jump after him, catch him, and pull him up from the current

HOW IS LEO HOLDING EVERYONE UP

The shuriken throw, this kid is quick to react to danger, you love to see it

HOW DID LEO PULL EVERYONE UP

Donnie, you will never make a retro-mutagen for the squirrelanoids, why kid yourself like this

"I'm glad you didn't get flushed lil' bro" they are now at a point where they can just joke about these kinds of things, hello-

[tutantmeenageneetleteetle]

What keeps them up at night?

Leonard

Crippling self-doubt about decisions he made as a leader

Imagining what it'd be like if he lived in the Space Heroes universe

Arguments with his brothers (mostly the ones he has with Raph)

The fear that he might have to sacrifice his brothers one day, to safe the earth

Thinking about what Sensei told him

Raph

The thought that there might be a bug in his room

Loneliness

What it would be like if he quit the team and started for himself

Mona-lisa dying in battle

Fear that his brothers will die and we can't do anything about it

Donnie

His inventions and new possible inventions

That song about the digits of Pi

Thinking about why his code isn't working

April ��️

April and Casey together 💔

Mikey

Cottage cheese demon

Squirrelanoids

Toothpaste commercial jingle

The thought that a ghost could be watching him and he wouldn't know because ghosts are invisible

A sad video he saw online

[advent-chao]

If you think about it Notes from The Underground and Invasion of the Squirrelanoids are the same episode

[sapphiretanto]

Okay, as much as I love the positive Rise x 2012 crossover comics/drawings and fanfics where Rise helps 2012 with their problems, there is no way the boys would start crying or talking about their physical and mental scars upon the first meeting. They wouldn’t be open for hugs (maybe Mikey, but that’s the only one I can see). 2012 went through the ringer and no amount of Dr. Feelings/Dr. Delicate Touch is gonna help that. Here’s what Rise would have to help 2012 work through both individually and altogether:

**Please look at the “Altogether” section before notifying me if I forgot one; Otherwise, I may have genuinely forgot… this was all from what I can remember

**This is NOT bashing the fics, art, Rottmnt.

Leonardo

Possessed/Controlled (Parasitica, Buried Secrets, China Town Ghost Story)

Burdened with being the leader/eldest/Sensei

Right knee is fucked

Dislocated shoulder and arms (both causes of his arms being Super Shredder)

Weakened heart from when he died in space and was resuscitated

Has fallen off multiple high points (elevator shafts, rooftops, fire escapes)

Hands are most likely damaged from holding onto the chains that were wrapped around Kraang prime

Was in a 3-month coma

Throat was ruined

Was bitten by Armaggon

Hit by a blast meant to take out Hiidrala (The Cosmic Ocean)

Deal with having slain Shredder

Captured

Was thrown through a second story window

Cracked shell

Training/Battle injuries: hits on the head, kicks to the plastron or carapace, thrown into buildings or debris, pressure pointed

Under way too much pressure

Almost cut up by swords (Fourfold Trap)

Struggles with perfectionism; he’ll often feel at fault or like he failed for things out of his control (i.e. when Karai fell into the mutagen)

Frustrated as he doesn’t always get a lot of respect (particularly in the earlier seasons)

Took some bad advice from Splinter to heart— most of the time it added to the burden he carried as the leader

Betrayed by Karai

Raphael

Possessed/Controlled (Parasitica, brain worm, vampire, Chinatown Ghost Story)

Has watched those he cared about fallen from high places (Spike/Slash, Splinter, Zog, Leo)

Had to deal with his phobia (Cockroach Terminator, Insecta Trifecta)

Switched bodies

Lightning bolt plastron crack

Captured (and tortured - Clash of the Mutanimals, Within the Woods)

Betrayed by his girlfriend

Electrocuted

Nearly cooked to death (Fourfold Trap)

Swallowed squirrelanoids

Lost Spike to mutation

Nearly had to give away Chompy

Fell from various high heights (ravines)

Anger issues

Felt unfavored compared to Leo

Training/Battle injuries: hits on the head, kicks to the plastron or carapace, thrown into buildings or debris, pressure pointed

Watched Splinter be thrown into a sewer drain and nearly drown

Watched Spike/Slash, Zog, and Splinter fall off/be thrown off the rooftops

Donatello

Possessed/controlled (Parasitica, Buried Secrets, a car)

Electrocuted

Captured

Nearly cut up by Vizioso’s goons

Watched Splinter be thrown into a sewer drain and nearly drown

Lost metalhead

Under too much pressure

Burdened by being the only tech/science guy

Struggles sometimes with the fact that he’s a mutant

Struggles with his weapon— not handling, but that it is very simplistic compared to some of the more high tech things they deal with

Has his experiments ruined or messed with

Became mindless

Training/Battle injuries: hits on the head, kicks to the plastron or carapace, thrown into buildings or debris, pressure pointed

Has to change his jargon so his family can understand what he’s saying

Michelangelo

Captured

Tortured by Triceratons

Frustrated as he’s not always taken seriously

Mind invaded by neutrinos

Possessed/Contolled (Chinatown Ghost Story, Buried Secrets)

Struggles sometimes with accepting that he’s a mutant (earlier seasons— wanted various human friends besides April and Casey)

Swallowed by Mega Shredder

Burned his ass on a geyser (Eyes of the Chimera)

Betrayed by Bradford

Watched Splinter be thrown into a sewer drain and nearly drown

Training/Battle injuries: hits on the head (is hit a lot more than the others on the head in combat), kicks to the plastron or carapace, thrown into buildings or debris, pressure pointed

Was alone in Dimension X for an unknown amount of time

Nearly drowned (Invasion of the Squirrelanoids)

Knowingly/unknowingly and sometimes unwillingly made the bait or drew the short straw

Separated from Leatherhead

Altogether

Saw Master Splinter die (twice)

Watched their dad fall into the abyss (The Super Shredder/Darkest Plight)

Saw their world be destroyed

Survived multiple invasions (Kraang, Triceratons, Kavaxas, Dregg)

Saw their sister fall into mutagen

Fought various horrifying/disgusting mutants (Mom Thing, Squirrelanoids, The Creep, Parasitica, Dregg’s bugs, mutated cockroach, Snakeweed, Muckman, Rat King, mutated fungi, Don Vizioso, April clones/April Derp etc)

Witnessed each other’s deaths: Raph drained of mutagen in Within the Woods; Donnie - reduced to molecules in The Power Inside Her; Leo - died in space in Earth’s Last Stand; Mikey - vaporized by K’Vathrak/The Newtralizer in When Worlds Collide

Witnessed various other deaths: Bradford/Rahzar/Dog Pound, Tang Shen, Hattori Tatsu

Have had their minds taken over

Poisoned by Karai

Electrocuted

Nearly froze to death (Moons of Thalos 3)

Inhaled hallucinogenic toxins

Survived various explosions

Survivor’s guilt

Have been fighting in multiple rigged or burning buildings

Almost burned up entering the atmosphere (Battle for New York)

Had a “nightmare”— courtesy of Jei—where they were the last ones standing after their brothers had been killed

Witnessed the undead (Shredder, Rahzar, various spirits)

Possessed/controlled by Jei; dream beavers

Dimensional and Time travel

Had to fight each other or their friends unwillingly

Went no contact with April after having a hand in accidentally mutating her dad

Severe injuries from various opponents (Slash, Tiger Claw, Newtralizer, Super Shredder, footbots/chrome domes)

[soimcoga]

The funniest thing about x2012 crossovers is the fact that there's literally no way in hell to faze them anymore.

Big scary bads? Like, 80% of the villains they fought tower them like the turtles are fucking invisibles from that one movie no one knows about and the big bads LIKE to toss them around like they're toys or smth. They're used to being small and throwable

Gross imagery? 2012 series consist of literal nightmare fuel. THE FIRST VILLAIN THEY FIGHT IS A PLANT WITH A FUCKING OUTSIDE HEART ON ITS BODY AND THEY DEFEAT IT BY SLICING IT IN HALF AND IT BLEEDS GROSSLY EVERYWHERE. Also Muck Man. And Squirrelanoids. And Roach Terminator. And the entirety of the farmhouse arc. And the entirety of the space arc. And whatever the fuck was the Rat King's arc. And then the Savanti time shinenigans arc. And the Halloween arc. My point is, 2012 kids see fucked up shit and be like 'still better than that one time Mikey got shell acne' WHICH IS ANOTHER CAN OF WORMS

Magic/Mystic/Demons/Yokais? Oh yeah like that time when the cult of whatever the hell they were summoned LITERAL SATAN to their world? Fun times. Also the Kintarou arc? JEI AND HIS ILLUSIONS AND MIND CONTROL AND SHIT AND KINTAROU BEING LITERALLY THE CHOSEN ONE WITH WEIRD UNEXPLAINED POWERS. OH AND THE HALLOWEEN ARC AGAIN.

People be like "12!kids don't understand magic" and they don't because they purposely refuse to they are so tired already.

Heavy injuries and any danger? Yeah those bitches be like "oh fuck did I die? Neat. Wait I'm resurrected? Fuck. Back to suffering I go". LIKE REALLY. THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH and they might seem a lil' bit asshole-ish because of it.

Imo if we talk about the post-S5 (hell, even S4) turtles, I think they'd just see the shit that's happening and be like "well that sucks anyway anyone want takeout?" because hey if they die they die so what's the point anymore

[imagionationstation]

Slskskdk ur rants and dissections of any scene with the bros are so GOOD. I be disintegrating like that gif from the post I reblogged sslsk. I always go back and rewatch them with a new understanding and I'm kicking my feet and giggling like a maniac over it.

Thank u 4 ur service soldier🫡 ur work is a astounding and a key component 2 the tmnt fandom/ecosystem with the others. Goodness knows where we'd be without them🫡

(Also sksksk u knew👁️👁️ I WAS thinking about u when I saw that post)

Aforementioned disintegrating gif link here.

HAHA! Not only am I prideful, but I was RIGHT!

That feel good. I love the dopamine of success almost as much as the dopamine of “you believe that? NICE! I DO TOO!”

Also I love validation because there’s so many scenes that have me kicking my feet and then rubbing my hands like HECK YEAH LOVE AND BONDING like this one scene from the Squirrelanoid ep that has been on loop in my brain this week that’ll be just SO SATISFYING to share when I find the time to take screenshots and write thoughts.

Before Tumblr, I usually had “it’s cute that you like that but it’s not that big a deal” people to rant at and it’s nice that they let me rant, but the knowledge that there were humans out there that felt the same way??? Who wanted more?? WHO CARED DEEPLY???

Didn’t cross my mind as a possibility until I grew more comfortable online. Now I can’t shut up about turtles. TIS THE BEST!

*salutes* I do my best to serve the community! The fandom and the show deserve nothing less than the best I can offer.

Even if that means ticking people off because I will not pretend to be cool with certain tropes like Mikey is abused fans wish me too.

I have other rants and observations lined up, but I keep working on all of them at the same time and now I have, like, five asks in my drafts of unfinished essays. (You guys are amazing. I appreciate every one!)

I need to prioritize one but I love them all. The struggle is real.

Anyways~

You followers and rebloggers and pokers of the like button-

You all seriously rock! 2012Fandom is alive because of you!

[fyeah-tmnt]

how the turn tables

TMNT (2012) - S2E2 (Invasion of the Squirrelanoids)

Rise of the TMNT - S2E1 (Flushed, But Never Forgotten)

[angelmichelangelo]

what. what if i wrote a multi chaptered fic about the squirrelanoids in 2003 verse. then what

[pauncho]

Figured I’d throw out a mini lore sheet for my oc just to be able to give some context.

1. Yes was previously human

2. Idea was originally gonna be based off of the squirrelanoids but I ended up just going with a little shit head instead

3. Was found by the foot a few months post mutation, served in the higher ranks until shredder was killed, decided to become solo.

4. He totally stole his gear, hence the blue mask (he did it literally just because he could, and will straight up mock leo over it)

5. He is not allies with the turtles, he in-fact despises them for ruining the foot.

[nrrrdgrrrl2002]

Decided to make a count of main 6 centric episodes in 2012

Note: some of these are very stretched and debatable. I’ll show a list of the episodes colored so y’all can debate my choice first

Colors

General/about a non main 6 character

Leo

Raph

Donnie

Mikey

April

Casey

Episode list

Rise of the turtles

Turtle Temper

New Friend Old Enemy

I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman

Metalhead

Monkey Brains

Never Say Xever

The Gauntlet

Panic In The Sewers

Mousers Attack

It Came From The Depths

I, Monster

New Girl In Town

The Alien Agenda

The Pulverizer

TCRI

Cockroach Terminator

Baxter’s Gambit

Enemy Of My Enemy

Karais Vendetta

The Pulverizer Returns

Parasitica

Operation: Break Out

Showdown

The Mutation Situation

Invasion Of The Squirrelanoids

Follow The Leader

Mutagen Man Unleashed

Mikey Gets Shellacne

Target: April O’Neil

Slash And Destroy

The Good The Bad And Casey Jones

The Kraang Conspiracy

Fungus Humongous

Metalhead Rewired

Of Rats And Men

The Manhattan Project

Mazes And Mutants

The Lonely Mutation Of Baxter Stockman

Newtralized

Pizza Face

The Wrath Of Tiger Claw

The Legend Of The Kuro Kabuto

Plan 10

Vengeance Is Mine

A Chinatown Ghost Story

Into Dimension x

The Invasion

Within The Woods

A Foot Too Big

Buried Secrets

The Croaking

In Dreams

Race With The Demon

Eyes Of The Chimera

Vision Quest

Return To New York

Serpent Hunt

The Pig And The Rhino

Battle For New York

Casey Jones vs The Underworld

The Noxious Avenger

Clash Of The Mutanimals

Meet Mondo Gecko

The Deadly Venom

Turtles In Time

Tale Of The Yokai

Attack Of The Mega Shredder

The Creeping Doom

The Fourfold Trap

Dinosaur Seen In Sewers

Annihilation Earth

Beyond The Known Universe

The Moons Of Thalos 3

The Weird World Of Wyrm

The Outlaw Armaggon

Riddle Of The Ancient Aeons

Journey To The Center Of Mikey’s Mind

The Arena Of Carnage

The War For Dimension X

The Cosmic Ocean

Trans Dimensional Turtles

Revenge Of The Triceratons

The Evil Of Dregg

The Ever Burning Fire

Earths Last Stand

City At War

Broken Foot

The Insecta Trifecta

Mutant Gangland

Bat In The Belfry

The Super Shredder

Darkest Plight

The Power Inside Her

Tokka vs The World

Tale Of Tigerclaw

Requiem

Owari

Scroll Of The Demodragon

The Forgotten Swordsman

Heart Of Evil

End Times

When Worlds Collide

Yojimbo

Osoroshi no Tabi

Kagayake! Kintaro

Lone Rat And Cubs

The Wasteland Warrior

The Impossible Desert

Carmageddon

The Curse Of Savanti Romero

The Crypt Of Dracula

The Frankenstein Experiment

Monsters Among Us

Wanted: Bebop And Rocksteady

The Foot Walks Again

The Big Blowout

Alright! Here’s the tally!

Leo-19

Raph-18

Donnie-15

Mikey-12

April-6

Casey-4

The rest are general Or about another character.

[shantechni]

This hit me out of nowhere like a water balloon left in the refrigerator for 3 hours so bear with whatever madness you're about to see because I don't even know what I'm going to say but I do know I'm 100% reaching like crazy with some stuff

It's common knowledge that Splinter spends the least amount of "lesson time" with Mikey, and it's a common consensus that Splinter doesn't need to spend much "lesson time" with Mikey considering how he tends to figure things out for himself. But I don't really see much acknowledgement of their scarce amount of "lesson time" greatly impacting Mikey over the course of the series. Unless I'm not treating this enough like a "Where's Waldo" game, idk-

Putting aside Karai's Vendetta, it takes a grand total of 31 episodes for us to see Mikey get any one-on-one "lesson time" with Splinter.

We see throughout S1 that Mikey is likelier to go with the flow of one of his brothers' plans or suggestions during a mission than doing something major on his own. It's simply the more favorable option for everyone than him screwing things up or getting himself in trouble. His "friendship" with Bradford was his first time landing himself and the team in hot water, and he's evidently remorseful near the end of the episode. Not only did his actions cause trouble, but he was being used by who he thought was his first human friend, and he learns that every human isn't so accepting like April.

He screwed up, and everyone had to pay as a result.

That could be part of the reason why Mikey was so adamant about befriending Leatherhead; he saw good in the alligator and wanted his brothers to believe that he wasn't screwing things up again. The guy's a mutant like them and he's fighting the Kraang, there's no way this'll go like the Bradford incident.

Meanwhile, his moments of silliness are often reserved for lowering the tension of a situation, or because the urge is there to be given into, but his brothers tend to view this behavior as him being the typical goofball they know him as. Which unfortunately painted a permanent image of himself that rubs him the wrong way.

That leads us to Parasitica, and it's quite the significant episode because it's the second time we see Mikey express blatant frustration at his skills and mental fortitude being underestimated. He proves to his brothers that he's capable of finishing a job on his own, following directions to a T, and making things work with his own plan of action. But his earlier soiling of Leo's comic ruins his moment of accomplishment and the episode ends on a comedic note. It show us that the guys are sometimes reluctant to praise Mikey because of his tendency to let things go to his head and, in the process, Mikey sometimes doesn't feel respected by them, something he expressed to Bradford way back when.

Come S2 though, Mikey immediately screws things up and adds to his brothers' list of reasons to not respect him because he doesn't quite read the room when he admits their wrongdoing, nor does he expect April to react so strongly to something he sees as an innocent mistake on their part. He's used to joking around or speaking lightly about serious manners to ease the tension, but not only did that not work this time around, it served to make things worse in a way.

We don't see Mikey get reprimanded since he was right to tell her that their mishandling of the mutagen is why Kirby was mutated, but I'd believe it if Ciro Nieli randomly stepped forward and said it did significantly affect him. His slip up doesn't affect him too heavily though, at least not enough for him to avoid aiding the team in finding mutagen and fighting the Foot clan. Not only that, he saves the day with the help of popcorn and a septic tank when they're attacked by the squirrelanoids, and the guys willingly praise him for his actions.

But we don't get anything really centered on Mikey until the fifth episode of S2.

He has a moment of enlightenment and he chooses to dabble in some mutagen off screen to be cooler and less like the typical goofball his brothers often label him as. Of course, this greatly backfires on him as the mutagen that makes up his body becomes unstable and threatens to explode in an unpleasant manner, so the turtles spend most of the episode focused on curing him rather than trying to work through what made him resort to such measures in the first place. They even prove Mikey's point in one particular scene when he makes a suggestion that goes ignored and adds to his disappointment.

Once they finally cure Mikey and prevent him from meeting an untimely demise at the hands of mutagenic acne, Splinter is the one to reassure the youngest turtle that he needn't change himself to appease his brothers. Mikey moves on from Splinter's wisdom to gloat about being right when they didn't believe him, to which Leo tells him he just took a gamble because had no idea he'd be right about it, and the episode once again ends on a comedic note with Mikey being the one who again saves the day.

I said near the beginning of this that Mikey's usual behavior during missions was to go along with whatever was asked of him, and he has the tendency to go in the same direction that those around him appear to be going.

Post the acne incident however, there's a noticeable shift. Maybe Splinter's words really resonated with him, or maybe his learning experience gave him the realization he needed, I don't exactly know.

Either way, Mikey changed.

This happened with the giant wasps and squirrelanoids as well, but it's not until S2 is halfway over with that we see Mikey really start to trust his instincts more and become less reliant on his brothers to help save the day. He still seeks their strength and smarts when in a rough spot mind you, but when he sees an opportunity to deal with something on his own, he takes it and doesn't wait for permission or looks of mutual agreement.

His use of Ice Cream Kitty in their second confrontation with the Rat King could count as one such instance since he enacted his own whimsical plan, but I'd be inclined to include any other instance of him doing something similar before then. A better representation of the point I'm trying to make is his solo endeavour into Dimension X. It takes 19 episodes after his acne incident for this to happen, but it's our first huge instance of Mikey initiating and going through with something that goes completely against his brothers' wishes.

One probably thought Mikey would sit tight and somehow manage to involve himself in Leatherhead's rescue later on, but Mikey catches his brothers off guard by running off into danger head first without waiting for anyone. And we see when the guys find him that he miraculously adapted to the new universe; he could take care of himself, he knew how to handle these otherworldly enemies, and he repeatedly helped his brothers and educated them.

This becomes a recurring pattern whenever they enter Dimension X, but Mikey's whims pulling the others into a direction they don't expect to go happens more with each season. The same thing happened when he ran away and found Napoleon, though not to quite the same extreme; he quickly became acquainted with him and acclimated into the group of mutant frogs.

He got by in these situations by being himself. Not like a cooler version that his brothers would probably prefer, but his usual, outlandish, and unorthodox self.

Other than an astounding sense of adaptation that's far above his brothers', he sticks with his gut in the face of retaliation and doubt. He was the only one to sense something wrong with April's mom, and he isn't subtle about it at all, even when his suspicions get him on everyone's bad side. He could've easily laid low for an opening or gone along with everyone else's acceptance of her, but he doesn't. He isn't going to change his mind just because his claims seem crazy and make him look paranoid.

Again, we see something similar whenever everyone second guesses his knowledge of chemicals and compounds. Donnie nearly had an aneurysm when he found him tampering with the retromutagen before their big fight with the Kraang, but he was soon delighted to see the positive results of Mikey's tampering. And when Mikey accidentally bumped a bit of the mind control cure onto Donnie in The Creeping Doom, he decided he should be the one to fix things and made an antidote for Donnie. It's a bit funny how Mikey did both of these things without truly knowing what the result would be, and even he was surprised to see that his concoction worked to cure Donnie of his slow decay of intelligence.

Either way, he usually knows when he's right. He knows he can do so much more than his brothers believe he can at times and he goes out of his way to prove it.

This is getting long (could've been extra long if I really wanted to go in-depth), and I already briefly mentioned something similar for S5 in this post, but I just really like how apparent it is that Mikey embraces who he is more and more as the show goes on. Electric powers? Boom, I'm using them. Seal's broken? Boom, bubblegum. Mutagen bomb ended the world? Boom, I'm making a map that only I can understand.

Fr tho, he once felt insecure about his weird way of behaving and thinking, most notably when he's in a situation that would usually call for the types of planning and actions his brothers are better known for.

But now it's something he utilizes and even holds over everyone's heads at times.

[lazyvase]

TMNT TO ME: 2012 Season 2

My memories of episodes. Any episodes not included are ones I completely forgot about. (Now with pictures!)

Anytime MOUSERS appear in an episode, this image will appear to show my love for them:

This image will be seen a lot in this personal retrospective:

Mutation Situation

A very fun return to the series. I remember feeling like the second season started not too long after the end of the last one. Probably because there were pretty sizable gaps between episodes often. While an unusual and unnerving opponent, the fight scene with the Biotroid goes hard, especially when everything literally goes sideways.

Invasion of the Squirrelanoids

Properly horrifying.

Follow the Leader

Love Footbots. Ever since Shredder allied with the Kraang, I was wondering why he didn't use robot soldiers. The normal Foot Soldiers were clearly useless.

Mutagen Man Unleashed

Even in mutated form, Timothy is still a pain in the ass. They should have shattered him. Awesome design though. This episode was my introduction to love triangles, though at the time I merely thought of Casey as an obstacle to Donnie x April, not as a rival. Speaking of Casey, even though I had no knowledge of previous incarnations (or that previous incarnations existed) I knew Casey was going to be someone big as they put emphasis on his name reveal.

Mikey Gets Shellacne

Great to see Baxter again. I plan to make a whole post on this in the future, but I didn't like Rahzar (I'm lukewarm on him currently). Seeing Dogpound be discontinued was and still is disappointing. I mainly didn't like this episode because Mikey looked so disgusting. I made sure to avoid this episode.

Target: April O'Neil

Chrome Dome was also cool.

Slash and Destroy

Intense. Not even Shredder hurt the boys this badly. In this episode they were all limping and bruised and maskless. It was as insane for me then as it is now. The lack of masks really showcase how vulnerable they were. This episode cemented Slash as one of the turtles' biggest threats for me. The pain the turtles were in made it clear how much Slash wanted them DEAD. He had them beaten to a bloody pulp.

The Good, The Bad, and Casey Jones

My first thought when Casey’s fear of rats was revealed was “Gee, I hope for his sake he doesn’t face the Rat King.”

The Kraang Conspiracy

The turtles gaining another human ally made me more certain that Irma would join the group.

Fungus Humongous

I know I watched the premiere of this episode. I think it was around this episode where I started getting sick of Donnie's crush of April. I was rolling my eyes when his greatest fear was April hating him.

Metalhead Rewired

Very fun episode. It was great to see SpiderBytez and Snakeweed again. They had such cool designs and were the DNA for the beginning of the show. It always bothered me we never saw more of them. It's always nice to see Metalhead. Catching all the Star Wars references was so cool to me because back then I was a bigger fan of Star Wars.

Of Rats and Men

This episode convinced me that Irma was going to join the turtles once she learned about them. She was helping them fight the Rat King. The scene of her helping the turtles (without her knowing) reminded me heavily of how Casey helped the turtles fight Mutagen Man (without him knowing).

The Manhattan Project

An absolute banger of a mid-season special. Both new threats were great. Loved the Kraathatrogons. Big worms are always fun. They were all a nice challenge for Donnie, April, and Casey. The real star of this episode was Tiger Claw. The show does an amazing job of setting him up. Instead of just saying he's a force to be reckoned with, they prove it (unlike a certain canine and fish). Tiger Claw easily takes down the turtles on his own. He goes toe-to-toe with Splinter for a good while (unlike a certain canine and fish both going down in one hit). Tiger Claw's plan allows him to successfully capture Splinter. He gets an incredible amount done in his special. He cemented himself as one of the turtles' most powerful and skilled foes.

Mazes & Mutants

Great to see Leatherhead again! Even if wasn’t actually him. I was not the biggest fan of Rockwell's return. Not being a Lord of the Rings fan made this episode a bit grating with its constant references.

The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman

Throughout the series I was wondering when Stockman would become a mutant. Most humans in this series don't stay human for long, so for Stockman to be human for a whole season and a half was an anomaly. Thankfully this episode beautifully delivered. Stockman-Fly rocks. Love his changed voice. Love his new design with the big claw hand (big fan of asymmetry). The sideways mouth was a disgustingly amazing detail. It was everything I was hoping for from a mutation of my favorite bad guy. The final fight with everyone having different means of traveling through the air was so much fun also.

Newtralized!

Newtralizer and Slash made a pretty cool duo. Loved the Kraang-Walker. It was the coolest shit I’ve ever seen. I would have loved a toy of it. Once again, huge Star Wars fan at the time. The end frame for this episode was one of the coolest. It perfectly captured how Newtralizer would return, stronger than ever.

Pizza Face

Everyone disregarding Mikey annoyed me to no end. Still does.

The Wrath of Tiger Claw

An epic return by one of TMNT's coolest villains and a satisfying moment with Karai's realization.

The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto

This is my favorite episode. It just has so much good stuff going for it. The introduction starts off strong. The reintroduction to Steranko (or Weapons Dealer to a young me) does wonders to catch you off your feet. His collection is cool, unique, and a great way to establish the resources this man has available and why he specifically wants the helmet. Zeck's (or Master Thief as I knew him) introduction perfectly captures his goofy and zany personality that I loved. More importantly, it showcased that he liked being thief. He didn't have to steal the spear of destiny. He didn't have to make a replica out of marzipan. He especially didn't have to make Weapons Dealer lick it. But Master Thief did because he wanted to. His introduction makes it clear that (unlike Fishface) Master Thief loves being a master thief. It's not just a profession; it's a passion. He jumps with joy and laughs when stealing. And I agree with that one message board user who said that Master Thief using his mohawk as a weapon is amazing. I liked the lore dump over the Kuro Kabuto. It's so cool to hear the history of The Foot Clan and Shredder's iconic helmet. This particular flashback is so intriguing because for all the grandiosity put behind Koga Takuza, he is never brought up again. The idea of the helmet granting leadership of the Foot Clan is constantly referenced in later seasons, but the founder is only mentioned once, despite the amount of buildup and focus in the flashback. Strange. After the flashback, we get to the highlight of the episode: The Foot Clan on a mission. This episode briefly flips the script of a normal episode. Usually, the turtles are running through the rooftops on a mission. In this episode, the mutant henchman are running through the rooftops on a mission. They even split up into pairs just like the turtles do. Seeing them banter was cathartic. Sad that Stockman couldn't say anything this episode, but his "conversation" with Fishface was still good. Tiger Claw and Rahzar's conversation was obviously a highlight. The chase for the helmet and the fight over it were both so fun. Still, Master Thief managed to steal the show. The line:

"Why is this town so full of freaks?!"

is stuck in my head. All his lines and bits are just so funny. He was so gleefully smug as he made his escape. He even took his defeat in stride. Weapons Dealer basically says to him: "I'm going to beat the ever-loving shit out of you." And Master Thief says:

"That's to be expected."

I thought it was a shame that we would never see him again. He was clearly made to be a one-time enemy.

I was also not expecting Karai bomb.

Plan 10

I remember the marketing for this episode more than the actual episode.

"Who's who? And what happened to Raph?"

I also remember the "pinching your own butt" joke being heavily featured in the trailers.

Vengeance is Mine

I cannot forget this episode. I can never forget this episode.

I always rationalized Leo’s goal of freeing Karai as “Leo loves his family and will do anything for them. Of course he’ll try to save his sister.”

But then, in this episode, you can pinpoint the exact moment my stomach drops.

The two following shots confirmed my horror.

(Brings back painful memories, doesn't it?)

I was nauseous after this brief scene. I nearly didn't finish this episode. The "reward" for finishing this episode was discovering that Karai's inbetween form at the very end was the creepiest shit I had ever seen.

A Chinatown Ghost Story

I could swear this episode came WAY earlier in the season.

Into Dimension X!

I was so excited to see Leatherhead again (for real this time). Dimension X is a fun and wacky place. And it's so good to see Mikey put his brothers in their place. And make them listen to him.

The Invasion

"Finally, it took the whole season, but Irma is finally joining the group."

I was flabbergasted at the reveal, especially since it was Iago from Aladdin of all things. The season finale did not pull any punches. Casey and Raph running through the streets was a sight to behold. Leo's gauntlet was intense. The mech was epic. Leatherhead vs Shredder was everything I ever wanted. Even without the context of previous incarnations, the window scene is unforgettable.

Me seeing April's Dad being mutated AGAIN:

Splinter's defeat was also punch to the gut. I knew he wasn't dead, but still.

The team leaving for the woods was a dour yet perfect note to end the season on.

Looking Back

According to my memories, season 2 was the height of my devotion to TMNT 2012. I was glued to the TV and made sure to catch every episode. I can’t say the same for the following seasons, but that is a story for another time.

Tune in next time when I shall go over my experiences with TMNT gaming.