One of the things about TMNT I find fascinating is that what side characters make the cut or don't.
Like: Irma and Vernon. Inventions of 87 to give April some coworkers at Channel 6. Don't make the cut for the 90s movie or 03 because Laird was trying to cut things back to stuff that was Mirage-based, but after that point, it's interesting how often they're still not there. Irma shows up again in 12 but they do things so differently with her she feels like a twist. Vernon shows up in the Bay movies but nobody likes him. And Irma just showed up again in Tales of the TMNT (show and comic) as part of Donnie's subplots. But other than that and a few minor IDW comic jokes, it almost feels like they're actively avoiding using them-even when plenty of stuff that 87 originated (Bebop and Rocksteady, Splinter-as-Hamato-Yoshi, etc.)
Proof in the pudding: having not watched either '87 or Tales as yet, I only barely know who these characters are!
It definitely is interesting how the various shows sort of rifle through what came before to pick their favourite bits and pieces out of the toybox. Very comic book of them all, honestly, and people's rationales can say a lot about what they're trying to achieve.
The frequent neglect of Irma and Vernon represent a particular missed opportunity to me though - namely the opportunity to give April a life outside the turtles. I adore '03 April (and also just because something isn't shown on screen doesn't mean it doesn't exist, ofc) but I find it a little humorous that outside her sister and her long-lost uncle we see absolutely nothing of other human beings in her life?
Casey has his mother, his cousin, a representation of his connections in his neighbourhood through Angel and her grandmother... even his beef with the Purple Dragons is very local and rooted in his history. April continually relies on the turtles to help her move in or shelter her? Doesn't seem to have any major concerns about the turtles living with her and interrupting her social life? Gets her place wrecked multiple times and never references anyone who's worried about this??? It's not as though she's brand new to town the whole way through, or even without pre-existing connections to the area. She literally takes over her family's shop! Let her have a friend!!
Anyway. Just would have been nice (and a fun hat-tip to previous iterations) to give April a name or two to throw around so that it looks less like she ends up with Casey because he's flat-out the only other human person she knows.
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Lightning cracks across the sky, bathing the distant woods in brilliant white; and Leo flinches, tasting cold and bloody rain in his mouth.
The reality of the farmhouse seeps back in slowly, each piece of it a fresh humiliation in the face of his racing heartbeat: the low whistle of the old kettle, a soft tapping from sensei's walking stick, April's voice lifted in companionable conversation. He stares out the rain-streaked window, wondering with dull resignation how many storms he will have to chase to find again the courage left in pieces on a rooftop; the ability to hear only the thunder, and not the mocking laugh.
Writing meta that highlights character strengths is a wholesome and enjoyable past time for me, of course, but you should also understand that every day I creep closer to unleashing the manifesto on how 2k3 Don can be a bit of a dickhead and, what's more, this is absolutely vital to his status as my favourite.
The way 2k3 constructs Michelangelo's character is so interesting to me because really, they give him quite a lot of agency when it comes to his ‘class clown’ attitude? And in making it clear that there's a level of deliberate choice involved in how Mikey behaves, in the jokes he makes and the pranks he pulls and exactly when and why he locks in, they also make it clear just how vital his seeming goofiness is to the team.
Leo and Raph and even Don are working within their own particular paradigms: what it means to be a good leader, a good son, a worthy warrior, an intelligent and rational person. Mikey's the only one willing to take a step away from it all - to step back and look at the absurdity inherent in who they are and what they do, and have a bit of a giggle about it. Because it's crazy, right? They're teenage mutant ninja turtles and they go to space and other dimensions and back in time and their arch-nemesis is an angry alien blob who happens to be a war criminal. Mikey definitely takes pride in their accomplishments and in Being A Ninja - and I'd argue he finds the most joy in it out of his entire family, which is a huge boon to his overall emotional stability - but he is so-o-o not interested in sacrificing his entire identity on the altar of becoming a master. He's a teenager, and he wants to get to be a teenager, and he wants to get to slow down and actually live his life. He's not stupid, he's certainly not incompetent, he's not even younger or smaller or less experienced than the others; he's 15 years old and he's a calculating little shit (affectionate!!!) who refuses to smother his own spirit under the weight of existence or grim expectation.
And I love it because it's equally clear that what sometimes gets brushed off as irresponsibility is Mikey applying this ability to think outside the box. Splinter sets them to training in darkness: Mikey cheekily defeats this environmental challenge by effectively breaking the fourth wall and turning the lights back on. Don obsessively tries to understand the crystals through his pre-existing understanding of how they should logically function: Mikey unlocks both of their main functions through his willingness to get silly with it. On two separate occasions Mikey undoes Raph by refusing to engage in the contest of strength that Raph finds most gratifying, that would ‘prove’ who's the best warrior: instead, he plays his own game, and uses that very drive against Raph. And all that's without even starting to get into the many occasions he applies his antics as a balm to an otherwise scary situation.
He's creative and he's perceptive, and the very nature of being a wild card means his plays don't always work out for him, but I appreciate the subtle credence the show nonetheless gives to the fact that when they do, it's not just ‘by accident’. There's method to his playful madness. And it follows that there is nothing fundamentally stopping Mikey from being crunch-time Michelangelo all the time - except the fact that in the process he would cease to be Michelangelo, and they'd all lose something crucial to their family in the process.
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You know I am curious we heard you talk about Leo and Mikey Leo and Donny. What’s your thoughts on Raph and Don? I am sure you already talked about Leo and Raph and Mikey and Raph I can’t remember
Hmm, you might be thinking about someone else for Leo and Mikey posts, I don't think I've said much on that front as yet. And, to tell the truth, part of the reason I haven't posted much about Don and Raph is it's challenging to think of something to say that hasn't been said already, and far more eloquently to boot*!
(*I am in fact confident everything has been said already at some point. This is a rather long-standing fandom. But hey, I like to sound fresh and interesting to me.)
Let's see. I have talked a bit before about how they work together when Leo's out of the picture, and how arguably some of their good relationship comes down to the fact that neither has particular authority over each other.
They're the brains and brawn duo! A nickname that's a little ironic given that one of the things I like most about them in 2k3 is how the show doesn't make that the crux of their dynamic. Don never dismisses Raph as a meathead, or gets intimidated by his temper - he completely trusts Raph to have his back in any kind of tight spot, including the ones that involve technology. Raph slings a couple of nerd jibes Don's way, but it's far more common for him to go out of his way to gas Don up - he loves how clever the guy is, and he knows Don can handle himself well enough in a scrap. They have a shared interest in vehicles and machines, they'll hang around casually playing video games together, and half the time they seem to find each other lowkey hilarious, consummate snarkers that they both are. I even like that they do get snippy sometimes (Raph absolutely savaging Don in "Aliens Among Us" cracks me up every rewatch, he's so fucking unimpressed), and that it's just not that big a deal because they don't really touch off any big sensitivities in each other.
It's kind of to everyone's credit, you know? There are enough points of contrast in play that they probably could have seeded some serious insecurities in one another had they tried, but instead they appreciate their 'opposite' (who isn't actually that opposite) as the rich and whole individual that they are and get a real kick out of each other's successes. They're popular for a reason - it's a very sweet sibling mash-up.
Cute idea I've had for Blue Turtle In Aggregate Across Franchise:
Leo's broadly pretty anxious. So when the turtles were little, he was the last to stop using a pacifier/sucking his thumb
He is a bit of an anxious bean, isn't he!
The idea of Splinter scavenging pacifiers gives me the horrors (even though honestly, it probably wouldn't be that much worse than their general state of living) but yeah, I could see onto some sort of self-soothing habit like that hanging around for a while. He clearly draws a lot of comfort out of the physical routine and ritual of training.
@blazichu! Hope it's alright if I pull out your tags on the Leo & Don post because I've been chewing on some extra thoughts on this topic and you're speaking right to them:
Because - yeah, I agree, there's definitely a thing where Leo (and the rest of the family too, honestly) have a tonne of faith that when Don puts forward a solution it's going to be a viable option even if they don't understand all the mechanics involved, partly because of the exact track record and general self-awareness you've highlighted! He actually has a leg up on many of his screen counterparts in this area because 2k3 plays the genius thing uncommonly straight: the vast majority of his inventions are practical, useful, and safe; his family is openly encouraging and appreciative of his work; he's cheerfully confident in his abilities ("yes! I love it when I'm right") without showing signs of getting too high off his own supply ("yeah... that might have been a mistake"). There's thus not a lot of the ego / insecurity / social blindness / in-your-face wacky mad scientist impulsiveness that is the main flaw counterbalance for other Donatellos.
At the same time, though? Don is still a kid like the rest of them. He very much still has his flaws, and I would actually argue he hasn't escaped the Donatello Confidence Trap as entirely as it sometimes seems. There are segments of his track record that kind of get brushed over by Leo, in part because there is a level of surrounding familial 'noise' that drowns them out, and there's an argument to be made that some of Leo's trust is given a little too blindly, and that Don has his own share of blind spots for Leo in return.
Like, alright, rolling back to the first season and putting the Leo Vision goggles on: you're fifteen years old, you've unlocked a fun new stepping stone on your leadership journey called "people keep trying to kill you", and you're faced with a sibling unit 2/3rds comprised of “Poor Choice” Raphael and “For The Love Of God Focus” Michelangelo. Thank goodness then for Donatello! Sweet, level-headed, intelligent Donnie, who knows his limits, who will always be real with you, who would never do something irresponsible like field test a glider by flinging himself off a bridge, or hop into the back of a shady van without assessing it for traps first, or wander into a pocket dimension without so much as leaving a note (TWICE), or go haring off after a nuclear bomb without pausing to alert the rest of the family to the situation, or get so distracted by the mechanics of a new technology in the middle of a fight that Karai has to put him back on task, or-
Hmm. Wait a second.
Don insists a few times that any and all trust is well-earned - he's the sensible one, the smart one, not inclined to crazy stunts - and I think he genuinely believes this, as per the above discussion of his casual confidence in himself. He certainly comes across as the most peacefully on-task member in a family of strong personalities. Raph is reckless and prefers action over analysis. Mikey is distractible and a stimulus seeker. They both have a habit of straying under certain circumstances, and a visible part of Leo's growth into his leadership role is understanding when that actually constitutes a problem and how best to check it without stifling the rest of what they bring to the table.
When you tally it all up, though? Don… well, Donnie's a peacefully on-task guy who also kind of just does what he wants a lot of the time. He does not actually pose that much less of a risk of straying in his own way.
Raph's all loud arguments and dramatic gestures about wanting to go bust up Stockman's lab, and subsequently he draws all the quelling attention from Splinter and Leo; Don quietly goes ahead and fixes a Mouser and runs off after it literally right past Leo who is in the middle of fighting Raph about not leaving the Lair. Don wants to save the people trapped in the underground city, and he wants to do it post-haste; Leo all but admits that sometimes there's not much he can do to stop Don when he's on a tear. Don wants to churn out an endless armada of vehicles and outfits and gadgets, and his entire family shrugs and embraces the reality that their brother runs a one-turtle military-grade secret projects factory floor rivalling Bishop.
As much as Don will be open about gaps in his expertise, he can be damn selective about what he shares in general. Most of the time it's played as a fairly harmless affectation - for example, the privacy he maintains around many of his creations during their development phase seems to be because he just genuinely enjoys having his big reveal moments - but there's an unavoidable darker side to the habit when it comes to his major arcs. The King happens, and (in the ending that actually follows him outside the room) he goes and stands silently alone at the window about it, despite his whole family being available to provide immediate comfort. SAINW happens, and he appears to keep a number of key details to himself (since otherwise they'd surely be insufferably paranoid about Don doing anything ever). He continually brushes off and downplays his ill health over the course of the Good Genes arc until he physically cannot keep going. It leaves one wondering if some of the devastation wrought by the alternate Donatello's disappearance might have been mitigated if he hadn't taken so many of his works and plans and thoughts into the dark with him.
None of which is to say Don is especially untrustworthy. All of them have side adventures and moments they keep to themselves, and obviously there are any number of discussions and interactions happening offscreen that we in the audience are not privvy to. I do think there's a level of calculation involved in when he chooses to bring his thoughts openly to the table, though, and when he decides forgiveness will be easier to wheedle out than the permission he doesn't particularly see himself as needing anyway. Leo trusts Don, and Don trusts Leo, but more than that, I think Don trusts himself - the smart one, the sensible one, the one whose stunts are totally well-considered, totally backed by his own rationales, never crazy or risky beyond what he can deal with. A common personal flaw, and not one his brothers escape either, but it can be a little more dangerous in Don, because it's not as well-recognised and accounted for as it is with the others. Because he's not extroverted about it the way Raph and Mikey are, because he doesn't get up in Leo's face in a way that draws all his attention, because Leo is making assumptions based on his own biases. In the first six episodes alone, there are three separate occasions where Leo automatically moves to shut Raph down on a course of action (in each case defying or bending Splinter's wishes), only to cave the moment Don pitches in on Raph's side. While I'm sure that's partly because he's officially outnumbered in those instances, there is nonetheless a noticeable discrepancy in how Leo responds to Don disagreeing with or ducking around him. He has a big bloody blind spot for his fellow quiet(er) one.
It works in reverse too. Don's casual comment that Leo's the last turtle any of them need to worry about is, of course, darkly ironic given Leo is at that exact moment being pursued by the entire Foot Clan - but it's also not even true in a general sense. That very same morning, Splinter had pulled Leo up because he could tell the boy was about to do something ill-considered and risky behind everyone's backs. A couple months ago, he nearly got duped by the Shredder into contemplating partnering with the Foot because it appealed to high ideals that hadn't yet been tempered by sufficient real life experience, and a similar cause leads him to stand in open opposition to Splinter's wishes in “City at War”! “Good son Leonardo who would never misbehave” isn't any more a real person than "sensible Donatello who would never fall prey to arrogance or impulsivity"; it's just a skewed image that comes sliding out of the sibling psyche (and theme song) sometimes.
All of which is to say that yes, Don and Leo really like each other and trust each other and work incredibly well together in a fun parallel way, and subsequently they don't seem to get a lot of pointed narrative focus turned on their relationship. But it's not this uncomplicated "oh, we're just the sensible ones together" dynamic either. I think there are a number of subtle moments where they kind of take each other by surprise like whoa, that's not the image of you I had in my head, and plenty of good narrative juice to be had in exploring just how much they don't necessarily communicate as well as they both think they do, and what sort of deeper understanding develops over time as they grow up and experience all these new challenges together.
(Also a great example of how important it is to have Raph and Mikey around to shove things to the foreground, tbh.)
