#yw!

(No, but in all seriousness, we were DEPRIVED of content.)

So firstly (because it’s on my mind) I would like to make another pointer about just how loyal Donnie is and how often he puts his family first. Additionally, how STRONG he is.

It seems like the vampire bite (when not from Dracula) is supposed to take affect pretty fast. For April, it only took two or so minutes. It wasn’t slow, but it’s obvious that it takes effect almost immediately.

After all, the staff that’s supposed to repel all vampires causes him intense pain, enough he passes out.

It’s not even just the staff, because it’s made clear that he is in immense pain from the bite itself. (To quote April, “It feels like my blood is boiling.”) So, as Donnie is being face with two different levels of agony combined, it’s too much for him to handle. He falls.

Then, he drags himself back to his feet. He’s in obvious pain, fighting to stay upright, and DEFINITELY should have turned by now.

The time it took them to run around with April when she was transforming has passed as the battle continues. But he doesn’t change while he’s down. With what we know, it would be well within our expectations for the vampire bite to turn him after he falls.

Instead, he manages to drag himself back to his feet. He's in the middle of terrible pain, and he still figures out the next step for the rest of the team, a way to escape, a place to take them.

He’s suffering and his only impulse is to get them out of there.

He locks the doors and leads them down the tunnels.

They’re all on foot headed far from the lair. (When she was turning, April had to be held up, supported so they could keep moving, but Donnie’s matching their pace, bolting down the tunnel with them.)

Again, he should be transformed by now.

But he’s not. He leads them to a safe place, stumbling and breathless and visibly struggling as he loses his footing, only kept from falling down the stairs by Leo’s steady hands and his sheer determination.

He keeps going but it’s a struggle. You can hear it in how raspy his voice is as he cups his neck, curling in on himself- is it really the bite that hurts? Is it his head? His entire body? Can he even tell?

He’s desperately fighting it, but he’s losing.

And yet, he’s still warring, still struggling, still wrestling with himself and (assumed by the glowing eyes) the ones trying to hold him down.

Then after one last guttural scream, he passes out. It’s not a trick because the transformation hasn’t taken hold yet- see? No fangs.

And, as far as I can tell, in that momentary lapse of consciousness, the vampire is able to take hold. It literally was unable to beat him until all of his systems abruptly shut down. And the second that Donnie releases, the vampire is up and ready for violence.

And Donnie isn’t a vampire like Raph or April. There’s no consciousness active in there that makes arguments or listens to pleas. He’s violent- his first impulse is to start throwing beds and growling. He doesn’t even speak once through the entire first interaction. Only hissing and grunting. My guess is the momentary loss of turtle consciousness officially let the vampire take hold.

It's like there isn't actually a Donnie in there making choices or being influenced, because Donnie had to let go in order for it to take effect. There's just a raging vampire inciting violence for his master.

(But that’s just a theory. A FILM THEORY-)

When Donnie comes back into the picture, he gets ONE LINE.

“Going somewhere?”

Which doesn’t allude to ANYTHING.

“Going somewhere, brother?” “Where ya going, Leo?”

THOSE lines would say something about whether Donnie’s in there. This is nothing. This is something any evil, generic stranger would say to the heroes when he has them cornered.

Even still, my brain immediately went yep yep yep yep let’s GO- And then nothing? He just spends the rest of the time fighting?

He doesn’t even do anything intelligent! Or coy! Or Donnie! Just tackles people and tried to bite them through wood. Raph gets a whole ‘I wanna live forever with you guys!’ moral dilemma and Donnie’s just hissing and kicking and grinning maliciously?

ALL THAT BUILD UP AND WE WERE ROBBED.

Even APRIL had more to her in the spooky vibes/evil plotting department. You could tell it was her. You could tell it was Casey.

As a Donnie fan this was an absolute travesty. He became a background character for SO MANY SCENES that I couldn’t help watching him go back to normal with complete devastation.

And THEN. I had myself an epiphany.

When he comes back, he’s just kinda- lost? Blank? Confused?

And then he makes eye contact with Raph, and he smiles.

But this isn’t a “OMGEE I’M NOT A VAMPIRE INTENT ON KILLING PEOPLE” smile. It’s just. Raph is happy. So he’s happy.

And he’s silent. Everyone has a comment on the situation. Something to ask, something to say, just something.

Donnie says absolutely nothing. Not once. Ever.

Everyone is laughing and smiling and ecstatic and he’s-

What is that face? What is he thinking??

Why is the boy who is always filled to the brim with expressions-

Relatively expressionless?

Sure, when it pans, it looks like a smile, but that’s not a joyous face.

He’s not even close to the level that his brothers are at. I mean, the world didn’t end, so that’s good. He knows it’s good. So, a smile.

But… I don’t think this boy is really processing.

I think that he’s running because they’re running and smiling because they are. I think he’s just reacting. Doing.

And that makes sense if this really was a lost time situation. After all, if his brain shut down so the vampire could take over, he wouldn’t have been aware. He just passed out while fighting for his life and woke up to in Frankenstein’s grip with everyone celebrating excitedly. Then he’s thrown on the rooftop. He has no idea what progressed.

He thought he was going to hurt the others.

He thought he was a goner. That the world was ending.

And now everything’s just- okay? How? Why?

The last thing that he remembers clearly is fighting for his life. And Raph- Raph knows what he did (which is awful on its own), but this would mean that Donnie doesn’t. That Donnie could have done any number of horrible things while a feral, violent, bloodthirsty vampire.

There was a period of time when none of his brothers had an eye on him. What did he do? Who did he hurt? Can he trust their recounts? Does he know anything for sure?

(Imagine you come across a cringe part of a movie, skip a few scenes, then watch the happy ending. But you still feel like something’s missing. So you go back and force yourself to watch it anyway, and suddenly the ending is so much more satisfying because now you know what happened. Why the apology was necessary. Why they needed to hug it out so bad.)

(Imagine there’s no reverse button. Imagine the antagonist is you. Imagine knowing that there was not a drop of compassion in you- that you were willing, eager, to destroy everything you were striving to protect. But you don’t have any memory of it? You won, but how? You’re okay, but how? Everything’s fine, but HOW?)

(You don’t know. You’re the only one who doesn’t know.)