Ok, so I'm doing this email on this blog-like situation I made literally years ago but never used because today I learned how to make gifs, but I can't send them to you in an email easily, so here ya go. Also I can do other cool stuff I couldn't online before either. If we want, we could probably make it so we both just post here. I dunno, we will just have to see how it goes
Okidoki!
First official email of the new age.
So I see you have really made some progress in your watching- you've seen April get promoted, met Shini, dark April arc (!), freaky rat king vision, super shredder, alopex, etc. But these are topics for another email. Today we focus on one episode in particular.
Requiem.
Oki doki so we start with Shredder successfully removing his emotions weakness and totes killing Karai hologram.
Like whaaaaat?!
Also we see that Splinter pretty much knows he is gonna die- I imagine he probably accepted that last time he almost died in the big pit.
Also, nice reference to the VERY FIRST EPISODE with the "Why am I leader/Why you are leader" talk #continuity
(PS, who invites their dad to come party with them?)
And Karai and Shini are with the Mutanimals! Their defense grid seems waaaaay better than the turtles' tbh. Like significantly. Like the Turtle lair is actually super not safe. Also like all of their enemies know where it is.
So anyways, shredder pretty much wrecks the mutanimals. Which isn't that surprising actually.
And whoaaaa. The Karai Shredder stuff. Straight up heavy.
"It is fitting that you perish just as your mother perished!"
Like whoa. Call back to the backstory. And like with the fire and everything. Its heavy stuff.
Like look at that stuff. They straight up show a flashback to young Saki. And THEN you get Karai's reaction. And I love how you see her face change-like first the shock, the gut reaction to hearing that phase, and then it turns to rage- pupils shrink, teeth clench. Like wow. I'm surprised she didn't get all snakey here.
So I feel like we need to discuss Shredder and his motivations here. Because, wow, what a change. Before he was all about these lies, deception etc. to maintain control of Karai-to be to some extent "the good guy." To some extent I think he had convinced himself. But here he obviously just don't care. Not only is he not denying that Karai isn't his daughter, he essentially accepts the blame (and revels in the idea) that he, ultimately was the one to kill Tang Shen.
So why the change? And why does he want to kill Karai now? Maybe his self delusions have been forced out of him by hard reality and emotion removing mutagen? Maybe he feels like she betrayed him? Who knows, but he has like REALLY lost it.
So I appreciate the use of cpr without an obvious romantic subtext. Because sometimes, you just do cpr to save someones life. Even if they are (sort of?) your romantic interest/girlfriend/confusing sister-like personage. Also, I don't think that would work with the armor, though I do think the armor saved her from dying from the Shredder's first slash. (If only somebody would've had armor to begin with)
Also, if shini is waiting with Karai for the ambulance, how exactly are they gonna explain all of that? Like "oh we were just hanging out in this actually not abandoned warehouse dressed as a witch and a ninja when, uh, everything caught on fire, and we were horibly beaten and, uh, stabbed. By the fire. Yeah...."
Like that just aint working.
Oooo, love the callback to Wolf Hotel. First Shredder fight in the series (an excellent one) and also the locale of the very first TMNT comic book. Or so the internet tells me.
So, I hate to say this, but I kind of fight this fight a smidge "meh"
Don't know why. The martial arts don't WOW me like some other ones have. It also might have something to do with the fact that not all 4 turtles are here.
Ummm... April got stabbed in the arm and fell down like... dead. What the?
Overall I don't care much for the minion fight in the amusement park. But, like, Leatherhead literally just drowned Rahzar. That is a thing that just happened.
Shredder kicking Splinters trash is straight brutal. Also, the fact that for the first time (I believe?) Shredder calls Splinter his brother.
And then, the moment. With the stabbing and the throwing off the building. Like that is heavy. Straight heavy.
April like psychic blasts him into a garbage truck, an Casey crushes him, but let be real, what we really care about is the reactions of the turtles which are.... like... wow..
Leo:"No. Please."
Oh, my heart, it hurts.
Donnie: *Wordless sob*
No! Donnie the genius doesn't even have words. And the flashbacks! Oh! My poor heart! It's aching!
Mikey: "Papa"
Oy, and with that my heart is broken. Oh. Ouch. The vulnerablity, the juxtaposition with such a happy and hilarious memory that I personally remember cracking up during. Oh.
Raph: *Stunned silence*
And Raph, the fire cracker, is stunned. Unable to speak, paralyzed by grief, mouth hanging open. He just can't process it.
And there they go, smashing my already broken heart into tiny tiny pieces. Probably the one that gets me the hardest. Tiny!Leo, sword receiving, Splinters little dad smile.... AHHH Why? Who gave a show called Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles the right to do this????
And finally, the part that hurts the worst. The pall bearers.
I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING.
Thats not right either.
We are both crying. Everyone is crying.
And then we find out Shredder is still kickin- he had to be- we still have the season finale after all, and there is no way he got beat by April and Casey in a fight that didn't actually include all of the turtles.
Man, thats crazy stuff. Sad heavy stuff. But honestly quite good. Not my fave episode, but a great one, with a really heavy emotional impact. Better that both of the previous "Splinter deaths"
Its great.
And didn't I tell you it was gonna get dark.
So thank you for joining me in the suffering pit.
That's really why I made sure you could see these episodes. The suffering it was getting kind of lonely. Now we suffer together!
So good luck in Owari. I believe in you.
Love ya girlie
Natalie
