Raphael rarely shows warmth to anyone, with the exception of Spike, his pet turtle that’s been around the entire series. Like Timothy’s innards to Donnie, Spike was the one character that Raph could confide his problems to. So when the confidant ingested mutagen, it took in all that baggage (in this case, anger management issues and frustrations with Raph’s brothers) that the turtle left with him. The ensuing beat-downs (calling them fights aren’t really a fair description) are brutal; Slash demolishes Donnie and Mikey in one of the most violent and destructive battles the show has done. Like Donnie’s fight with Mutagen Man, there’s way more going on than in most showdowns. Raphael is forced to fight his closest friend, but unlike Donnie, he doesn’t hesitate. He tries to talk to Slash and remind him of who he used to be, but that doesn’t stop him from being aggressive. Raph hasn’t had an opponent yet this season where he’s had to let loose, and it’s interesting to see him be as aggressive as possible (and that the way to defeat Slash was to be calm was a great counterpoint). In order to keep Leo out of this storyline until the end, he’s sent off on a wild goose chase to retrieve a mutagen canister which leads to him crashing a little girl’s tea party. Leo attempting to put his pinky out while drinking tea is adorable and the punch line after saying he’s the only imaginary turtle is perfectly executed. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
