#rise ep man vs. sewer

[ghostlypanda]

reasons to watch rise: "well leo, since you sell the fewest action figures, why don't you go ahead and jump first?"

please go support rise of the tmnt by watching the show and movie over on netflix!! 🧡💙💜

[davids-cartoon-corkboard]

Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

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"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

[overdramaticly-dying]

Man vs. Sewer

“Alrighttttt, here’s the next one (as requested by @dabibliophile)!!! Man vs. Sewer is a great episode, but it low-key caught me off-guard the first time I watched it... Like Raph genuinely lost it, and it wasn’t played off as a joke or anything which is how it’s often is in cartoons. I know rottmnt has its fair share of plot-related episodes, but tbh when I first watched Rise, I was seeing it more as a fun tmnt show, but this episode was what made me realize how good this series actually was... 

anywayssss, let’s go

-Donnie’s apparently the designated texter of the group

-”Sweet, sweet Angelo”

-Donnie’s boardshorts, and how Leo just looks done with him while Mikey looks on in awe... Mikey is so precious I love him

-”I’m not a useful member of society”  

-Leo’s genuine concern for Raph

-Dr. Delicate Touch

-”Where did you get that?” “Uh... borrowed it? from Splinter?” “Splinter. Who only owns robes and a shady past, let you-” 

-the fact that they consider Splinter to have a shady past, and apparently make jokes abt it with each other 

-Donnie is trying so hard to look angry, but he can’t help but smile when Mikey pulls on his tube

-”What? no, where do you think we are?”

-look at the teetlez in tubes. they cute. so smol.

-sports pass

-Raph saying that Lace Face has been in the family longer than Donnie leads me to believe that Baron Draxum gave smol Raph a football when he was in the lab even though I know that’s not true cuz it would’ve been exploded too. But still

-SPORTS

-”OUR FOOTBALL” *Leo slightly glares at him* “OH AND RAPH”

-”Then why doesn’t he has Splinter’s rugged good looks like we do?”

-Leo is Very Concerned abt Raph... idk, it’s really sweet, but his word choices can be worrying: “You know how savage Raph is when he’s alone. He’ll totally lose it if we don’t find him fast- clocks ticking.”

-Particularly the “you know how savage” and “clocks ticking” parts. They know this about him. They know it doesn’t take long. And it’s not played for laughs.

-How Raph starts taking deep breaths and his eyes look glossed over like he’s trying to avoid crying

-He didn’t even notice how much damage he did to the room...

-”Don’t lose it Raph! please...”

-THAT SOFT ‘please’ RAPH SAYS AT THE END GETS ME EVERY TIME??? HE KNOWS WHATS COMING??? 

-And while this is exaggerated, as someone who frequently has panic attacks, can I just say that this episode display’s the progress of what it feels like very well? You can feel it coming, and try all the deep breathing you want, but with every moment you feel more lost... idk I just really like this ep, ok??

-”He’s one of those turtle-jerks we hate y’know for... reasons I can’t remember... leTS EaT hiM!”

-”YES! well, actually, full disclosure, I dunno”

-”Today’s vibes were supposed to be chill, so I went ahead and filled my battleshell with refreshment.” “Just one, Donald?”

-”Then give us ice, for our horribly mangled bodies”

-*sounds of ice machine* “it melted.”

-”Raph was here.” “Leeeet’s not jump to conclusions Leon-” *points to graffiti stating ‘Raph was here’*

-Raph automatically called them ‘sewer monsters’... just an observation

-”I’M nOt as tOuGH aS i PReteND tO BE”

-”Someone could get really hurt on this... LET’S SEE HOW FAR IT SWINGS”

-This screenshot is cursed

-”Once again, I’d love to help bail us out with my undeniable and prestigious genius, but-”

-”That’s Donnie’s tire! I mean- Raph’s tube!”

-”Well Leo, since you sell the fewest action figures, why don’t you go ahead and jump first”

-”Leo, chill, we can’t freak out, nobody freak out, stOP FREAKING OUT DONNIE”

-Ok, but I do think Mikey somewhat relies on Raph to keep him calm and safe, after all, Raph is the mother hen and the most protective- especially of Mikey. It makes sense that Mikey is having a hard time too, and I think a lot of his flippant concern is just him trying to ignore that he doesn’t currently have one of the most stable people in his life, and they’re the ones trying to save Raph... it’s probably taking a lot out of all of them

-Mikey tried to cling onto Donnie while falling

-”MAKE A HUMAN SHIELD AROUND MEEEEE” Leo. you’re a turtle. you’re all turtles.

-”100% not Raph, staking my life on it, shorts” “RAPH. ALOOOOONE” “it might be Raph, but who’s to say anymore?”

-Raph may be savage, but he’s still got requirements for his taste, so he puts lemon on the crabs. But then again, he put it directly in their eyes???? was that supposed to be torture???

-”Are you barbequing villains?”

-Raph’s comment about having ‘no brothers’ makes me wonder if he remembers his years as a turtle somewhere deep inside and the time he would’ve spent alone... idk man...

-”No one’s gonna shout the answer at me and make all my problems disappear!”

-They aren’t scared of him after... They just immediately go to hug him... it’s very important

-”Aw, I love you guys” SAID SO CASUALLY BY RAPH I WANNA CRY

tl;dr this episode is really sweet, but surprisingly serious. It has its fun moments, but a lot of it feels like its hinting at more to come, and even if it isn’t, it’s still a really interesting look into Raph as a character

(also sorry this was a bit longer and slightly more serious than the others, it’s just a really great ep- check out @davids-cartoon-corkboard​ he has some really great theories on it!!)

[fanfic-inator795]

RANKING ALL THE ROTTMNT EPISODES

(I wanted to make an actual tier list but the site keeps not working right for me so, text-based list it is. Also, PLEASE everyone make your own ranking list - at the very least I’d like to see everyone’s Top 5/Top 10 and Bottom 5, just cause I’m curious about that sort of thing. Okay, so-)

Best. Episodes. EVER!:

(aka my personal faves/the eps I always rewatch and always have a fun time with)

Evil League of Mutants (sorry not sorry, but no other episode is topping this one imo. #1 best episode of the series, 10/10)

End Game

Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree

Hot Soup: The Game

Always Be Brownies

Stuck on You

Late Fee

Mascot Melee

Rise

The Ancient Art of Ninja Hide and Seek

Awesome and Amazing!:

Battle Nexus: New York

Snow Day

Insane in the Mama Train

Mystery Meat

You Got Served!

Bullhop

The Mutant Menace

Al Be Back

Great!:

The Fast and the Furriest

The Purple Jacket

Turtle-Dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man

Many Unhappy Returns

The Clothes Don’t Make the Turtle

Anatawa Hitorijanai

The Purple Game

Repairin’ the Baron

Lair Games

The Hidden City Job

Bug Busters

Mystic Mayhem

Newsworthy

Hidden City’s Most Wanted

Operation: Normal

Shell in a Cell

E-Turtle Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Repo Mantis

Mind Meld

Shadow of Evil

Man VS Sewer

Shreddy or Not

Smart Lair

Good:

Donnie’s Gifts

Down with the Sickness

Mystic Library

How to Make Enemies and Bend People to your Will

Breaking Purple

War and Pizza

Portal Jacked!

The Longest Fight

Origami Tsunami

Minotaur Maze

Goyles, Goyles, Goyles

The Gumbus

Air Turtle

Donnie VS Witch Town

Mrs. Cuddles

Raph’s Ride-Along

Sparring Partner

Cloak and Swaggart

Flushed, But Never Forgotten

Pizza Pit

One Man’s Junk

Bad Hair Day

Meh/okay:

Nothing But Truffle

Todd Scouts

Pizza Puffs

Fists of Furry

Least Favorite:

Jupiter Jim Ahoy!

Hypno! Part Deux!

Sidekick Ahoy! (will probably not rewatch this one ever again unless I’m doing like a 100% full rewatch marathon. For several reasons, I just don’t like this episode at all :/ Still not the worst piece of television I’ve ever seen, buuuuut imo the worst of Rise)

So yeah, that’s my personal ranking of the series! Again, please share your lists/faves/least faves as well! ^v^

[spectrumscribe]

What were your favorite episodes of Rise of the TMNT season 1, and did you have a least favorite episode/any episodes that you didn’t like?

going by their order of appearance, my faves are:

- Down With the Sickness (i’m still not over the concept of mutant flues like this, like what even)

- Bug Busters (BIG MAMA’S INTRODUCTION. i love spider milf.)

- Mrs. Cuddles (yall remember how demon puppets are canonically real?? can we address this again please)

- Pizza Pit (god bless DIGG)

- Operation: Normal (april+sunita meet cute, adorable bby lesbians)

- How to Make Enemies and Bend People to Your Will (aka draxum adopts a knife daughter)

- Mystic Library (full disclosure i want to live in this library, i want them to visit it again omgggg)

- Man vs. Sewer (*slaps raph’s shell* this boy can fit so many xeno headcanons in him)

- Insane in the Mama Train & Endgame (these ones are a given)

and tbqh, i didn’t dislike any episodes! they were all delightful and exciting! which is a big ol’ seal of approval coming from me, since 9/10 times i can find at least something to critique about a show.

i can’t wait for the next season! n if anyone wants to, comment your fave eps & why u like em :0c

[ghostlypanda]

reasons to watch rise: "GET YOUR MIND RIGHT, SON!"

if you enjoy these clips, please support the show by watching over on netflix! 💜

[overdramaticly-dying]

If you're in the mood to talk about more Rise eps, how about "Man vs. Sewer" or "Turtle-dega Nights"? They're both p good characterization eps, in my eyes.

OOOH GOOD ONES- I’ll definitely do those next!!

(thanks for the suggestions!!)