#this whole post was written after i heard dracula mention seeing the fall of rome during the halloween arc

[aleksiej]

i think the most infuriating part of my tmnt 2012 rewatch is seeing all the mistakes and how the smallest of changes would do wonders for the show.

not to say that there's an overwhelming amount of issues with '12 or anything, but some things just keep bothering me. and one of them is a part of my (as well as seemingly many others') favorite arc in the show, the farmhouse arc. to be more specific, a part of leo's struggles.

pretty much everyone and their mother had made memes about ghost splinter just telling leo to 'get over' his leg injury, that it's 'all in his head'. obviously infuriating to watch, and even more bizarre, when it actually works.

and i think the intention behind this part of leo's arc was that he had healed his wounds during his coma and maybe some physical therapy (that was not shown and that's only if the writers thought of physical therapy at all) and all, or at least most, of the troubles he's facing are due to chronic phantom pain, not any physical injuries.

which isn't much better in terms of the 'just get over it, pussy' speech, but in my opinion it's still an improvement from the same speech, used in the context of ACTUAL PHYSICAL INJURY.

and it's NOT IN THE SHOW. i understand the whole "show don't tell" and "don't spell out everything for the viewer" and i'm all for it, but first, this show is notorious for not telegraphing it's intent (ekhem capritello ekhem) and misusing it's characters and second, i'm not saying there should be a scene, where leo looks into the camera like he's in the office and says "even though i'm fully healed physically, i still feel the pain in my mind and will have to overcome it to be a ninjaaa". obviously.

the perfect fix for that, in my opinion, would just be a small dialogue bit, spoken by either raph or donnie or maybe dialogue between them, sort of like

"isn't he supposed to be all healed up?"

"well, yes, but his body is not the only part of him that shredder hurt."

or something like that. it's just one of these things that don't take much to be bettered. of which there are quite plenty in '12. still a fun show, just has some flaws.