Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1255374-20151024145123/@comment-16581186-20151101203832

Well people, I am overjoyed to say that I finally got what I have been asking for from this show for a long time with this episode: A female, non-ninja character that can whip the turtles in physical combat. And yes, G'thrakka was also pretty cool and formidable but Mona Lisa beat the SHELL out of these turtles and made them look like amateur's (and of course swatted away April and Casey like they're nothing of course). And I LOVE that this is the reason Raph is attracted to her. He finally met someone who can beat him down and look good doing it. She barely even used her sword against them, mostly just her Salamandarian millitary training to make up for her smaller stature compared to Neutralizer and G'thrakka. Tbh I think Donnie got the worst of it, especially when she cracked his his shelly walnuts (wink wink). All jokes aside though, Mona's introduction was much better than I expected. Her personality kind of reminds me of Leonardo from the 2K3 series. You know, the one that couldn't go an episode without saying the word "Honor" for awhile. Although she isn't a ninja, her actions and dialogue suggest that she holds "ninja" values, making her seem somewhat akin to the turtles.

The writers did a good job in this one. Raphael and Mona Lisa's relationship was deveIoped very well in this episode. I loved that Raphael initially treated her like any other villain, but when she knocked him down he was all like "OMG i think i'm in love with this girl". It felt a bit like how BBRae's relationship developed. Where Raph repeatedly tried to compromise with Mona Lisa and she kept shutting him down, even though she liked him back. I also found it interesting that in this version, Raphael gives her the name, and adorable that he told her that the name is of the most beautifhul lady in art. So in a way, i guess Raph added her to his Renaissance-inspired named family. Who knew Raph read books. The ending really sealed the deal for me though. I got the chills (no pun intended) when Raph and Mona are sitting together dying from lack of oxygen and Raph says "Mona, I want to tell you how i feel" and Mona says "Don't worry Raphael, I already know".

Casey's reaction to the kiss was hilarious! Mainly because it's natural human reaction to seeing two strange humanoid creatures just making out like that. THAT was comedy gold! Even though it was off screen, I think this is the second mouth to mouth kiss in this show after Karai/Casey. With Raphael being emotionally attached to her, coupled with Leo saying he'll see her again someday, gives me a good feeling that this isn't the last time we'll see her.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of Mona Lisa. I am not joking when I say she is one of my new favorite characters/allies.