User:Gilgameshkun/Mature content in the 2012 TV series

 Some TMNT stuff really isn't for little kids, but this is still Nick, remember? So, this article documents mature content in the 2012 TV series. Though the show is rated, Nickelodeon is still Nickelodeon, and the network famously has a long tradition of pushing the envelope.

Because there is, at some times, a certain degree of subjectivity involved, this article should be treated as a personal essay of User:Gilgameshkun.

Cockroach Terminator
There's a reason why the 1987 TV series had the turtles fighting robotic s instead of human ones&mdash;because in standards of cartoon violence, it always appears less violent if enemies explode as machinery than if they're stabbed or bludgeoned to death. The 2012 TV series is noticeably more violent, but it still never shows blood, at least if it's the blood of vertebrates.

And thus, the mutant Spy-Roach trying to kill Raph is himself violently killed by Raph, exploding in a massive splatter of...cockroach. If this were a human (or even a mutant turtle), it would be far too graphic for TV-Y7, or even TV-14. But since it's a mutant insect, the show can show it dying in such a graphically violent manner and dismiss its mutilated remains as bug juice.

Karai's Vendetta
Someone has to be young and ignorant not to realize the brief misunderstanding in this scene. This is maybe only TV-PG material, but it's still remarkable for a TV-Y7 show.

The turtles are in the navigating the East River to Kraang facility on the sea floor. The facility is being protected by a brought over from. The monster is aggressive, and the turtles try to outmaneuver it, but fail. But instead of destroying the sub...

This scene is especially noteworthy for its sheer audacious obviousness for TV-Y7. Practically no one in the sub (or anyone watching this scene, for that matter) misunderstands what's happening.

Invasion of the Squirrelanoids
So, Mikey finds this four day old leftover pizza lying around at room temperature, and he and  start eating it. That pizza has almost certainly has some kind of fungus growing on it by now.

And after their snack, Mikey and Raph look like...this. It's normal to see Mikey smiling all the time, but Raph almost never has a smile permanently glued to his face like this. And neither of their eyes is completely open, like they're...feeling really good. And Mikey is flighty and forgetful, but to be this absent-minded and still have that look on his face?

The scene is remarkable in how stoned they make Mikey and Raph look, without necessarily implying that they intentionally took any drugs. But it's generally a good rule of thumb that you shouldn't eat perished or moldy food.

Mutagen Man Unleashed


When a person is stalked by an obsessive admirer, it is usually uncomfortable at best, and terrorizing at worst. This is why, in many legal jurisdictions, this kind of is now a, and we generally don't see too many of those so openly referenced in TV-Y7 shows.

Fortunately, all of Donnie's brothers immediately understand that what Donnie admitted to doing is not okay. But does Donnie learn from this experience? Not really. In Target: April O'Neil, he's still stalking. Eventually they reconciled and became friends again, with Donnie actually being rewarded and thanked by April for his behavior. It's a good thing that Donnie is ultimately a good-hearted person, but his obsessive compulsive disorder still drove him to some creeptastic behavior that's totally not okay for kids to learn to emulate.

Slash and Destroy


A loves his. The pet loves his man. They have loved and trusted each other for years. The pet mutates into another man, and they plan to live only for each other. The former pet goes insane and becomes violently possessive, trying to kill the man's brothers so he can have the man all to himself. The man rejects what the former pet has become, and manages to defeat him after an emotionally-charged battle. Does this mean the man no longer loves his former pet? No, not one bit less. The man grieves the loss of his loved one.

This entire episode has some very dark themes combining horror, psychodrama and (ambiguous) romance in some unsettling ways. It makes for some very gripping grownup drama, and might have been perfect as an edgy Mirage TMNT story. But for a TV-Y7-FV show, it's just plain bold.

Fortunately, later episodes prove that Slash is not actually evil, and is genuinely a good person, but had also genuinely gone insane during the events of this episode. Even children can often understand that "he was sick and had to get better," which is a lot easier to accept than your loved one being plain evil.

The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman
has just kissed for the second time in one day, and in front of his romantic rival, no less. Needless to say, Donnie is euphoric.

Then there's the "Bow chicka bow bow" part, which Donnie chants while making s. This is not at all something easily comfortably explained to young children.

Into Dimension X!


Since , it is generally thought that Nickelodeon is comfortable at least with the idea of same-sex romances in their shows. If or  want a boyfriend, then it is no different than  or  wanting a girlfriend. It's not as controversial a topic as it used to be, certainly not among the younger audience of the 2012 TV series. It's also not what makes this mature content.

This scene is one of Mikey's tender memories of his time with. Unlike his other memories, which were flashbacks of scenes from previous episode (It Came From The Depths and TCRI), this particular scene did not appear in any previous episode, but is original to Into Dimension X!.

Mikey and Leatherhead asleep together on the  floor. The scene shows that, sometime between when Mikey met Leatherhead and when Leatherhead trapped himself in, their relationship was not just romantic (as postpubescent spooning implies virtually 100% of the time), but Mikey and Leatherhead were sleeping together. The mature content comes when we understand the more specific meaning that the phrases "sleep with" and "sleep together" have in the English language.

The scene is also conspicuously in the common area of the. Usually, when people sleep soundly like this, it's in their own beds, right? Why not sleep there? A simple possibility is that Leatherhead may not fit into, not to mention that the bed is too small for them both to sleep on, let alone in this kind of position. A more socially conscious answer is that they would be alone together in Mikey's room, granting a level of privacy that raises other mature considerations, and is the same reason why many parents don't like their teenage children to be alone with attractive teenage visitors in their bedrooms. By sleeping in the living room, the scene itself actually dispels some of the more mature connotations it otherwise might have had, while still carrying the implication that they sleep together like a couple which is mature enough on its own.

Imagine if was sleeping with  or  like this, or if  was sleeping with  like this, and the mature content is all the clearer.

Meet Mondo Gecko
Suffice it to say, this scene is not what it looks like. Because until we see the action figures in this scene, what it looks like is pretty racy on its own. The thing is, it's not like most teenagers haven't done what this looks like, or that many haven't been caught at it. But it's one of those things most people prefer never to talk about, and certainly not expect to find on a TV-Y7 show.