Turtle Temper

"Turtle Temper" is the third episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series). It originally aired on October 6, 2012.

Major Characters

 * Raphael
 * Leonardo
 * Michelangelo
 * Donatello
 * Spider Bytes/Vic

Minor Characters

 * The Kraang
 * Master Splinter
 * Spike

Main Locations
NYC

Plot Synopsis
The episode starts off with the Turtles on a recon mission. They are patiently waiting on a roof to catch the Kraang before they are able to break into a lab. Out of boredom, Mikey is repeatedly poking Raph's head, until Raph gets annoyed and they start playfully fighting. Leo immediately tells them to be quiet, as they are on a mission dedicated to stealth, but their superfluous noise ends up drawing a human named Vic up to the roof anyway (who is living down below), and he sees the Turtles, much to their dismay...He then accuses them of breaking his satellite dish in half and he insults them, making Raph even more angry. Their yelling between the two then attracts the Kraang's attention (who are nearby), and then a fight breaks out between the villains and our heroes - and Vic decides to record the entirety of the battle on his video phone...After the Turtles' victory, Raph tries to get the video from Vic, but the churlish man ultimately gets away, and the Turtles are forced to retreat when they hear both fire trucks and police coming.

In the sewer lair, Splinter lectures Raph for letting his anger at Vic greatly endanger their mission. As a training exercise, Splinter has the other Turtles shoot suction-cup arrows at Raph, and the first time, he dodges all of the arrows easily. But, the second time, Splinter has the other Turtles repeat the exact same process, while insulting Raph, and he ends up covered in arrows from head to toe... After this, Splinter tells the Turtles that they must get the video from Vic through reason, instead of force.

The Turtles soon find Vic on a street, and Raph tries his very best to politely ask him for the video on his phone, but Vic demands to be paid precisely a million dollars for it and refuses to hand it over!! Raph then loses his patience and tries to threaten the man into cooperating, but once again, his yelling attracts the attention of the Kraang. Another large fight breaks out, but Raph ditches his brothers to keep arguing with Vic. This time, the Kraang get away with Vic as their prisoner. Seeing that Raph and his ongoing temper have become a liability, Leonardo sends him home, whilst he, Donnie and Mikey track the bad guys down, which they are able to do because the van is leaking a bit and a trail of oil was left.

At home, Raph informs Spike about his current problems. Splinter then appears and thoroughly tells him a story about his past. When he was a young man (Hamato Yoshi), he and his "friend", Oroku Saki (The Shredder), both fell in love with the very same woman, Tang Shen. One day, a jealous Saki overcame Yoshi with a variety of insults in front of Tang Shen herself, and Yoshi struck him down in his anger. After that, their rivalry grew into intense hatred, and this eventually came to result in the tragic death of Tang Shen and their shared house being burnt to oblivion. Raph then says that Splinter had no choice but to get angry when The Shredder insulted him. Splinter, however, replies that he could indeed have chosen not to let all of the insults fester within him, but instead, he poorly chose the opposite. Then, he asks Raph what kind of choice he will make...

Meanwhile, Leo, Donnie and Mikey track the Kraang down to an old building with a massive tank full of Mutagen inside. They also find Vic tied to a chair, and the Kraang are plotting to keep his video so that they can learn more about the Turtles and show it to other Kraang, as they seemingly look good in the footage. As the Turtles try to save Vic with a rope by pulling on the bottom of the chair, he loudly refuses to leave without his phone, which gives their position away to their enemies. In the battle that follows, Vic manages to get his phone back while a spider is on it, just as laser that goes astray breaks through the Mutagen tank above and ends up dousing him in it...He mutates into huge spider monster with four appendages on the top of his head and has an aptitude for spitting a grotesque acid at enemies -- and all of the Kraang retreat in fear after witnessing this. Harshly blaming the Turtles for his transformation, he begins attacking them and Mikey promptly dubs him "Spider Bytez".

Spider Bytez proves to be a very formidable foe and the Turtles are nearly outmatched after falling through several floors, but the tide of battle is then turned when Raph arrives...Remembering Splinter's advice, he is able to ignore Spider Bytez' insults and fight him effectively. From that point on, the Turtles are reenergized and start targeting specific weak spots - and Raph even makes the spider spit onto one of his own appendages. The brothers quickly make a comeback and succeed in destroying the video phone by stepping on it as well. Spider Bytez then retreats into the night and uses his agility to jump behind some rooftops, swearing revenge. Leonardo then apologizes to Raph for 'punishing' him, but Raph says that he did not have to. Mikey then playfully insults Raph, causing the latter to pin him to the ground. The episode concludes with Raph forcing a reluctant Michelangelo to say "Raphael is all wise and powerful. And he's better than me in every possible way!!!.''

Gallery
See: Turtle Temper / Gallery 

Trivia

 * Vic keeps calling the Turtles "Kung-Fu Frogs", possibly in reference to the Punk Frogs from the 80's cartoon.
 * "Spider Bytes" was also the name of a minor demon from "The Engagement Ring" in the 2003 series.