TMNT’s season two ended off with a bang, well maybe that’s a huge understatement, the showed dare to go places I never thought they would. The turtles are now without a leader, since Leo is currently out of commission and for all they know, Splinter is dead, and the remaining team members are off to North Hampton.

Now let’s look ahead at what I’m hoping to see in season 3, which is not going to be a long wait, I expect to see the premiere at the end of this week online.

First, let’s look at Donnie, we’ve now removed a fairly big chunk of his character, he knows he doesn’t have a chance with April, and must now move on. How is he going to do it? Is he going to sink himself into working, drowning out everything else? It’s possible, he could lash out, it’ll be hard to watch, but again, it could happen. Donnie’s crush is quietly pushed away in the finale, and we don’t get any closure about how Don feels about losing April. We know he’s going to feel bad, but how he deals with it will define his character even more.

Next is Leo, Leo is not going to be getting back up any time soon. We don’t know when he’s going to wake up, could be episode one, could be later on, but either way, he’s going to have to deal with relying on the others for awhile. Whether or not Don is going to stay as the leader throughout this arc is up in the air. There’s going to have to be a rehabilitation period for Leo, and then we’re going to have to break the news about Splinter, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how he deals with that.

Raph is probably going to be on a hair trigger, easily riled up and stressed out. His brother is injured, and he watched his sensei die, well as far as he knows. I’m imagining we’re going to see a lot more of Raph’s softer side, at least I’m hoping, and we’re probably going to see him lash out even more.

During the finale, Mikey really surprised me, he was constantly smiling, constantly upbeat, and it’s compelling. I don’t know if he’s hiding his pain with his smile, or that’s just how strong Mikey is. With how he was constantly consoling Raph during the finale, I’m hoping to see the two build more of a bond. When Mikey hugged Raph it was incredibly powerful, for me at least.

Finally, we have the most important player left, Splinter. We see in the end that Karai saved him, pulling him out of the water and making sure he was still alive. What I really hope to see in future episodes, is Splinter and Karai working together to either build a new lair, or find the turtles. I want to see them form a father daughter bond, and I want to see the end product. Will they be fighting back against Krang and the Shredder? The day where we get to see Karai and Splinter fighting Shredder together is going to be a pure magical experience. Separating Splinter and the turtles will allow for a tighter focus on that relationship, and I truly hope Nickelodeon uses that opportunity to its fullest.

Maybe the season 3 finale will be about the turtles coming back to fight Shredder and end up reuniting with Splinter and Karai, and they work together to thwart all the bad guys. Will the entire season be focusing on balancing the two separate groups? That might be cool to see, and have a massive pay off in the end, or will we get a mid season special like we did in season 2 with the Manhattan Project?

Whatever this incredibly talented team decides to do, I hope they begin to use a more episodic structure, where we can get more of a continual story arch. Even if it means having a small recap of the last episode like Avatar does at the beginning. It’ll give the series a tighter focus, and will allow Nickelodeon to do more with their stories.

So let’s get ready for one awesome new season with the North Hampton arc, I know I’m pumped up.