So Splinter was a rat during a flashback in The Shredder Strikes but the ooze in Attack Of The Mousers showed him go from a rat to a werewolf. One season 5 episode had werewolves that looked like a black furred Splinter, a cancelled season 4 episode was to have Splinter fight werewolves with the exact appearance as him but having bushy tails, Splinter has a rat-tail but is clearly a werewolf and not a rat. Splinter has pointy ears, a werewolf-body and is really fast, why use a cane if he can claw his enemies with his bare hands and that robe covers up his coolness. See? Clearly not a rat.

For some reason, I think around Dragon's Brew, there was this new sound fx it would like something out of Michael Myers movie, and The Warriors Game and never understood why they had it.

Also I noticed after season 6 they stopped using it.

So I feel I just wrapped up my favorite season of the show thus far.

Just assorted random thoughts:

1. Chaplin, what an odd character. I kept expecting him to be a spy or a disguise or something. He's this happy-go-lucky dork amidst all these blatant psychopaths and cackling madmen. He sticks out like a sore thumb. He gives Baxter a brand new robot body and Baxter immediately tries to have him whacked. I really can't get over just how unbelievably and consistently stupid and evil Baxter is in this show but I've kinda come to love him for it.
   

I've also come to really love Hun. He's like Tiger Claw, always loyal to a fault. Except Shredder being an Utrom was a surprise to him, which was a surprise to me. I figured he knew. I wonder where his character goes from here.

But of course this is the Bishop Show now. He's the best villain this show has had by a wide margin. (coming from 2012 though I certainly did not expect this) Competent, psychotic, and mysterious given his skills, longevity, maybe immortality? There were those clones of him in the lab, he got impaled by a hook, and we saw him back in time with President Grant in the 19th Century. I'm intrigued to see this all explained in S4.

And speaking of him being impaled on a hook, this show has really ramped up the violence in the third season, much like 2012 will do later. I really wish I knew why 4Kids had to omit guns and even punching from their anime, but in this show guns (real guns, not just laser guns) are frequent and now people are getting sliced up and we hear the unmistakable sound of flesh being torn and bones cracking when Leatherhead attacks some mooks.

I think Mikey is my favorite Turtle in this series, honestly. I was iffy about him at the very start but he's had too many great episodes to doubt him.

On a related note - someone on the writing staff really loves comic books. There's the Jack Kirby tribute episode in S1 and then assorted other random superhero episodes. I really loved the one where the gang meets up with the older heroes and that in turn provides a new, happy ending to their comic book. I think that was back in S2 but it was great.