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by R.J. Carter Published: April 13, 2007
So quite naturally I was disappointed to see that it was going to go in an anime direction, complete with moments of silliness and super-deformed heads and speed lines. The theme song performance by Puffy Amiyumi clinched things for me. This was a generation of Titans I just wasn't going to be able to relate to. This child of the Cardy era, privileged to live through the Wolfman/Perez incarnations, was feeling mighty low. Even a little angry.
Which isn't to say that the season didn't have some strong, suspenseful parts. Robin's obsession with Slade (who used to be called Deathstroke the Terminator in the comics, until we lost "...the Terminator" part and he just became Deathstroke, which obviously was just too grim for a kids' show) shows just how driven the Boy Wonder can be, a trait no doubt acquired from his mentor. His guilt over creating the identity of Red X comes back to haunt him as well when someone steals the suit and its technology to take on the role. And we get a decent character study of Beast Boy in one episode, when the usually happy-go-lucky Titan is pushed to the brink and finds his inner beast -- an episode that brings him closer to Raven (a nod, perhaps, to the nearly romantic relationship they share in the comic books?) But before we get to all that, we begin with a new villain, a villain who develops an obsession with Cyborg that carries through the entire season. It begins with the HIVE Academy headmaster. To borrow from comics scribe, Alan Moore: "It begins with Blood."
Rob Hoegee When Gizmo, Mammoth and Jinx escape the Titans yet again, Robin succeeds in planting a tracking device on them, which leads our heroes to the secret location of the HIVE Academy. Cyborg, using a new technology he just developed that projects a hologram around himself that makes him appear as he did before his accident, infiltrates the academy as "Stone", and quickly becomes the darling of the headmaster, Brother Blood. However, Blood tumbles to Cyborg's deception, and tempts the Titan with the opportunity to regain his human form permanently if he'll turn against the Titans.
David Slack It's Robin vs. Red X. But wait... I thought Robin was Red X? That's what the Teen Titans thought as well, but this time not even the Boy Wonder knows who's running around in the villainous identity Robin created. The Titans are out to stop him from stealing more of the rare element that powers the suit, but are interrupted when a mad scientist acquires the ingredient for himself so that he can build a disintegrator cannon and finally make a name in villainy for himself. When the chips are down, just what side of good and evil does Red X fall on?
Amy Wolfram Starfire is bound for her home planet of Tamaran for a wedding: her own! She's been betrothed in an arranged marriage, and Robin is beside himself. Upon arriving, however, the Titans learn that Tamaran has been under seige by an alien race, and that the Royal House has been usurped by Starfire's sister, Blackfire. (If you listen close, you'll hear the name Koriand'r spoken once.) Blackfire has arranged the marriage between Starfire to the leader of these aliens -- a stomach-shaped creature of infinite grossness -- ostensibly as an end to the hostilities. But the entire scheme was cooked up by Blackfire herself, who is trading her sister in exchange for a jewel that will amplify her powers to even greater levels. The Titans have to speak now, or forever hold their peace.
Rick Copp Probably the least compelling episode on this set is this story of the Titans trying to reign in a Cyborg-gone-wild. When Beast Boy downloads a questionable advanced copy of a new computer game, he can't find a machine powerful enough to run the new software -- so he uses one of Cyborg's. But what he mistakenly thinks is a computer is actually Cyborg's recharging unit -- and the cybernetic Titan is suddenly infected with a virus that makes him think everything is food. While silliness abounds around the city with the insane Cyborg, a shrunken Gizmo is injected into him as Cyborg's only hope. Accompanied by Beast Boy, who has morphed into an amoeba, the two battle white blood cells and computer virus modules in this less-than-fantastic voyage.
Adam Beechen An appropriate counterbalance to all that was bad in "Crash", "Haunted" is an intense tale of obsession. While the Titans are fighting off Cinderblock, Robin spies another villain hiding in the shadows: Slade, back from the dead! Robin gives chase and is beaten, but not before Slade tells him his diabolical plans. There's only one problem: none of the other Titans can see Slade, even when Robin declares he's standing right in front of them, ultimately pitting Robin against his friends. Has Robin finally cracked? Or has Slade found a way to finally defeat his arch-nemesis from beyond the grave? This episode features some very, very brief scenes of Robin's origin and connection to Batman, as Raven looks through his eyes to see what Robin sees.
David Slack In this character study of Raven, the gloomy Teen Titan begins to feel the effects of her antisocial behavior. Locking herself in her room to read a book, she is surprised to learn that one of the characters she's reading of is actually in the book -- as in, cursed and bound into it. Raven is able to release him partially from his curse but not fully, so he begins to tutor her in stronger magics. At first blush, the training seems to have a positive impact on her, evidenced in the color change of her outfit. But when she uses her new abilities in battle, the powers go out of control and she learns that the magic she's been studying is dark magic. Greg Ellis provides the voice for Malchior.
John Esposito This story may not have made the most sense, plot-wise, but it was certainly one of the funnest and funniest of the season. Set on Independence Day, the Titans find their 4th of July festivities halted when the Mad Mod hypnotizes the entire city into believing the Revolutionary War never happened. He then takes Robin out of the equation by stealing his youth, leaving it up to the other Titans to fight amongst themselves as to which plan they should follow. With homages to "Patton", Monty Python's Flying Circus, and "Yellow Submarine", among others, the Titans have only Beast Boy's fractured recollections of history to guide them to victory.
Tom Pugsley and Greg Klein Aqualad comes knocking at Titans Tower -- actually, he forces his way in, for no particular reason, since afterward he and the Titans are talking as friendly as can be. He needs their help against Brother Blood, who has relocated his HIVE Academy to a sub-oceanic headquarters, where he's been planting sonic resonators he plans to use to create a tidal wave. The battle is personal for Cyborg, who recognizes the technology for the resonators as being his own -- stolen by Brother Blood while Cyborg was once attached to the HIVE computers. Fortunately, Aqualad also has a double-agent on the inside -- Bumblebee (whom sharp-eyed viewers would have seen in the background of "Deception" if they looked for her.)
David Slack When the Titans battle Adonis, the pumped-up villain starts pushing Beast Boy's emotional buttons, enraging him to the point where Beast Boy takes Adonis down, hard. The fight unleashes chemicals on the both of them, the results of which are soon evident to the Titans. The next morning, Beast Boy awakens on the floor, his sheets ripped to pieces. He goes to the kitchen and steals Robin's breakfast of ham and eggs, which immediately sets Robin's alarms ringing because Beast Boy is a vegetarian. Beast Boy begins working out like a fiend. He's lashing out, irritable and bullying -- he's like an alpha male on steroids. When he has an argument with Raven that sets all the Titans against him, he tears his room apart and then disappears -- along with Raven! When the Titans finally track down Raven, they find Beast Boy -- morphed into a creature not in any of your zoology books -- and Raven dangling from his teeth. It doesn't look good for our hero, who can't remember what happened as he continues to battle his anger issues.
Simon Racioppa and Richard Elliott An older battle between the Titans and Killer Moth has repercussions this episode when we learn that Beast Boy has secretly kept one of Killer Moth's mutated moth larva as a pet! When the Titans return from a fight with Johnny Rancid and his robot dog (Best line: Johnny Rancid taunting Robin, "Smooth move, bird boy! My dog is kicking your..." when he is then interrupted by a swift kick from Beast Boy turned donkey!), they find the headquarters trashed. Only Beast Boy knows this is because his pet got loose, and he enlists Starfire into helping him. She falls in love with the critter, whom she names Silkie. But when Silkie eats some of her alien berries, he becomes as big as a cow! You can't hide that from Robin for long, and he insists that Silkie has to go. Unfortunately, Silkie returns -- in his giant moth form! -- with Killer Moth at the reins. Now the Titans have to take on both Killer Moth and Johnny Rancid! Will Silkie remember his loyalty to Starfire, or will he do what he was bred to do?
Louis Hirshorn and Joelle Sellner As Mxyzptlk to Superman, so is the Amazing Mumbo to Raven. The madcap magician is back, and he's got more than one trick up his sleeve when he pulls Raven and the Teen Titans into his magic hat. In there, there's a whole new dimension (is anybody else flashing on Charles Nelson Reilly as Hoodoo in Lidsville?), a dimension that's Mumbo-centric, where Mumbo wields all power. He turns Raven into a rabbit, and when the other Titans come to her aid, he transforms them into animals as well! (Having a bit of difficulty with Beast Boy, who keeps changing back, he turns him into a lamp instead -- and Beast Boy's powers let him now turn into other pieces of furniture.) This episode is hilariously surreal, and with no less than three tributes to The Muppet Show, I can't help but love this one. It's at least as funny as "Revolution", but in a different way. And the way the Titans turn the tables on Mumbo is pure cartoon genius. With the musical number and the vaudeville-style act segues, this episode is highly rewatchable.
Marv Wolfman Brother Blood is back, again, this time all the way across the country in Steel City. Aqualad and Bumblebee have tracked him, and they're establishing an East Coast Teen Titans to hunt him down. The team -- including Speedy and the Hispanic Mas y Menos (twins who only speak Spanish, and who can move as fast as the Flash but only when they're touching) -- have a real issue with teamwork. So they call in Cyborg to help get their own Tower online. When Brother Blood infiltrates the Tower, Cyborg pulls the team together to defeat him, resulting in the Titans East asking him to stay on as their team leader -- a position he accepts, much to Robin's frustration. But there's a twist: Brother Blood hasn't really been defeated, and the Titans East are actually under his control! This episode was written by New Teen Titans co-creator, Marv Wolfman.
David Slack Cyborg thinks he has his own team, unaware they're in the thrall of Brother Blood. And Brother Blood is in league with Professor Chang. Why? Because Blood is still obsessed with how Cyborg was able to resist his charisma way back in "Deception". He attributes it to something in Cyborg's circuitry making him a superior being -- and so Blood has himself remade with Cyborg's technology! It's a plan he has for all his future students, but not before he finds the one part of Cyborg that gives him his resistance. As the Teen Titans show up to rescue Cyborg, they end up in battle with the mind-dominated Titans East, all while Brother Blood is dismantling Cyborg down to just a torso. But the key to Cyborg's uniqueness isn't in the machinery -- it's in his spirit, and Cyborg experiences a mystical one-time-only moment that allows him to pull himself together and finally defeat Brother Blood. The bonus feature on this disc is a fifteen minute look at the various Teen Titans foes. The writers, editors and directors weigh in on what makes characters like Slade, Brother Blood, Red X, Blackfire, Mumbo, Mad Mod, and the HIVE Academy Graduates -- Gizmo, Mammoth and Jinx -- tick. Each villain gets their own segment, and the ideas expressed are backed up by clips from episodes. Audio can be set to English or Portuguese, with subtitles available in Portuguese.
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