Teen Titans 5.05

Snow Blind

The Teen Tians, responding to a distress call they received, arrive in a snowy town that has been destroyed. The survivors of the attack are wary of the strangers. One of the men explains that the one who caused the destruction was from the town. The Teen Titans go looking for him in the T-Ship but it gets damaged in a fight with the man who devastated the town.

Starfire forges on alone in the midst of a snow storm after Cyborn discovers that the man they are fighting is emitting dangerous levels of radiation. She keeps going until she collapses. She is saved by a man named Red Star who takes her to his cabin. She briefly thinks that he is holding her prisoner but then discovers that is not the case.

Robin and the other eventually find the cabin. Red Star explains why he must stay hidden and about how he came to be a menace to all who get near him. A creature attacks the cabin just as Red Star is finishing his story. Red Star fights if off but insists that he can never leave the cabin. Robin and Starfire disagree and talk him into helping them find the creature.

The creature is a byproduct of the energy that leaks from Red Star's body. They find the creature and fight it. Red Star absorbs the creature's power. Starfire grabs Red Star and takes him into outer space where he explodes.

Thoughts

This was a weird one. I don't think all the pieces fit together. Since when is Starfire immune to radiation? Didn't the other Titans get exposed to deadly levels of radiation due to their close proximity to Red Star? I was kind of shocked that they killed a character more or less on screen in this episode. I didn't find it to be terribly moving. Under different circumstances I might have but the whole episode felt so rushed and slapped together that I didn't feel much of anything when he died.

Notes

Red Star (aka Leonid Kovar), in the comic books, was originally named Starfire. He was a Russian superhero and first appeared in Teen Titans (1966) 18 (Dec 1968). His second appearance was in New Teen Titans 18 (Apr 1982). He later changed his name to Red Star.