Teen Titans 2.13

Aftershock: Part 2

The episode opens with a very poetic monologue by Terra. The way Terra's hair obsures one of her eyes is reminscent of Slade. She talks about what she has done. The music is great here and throughout the episode.

The city is now controlled by Slade and Terra. The Titans are no where to be found. Terra starts seeing things in the fog that has enshrouded the city. Shadowy figures attack her. The figures that attack are the Titans, whom she though she had killed. They work together and prove to be too much for her. She runs away. They are attacked by Slade's robot army plus a hybrid of Cinder Block, Plasmus, and Overload. Beast Boy takes off looking for Terra while the others continue to fight Slade's robot army.

Terra decides that she's had enough but Slade isn't through with her. The armor he gave her allows him to control her body. This is really creepy, both the thought of it and the way Slade talks about it and about Terra. Beast Boy finds Slade and Terra. Slade forces Terra to fight him and then the Titans when they show up. Slade pushes her too far and she starts fighting back. She gets so angry a volcano starts to form under the city.

Slade seems to be killed. His mask is shown being consumed by lava. The Titans have to leave but Terra stays to deal with the volcano. It isn't clear exactly what she does but she saves the city and seems to have been turned to stone. I was really shocked by that ending. I was expecting a happier ending. It brought a tear (or two) to my eye. The Judas Contract it ain't but they really did seem to pull out all the stops on this season finale.

Teen Titans 2.12

Aftershock: Part 1

Terra returns. She now serves Slade. Not only does she serve him but she is also controlled by him. He sends her on a mission to destroy the Titans. She gets some help from a few other baddies: Overload, Cinder Block, and Plasmus. The episode ends with the Titans defeated but still free and vowing to take Terra down.

There were a lot of good fight scenes in this episode. I think my favorite was the one between Terra and Raven. It was a real knock out, drag down affair. It isn't quite as good as my recollection of the Judas Contract but it's still a fun episode and the right sort on which to conclude a season.

Teen Titans 2.11

Fractured

A weird little guy who looks a little like Robin jumps out of Robin's head. He tells the Titans his name but they have trouble pronouncing it. It flashes across the screen and looks like Dick Grayson spelled backwards. He quickly gets renamed Larry. He reminded me of Batmite. He uses his magical abilities to try and fix Robin's broken arm. Instead he ends up breaking reality. It is partly Robin's fault because he was wrestling with Larry and broke his magic finger.

The world changes appearance. Everything except for the people in it look like they were drawn with crayons. Beast Boy loses his mouth. He takes Raven's and starts talking with her voice. She takes Cyborg's mouth and starts talking with his voice. He takes Starfire's and starts talking with her voice. Raven gets a weird haircut. Starfire grows wings out of the sides of her head which then tries to fly away. The Titans head to the Tower.

They battle Johnny Rancid, who reminded me of Lobo from Superman: The Animated Series. All the other Titans get taken down by Rancid but Robin beats him. Then Larry fixes Robin's arm and tries to fix the world. There's a flash and then Robin is standing in a blank world. That's where the episode ends.

This was a weird episode. Very strange. I think it probably should have been the final episode of the season instead of the next to next to last. I didn't love it. Not the sort of episode that I would recommend to most people. It was just a little too wack-a-doodle crazy for me to make sense of it.

Larry also shows up in the opening credits and sang the theme song.

Teen Titans 2.10

Betrayal

The team relaxes after a battle with Slade's robots by eating pizza and hanging out together. It is the calm before the storm. After everyone else has gone to bed Beast Boy knocks on Terra's door. When she opens it he gives her a present and asks her out on a date. She turns him down.

Beast Boy is sad and imagines 5 other ways he could have asked her, all of them silly and melodrmatic. Beast Boy is still wallowing in misery when Terra comes to see him and agrees to go out with him. While everyone else sleeps they fly off to have some fun.

Slade's robots attack while Beast Boy and Terra are gone. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven have their hands full. They try contacting Beast Boy and Terra but the absent heroes don't have their communicators with them.

Terra and Beast Boy go to a diner and then to an amusement park. They are on the Ferris Wheel when Slade attacks. He says he is there for Terra. Beast Boy won't let him take her. Slade and Beast Boy fight while Terra watches. Slade reveals that Terra is his apprentice. Beast Boy doesn't believe him but Terra confirms what he doesn't want to hear. The fight ends with Slade departing with Terra.

This is basically the opening chapter of the Judas Contract. It isn't a note for note retelling of the story from the comic books but the basic elements are there. Early in the episode there is a moment that pays homage to the opening chapter of the comic book story: The Eyes of Terra Markov. I thought this episode might end with the Titans captured, which is how the second chapter of the Judas Contract ended but that is not the case here.

This is a dark episode. Slade is just as creepy here as he was in the comic book but not in exactly the same way. The influence he exerts over Terra and her seeming inability to fight back against him make my skin crawl. Equally heartrending is the road that Beast Boy's naivete leads him down. Good episode but on its own not satisfying. I look forward to the conclusion of this story in the two-part season finale.

Teen Titans 2.09

Winner Take All

Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy along with 5 others (Speedy, Aqualad, Wildebeest, Gizmo, and Hot Spot) are magically transported by the Master of Games to his arena. They are pitted against one another in a single elimination tournament. In the first round Aqualad battles Speedy, Robin battles Hot Spot, Cyborg battles Gizmo, and Beast Boy battles Wildebeest. Speedy, Robin, Cyborg, and Wildebeest are the first round winners. The losers mysteriously disappear. The Master of Games claims that they have been returned home but it is later revealed that they have been absorbed into a gem that the Master of Games wears around his neck. It gives him their powers.

Cyborg gets eliminated and absorbed into the gem before the second round begins after he discovers what the Master of Games is doing. The last three duke it out but Wildebeest is eliminated fairly quickly. The fight between Robin and Speedy lasts much longer. In the end Robin is the last champion standing. It is at that point that he discovers what the Master of Games is up to. He doesn't defeat him single-handed but he is able to free some of the others and together they take the Master of Games down.

Not a great episode but a fun one. The animation was great and it was fun to see all the combinations of heroes. Starfire and Raven only showed up briefly at the beginning and end of this episode. Terra made an extremely brief appearance at the end. The ending was a little weird because it made it look like the Master of Games was about to start all over again with female superheroes and villains, except the only three that they showed were Raven, Terra, and Starfire. I'm pretty sure that the next episode doesn't contain that competition, so the very end of the episode amounts to one big tease.

This episode was written by Dwayne McDuffie, one of the creators behind Justice League and JLU among other cartoons.

This was Speedy's, Hot Spot's, and Wildebeest 's first appearance on Teen Titans. It was Aqualad's second appearance, Gizmo's third appearance and the only season two episode in which they show up.

Teen Titans 2.08

Titan Rising

Terra returns to the Titans just in time to help them battle Slade. Everyone greets her with open arms except Raven. She questions Terra's abilities and judgment. Eventually, Raven learns to trust Terra and accepts her as a new member of the team.

In the end Raven's mistrust of Terra seems like it might not be unfounded. She isn't shown secretly communicating with Slade but the final line of the show makes it clear that she's hiding something form the other Titans.

All in all an excellent episode. I like the consistency of the episode and the level of threat the Titans face. Robin gets to fight Slade one-on-one, once again, this time in an elevator. Raven goes through something similar to what she experienced with Starfire in the previous season. Sadly, her first instinct was the correct one and she has abandoned it.

This episode would be part two of the homage to the storyline from the 1980 New Teen Titans series that culminated in the Judas Contract. I believe that there are at least two more installments in this homage in the 5 episodes that remain in the season.

Teen Titans 2.07

Transformation

Starfire gets a zit which turns out to be more than just a zit. She's transforming into something else. She doesn't want the other Titans to see what's happened to her so she starts wearing more and more clothing. First it is just a hat, the zit is on her forehead, but then something starts growing out of her neck so she starts wearing a scarf. After her fingernails get monstrously large she starts wearing oven mitts and so on and so forth.

Things come to a head during a battle with Plasmus. Her extra clothing is destroyed and her teammates see her as she has become. She is mortified and leaves Earth. She tries to find another planet to live on but she winds up scaring the inhabitants of every planet she visits. Finally, she meets a woman who kinda of resembles the White Witch from the Legion of Super-Heroes but who is actually a monster in disguise, a monster that wants to eat Starfire.

Meanwhile, the other Titans take off in a spaceship which Cyborg has built from their submarine. They go looking for Starfire. They arrive just in time to help her fight the alien who wants to eat her. In the end Starfire's appearance returns to what it was plus she now has the ability to shoot beams from her eyes.

Clearly the theme here is the way that bodies change over time, sometimes in ways that are very visible to others. There never is a complete explanation of why Starfire started changing but maybe the eye beams explain it. I haven't watched any further in the series (yet) so I have no idea if the eye beams are temporary or will be part of her power set on the cartoon going forward.

This was a fun episode a definite thumbs up although it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Teen Titans 2.06

Date with Destiny

Killer Moth threatens to destroy the city unless Robin will go on a date with Kitten, his daughter. Kitten's date for the junior prom, Fang, dumped her days before the dance. She insists that her father get Robin to take her to the dance. Robin isn't eager to do so but accepts in the hopes that while he is on the date the other Titans can figure out how to stop Killer Moth's swarm of killer moths.

Starfire takes great exception to Robin taking Kitten to the junior prom. She keeps close tabs on Robin and Kitten. Fang shows up mid-way through the dance and starts fighting with Robin. Starfire takes on Kitten, who isn't quite as innocent as she seems.

There was a nice mix of humor and character moments. I like how Starfire flipped out when Killer Moth laid out his demands. She was violently opposed to the date and I love how that continued to be reflected in her behavior throughout the rest of the episode. Overall a really great episode. I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.

Teen Titans 2.05

Fear Itself

The Titans battle a new villain, Control Freak, who uses a television remote control to bring inanimate objects to life. He is terrorizing a video rental store when the Teen Titans show up. He brings all sorts of objects to life: shelves holding videos available for rent, televisions, candy. Everything he brings to life is evil and attacks the group. The fight goes on for a while but it finally ends after Robin activates the sprinkler system in the store.

The Titans return to the Tower and watch a horror movie that Beast Boy rented: Wicked Scary. Everyone is frightened by it to one degree or another, except Raven. She insists that she was not scared by the movie. Later that night something invades Titans Tower and starts abducting the team members one by one. Raven is the last one left standing. She almost succumbs to the monsters but then gets angry and takes out the monsters.

It turns out that it was her own subconscious that was terrorizing the tower residents. When she refused to admit that she was scared, her insecurities came out of her head and started manifesting in the tangible world. I wasn't sure what the resolution would be but I can accept the one provided. Some of the monsters that abducted Raven's team members looked a little like critters from the episode that introduced Trigon in season 1.

Not a great episode but a pretty good one, in my book.

Teen Titans 2.04

Only Human

Cyborg goes toe to toe with Atlas, a robot, who jumps out of a video game to challenge him. Cyborg can't beat Atlas at first. It isn't until after Atlas has captured the other Titans that Cyborg pushes himself beyond his limits and beats him.

I'm not a big fan of this kind of story or message. Everybody has their limits. Limits should be tested but I get a little tired of stories like this one.

On the whole not an awful episode but I would put it in the same class as 2.02 (Every Dog Has His Day): kind of silly, not much in the way of character moments.

Teen Titans 2.03

Terra

The Titans meet a potential new team member, Terra. She has the telekinetic ability to move rocks and earth but her control over her powers is a bit shaky. She has been on the run for a while, probably because she is still learning to control her powers. The Titans invite Terra to come back to the tower with them. Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy are very eager to welcome their potential new team member. Robin and Raven are suspicious but don't share their concerns with the others. Skulking in the shadows, observing Terra's first encounter with the Titans, is Slade.

Terra spends the night at Titans Tower. The next day the Titans get a call for help. They head to a mine where they encounter a bunch of Slade's robots. Terra almost kills Beast Boy when she loses control of her powers but he survives without injury. She runs away, distressed by her lack of control and encounters Slade. She tries to take him down but he isn't that easy to beat. He tells her that he wants to be her mentor and that the Titans aren't really her friends. She goes nuts again. Debris starts flying everywhere. She almost brings the mine down on everyone but Beast Boy talks her down. Slade has vanished by this point.

The Titans return to Titans Tower. They offer her membership in the team but she ends up running off because she thinks that Beast Boy has betrayed her trust in him. The episode ends with Beast Boy glumly skipping stones across the water by himself.

I know that Terra's story is one that comes from the original run of New Teen Titans. I've read some but not all of the issues in which she appears. I know that eventually (in the comic books) it is revealed that she is working for Deathstroke (aka Slade Wilson). I don't recall at what point clues being to be dropped that this is the case. Terra's mental instability is also a plot point in the comic books.

This is possibly the best episode of the season and the series to date but it is also a dark episode. I can't remember any other that has ended on such a down note. Slade is downright creepy. It gave me chills just watching the scenes where he tries sweet talking Terra. Powerful stuff.

Teen Titans 2.02

Every Dog Has His Day

Beast Boy is abducted by an alien who is looking for his pet. He is taken by accident but after the alien realizes what he has he won't let Beast Boy go.

This one is heavy on the humor. It works. It is a good episode but it isn't a favorite of mine. There is a little action towards the end of the episode when the Titans battle the alien. Not much in the way of character moments. The ending is a bit left field bizarre but it works for me.

Teen Titans 2.01

How Long Is Forever

Starfire chases Warp, a villain from the future, through a wormhole. She exits the wormhole 20 years in the future. Everything changed after she entered the wormhole. The other Titans are older and have split up. The implication is that after losing Starfire they drifted apart and have lives separate lives ever since.

This is my favorite part of the episode, seeing how the other Titans aged. Cyborg's power battery no longer functions and he is stuck in Titans Tower. Beast Boy is balding and a side show freak: the one man zoo. Raven just wants to be left alone. Robin has become Nightwing and has a secret lair similar to the Bat Cave, or maybe it is the Bat Cave.

Starfire's return helps to rally the Titans. They encounter and battle Warp, although it is a little murky if this Warp is the same age as the one that the younger Titans encountered at the beginning of the episode. He seems older but how he got there and what he is doing there is unclear.

They defeat Warp. Cyborg is able to quickly modify some of his time traveling technology and create a wormhole to the past. Starfire goes through the wormhole and returns seconds after she left. She tells them about what happened and insists that they all celebrate Blorthog with her, a Tamaranian celebration of friendship.

Not a bad episode, but not a great one either. There was no real character moment that moved me. I don't recall any stories of this sort from the New Teen Titans comic book. If anything it resembled Days of Future, an X-Men story.