Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

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Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

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Let me preface this by being completely honest with you: Teen Titans Go! is my least favorite show that I have ever seen. I don't "hate" many things, at least in media. But Teen Titans Go! is a cartoon that I can honestly say without a doubt that I "hate". I find it immature, unfunny, and downright juvenile in its attempts at morals, if it is indeed making an attempt at them in the first place. And I'm reviewing every episode.

Needless to say, if you like the show Teen Titans Go! or don't like reading excessively negative reviews, this is not the place for you. I'm going to be extremely negative in these reviews because I feel I cannot properly express my distaste for this show without doing so. Will I say nothing positive? Of course not. Positives are just as important as negatives in any review, to outright ignore the positive aspects of something would be silly and unhelpful. Granted, the times where I can speak at length about a good aspect of the show will be rare; there is not an episode of this show where I don't greatly dislike SOME aspect of it. But we'll get there when we get there.

So. Why am I reviewing Teen Titans Go!? It's clear I don't recommend it to anyone. Reviewing every episode probably sounds superfluous as is. People who speak to me often know I hate the show and I've said why dozens of times. And besides, it's a stupid kid's show, what's the point of tearing it apart? Cheap laughs? Here's the thing. I don't just look at this show, go "ew", and then ignore it. There's something about this show I PASSIONATELY DESPISE. I feel offended by it almost. But I think it serves as a good "warning" for writers. The mistakes this show makes are mistakes that people can learn from. I want people to not write stuff like this and make something like it. Plus, I want to make clear that this is a show I would NOT show my children. I think that its themes and morals are terrible for kids. I don't believe that kids mimic everything on TV, but if you show them characters they start to enjoy that act like the cast of TTG, they might be influenced by that behavior, and I don't want any child to act like the characters on this show.

So background. Teen Titans Go! is a Cartoon Network comedy cartoon that aired on April 23, 2013 and is still running with new episodes each Thursday to this day. It is a spin off of the popular 2003 action cartoon Teen Titans, which starred a team of young superheroes from the DC universe: Robin, Starfire, Beastboy, Raven, and Cyborg. Teen Titans Go! uses the same cast of characters and voice actors and many of the same ideas as the action cartoon it's a spin-off of, but instead of hand-drawn animation and a focus on drama and plot, it's made largely in Flash with a heavy focus on comedy and the Titans' daily lives. The spinoff itself began as a series of shorts under the name "New Teen Titans" that aired in Cartoon Network's "DC Nation" block, which featured shows and shorts based on DC Comics franchises. New Teen Titans was conceptually the same as TTG, comedy shorts in chibi style revolving around the Teen Titans, but they resembled the original show much more and had the same general tone and style, but in short comedy bits (I actually quite like these shorts, for the record). These shorts were picked up for a full show, but the style was completely retooled and the writing completely changed, resulting in the show known as Teen Titans Go!.

Now, I like Teen Titans. I LOVE Teen Titans. Until the arrival of Gravity Falls and Steven Universe, Teen Titans was my favorite western cartoon of all time. It was action-packed, dramatic, well-animated, mature, and even hilarious. I'm not going into this without some level of bias, I admit. I'm going in as a fan of the original. And yes, I plan to look at this show from both the standpoints of "I think this is a bad reboot to the Teen Titans franchise" and "I think this is a bad stand-alone show". Because I think both are equally worth looking at. This is a show based on a massively popular cartoon that came before it, I can't just IGNORE the connections completely, especially since TTG relies heavily on references to TT despite (supposedly?) not taking place in the same canon. So if there's something that only fans of the original would like or hate, I'll call it out.

Now these reviews are going to be very loose in structure. I'll introduce an episode, explain the plot, talk about what I liked and (mostly) what I disliked in it, and I'll talk about what this episode can teach us as a whole. I'll be doing this in chronological order of release, from episode 1 to whatever episode is the most recently released. I will likely be posting these reviews in chunks, as at the time of my writing the show is nearing its 80th episode, meaning I have a lot of ground to cover. I have a few episodes I still need to see but for the most part I've seen the majority of the show as this post. I won't update regularly, just whenever I have something to post, but I'll try to catch up to the releases of the new episodes as soon as I can so I can review the episodes as they actually release.

Before we begin with reviewing the episodes itself, I'd like to make a few general statements about the show's presentation so I don't just repeat myself looking for pros and cons. And believe it or not, there are pros. The show isn't bad visually, for example. The backgrounds in particular are slick and fit really well, and I enjoy finding the easter eggs in them. The color pallet in general is brilliant and everything pops nicely; it almost looks like actual pop art. The voice acting from the original cast is top-notch, too. The show has nice presentation, I'll give it that. That being said. The Flash animation is mediocre and the characters look stiff at times, and some of their expressions are outright annoying to look at. A lot of voice actors are reused, particularly Tara Strong, and you'll hear the main cast as side characters a LOT in this show. It feels like it's made low-budget despite the nice aesthetics. So it's not badly made visual and audio wise but it feels rather cheap.

Alright, this introduction is far too long at this point so I won't extend it any further. Ladies and gentlemen, get your capes ready, because this is...
Every Episode of Teen Titans Go! Reviewed

For now we'll kick things off with the very first episode of the show:
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The Legendary Sandwich
The series begins with Raven, the dark-arts master and overall smart and broody character of the series, watching a My Little Pony parody called Pretty Pretty Pegasus. The boys of the Titans (The leader Robin, the shapeshifting Beastboy, and the high-tech Cyborg) loudly and annoyingly interrupt with their animalistic eating habits, so Raven decides to get rid of them by telling them that there's a sandwich hat was made for a king that is said to bring forth immortality and be generally delicious. Robin, not believing in a sandwich better than ones he could make, agrees to search for it, and the team (including the air-headed alien Starfire) split up to search for the ingredients to the sandwich while Raven stays home and watches her show. Cyborg, BB, and Starfire all get injured in their brutal fights with large robotic "sandwich guardians" protecting the ingredients, while Robin impatiently waits for his queue in line in the supermarket. Eventually they gather the ingredients, to Raven's surprise, and build the sandwich...only for Starfire's pet alien-worm Silkie to eat the sandwich, momentarily ascend to godhood, then spit it back up on the floor, with Robin declaring he KNEW no sandwich could be as good as his.

Now believe it or not, the first episode is not terrible. In fact I'd argue it's one of the series' better episodes and is actually somewhat tolerable. Many tropes that put a damper on the series aren't quite here yet and it somewhat resembles the structure of an original TT episode. Granted, the premise of them fighting to make a really good sandwich is incredibly stupid, especially with killer robots from medieval times guarding the sandwich ingredients, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief slightly for a comedy show. The fights with the guardians aren't bad and some of the dialogue is decently funny. Of all the episodes this feels closest to what the premise could have actually allowed the show to do in the hands of good writers.

However I have one major issue with this episode. Robin. The worst thing this series does is flanderize the negative traits of the original TT cast to the point where they become unlikable and unenjoyable, and Robin, who gets some of the worst flanderization on the series, shows this off with almost every line of dialogue he has. He's just flat-out annoying in this episode. He's constantly bragging over how his sandwich skills are amazing and there's no way some other sandwich can be better than his. He's a show-off to strangers and spends his time waiting goofing off and bragging about himself. He never learns his lesson for being bigoted in the episode and nobody ever disproves him or gives him any kind of moral. From beginning to end of this episode he just acts like an annoying bratty kid. Now let me make this clear: TTG Robin may be my most hated animated character ever. He's a constant pain throughout the series and this episode highlights how painful he can be early on. It's like a bad omen of things to come.

Aside from all that the episode is rather forgettable. It isn't particularly clever with sandwich jokes or anything, there's no real punchline to the ridiculous scenario and they don't take the whole thing seriously or ironically enough to be better than okay. The setup has potential to be really funny but they never really push it outside of Robin being the only one that has to just wait in a normal line to get his ingredient; it could have been anything they were looking for, the setup didn't have any joke it was building up to or anything. It's not terrible but it's very forgettable. It's better written than most TTG episodes for sure, but it doesn't do anything to astound and never really impresses past semi-decent action. It's not an offensive episode but it's not a great episode. It's a very "okay" episode. Odds are you won't cringe much watching it outside of the Robin scenes but you'll forget what happened minutes later.

But don't worry. Legendary Sandwich is a calm before the storm. The worst is yet to come.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by NihilisticNinja »

Good analysis on a whole. Only nitpick is that I'm not sure "bigoted" is the right word to use to describe Robin, given what you've told me about the episode. "Arrogant" might be better? Unless he's bigoted in a way that you just haven't made clear or I missed.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by Sleuth »

have fun got I'm sure you won't regret this decision at all.

and shame, NN clearly this episode was to show the blatant and horrible ingrained anti-sandwichism present in our country. Robin represents the people who believe that their sandwiches are the best by default, and so become an analogy to the current sandwich racism that strikes our kitchen, between sandwiches made by birds, and sandwiches made by humans.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by Master Of Chaos »

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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by Wackyman »

Everything was leading up to this. This is where got fulfills his purpose.

Legendary Sandwich is actually one of the few Go! episodes I actually watched. After a few episodes I made sure to avoid the show because who would ever watch more of something they thought wasn't good -- *deaths glares from all of AAO* - but more to the point this was pretty spot on. I'm interested in reading more.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

Moving on to the second batch of reviews, episodes 2-6.

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Pie Bros
Cyborg's birthday is coming up, and Beastboy, as his best friend, plans to get him a birthday gift, which he drew a picture of them for. He takes Cyborg out for pie at their favorite pie shop (run by supervillain Mother Mae-Eye) after singing a song about how much they like pie, but while there Cyborg says he hopes BB gets him a new video game. BB, broke, gets odd jobs and fails at them in his attempt to raise money for the gift, eventually ending up working at Mae-Eye's pie shop. Cyborg makes fun of him for it, but eventually BB tells him that he'll be working through Cyborg's birthday party, and Cyborg gets angry at BB and storms off. At the birthday party, Cyborg and BB end up getting in a big pie fight, where BB explains why he took on the job. After fighting a bit more about it, they eventually make up and BB gives Cyborg the drawing before the two pig out on pies that look suspiciously like their fellow teammates...though it turns out to just be made from their clothes and hair after they narrowly escaped being made into pies by Mae-Eye.

Unlike the first episode, Pie Bros has little to justify it, and is one of the episodes that annoys me most. It is an unpleasant mess to sit through that only gets worse as the episode goes on. Considering it starts with a short musical number consisting of the lyrics "I LIKE PIE YEAH I LIKE PIE" that's impressive. The main issue comes from Cyborg's behavior in this episode. The entire episode, Cyborg acts like a selfish @$$hole. He drops a hint to BB that he wants a new video game, understandable. But when BB gets a job to pay for said video game, Cyborg only makes fun of BB for his outfit (laughing for 20 straight seconds at his hat) and gets annoyed at him for having to work through the birthday party, which is out of his control. And at the party when BB actually tells him WHY he was working in the first place, Cyborg is STILL angry at him for no reason. Not to mention acting like a rude @$$hole during the party by making BB clean up his messes. Yeah, they make up by the end, but it's just annoying and unpleasant to watch Cyborg being a jerk, especially with how LOUD he is this series. Seriously, half his lines ARE SHOUTED, it gets irritating quickly. The show victimizing him for his friend trying to get him a present and then using that as an excuse to make him a huge jerk is just...ugh.

There are occasional funny jokes I guess, but not really enough to keep your interest. Mother Mae-Eye is thrown in for no reason and doesn't contribute to anything but taking the other Titans away from the last scene and providing a job for BB; she doesn't even have any lines. Though she does wrap up the unpleasantries in a nice little bow by making it seem like she cooked up and ate the other three Titans at the end and Cyborg and BB were unknowingly eating them. I mean yeah they zoom out to show the Titans fine but for a good 30 seconds or so it just holds on the two of them messily eating these pies, it's a cheap disturbing joke that just kind of makes you feel uncomfortable until the punchline. This episode's a good warning for things to come. The trend of unpleasantness does not go away in this series and will be a recurring theme more than likely.

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Driver's Ed
Robin annoys all of his friends to drive him places he wants to go. When they confront him as to why, he says that he got his driver's license suspended after he crashed the Batmobile. However, he finds a driver's ed teacher online to help him get his license back. As it turns out, his instructor, Ed, is a thief that robs banks and then uses Robin as his getaway driver while judging his driving and failing him on the test to repeat the process next time. This goes on for a few times as Robin tries to prove he's a good driver, until eventually the other Titans realize what's happening and try to warn him. Thinking they're trying to rub it in his face that he can't drive, Robin leads them on an insane car chase until eventually Ed decides to pass him just so he never has to deal with Robin again. He proceeds to brag about how he was just using Robin and gets dragged into another dimension by a demon Raven summoned earlier.

I'll give this episode credit as another decent one. Mostly because I actually kind of like Ed as a villain for a children's cartoon. The idea of a driver's ed teacher just using their student as a getaway driver is actually a pretty funny concept, and Jeff Bennet, voice of Johnny Bravo, does a good job at his Ben Stein style delivery. Him finding more excuses to mark off points for Robin is actually rather amusing ("This radio station is terrible. That's a deduction.") and he's an enjoyable addition to the cast. Heck the villains in general are the most entertaining characters on the show, really. They're the most logical and are by far the most entertaining thing this show has to offer. I've gotta give credit to Ed for being a nice comedy villain, though really they could have waited past his introduction to reveal the fact he was just using Robin the whole time.

Guess what ruins this episode? Robin, of course. Being an obnoxious d-bag all throughout. He spends half the episode bragging about how good a driver he is and after all is said and done he admits that he knew Ed was just using him as a getaway driver but wanted to prove that he was a good driver so kept doing it anyway. Knowingly aiding a criminal to prove how cool he is. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen, less likable than the single episode villain. So yes while I think this is one of the better TTG episodes we still get the issue cropping up that our main cast is terrible, which is an omnipresence of the show that can dampen even otherwise okay episodes. Driver's Ed is probably my "favorite" episode I've seen so far, a I enjoy Ed. But Robin episodes always tend to feature Robin being obsessive, annoying, and in the end a lack of development, as Robin never seems to learn from his many mistakes. Driver's Ed shows how a good idea can only get you so far when your main characters are your show's biggest problem, and that just because you have an idea that has a lot of potential, you need your cast to actually work well with it in order for it to be really memorable.

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Dog Hand
Raven's father, the king of demons Trigon, comes to visit his daughter at the Titans Tower. Raven doesn't want anything to do with him, but he visits regardless, sporting a pink sweatervest and kissing up to the other Titans. Eventually, he uses his all-powerful magic to grant the Titans whatever they want (letting BB turn into objects, making Starfire talk like an Earth teen, giving Cyborg a dog for a hand, and giving Robin ridiculous muscles). The Titans convince Raven to give her father a chance, only to find that Trigon wants Raven to unleash her full demon potential to take over the world and kill the Titans with him. Her point being made, the Titans use their new powers to defeat Trigon and Raven rubs it in their faces.

"Instead of fighting your dad, maybe you should try to be more like him."

This is the line that made me hate Teen Titans Go!, and why Dog Hand is one of my most hated episodes of the series. Let's talk about Trigon. Trigon appeared in the big finale for season 3 of Teen Titans. He was Raven's demonic, Satan-like father who was determined to use Raven to take over the world against her will, essentially seeing her as no more than a weapon for him. The Titans are supportive and protective of her in her time of pain and try to stop Trigon from hurting her. It's a powerful series of episodes and a very mature way of telling a moral rarely seen in cartoons.

Dog Hand takes that moral and kicks it into the ground as the Titans act petty and selfish, chastising Raven for not getting along with her demon father because he gave them cool stuff and even being upset that she didn't use her powers to do the same thing, and then it's all tied up to Robin saying Raven should be more like her father, who in original canon tormented Raven mentally and physically. The creators of TTG do not care about fans of the original. They clearly are trying to bring those fans in by having Trigon here, who know kid would understand the weight of if they haven't seen TT since he's given short exposition to explain who he is at most before he appears in a pink sweater vest with a sitcom laughtrack playing behind him. Yes, TTG is not in the same canon as TT for...the most part, so the original Trigon episodes didn't happen, but his presence is clearly supposed to be funny to people who watched TT and knew who Trigon was. Heck "New Teen Titans" did the same premise in one of its shorts and was actually kind of funny. But if you have the main characters tell Raven she should "be more liker her father" when you are trying to have some appeal to fans of the original with the inclusion of the character, you clearly didn't watch the episodes and just looked up his Wiki page when designing the character and said "Yup this is good this is plenty to work with". This line offends me as a fan of Teen Titans and as a mostly decent person. Telling someone they should be more like the man who in some canon abused and tormented her for his own gain is despicable, children's cartoon or not. Even without context it's a d-bag thing to say and with context it's a downright horrid thing to say. This one line soured the entire show for me. It was made clear to me at this point that the writers, who by the way had claimed they had only seen a few episodes of the original by the time they were actually making TTG, don't care about what the original show stood for and are more interested in telling bad jokes and singing off-tune music. They don't care about making consistent or likable characters, they don't care about decent morals, they don't care about being timeless or respectable (Starfire says "Haters gonna hate" way to instantly date yourself), they care about getting a cheap laugh right now. Maybe that's good enough for some people. It is not good enough for me.

The rest of the episode is just jokes about the demon king being a dorky dad and Raven complaining about him. Trigon's voice actor is doing his best and does a good job but really once you see Trigon in a sweater-vest you know what you're going to get. It ends with the Titans being in the wrong yeah but it doesn't make up for that despicable line. It just reminds me of things that did this plot so much better (Shout out to The Devil is a Part-Timer! for doing the "Satan in a wacky situation" premise better and to Toradora! for playing the father issues plot similarly but realistically and seriously). Just watch the New Teen Titans short Bad Dad, it's so much funnier than this and is way shorter. This episode is just mediocrity overshadowed by one terrible line and is the point I gave up on liking TTG.

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Double Trouble
Cyborg starts having trouble keeping up with Beast Boy's rough playing (after playing the caveman to BB's T-Rex) so he asks Raven to make a duplicate of himself with her magic to keep BB busy while he does his own thing. However, the Cyborg clone gets along too well with BB and Cyborg gets jealous, so he makes a clone of BB and tried to hang out with him instead. Cyborg and BB get back together and the clones end up making more clones of themselves and kicking the Titans out of Titans Tower. Cyborg and BB suddenly realize they don't remember anything past a few months ago, so the Titans track pizza orders to a shabby hotel where they find the real Cyborg and Beast Boy fat and lazily playing video games all day, revealing they stole Raven's book months ago and made clones to replace them so they can avoid doing work. The Cyborg and BB clones go off to be hobos together and the original Titans are stuck with the fat and lazy originals with no tower to return to.

So here's the thing with these incarnations of Beast Boy and Cyborg. They're presented as the lovable goofballs who are lazy but fun. But don't you think there's an extent to how far you can be a goofball before it stops being lovable and just becomes a pain? Because this episode highlights that nicely. The ending with the real Beast Boy and Cyborg being lazy for months shows they have zero care to actually be Titans at this point and you have to wonder why they even bother in the first place. They're not enjoyable to watch, they're just lazy slobs who for some reason are supposed to have an "oh you scamps" reaction while pulling insane bullcrap like this. Making a likable character doesn't just mean making them goof off, they have to have some kind of direction to them. This episode makes me wonder why for one, anyone puts up with these guys, and two, why they're even Titans in the first place if they'd rather slack off. This isn't how you make good comic relief, this is how you make @$$holes that get killed off in horror movies.

This episode also has a big problem with the pacing of its plot. The first part of it is about the initial clones. Alright. Then suddenly there are more clones that kick the others out. Okay, so the rest of the episode is about getting back in the Tower? Nnnnnoooooo, they just suddenly realize they don't have the real BB and Cyborg and have to go find them. There's no build-up to this ending, it comes out of nowhere and could have made for a stronger plot had it been replaced with them getting back at the clones for kicking them out. It's like they took a complete story, but then posted a sticky note over the end of the episode they had planned and completely changed it. It's so out of nowhere and resolves none of the rest of the episode. Plus this is our first use of Deus Ex Raven as I like to call it, where an episode's premise basically relies on abuse of Raven's spellbook, a trend that pops up a lot in this series.

Overall this episode feels like it could have been decent if mediocre but it dipped a ton when it decided to just not finish it's mainstory to make a joke about how lazy Cyborg and Beast Boy are. Content creators seem to think that laziness is funny for some reason and I really don't understand the mindset. If you don't have some REALLY good lazy jokes to tell then just emphasizing laziness isn't funny, it just makes the characters look like lazy d-bags. This episode sets a good standard for what BB and Cyborg centered episodes often feel like. Just them being lazy jerks that only get less likable as time goes on.

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The Date
Robin wants to ask out his crush Starfire on a date. However, his rival, Speedy, who looks and sounds a lot like Robin, has already made his move and asked Starfire out himself. Robin decides to ruin Speedy's chances with Starfire by disguising himself as Speedy and going on the date with Starfire himself. He proceeds to try and ruin the date by being a rude jerk the entire time, but eventually Speedy manages to escape from being kidnapped and shows up dressed as Robin to the date. He and Robin fight until Robin manages to defeat Speedy, but the deep voice narrating his thoughts (don't ask, it's a running gag this episode) convinces him to tell Starfire the truth, which pisses Starfire off enough for her to disregard Robin's request for a date. She then goes out with the deep narrator voice instead.

So obviously this episode has the flaw of Robin being a d-bag in it. That's practically a given with this show. It calls him out on his d-bagness but that doesn't make it better for him or anything. He's still an unlikable jerk for the entirety of the episode that acts selfish and annoying, practically abusing the girl he supposedly likes, using her as a footrest and throwing food at her just so she doesn't like some other guy. I don't think I'm supposed to like a romantic subplot in a show when the first episode showcasing it involves one of the involved people physically assaulting the girl for petty reasons. Heck, Speedy's the antagonist of the episode and he's a more likable character...despite being exactly the same as Robin. Which is a weird decision in the first place, every other character returning from TT is mostly similar to their originals despite flanderization, but Speedy is given a new voice actor (Robin's in particular) and body shape to fit this episode's gag despite only having loose similarities to Robin in the original (though people did jokingly mistake him for Robin there but more because he was totally unknown otherwise).

Now I think it's about time we talk about Starfire. In the original series she was a powerful fighter and, despite being naive, was a unique character and a strong female figure. Here she's an airhead love interest and that's it. Starfire in this series serves little to no purpose other than being the girl Robin has a sometimes requited sometimes not crush on. She's the blandest character in the cast and has next to nothing unique about her outside of her speech pattern (she adds "the" to a lot of sentences, "I wish to eat the cheese for the breakfast") and if an episode involves her it's more often than not going to involve Robin's crush on her. Here she stands up for herself after Robin is an @$$ to her which is nice but her only purpose in the episode is to be the object of affection. She's gone from a strong female figure to just generic love interest girl. It's a shame, really. The episode doesn't have many funny jokes, it's predictable and repetitive at times (spending way too long on speedy just shouting "LET ME GO" at the Titans Tower), and there's little of interest in it. It doesn't offend me I guess but that's not really a compliment for TTG, more a welcome change of pace after the likes of Double Trouble and Dog Hand.


More to come. See You, Space Cowboy.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

On to episodes 7-9.
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Dude Relax
Robin keeps pestering the Titans to train and work harder due to his high-strung nature. They try to get him to relax a little, but he only forces his strict training more onto them in doing so. Eventually, the other Titans go to fight a giant monster, but they force Robin to stay at the Tower to relax. He can't, but as it turns out, Beast Boy stayed at the Tower to relax, too, painting a pigeon green to stand in for him in battle. He tells Robin he's just better at chilling than him, which makes the competitive Robin try harder, making him "one with the couch" and sending him in a blisful state in which he meets a....couch spirit. Okay. And then he eventually gets so relaxed he ignores the distress calls from his teammate as they're captured by the monster.

God this episode is boring. I can't say a ton about it because it just bores me. I groan when it comes on TV because I don't even have the opportunity to watch something bad I can analyze, just eleven minutes of boredom. I mean, it's an episode about trying to relax so I don't expect a ton to happen or anything, but there's just nothing memorable to this episode. Jokes aren't any better than they usually are, set-up isn't interesting, nothing particularly offends. Robin's kind of annoying as usual and BB's an @$$ for not even trying to help the team but they've been worse (we'll get there soon enough). Most notable thing to happen in this episode is the really weird, random inclusion of the "Couch Spirit". I'm okay with silly jokes that go out there but...Couch Spirit? It doesn't really have a purpose in the episode, it just comes out of nowhere, isn't particularly funny, and is just...so...there. Writer's tip, guys, don't just throw in random over the top gags if you don't have a good punchline or scenario for it, it just falls flat. Aside from that this episode is soooo there. It's one of the most dull episodes in the series and I just can't be bothered reviewing it longer than this, it barely even leaves an impression on me.

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Laundry Day
The episode opens with the Titans fighting a giant blob monster together. When the fight is over, their clothes are all covered in gunk, so they need to have it washed. They begin to compete in a series of games to figure out who should wash the laundry...for some reason, and after a while of that Raven is chosen. Raven tells Robin that it's his turn according to the chore list, but he ignores her. Raven takes the clothes and leaves the others to their own thing while she struggles to clean the gunk out. Robin gets trapped out of the tower naked, Starfire tries making clothes, Cyborg can't choose a temporary body, and BB sis around naked singing about tofu. Eventually the gooey clothes comes to life and attacks the Titans until Robin apologizes to Raven for skipping out on his chores, and Raven reveals it was her and not the goo controlling the clothes, since Robin promised to do the laundry for a year in a panic. They then find out a monster made of several messy foods is attacking the city, much to Robin's chagrin.

This isn't a terrible episode, I suppose. At the very least it could be a lot worse. It does some jokes I find amusing, especially when Gizmo of the H.I.V.E. comes to attack only to see Robin naked and awkwardly leave saying he'll come back later. It's not really offensive past...you know Robin and BB running around naked the whole episode. Also somehow mud stains are enough of a censor to not need something in front of the crotch okay. It never really impresses too much, a lot of jokes fall flat, but Robin gets what he deserves in the end and while Raven goes a bit extreme in teaching him a lesson the moral isn't awful and the ending could be worse. Worst part of this episode for me is the padding. Most of what happens isn't related to the episode. Predictable jokes that don't really add a whole lot and oh my god the competition. The competition they have involved staring contest, rock paper scissors, etc and it lasts soooo long for being soooo irrelevant. It takes a minute and a half montage to come to the conclusion of "Raven has to do laundry" when it reveals afterwards it's Robin's turn anyways. What's the point of a minute and a half montage that doesn't come back in any way later in the episode and is completely irrelevant to the plot? It's just awkward, draggy filler. The rest of the episode isn't terrible but they just flat out didn't write a full episode for the premise and padded it out to fill the slot. It's okay I guess, not one of the worst but not exactly one to impress.

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Ghostboy
Everyone dies in this episode. Just gonna premise this with that.

Beast Boy tries to prank the other Titans, but fails to get a reaction out of any of them. However, when Starfire kills a fly, she mistakes it for BB, and BB rolls with the idea and pretends to be a ghost, and Starfire is forced to follow his demands as retribution. He has her smell all of his dirty laundry for a while until the other Titans catch on. They prank BB back using a spell that makes him pass through objects and convincing him he's an actual ghost. However, he decides this is awesome and runs to go jump into a volcano. The other Titans decide to go stop him...only to die one by one in freak accidents along the side of the volcano. Eventually they're all actual ghosts and they reach BB, who laughs at them and tells them he knew he wasn't dead and was just pranking them. He then slips into the volcano and becomes a ghost as well. The episode ends with everyone dead.

GEE I NEED TO WRITE LIKABLE COMIC RELIEF HOW SHOULD I DO THAT? HMMMMM I KNOW HAVE HIM BE AN @$$HOLE TO ONE OF THE NICEST CHARACTERS AND THEN LAUGH AT HIS FRIENDS WHEN THEY LITERALLY DIE TRYING TO SAVE HIM. YES THIS IS A GOOD CHARACTER EVERYONE WOULD DEFINITELY ENJOY THIS. No. This episode is awful, almost irredeemingly so unless you REALLY like seeing the Titans in pain. But when they do nothing wrong ALL EPISODE? This episode is the one where BB is at his absolute WORST. He's not a well-meaning trickster in this episode, he is actively a terrible person, bullying the nicest person in the group and laughing at his friends when they die for his sake. He does not have a redeeming moment all episode. Is him dying too supposed to be him learning his lesson? It loses its impact when the Titans (who are at their most tolerable for most of this episode) all die, too. This entire episode functions off the assumption that you think the Titans dying is funny. But no, them dying is all linked to a character who probably gets the most air time in the series being an incredibly unlikable @$$hole. So no, it's not funny. It's just emphasizing why your comic relief is an UNLIKABLE @$$HOLE.

Let's go back to original Teen Titans, the episode Forces of Nature. You know, episode 4. In which BB accidentally hits Starfire with one of his pranks and it leaves her so distraught he spends the rest of the episode begging for her forgiveness. He felt remorse, he wasn't an @$$hole, he acted like an actual human being and like an actual likable character. This BB TORMENTS Starfire and gets her and the others KILLED. Have the writers even paid attention to the morals their source material gave? How little do you have to care for a series you're supposedly making the successor to when you blatantly contradict the morals they have in its first few episodes? Do you just not like the original show enough and thought it was too preachy so you decide to actively ignore its messages no matter how valid they are? I mean if they cut off the last 30 seconds of BB dying too this episode wouldn't even HAVE a moral, BB would have won and felt NO remorse. This is even more infuriating than Dog Hand, because not only are they contradicting their supposed source material's messages but they've made an actively terrible episode around it. None of it is funny as much as it is painful, I can't think of any particularly good jokes. It's just completely unpleasant from beginning to end. BB is an @$$hole, so everyone dies. That's this episode. This is one of the worst of the worst, and reaffirms my opinion that Beast Boy in TTG is the worst comic relief I have EVER seen in a show. Just remember for the rest of this show, guys, BB laughs at his friends dying at his expense. I'm sure you'll feel real freaking sympathetic for him.

And then it's never mentioned again. Can't wait for this to be a running trend.


That's all for now, as the next episode feels anticlimactic for this batch. More to come later.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

So a preview of the upcoming episode "Let's Get Serious" that features the cast of Young Justice berating the Titans for being too silly made me grow an intense desire to review more Teen Titans Go! So let's move on to episode 10 now, shall we?!
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La Larva de Amor
Spoiler : Ep. 10 - La Larva de Amor :
Starfire goes out for a while and entrusts the task of babysitting her pet mutant silkworm, Silkie, to the other Titans. Being the Titans, they lose track of Silkie almost immediately, and begin trying to find him or find a way to trick Starfire into thinking he was still there to prevent her from killing them. Meanwhile, Silkie ends up wandering into the sea in a chicken bucket and floats off to Mexico. There he's found by a woman named Sonia and woos her without saying anything, causing her short but threatening ex-fiancé Carlos to go after him. He kidnaps Sonia and Silkie but Silkie casually passes through the cell bars and through a series of coincidences keeping him hidden as he just...walks forward obliviously, he finds Carlos at the balcony. Carlos tries to attack him with a knife but just falls over the railing without Silkie noticing, falling off a cliff and getting attack by a giant bird. Silkie ends up in a barrel in the sea and Sonia gives him a teary farewell, until Silkie finally arrives back at the Tower in time to calm down Starfire from her fury at the others for losing him in the first place and nearly killing them.

This episode has ups and downs. Some of the visual gags work. Silkie's journey's one big parody of Spanish soap operas and there's a lot of campy overacting from Sonia and the rest, and I've gotta admit Carlos is fairly entertaining just from a visual aspect. He's got a fun design and his entire body looks like one big grumpy face. Humor's up and down in general in the episode, really; the jokes rely heavily on the fact that Silkie can't respond and is oblivious to his entire situation, so the jokes work depending on how well they use that obliviousness. There's a part where a bust of Carlos falls on Silkie and he doesn't notice but that makes him easily pass the bodyguards in disguise, and it got a chuckle from me. So the episode has a few decent moments and isn't a particularly cringe-worthy episode. Credit to having probably the best episode title in the series, too; a joke that makes sense in the title, amazing.

That being said...Silkie really isn't funny. It doesn't emote much if at all, it doesn't say anything, all it does is walk. It could be replace with literally a balloon with a face on it and have the same effect (Phineas and Ferb did so and it was actually pretty funny). Plus the characters in Mexico don't really...do or say anything funny, they just act like they're in a soap opera. Not even an overly flanderized to the point of hilarity soap opera, just a somewhat overdramatic one. And they react to Silkie like they would a male lead in a soap opera. So...it's a soap opera with an oblivious worm as the lead. That's basically it. The jokes it does tell are decently funny but most of the time it...really doesn't tell many jokes. I also question why Sonia fell in love with a silkworm that doesn't look human in the slightest, but just like a silkworm; it's kinda creepier the more I think about it and is a very confused joke in general. It just falls flat often because, again, Silkie is not an entertaining character (and is barely even a character). The side-plot with the Titans is also generally predictable and forgettable, with nothing particularly noteworthy coming out of it and nothing particularly awful (aside from gratuitous shed Silkie skin of course). So in the end the episode is passable, but highlights that Silkie really isn't worth putting a lot of focus on for a whole episode.
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Hey Pizza!
Spoiler : Ep. 11 - Hey Pizza! :
Cyborg and Beast Boy want to get a free pizza out of the pizza delivery boy by making him take more than 30 minutes to reach the Titans Tower. Of course, the pizza delivery guy gets there in time without fail, despite the long distance, and the couple's attempts to slow him down, including lasers, robot sharks, missiles, and an orbital laser cannon that results in the destruction of the Pizzeria. Yet in the end they never get the free pizza. In a side-plot, Robin's deciding whether to build a senior center for the elderly, or a swimming pool so he can see Starfire in a bikini. He ends up building the senior center (and Starfire reveals the bikini was for Silkie anyway), and the pizza guy arrives to it late with a delivery for one of the seniors there, leaving BB and Cyborg in hysterics of him getting his pizza free.

These...these plots have no relation. They never cross, they never affect each other, they could easily have been completely different plots altogether. Why were they put in one episode? I mean, neither has much content or jokes, I suppose. The pizza sub-plot just consists of the pizza guy not getting slowed down by Cyborg and BB's cheating and never goes anywhere. Robin's subplot is just him weighing the idea of "charitable home for the elderly" or "Starfire in a bikini". There's no interesting jokes and no interesting plots. It's two generally mediocre episodes scrunched together into one. It really feels like these were two episode ideas they couldn't fit into full episodes so they just put them into one and just...left it there. The only connection is the senior getting a free pizza but that's not really a very strong tie. There's nothing else thematically, structurally, or comedically related between them. I mean I guess there's nothing...AWFUL in either plot (aside from Robin almost ignoring making a senior center because he's a pervert, of course) but it's just two "meh" episodes put together into one "meh" episode. If they got rid of Robin's plot and maybe gave the pizza guy a personality maybe it'd work better but as is, it's just two halves of the same "meh".
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Gorilla
Spoiler : Ep. 12 - Gorilla :
Robin is training the Titans rather tyrannically, and when BB comes late to practice while transformed as a gorilla, he decides to stay in the form because it annoys Robin. Eventually BB realized that as a gorilla he's stronger than Robin, and he beats Robin into submission and takes over as leader of the Titans, de to the law of the gorilla is that the strongest is in charge. He proceeds to lead the Titans (who mindlessly follow) on stupid missions, including defending the monkey bars on a playground, and eventually transforms the Titans Tower into a jungle-like mess and driving off Cyborg with his constant banana eating. Cyborg goes to Robin to start training him to be able to take on BB and take back his spot as leader. The two eventually have a confrontation, in which Robin defeats BB by tickling him with a feather and claims leadership again.

God this episode is annoying. It's an episode focusing on a conflict between the two most personally infuriating cast members, Robin and Beast Boy, and they're both giving some of their most annoying behavior this time around. Robin's a control freak that...never really seems to learn his lesson in this episode, so the entire conflict never really amounts to much for him. And Beast Boy. Oh lord, Beast Boy. He is quite possibly at his worst in this episode, at least as annoying as he was in Ghostboy if not even more so. He has a smugness to him the entire episode. He's probably SUPPOSED to be an @$$hole in this episode, but...HOLY CRAP IS HE AN @$$HOLE. He's just an annoying d-bag the entire time, acting sly and overconfident because he's strong, and an eyes-half-closed, big-cocky-grin expression on his face the entire time. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed just by the expressions a character makes. He's not funny-@$$hole levels, he's literally painful for me to watch because of how annoying he is. Like...wow, this is some of the worst characterization I've seen in the show. It isn't even particularly prompted by anything, he just kinda decides he wants to be a gorilla and that he's entitled to start being an @$$ to Robin as a result. And the other Titans don't even think it's BB being a jerk that's stressing out Robin, they think it's him not being in control of the situation. If I had to deal with some annoying bully like BB all day, I'd probably be stressed, too! The show tries to paint it as Robin getting his just desserts at times, and it's just...no. Don't try to make an episode focused on an argument between TWO unlikable personalities. Because guess what? It makes the episode unlikable! Big shock there, huh?

The rest of the episode is standard TTG stuff. Mediocre jokes, general bad behavior, added factor of the other Titans being complete idiots in this episode (literally howling like apes by the end), anticlimactic ending. The big sticking point of this episode is just how obnoxious BB is the entire time. The simple expressions he makes make me cringe, and kinda helps demonstrate the power animation has on characterization in a way. The fact that BB's supposed to be one of the main characters that is supposed to be found charming baffles me, as in episodes like this he is just one of the least likable characters I've ever seen, even akin to just being a bully, and yet he's going to be plastered on the posters as a character you're supposed to like and find funny. Well maybe it'd be easier to laugh if he weren't such a big friggin' d-bag, guys. If you want to make your characters enjoyable, try not to make then intolerable, first.
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Girl's Night Out
Spoiler : Ep. 13 - Girl's Night Out :
Robin, Cyborg, and BB prepare to have a special "boys night out". Starfire wishes to join but is told she's not "crazy" enough. To prove them wrong, Starfire strong-arms Raven into joining her for a crazy "girls night out", and goes to break the H.I.V.E. villain Jinx out of prison to supply the "crazy". They cut in line to ride the bumper cars, but realizing she doesn't understand "crazy", Starfire decides to let Jinx out of her handcuffs to make the night fun. Jinx turns the bumper cars into getaway vehicles and the three ride through the city, escaping from the police chasing them and crashing buildings until they're finally arrested. They all admit they had fun, then break out of prison to keep the fun going. They stop by the boys, who spent their night dancing to themselves, buying hats, and eating fries, before running off with the police chasing them, though Robin insists Boys Night was crazier.

This episode is...honestly not too bad. It's better than most TTG episodes, at least. The Titans aren't TOO annoying (they're still kind of annoying, mostly the boys) but there's nothing too god-awful in the episode that isn't present in any other episode. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, I don't recall any jokes from memory alone, but it's a structurally sound and fairly competent episode by TTG standards. Granted, Starfire casually breaking a villain out of jail and then escaping jail herself is...incredibly questionable but somehow jailbreak manages to be a lesser offense of TTG morality. So the episode itself...really isn't that terrible, I guess. I'd not advise going out of one's way to see it but if you were to watch it first it wouldn't be a terrible first impression, I suppose.

However, let's talk about Jinx. And how she kinda helps illustrate the weakness of the main cast. See...throughout this episode, Jinx was the only character consistently entertaining me. The rest were mediocre in this episode and have all proven themselves to be terrible at some point in the series. But Jinx has a certain charisma to her and is...well, legitimately kind of entertaining. She's a fun character, she's snarky, she's reluctant, she doesn't like the other Titans but kind of deals with them for a fun time, and I actually find myself liking her. So...why is she more entertaining than the main cast exactly? Because honestly, I'd much rather watch a show about her than them. She's more fun, less annoying, and overall supplies a better viewing experience for me personally compared to the other Titans. This episode isn't terribly partially because of her, but to a degree that highlights certain points I'd like to make later on in this review series.

So overall, not a terrible episode, though it does say something that the villain's more likable than the heroes.
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You're Fired!
Spoiler : Ep. 14 - You're Fired! :
When Beast Boy's irresponsible behavior on missions ends up in getting a planet destroyed, Robin decides to fire him from the Teen Titans and replace his spot on the team. They hold auditions for a new animal-based superhero in an American Idol style manner (Cyborg complaining and dismissing everyone over his bitterness about losing BB), and after declining several DC heroes (including Vixen, B'wana Beast, Detective Chimp, and crossdressing Beast Boy), they finally call up the Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna. Jayna gets accepted for being able to turn into any animal, but Zan could only turn into forms of water, but since he's needed for Jayna's power to work he's hired and given a secretary job. Zan gets sick of the desk-job while Jayna goes to help fight, so he and BB plot to get Jayna fired so BB can get his job back (even though even Cyborg saw him as a hindrance at this point). Zan eventually foils their sabotage, however, and rats BB out. He then frustratedly flushes himself down the toilet in water form to escape to the sea, prompting BB to go stop him and catch him in a pelican beak. The Wonder Twins end up quitting, and the Titans hire back BB on the same desk job Zan had.

This episode...it's a mixed bag. On the one hand I think it has some of the funniest jokes the show has to offer, but on the other it has a lot of really annoying characterization and mean-spiritedness in it.

The Wonder Twins cameo was actually one of the better references TTG has made, I'd say. A lot fall flat or even hinder the episodes but I actually think bringing the classic yet semi-obscure heroes Zan and Jayna back was a really good idea. It's cute and meshes well with what TTG wants to be, especially their slight air of old-superhero-show camp. And they're used pretty well! Zan's always been the butt of jokes and they make a few good ones here. Him running away by turning into a puddle of water and flushing himself to the sea I actually found really funny first time around. Like...there were jokes I actively laughed at, it amazed me. They make good use of their references and actually land some solid jokes, this was the first episode that on my first viewing I actually kinda liked! It's definitely a sign that while I don't typically like TTG humor, I don't think it's beyond salvation; it can actually hit with its jokes sometimes.

And...we get BB being an @$$hole again trying to sabotage Jayna, we get Jayna having little to no personality compared to her brother, we get Cyborg throwing borderline tantrums at the auditions, and we get the Titans firing a long-running member just off the bat because the writing suddenly decided BB was completely incapable of fighting out of the blue. Yeah for as funny as the episode can be there's a LOT of mean spirit in it I didn't catch until repeat viewings. While it didn't entirely dampen the good jokes, it definitely lowered the episode in my mind for me. Like...again, side-characters being more entertaining than the main cast (though again only Zan has an actual personality). There's also one of the first obvious instances of TTG's low-budget tendency of reusing its voice actors for everyone. While they try to get original VAs for returning TT characters, if they don't have the VA the character will be completely silent, and if they're not returning from TT they will be voiced by one of the five Titans' voice actors. And this happens ALL THE TIME. Zan is voiced by Khary Payton (Cyborg) and Jayna is voiced by Tara Strong (Raven), and both of their voices are used CONSTANTLY throughout the series, along with the others. Tara Strong's generally good at hiding her voice but it's REALLY obvious when she's in use in TTG. It's a recurring issue that bogs the series' quality and just really doesn't feel natural the more you notice it.

That all being said, while You're Fired! suffers from a lot of TTG's more annoying tropes and is bogged down by lazy casting and mean spiritedness, I will concede it is a funny episode and one of the better episodes of the series, and I laughed a few times throughout it. Enjoy that compliment while it lasts because next one...is a doozy.
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Super Robin
Spoiler : Ep. 15 - Super Robin :
When Robin has trouble taking down the large supervillain Mammoth in a fight with the H.I.V.E., he gets self-conscious of his lack of superpowers and starts complaining to the rest about how easy they have it. They tell him that superpowers are a curse due to their consequences, but Robin ignores them. He sets up his own freak lab accident to try and obtain the powers of a real robin...which ends up giving the robin martial arts and him just feathers and a beak. He goes to the others, and Raven says she can fix him and grant him superpowers...in exchange for him doing the chicken dance. He does so (for a long...time...) and she gives him some generic superpowers, such as flight, strength, heat-vision, and telekinesis. They try to tell him how big a curse it is, but he goes off and solves literally all the world's problems in a second. This puts the Titans out of a job, however, and they disband. Robin goes to get a desk-job, and it fast forwards through his uneventful life until he's on his deathbed as an old man, in which he admits the superpowers were a curse. The other Titans come back out from behind a curtain, also old, to brag to him about how they were all right. The stress gives Robin heart pains and the episode ends as Raven whispers "cuuuuuuurse" into his ear and the screen cuts to black as a flatline sounds.

.......There is soooo much wrong with this episode. Let's just...go through the points, shall we?

First. Robin being annoying. Almost his MOST annoying, even. He complains and even whines about his lack of powers and doesn't shut up about it for a good chunk of the episode. If you asked me for a standard episode that shows what's so bad about modern Robin, I point to Super Robin. It's becoming redundant to say "hey it's a Robin-centered episode where Robin's annoying". yes, but...isn't that kind of a problem? The fact that it should go without saying a main character will be annoying in an episode when we're only 15 episodes in? It's a problem that persists TO THIS DAY and while it may get redundant for me to point out, the fact I have to KEEP pointing it out greatly concerns me.

Second. Deus ex Raven. A common issue I have with TTG is its abuse of Raven's powers. She can literally do anything. ANYTHING. And when the episode wants an excuse to do a certain plot, it goes to, "let's just make it something Raven can do". Need superpowers? Pssh you didn't ask before, Raven's always been able to do it! It's lazy writing that only gets worse as the series goes on and honestly makes you wonder why they bother having conflicts at all when Raven can do ANYTHING.

Third. The chicken dance. Not only does it not add anything to the episode aside from the obligatory musical section TTG has...for some reason, but it lasts about...35 seconds. And all it is is Robin doing the chicken dance to chicken-related backgrounds. No words. No lyrics. No jokes. Not even a catchy beat. Just...chicken dance. With some chicken bawking in the background. For 35 uninterrupted seconds. About 50 seconds if you count the time it takes to convince him to do the dance. In an 11 minute you need to make your time count. This is not making your time count. Heck you could have devoted this segment to showing Robin solving the world's problems or something. But as is you have around a minute of filler that has NOTHING to do with the episode, doesn't tell any jokes past "Robin's a bird lol", and is just awkward. A minor thing to complain so much about? Probably, but this is another recurring issue; TTG doesn't know how to pace itself or its jokes. Its comedic timing is incredibly off and jokes and songs overstay their welcome. It's a small thing in the long run but it's an excellent example of something that plagues a LOT of TTG's episodes.

Fourth. The ending. Good lord the ending. So you've got the setup of Robin solving all of the world's problems, forcing them to disband and get real jobs. Okay, there's comedic potential there, you can work with it. But instead you lead it to Robin's death bed, where he suffers from what can only be assumed as a heart attack and dies as his friends taunt him. Now please remind me...why am I supposed to like ANYBODY in this cast? Now while I'm not a fan of black comedy personally there's nothing objectively WRONG with it. However, this feels SO out of place in TTG. It goes past black comedy into just cruelty. It's practically shocking to watch. Is that the intent? Maybe, but I doubt the intent is to make the characters seem so despicable. Like...taunting your friend as he's dying. Now I watch Gravity Falls, I can take dark humor in a kids show...but isn't this pushing it just a BIT too far? Why should I enjoy these characters? They literally INSULT A FRIEND AS HE DIES. Also, second episode ending in a retconned death, for the record. It's endings like this that highlight ANOTHER huge aspect of TTG's failings: taking ending jokes too far, and making characters suffer for the sake of a joke (both in literal terms and in characterization terms). It's a terrible ending that's more unsettling than funny and for what this show is trying to be, it REALLY doesn't mesh well.

Super Robin is an episode I would refer people to show them how bad TTG can be. It encompasses the usual issues with TTG - hit or miss humor, unlikable characters, the like - and then contains several huge recurring flaws that REALLY bog the series down in a single episode. The lazy deus ex machinas, the annoying characterization, the poor use of time, the almost legendarily bad endings, the ability to make the entire cast unsympathetic at once...it's all the stuff that TTG does badly in one episode. Well, not ALL the stuff, there'd be no point in reviewing every episode if it were. But I think it's fair to say that Super Robin encompasses a lot of TTG's flaws into one single episode. It's a great "example" as to why I dislike TTG, and of the things to expect in this series.
That's it for now, but don't worry...more to come.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

Let's get this ball rollin' again, shall we?
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Tower Power
Spoiler : Ep. 16 - Tower Power :
Cyborg is annoyed at the others for not being able to keep up with him in battle because they don't have the same robotic advantages he has. When Beast Boy gets soda in his nose snoring he sneezes it out at Cyborg and malfunctions his robot body. They try to clean the body for him but just wreck it more. They decide to hook his head up to the Tower computer, giving him control over the technology in the Titan Tower. He starts to annoy everyone by being everywhere and getting up in the others' business, so they decide to unhook him from the tower. He catches on, however, and attacks the Titans using various appliances (a vacuum, a toaster, a coffee pot, and a lamp). They fight and eventually (mostly through coincidence) beat the appliances, and Cyborg says he got carried away with the robot thing...before going "psyche" and sleep-gassing the Titans before fusing them with the appliances they fought. The Titans get used to it quickly and the episode ends.

Been a while since Cyborg got to be the main @$$hole, huh? Yeah, he's not just obnoxious in this episode, but...really, downright malicious. Which is incredibly odd. While Cyborg's struggle between man and machine was always prevalent in the original, I'm pretty sure even in Teen Titans Go! he pretty consistently wanted to be human. He mentioned "missing the sensation of knee skin" in Super Robin and in a far later episode, "Real Boy Adventures", desperately wanted to become human again. So...why is he suddenly preferring being all-machine? This isn't just a contradiction to the source material, this is something that comes straight out of NOWHERE in the realm of the show's own universe. Yes, episodic shows have a lot of leeway with what remains canon, but it's pretty important in any show to keep a character consistent. Don't make up HUGE things about a character one episode if you're going to not only ignore it but completely CONTRADICT it an episode later. Plus, not only is Cyborg annoying (apparently being one with the Tower makes him more prone to getting up in people's face and shouting during sleep, meditation, and showering...for some reason), but he's RIDICULOUSLY villainous in this episode. Like holy crap, he literally rejects his humanity (Wrrrryyyyyy) and turns his teammates INTO APPLIANCES. Like...combines their heads with them like Sid from Toy Story. And gets no repercussions for this at all. Why are we supposed to find him funny?! He acts like a HAL 9000 from Space Odyssey so it's partially a parody, but...that doesn't excuse doing acts literally HAL would call screwed up. I mean I don't mind villains trying this, but this is a MAIN COMIC RELIEF CHARACTER, why on EARTH are we supposed to like or care for him after this?

Some things are okay. I like one gag of Cyborg going on small rants about old stuff like VHS players and the show Webster, I thought him being really into retro stuff and rambling about them was cute and funny and would be a nice actual cemented character trait for him (though being tacked on with real references like Webster, Iron Giant, and Cats Don't Dance is really kinda awkward). The other Titans are all pretty okay in the episode, none of them ever annoy me (though since when do Titans like Starfire get significantly more tired than Cyborg in extensive labor...?). The main issue really is the character inconsistency with Cyborg. He's just a completely different character in this episode, even ignoring the original series. I don't understand the design choices in making him so villainous or changing his motivations and outlook completely for this single episode. You guys can make a stupid comedy spinoff and still keep your characters consistent within their OWN UNIVERSE, you know this, right?
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Parasite
Spoiler : Ep. 17 - Parasite :
Starfire tries to get her friends to join in on one of her Tamaranian traditions (note: Starfire's an alien known as a Tamaranian) for "Feast Day", but they all are afraid of the food, so she feels very lonely. However, she ends up noticing she got a space parasite on her side, and she begins treating it like a friend, naming it "Parry" and claiming she can speak to it. Robin and the others think it's gross, but while the others soon warm up to and start conversing with "Parry", Robin grows paranoid and thinks it could seriously damage Starfire, though she's ashamed with him for not accepting Parry. He tries to get rid of the parasite while Starfire was asleep, but ends up communicating with Parry telepathically, and Parry (in the form of a giant blob with a face in Robin's brain) tells him he needs to apologize to Starfire, while Robin admits Parry's pretty nice. Robin apologizes, but when Parry needs to be set free, it ends up transporting the Titans to a planet in which they are attacked by an evil alien, proving Robin right and causing him to brag before their swift defeat.

I'd like to first give a shout-out to the voice of Parry, Kate Micucci. She has a unique voice and I'm a fan of her work, particularly as Sadie in Steven Universe, and I'm glad to hear her make a cameo in this episode.

That out of the way THIS EPISODE IS FREAKING TERRIBLE. First off, it's a rip-off of not one but TWO Teen Titans episodes. The first being "How Long is Forever?" with the other Titans not wanting to join in on Starfire's Tamaranian holiday traditions. But even more so is the episode "Transformation", in which - get this - Starfire develops a large and mysterious lump on her body that turns out to have dangerous alien consequences. And if you think it's coincidence, think again, because an alien creature that appears in that episode is the SAME alien creature that Parry becomes at the end, so they're well aware of what they did. However, while that episode was more of an ugly duckling episode where Starfire became incredibly self-conscious about the lump, this one has her rather obliviously thinking it was totally fine and safe, and the others think so, too. And Robin's put in the wrong for being concerned about it. Isn't that like having a knife in your shoulder and getting angry at the guy shouting "GO TO THE HOSPITAL OH MY GOD" for insulting the knife? I mean, EVERYONE thinks Robin's being an @$$hole, and he even is proven to be in the WRONG for trying to get rid of the parasite. I mean...maybe this plot would work better if the thing in question wasn't a bulbous red growth, but is there actually something wrong with being concerned about a giant infection that appeared on a friend's body? Like yeah, Robin's over the top and forceful, but this is one of the few episodes where I think he's got some weight to his motivation and it's one of the few he actually APOLOGIZES FOR HIS BEHAVIOR. And then still brags at the end because Robin.

Also welcome to a soon to be running trend of WTF endings, folks! Endings that are so ridiculous in comparison to the buildup that they make you double-check just to confirm you saw that correctly! Yes, Robin telepathically communicated with a parasite on Starfire's body because he touched it. And it's Kate Miccuci and it gives his brain a cape. This is not only a very stupid ending, but it's basically a STANDARD TTG ending. The non-sequitor endings get worse and worse over the course of the show and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'll get more into those on the ones that go REALLY overboard, but just expect this level of "WTF" from the endings from now on.
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Starliar
Spoiler : Ep. 18 - Starliar :
There's a party over at the Titans East's base (Titans East being a separate faction of the Titans featuring Aqualad, Speedy, Mas y Menos, and Bumblebee), but the Teen Titans weren't invited because they were nuisances at the party before. Starfire, however, WAS invited, but Beast Boy convinces her to lie to the others about it to not offend them (and bring him along with her) saying that a lie's okay as long as you wink after you say it. Starfire says she and BB are going to the movies, but the others want to come along, so she starts lying to all of them, saying that another Titan complained about them so none of them want to go to the movies with each other, to which BB says she's getting out of hand. This eventually leads to a full fight, however, and Starfire realizes she needs to tell them the truth and that they weren't actually saying mean things to each other, and that it was all her fault and that she should just leave, but she's stopped and is forgiven. The episode ends with Starfire winking at BB about her meaning what she said and confusing BB as to whether or not she meant it. Also there's a subplot that goes nowhere of Silkie being hungry and eating miscellaneous things.

This episode...really isn't too terrible. It's a fairly standard "web of lies" tale with the basic "careful with your lying" moral at the end. It's a standard cartoon plot and it doesn't screw it up too terribly. I found the gag of Starfire winking about everything funny when learning about lying (including lying about the temperature by two degrees and feeling proud of being able to do so) and the end when she winks in response to everything BB asks her and spiraling him into confusion. That being said there's some pretty clear issues. This airing after the episode in which Starfire is feeling bad because of her friends weren't supporting her traditions hurts it when she starts making them quarrel amongst each other (and also makes the Titans look really drama-queeny and petty). Plus there's that bit at the end where she is not only completely forgiven but may not even feel bad about what she did, which...really adds a layer of unlikability onto a character that mostly passes as "boring". Though it could be worse, really. Also Silkie's subplot is there just to take up time and goes nowhere. He eats things because Starfire didn't feed him, he gets big, nothing of significance from the scenes impact the episode. Easily removed completely, just there to be there. But the episode's perfectly watchable, nothing despicable happens in it (for the most part at least). An okay episode, by TTG standards. Nothing great or creative, but functional at least.
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Meatball Party
Spoiler : Ep. 19 - Meatball Party :
Cyborg rather spontaneously decides to hold a meatball party, in which he shoots meatballs from his blasters at the other Titans for them to eat. Raven doesn't want to because she thinks it's stupid, but Cyborg coaxes her into it, but fed her a special "Cyborg meatball" filled with nuts and bolts that crack her tooth. A tentacled demon spouts from the crack in her tooth and attacks anyone (mostly Beast Boy) nearby when she opens her mouth, meaning she has to keep it shut most of the time (and fails to do so). Eventually the demon takes the Titans into her mouth except Cyborg, who Raven charades her issues to, saying not to force her to do things she doesn't want to. Cyborg understands and goes into Ravens mouth to fight the demon, which he does by plugging the cracked tooth up with meatballs. The Titans get spit out of Raven's mouth...and Cyborg throws another meatball party anyway.

I will credit this episode for ONE good thing. The intended moral. Not making people do things they don't want to? Good moral! Oddly not seen enough in kids shows. I applaud TTG for having a very good moral for once for children to learn.

Too bad they BOTCHED IT UP.

The problem isn't that Cyborg made Raven do what she didn't want to do here, the problem is that he FED HER A MEATBALL STUFFED WITH METAL, THE MORAL HAS NO RELATION THERE. If you're going to devote time to a moral, then make sure the episode actually gets that moral across. Cyborg was in the wrong for forcing the meatball party on her but that isn't really what caused the problem. Also why meatballs. If you're going to do a plot about Raven chipping her tooth and a demon coming out, do it with like...a jawbreaker or something, what does Cyborg shooting meatballs at people have to do with literally anything? It's just there because "lolmeatballs", it doesn't even make sense in the way they're used. Also, how did they shrink in Raven's mouth? When did they shrink in Raven's mouth? That's a nitpick I guess but it bugs me WHAT PART OF THE DEMON MADE THEM SHRINK TO TINY SIZE IN RAVEN'S MOUTH? And then Cyborg doesn't even pay much attention to the moral in the end anyway, he goes back to being annoying (and yeah he's really annoying here, too, especially when charading with Raven and going on extensive rambles about being a genius) and didn't even learn anything. The tooth plot isn't a terrible idea I suppose but the resolution is dumb (and probably not healthy or permanent) and it has little relation to the moral or meatballs. It's just an episode with a decent idea or two that just gets wrecked and made annoying with its poor execution.

But the biggest thing that bothers me is that this episode really reflects the quality control the show has. In a 2013 interview, one of the creators stated that his co-creator tried to pitch this episode for 4 months, but it was rejected constantly for being TOO stupid. But as deadlines approached and they needed to fill the episode count, they finally considered it and put the episode in. So yes, one of the creators of this show thought this was too dumb an episode to put in but eventually just gave up and included it anyway. That is the level of thought put into these episodes, guys. Any stupid episode can fit in if they need to hit the episode count for the season. Because what the heck is quality control, am I right? So yeah, the creators are rather apathetic towards reception of their show and don't particularly care if their episodes are stupid. Raises some pretty big red flags if I do say so myself.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

Here we go, here we go, here we go again!
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Staff Meeting
Spoiler : Ep. 20 - Staff Meeting :
Robin calls a staff meeting for the Titans...essentially to show off how cool his staff is. The other Titans call him out on being obsessed with his weapon of choice, to which Robin replies by talking to his staff and beating the others for treating it like a stick. The other Titans don't see the big deal until they "borrow" the staff and realize it's useful in day to day activities. However, when they all want to use it, BB breaks it trying to split it four ways. Unable to fix it, Robin is devastated and fails to fight properly, but he is told of a legendary tree that can supply a better, magical staff. Robin treks to the tree, using a stick to fight his way to it, but upon reaching the top is told by the...sentient magic tree...that the staff itself matters less than the wielder. Robin angrily ignores this, cuts the tree down, and tears off a branch now carrying the tree's rather angry spirit. It has a face. Robin grows to love his magic floating staff and the staff likes fighting, so they make a great duo. He's happier than ever to have a new and improved weapon...until Raven presents his magically fixed old staff and he throws away the tree staff without a second thought. The tree staff is put to use as a plunger.

........What did I just smoke?

Okay so this episode is one of those WTF ones that just derails and stops resembling anything sensical halfway through. We start with the broken staff thing, understandable. But once the magic talking tree is introduced, things get...really dumb. I'm all for fantasy and such but this is just jarring. It comes out of left field practically. It doesn't fit in TTG at this point in time, and it certainly doesn't add much to the story they set up. They could have run with the broken staff bit easily, why did they add in Robin getting a branch with a face at all? It's this weird inability to maintain tone or a plot that really boggles the mind watching TTG, it just gets nonsensical in a style of humor that doesn't FIT nonsensical humor. There are times nonsense works but TTG just isn't that kind of show. Say what you want about Uncle Granpda but the tone FITS nonsense, whereas here it really doesn't. It's like the Couch Spirit or Parry again, and it really doesn't stop doing so over the course of the show.

And yeah Robin's unbearable again. Beating his friends on a whim because he can, check. Chainsawing a sentient tree down for personal gain, check. Annoying whining all episode, check. Look, I'm not against unlikable protagonists, I loved Dan Vs. and Ed Edd and Eddy, but Robin rarely gets his just desserts, and when he does, it's badly done or when he's in the right. He's not a love-to-hate character and he isn't presented as such. He's just annoying and not very fun to watch. He's like...Cartman from South Park if Cartman had the illusion of being the good guy. Characters like Cartman and Dan and Eddy are funny because the writers know when to give them their just desserts and know how and when to write them as awful people and when to make them somewhat sympathetic. It feels the more Robin whines and the more he does wrong the more likely he is to not get punished for his actions. He's an unlikable person in this series, yes, but he's also an unlikable CHARACTER, and that's what really grates on the nerves in episodes like this.

With general levels of mediocre humor, one of the biggest WTF endings of the show, and just generally annoying characterization, I can certainly say Staff Meeting is pretty up there in the bad episodes, though more on a basic storytelling level moreso than an infuriating one.
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Terra-ized
Spoiler : Ep. 21 - Terra-ized :
Robin's in high spirits until he sees a stranger in the Titans Tower with Beast Boy, upon which he freaks out turning on every security system and demanding an answer for who she is. BB introduces her as Terra, an earth-manipulating girl and his supposed girlfriend, though it is obvious she is only there to try and get the Titans' secrets and is an enemy. Raven's the only one suspicious of her, however, and goes about trying to reveal Terra to the others as an evil spy. They just ignore her evidence, however, as they think Raven's just jealous and likes BB. Robin tries and fails to test Terra as a Titan in the meantime. Eventually Terra nearly gets a hold of the Titans' secrets but Raven confronts her. Terra ends up tying all the Titans but BB up on the roof (while the others still don't believe Raven about Terra somehow) and BB wonders what's going on, only for Terra to make an excuse. Raven ends up breaking free, beats Terra, and banishes her to another dimension, much to BB's regret. The other Titans end up finally believing Raven but it's still hinted she really was jealous.

Ladies and gentlemen, the WORST flanderization of the series: Terra! Like wooooow, what did they do to her?! Terra wasn't the BEST character in TT, they were very wishy washy on what to do with her, but generally she was presented as a morally gray character who, at her core, was a good person even if she was manipulated or convinced to join the bad guys. She was far from perfect but she was at least interesting and notable. THIS Terra is a generic villain with generic villainy motivations and a generic love triangle schtick and guuuuuuh. It's the worst use of one of the original TT characters by far, and it's so distant from the original counterpart it barely even NEEDS to be Terra. It could be ANYONE else really, like an actual full fledged villain (Kitten, daughter of Killer Moth, would have been pretty good in this role I feel), but nope, they had to just take a character from original TT their target audience wouldn't even recognize anyway (what's the point of fanservice if you specifically target people too young to have seen the old show anyway?) and just kinda...evil her. I mean she's not a particularly interesting or memorable character in this incarnation anyway, her purpose is to be evil and push a BB and Raven romance, the fact she was used like this at all is just baffling. I know this is more of a TT thing but if you're going to bother INCLUDING the characters at least put effort into making them WORK.

And oh. That romance. So I'll get more into this later with a couple episodes that handle this more directly but TTG can't write a romance to save its life. It flips back and forth between mutual and one sided for one, and nothing ever gets furthered in the grand scheme of things. Plus the reactions and pacing of the subplots are just soooo weak. It feels more like LETS SHIP THESE TWO NOW than an actually thought out romance. And BB and Raven is just...bad fanfic, really. Nothing feels particularly genuine about their crushes and they go off and on at a moment's notice. Again, I'll get more into this later down the line, but trust me, the romances in this show really don't ever improve.

I don't recall any particularly good jokes from the episode outside of maybe Robin's initial reaction to Terra and his attempts to test her as a potential Titan. The main draw of the episode is Terra's inclusion and she's made so generic and dull that she barely even feels like a character. The episode itself is a rather generic jealousy episode, but if you know Terra it'll be infuriating, and if you don't know Terra she'll likely come across as forgettable and the episode as fairly tropey. A weak episode with an even weaker character.
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Artful Dodgers
Spoiler : Ep. 22 - Artful Dodgers :
The Titans stop the HIVE from a robbery despite them strapping hostages to a bomb and telling them cheaters don't win. Afterwards, the boys are excited for an upcoming dodgeball tournament, and are so confident in themselves they spend more time on their victory dance than on practice (they also ban the girls supposedly for their violent tendencies when playing). Regulating the girls as cheerleaders to sing a parody of the original TT theme for their dodgeball theme song (sigh) they face off against the HIVE in a match and get their butts swiftly kicked and lose the match. Distraught, they attempt to rechallenge the HIVE on a mission and are beaten again. Eventually Robin decides they need to cheat to win and lets the girls play, and in the tournament resorts to trickery of all kinds to get through the ranks. Eventually they fight the HIVE in the finals who are annoyed by the cheating, but regardless the HIVE still wins and the Titans learn that cheating isn't going to win them anythi-actually they call the police on the HIVE and win the tournament by default and the episode ends with them happy.

So. The Titans cheat and are rewarded for it in the long run and don't have to accept the fact that they just aren't as good at dodgeball as the HIVE. The boy Titans act sexist (they say it's the girls being too dangerous but it's hard to not look at as sexist) benching the girls and making them be cheerleaders. The girls sing a parody of the original theme in one of the many appearances of the original theme but don't worry you like totally don't need to know TT to get all of the jokes or anything. The Titans win by cheating. Our heroes, everybody. It's not just me, right? Like I'm not the only person that doesn't find watching d-bags act like d-bags and face little to no consequences for their d-baggery enjoyable? Because I don't. I don't get why people would. Maybe once or twice but not for the majority of the episodes. It feels like the biggest d-bag of an episode is most likely to win in the end, and that's just...not good for a cartoon like this. There's a time and place for it but a cartoon riding on the popularity of a beloved franchise aimed towards younger and more impressionable children is not that time or place. It's reached the point where I don't even want the Titans as protagonists.

In fact...I alluded to this back in Girls Night Out, but wouldn't this show be better if the HIVE were the protagonists? Granted only two of them actually talk in TTG but Jinx and Gizmo are so much more enjoyable characters than the Titans are. They generally have funnier lines when they show up, they can get away with a lot more amoral acts while remaining in character, and there's so much more open potential for jokes with them due to how little they actually have from the original series (Jinx had like an episode where she really developed but most of the cast was pretty simple). I'm being serious here, I think TTG would work better if it starred the villains of the series, I think they have far more comedic potential in this style of show, and heck, they're far funnier AND more likable in this episode even. The best parts are Jinx and Gizmo explaining that yeah they're supposed to play dirty in fights because they're the bad guys, and yet still getting annoyed at the Titans for cheating in dodgeball. They're much funnier. All the villains are, aside from a few (cough cough Terra cough). Artful Dodgers isn't a terrible episode by TTG standards but it's the one where I started to feel like I was following the wrong group. When the villains come across as funnier and more likable than the main cast? Something is wrong there.
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Burger vs. Burrito
Spoiler : Ep. 23 - Burger vs. Burrito :
BB and Cyborg are hanging out and want to eat something. Beast Boy likes burritos, Cyborg likes burgers. They butt heads over which is better and try to get the other Titans to decide to settle it, but the others like them equally. BB and Cyborg put the foods through a set of trials to decide which is objectively the best, which culminates into a battle between a giant robot burger and a giant burrito created by Raven's magic. After the two defeat each other in a tie, BB and Cyborg realize it's a matter of opinion which is better and that the other food is pretty good too. They then decide to get dessert.

Well...they didn't reverse the moral this time? I guess that's something? I mean they make the moral fairly obvious but at least they FOLLOW it this time, can't fault them on that for once. Cyborg and BB are kind of annoying in this episode arguing over food as they do but it never gets to Pie Bros level of hateable, and the other Titans are actually decently funny in this episode. Things I usually complain about are mostly absent in this episode. It's actually pretty refreshing in that regard.

That being said...the focus of this episode really falls flat. I grew up on classic Cartoon Network so I'm not against the idea of something so trivial escalating to such a degree. But there just isn't enough jokes in it. It's monotonous and predictable until the fight at the end (and also spends a lot of time on filler songs from BB and Cyborg, including a really bad mariachi song, and another lengthy montage) and the fight itself is SUCH a waste of potential. You have a giant burger-bot and burrito monster fight and the only jokes you're going to tell with that scenario are all the attacks being alliteration (ie Burrito Blade, Tomato Timebomb, etc). It's SO weak when there's so much comedic potential in the scene. And the pacing in general would be better if the conflict escalated over time instead of just at the very end, but before the big fight they were just testing the foods in the microwave. There are jokes in here that work but most of the episode feels just circular and pointless, and the one time they try something fun with the idea they don't utilize the potential for comedy or creativity enough for it to be interesting. It's a dumb premise for an episode, no doubt, but a good comedy would be able to keep up with the humor needed to make it work, and this really doesn't.
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Matched
Spoiler : Ep. 24 - Matched :
Cyborg invents a program that tests to see who someone's best romantic match is, mostly to satisfy Robin's whining. He tests Starfire's match, and reveals it to be Aquaman, much to Robin's chagrin. He then tests BB's and reveals it to be Raven, of all people. BB believes it and starts to attempt to woo Raven, who denies his advances since he's not what she wants in a guy. Meanwhile Robin tries to act like Aquaman to win Starfire's affections (who does seem to find the fish man attractive) and looks like a fool doing so. After a an attempts to be more like what Raven might want, she tells him to buzz off, but after he tells her he's serious and stares at her with a really sad face, Raven just...decides she DOES like BB and wants to make it work. And then they immediately try to get...married. Ahem. Starfire attends with Aquaman in the audience which tortures Robin. But Cyborg objects before they go through with it and says his program was bugged. He reveals BB's true match is really a scratching post and BB immediately forgets about Raven and the wedding to scratch it. The program also matches Starfire with a scratching post and he realizes the program may not be too great in the first place. The episode ends with no relationships advancing and BB and Starfire fighting over the scratching post while Robin and Aquaman cry together and Raven wonders why she even bothered.

TTG, just...just stop pretending you understand romance. Because you don't. You really, REALLY don't. I know love is complex and hard to do and it doesn't really need a ton of depth in a kids show. But making an effort to make your romances semi-coherent would be nice.

I understand shipping Raven and BB, okay? That's fine. But being so dang inconsistent with their actions and motivations about it and being so wishy-washy on it actually going somewhere? Yeah no. Let me tell you guys something. These two characters nearly got married in an instant, a REALLY stupid move by the way, and are still back at status quo immediately after. There will never be any prominent development of this romance. They will ship tease this throughout the series and never actually make progress on it that lasts past a single episode because they don't care about the romance itself but the audience they get from the ship tease. They'll give you this scene of the two getting married, they'll give you a kiss between them (I'll get to Rocks and Water eventually I'm sure), they'll do whatever you like to see with little to no actual build-up leading to it. They'll throw these landmarks in romances at you because you like to see that and because it's adorable but they won't bother remembering it down the line or having it be followed up or actually maintain a relationship. This is not a developing love blossoming, this is fanfiction fuel. And it is just a groan-worthy attempt at a romantic subplot.

Not as bad as Robin and Starfire's mind you. Starfire is literally set up as just being Robin's love interest and whether or not she reciprocates his feelings or not changes literally all the time. In this episode she just finds Aquaman hot to make Robin jealous and doesn't really show much characterization of her own (though when Robin shows up in a speedo her reaction is priceless I'll admit). Raven and BB is a really bad ship tease but Robin and Starfire is just a really bad PAIRING. Robin's whiny and obsessive and Starfire's the bare minimum requirements to be classified as a character. The entire focus of this episode is these two romantic subplots, and NEITHER are written satisfyingly or with the grand scheme of things in mind. If TTG ever ends these couples might get together in the very last episode, but I see nothing but ship fodder with this show's handling of romance, and they go back to normal by next episode with no mention of this one ever again. Don't ship it if you don't know how to actually develop a romance, guys, it just gets lazy and clunky otherwise.
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Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by gotMLK7 »

Well Steven Universe is on break so now I'm stuck with TTG every Thursday. And after two terrible new recent episodes I'm ready to get back at it! Let's go as we hit the halfway point of season 1!
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Colors of Raven
Spoiler : Ep.25 - Colors of Raven :
When Raven doesn't participate in the Titans' making one-liners in a fight with Doctor Light and just takes away the prism he tried to steal, the other Titans get on her case about how poorly she expresses herself and how little she cares or emotes about things. When the Titans break the prism, though, she's split into five beings (Red Anger, Purple Passion, Pink Joy, Orange Laziness, and Gray Nervousness). The Titans love it because they express their feelings much more than the monotone single Raven, but they soon realize that the Ravens are borderline useless in combat as they're too distracted (Orange being lazy, Pink being too happy, Gray being too scared, Red beating up her allies, and Purple kissing BB). They decide to put the Ravens back together, but Red Raven angrily objects before the Ravens scatter throughout town. BB and Cyborg chase Pink and just have fun with her while Robin and Starfire go around town gathering the others in their prism shards. Eventually they're all gathered (Pink poking the prism in Cyborg's pocket much to their chagrin, and Orange being found last lazing around the house) and the original Raven is back, only to go back to confusing the others with her monotone way of speaking when she tries to thank them.

This episode is....eeeeeh? I can't call it good but I can't call it terrible, it's mostly just kind of bland with a lot of little things dragging it down. The overall episode is a rip-off of the original TT's 6th episode "Nevermore" featuring BB and Cyborg meeting several splits of Raven's personality within a mirror in her room (even featuring Doctor Light as a minor villain in that episode as well) without the character study aspect. The comedy never really gets...funny. The splits kinda just do the same thing throughout the episode and aside from the Gray Raven just earnestly telling Robin and Starfire to "Just go away" so she could brood I never really laughed at it. It took a scenario from TT and just...didn't do anything creative with it. A lot of it feels rather dragged on and filler (particularly scenes with Pink Raven) while others feel too rushed (Red Raven is the only split to actively resist the Titans and rebel in the first place and she's trapped in her prism in mere seconds compared to the lengthier processes of the others). Little things bug me, like Purple Raven just kissing BB the entire episode (because women) and how completely deus ex machina the prism is (completely unexplained how it works, why Doctor Light was stealing it, how the Titans knew how to fix it, where it came from, literally anything aside from it existing as a plot device). Also on a side-note they didn't have Roger Bumpass for Dr. Light this episode so he's voiced by Scott Menville doing a really bad impersonation of him.

It's not a particularly unbearable episode, I suppose, but I can't recall anything in it particularly worth sitting through. It just kind of exists, awkwardly reminding me that I should be watching Nevermore instead. Also it ends on an incredibly strange note in which Starfire says out of a scene directly to the camera that who knew such emotions could be in a person so apathetic. Like...I think that was the moral maybe? Just kind of...told to the audience at the literal end of the episode by a largely unimportant character from the episode? It's fine if you want a moral in there guys but you can like...actually have it in the episode. Just inserting a loosely related moral at the very end of an episode (if this is even the moral, is it a reference or...?) without it really being prevalent in the episode isn't really supporting a moral, it's just kind of...telling people a thing. It's so awkward and out of place, I don't know what to make of it. It's kinda like this episode as a whole, really. Just kinda...there, not really doing much of note. It's watchable but really nothing special.
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The Left Leg
Spoiler : Ep.26 - The Left Leg :
Cyborg unveils his new Titans weapon, a giant Megazor-I mean robot. Robin is overly eager to use the robot and forces the team to use it for a crime as minor as Kitten (daughter of Killer Moth) robbing a bank. Robin's upset, however, that he's forced to control the left leg of the robot, and the Titans fail to stop Kitten largely from Robin trying to make the most of his lame robot part (kicking several buildings and making everything difficult for everyone). Cyborg tells him he needs to embrace his uses as a left leg, and after a pep talk from his...right hand, Robin takes it in stride and exercises his own left leg to ridiculous strength. When Gizmo's robot army attacks Jump City, they take the robot once more to fight, this time with Robin accepting his spot. However, it turns out Robin modified the robot's leg with missiles, a sword, and more so he can basically do everything in the fight himself. Cyborg tries to take the leg down for pushing the robot too much but Robin's stubborn opposition gets them shot out of the sky. Robin then detaches the left leg and takes out Gizmo with a kick to his robot's face, and celebrates his victory as the episode ends.

It's that time of the month, everybody! The "Robin's a Major @$$hole" episode! And hoo boy is he a doozy this time around. He's about as obnoxious as he was in Super Robin, but now he's actively pulling everyone on the team down (by the way, wasn't Kitten just a spoiled brat for the most part? Why is she robbing a bank, her father is shown to be RICH in a later episode). In fact, this episode seems to be primarily driven by the fact that Robin is an @$$ that doesn't work well with others and is a pain to all those around him. Which is not generally a good thing to do with your main character for an entire episode.

Here's the thing with @$$hole characters. They're not particularly entertaining to focus on if they don't have some kind of karmic retribution. It's possible to have the @$$hole win and make it enjoyable, see South Park, but the writers need to be aware of how much to push that and how much they need to realize that their characters are terrible people. Cartman works because the South Park creators see him as the most evil child in the world, and so when he occasionally wins it's so over the top that the humor wins out. But Robin isn't Cartman. Robin isn't nearly as funny or over-the-top and is more often than not presented as obnoxious to other characters. And he is. And being obnoxious is not being funny. It's being obnoxious. Plus Robin wins FAR too often, rarely being actually proven wrong in his ways even if it's obvious he's not right to mature viewers. This episode feels like it's leaning towards some kind of moral about him being too pushy but Robin never LEARNS that moral and just ignores it completely to steal the glory so nothing ever seems to come out of it. There's no sense of karma and therefore the attempts at morals almost always fall flat on their face.

The episode basically relies on humor about the juxtaposition of the mundane left leg and the stuff Robin tries to do with it, and Robin's general personality. The former only gets you so far and I've established my distaste for the latter very often, so this episode irritates very quickly for me. It doesn't have anything too memorably fun in it past some minor Power Rangers nostalgia (btw there's a music track played constantly for the robot through this episode that just straight up sounds like it took a riff from the Mighty Morphin' theme) but doesn't do much creatively with it. It's a bland episode with parody potential but just chooses to focus almost entirely on Robin being an egomaniac, easily one of the series' worst aspects. Shows need to realize the difference between entertaining jerks and annoying people doing annoying things. It's a big difference that can determine what makes a character good or bad.
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Books
Spoiler : Ep.27 - Books :
The Titans are bored, so Raven tells them to try reading a book for once. They try it despite not getting it and find that they actually adore reading and the world of imagination. Wanting to raise their love to a new level, Raven tries to get them to start a Book Club, but they become annoyed at her analyzing the books critically past just "books are cool". BB then sings a song about loving books because 11 minutes is hard to fill. The Titans become desperate for more books after finishing their own (akin to a drug withdrawal even) and go searching throughout the house to try and find more to no avail, until they dig up a treasure chest with an evil book Raven buried in it. The book brings their imagination to live in the form of the subjects of the books they read (Ben Franklin, The Invisible Man, Pinocchio, and pelicans), which start attacking them. The Titans are upset Raven made reading so fun and they realize they have to take the fun out to counter the evil book. They begin critically analyzing their books to turn off their imaginations and make reading boring, thus sealing the attackers away. The Titans are upset they almost died because of books and the episode just...kinda...ends with them not saying anything and standing awkwardly for a bit while jazz music plays for...some reason.

Now this episode is pretty easy to hate. Because its surface moral is that books can be bad and that while reading is fun it can also be dangerous. And that is dumb. That is dumb and stupid. That is like the worst moral I've ever heard.

But let's talk about satire. Obviously (at least I hope obviously) this episode isn't meant to seriously convince children that reading a book can be dangerous, right? The circumstances are outlandish and the way they present this moral make it sound like it's not one they actually believe and that they're parodying morals in general, and the episode's obviously bad moral is even mentioned in a later episode (we'll get to you eventually, Let's Get Serious...). But here's the thing, satire doesn't automatically equate to good or funny. The joke moral isn't pushed far enough or over the top enough for it to be particularly humorous, and the way it's presented makes it very easy to mistake the moral for an actual serious one. The humor isn't enough to carry it and the point doesn't get across easily, it's BAD satire. It just makes you think TTG hates books (which given a later episode again isn't too big a stretch). And when TTG already reverses more morals than it presents actual ones, the joke becomes lost and the episode just feels awkward and unfunny in its attempts.

What IS a terrible moral that this episode seems to whole-heartedly present, though, is that analysis and critical approaches to a work makes it boring for everyone. The solution in the end is literally to turn off their imaginations by analyzing their books. Gee, it's almost like the TTG writers have an issue with critical analysis or something. As someone who reviews things in his free time, including this series, and let me tell you I loooooove overanalysis, I can't help but be a tiny bit annoyed that TTG thinks people like me are just a bummer dragging things down for the people just trying to enjoy something. And I understand the sentiment that excessive negative analysis gets grating to fans of something but still, this episode is so passive-aggressive in that moral in a way that really reflects future topics I'll be bringing up. The staff has something against critics of its show and goes about it in a rather immature way, and this episode's undertones is really obnoxious to people like me in that regard.

The episode is mostly annoying past its terrible morals and attempts at satire. The Titans are overly loud and explanatory about their love of books, including one of the worst songs in the show with perhaps the worst transition into it (AH ANALYSIS IS BORING QUICK RAP ABOUT GENERIC BOOK THINGS WE NEED THE FILLER) in the series. Raven tries her best to be a foil but to little success. The episode itself is one of the most recycled plots in the series, "A likes X, but B hates X until A shows B the wonders of X. Then B loves X and becomes so obsessed with X that it gets out of hand and wacky conclusion Y occurs". A+X=-B, (A+X)+B=Y, in shorthand. Yes this specific setup is used often, and Books seems to be the first to really cement the formula that reappears in some of the worst episodes. Also what the heck is the ending? I think they meant to end it on an awkward note because of their attempt at satire for the moral or something, but all that happens is they just stand there silently for ten seconds at the very end of the episode with jazz music playing and the occasional cough before it just cuts out. There's no punchline, it just happens. Don't let jokes just...happen, guys. Give it punch. If all it does is just "happen", chance is it's not as funny as you may think it is on paper.

So Books adds up to just a generally bad episode. Its morals are all over the place, it's not very good satire, the characters are all obnoxious in it even when their one job is just to READ, and just nothing really works in this episode enough to justify all the bad stuff.
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Lazy Sunday
Spoiler : Ep.28 - Lazy Sunday :
Cyborg and BB are happy to celebrate their "Lazy Sunday" (on Tuesday) by chilling on their couch doing nothing all day, encouraged by the Couch Spirit (See "Dude Relax" review) to not let anyone discourage them. The others get pissed off at the two of them being obnoxious and not scooting over on the couch. However, as soon as they get up to grab some chili for five seconds, Robin has already donated the couch to the community center and replaces it with a treadmill. Cyborg and BB go through the 5 phases of grief for a while. They then get obsessed with the treadmill instead and start working out in a montage because montages, and eventually meet the Treadmill Spirit who scares them with how obsessed with fitness he is. They convince the other Titans via taco bribe to retrieve the couch from the community center, promptly blowing open a hole in the building and stealing the couch from the center by force. They bring the couch back home and keep the treadmill for Robin.

Oh hey, Couch Spirit is back. Y-Yaaaaay...? this episode is like the spiritual successor to Dude Relax, which I criticized as being way too boring. Guess what, this episode is way too boring. It feels circular and nothing of note happens in it. They spend a good minute or two just going through the different phases of grief over the couch, and still manage to work in a dialogueless montage of Cyborg and BB just doing random exercises with no actual jokes. It's like flashy colors is their excuse to not actually use humor. And did Couch Spirit really need to return? And get a second one? It's not funny and doesn't fit in particularly well, it's once again just so...there. And the episode doesn't even have the lasting effect of Robin's treadmill staying in the living room like it suggested it would, since it never appears there again. Really all we get from this episode is melodramatic Cyborg and BB being either lazy @$$holes (that go out of their way to take up more room on the couch when asked to scoot over, stay classy guys) or being selfish @$$holes (literally stealing from community centers) and...at least they're not fighting each other this time? I really don't have a ton to say on this episode, it's dull and feels so pointless in the long run, I have barely any lasting thoughts on the matter. It could be worse but I can't think of anything particularly memorable.
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Starfire the Terrible
Spoiler : Ep.29 - Starfire the Terrible :
The episode opens on Cinderblock attacking, but the other Titans can't do anything because Robin declared it as Motorcylce Monday and only people with motorcycles (ie him) can fight. Robin brags that he's the best hero ever, but the others point out he has no arch-enemy so he can't be. He begins sobbing about it, so Starfire offers to be his arch-enemy herself, even though she can't do little things like drink out of the milk carton. She begins to train herself as a villain, making a cardboard secret base and a costume under the name "Starfire the Terrible". Robin doesn't think he could fight or hate Starfire until she destroys a year's supply of his hair gel. Robin tries to warn the others that his archenemy is on the loose, and they make fun of him and of Starfire for trying to be intimidating...until she detonates the moon. And drinks straight from the carton. The Titans try to attack her in her cardboard lair, only to be taken out by her cardboard lasers, spontaneous deathbot army, and trap pihrana pit. Robin explains to Starfire how he wanted to feel accepted like a real hero and not to fight her, and she assures him that he is one. Robin then asks what day it is as a favor, to which she tells him it's Monday. He then proceeds to wheel-punch her in the face with his motorcycle and proudly proclaim he beat his archenemy on Motorcycle Monday.

SO CLOSE. SO CLOSE TO A GOOD IDEA. Starfire being a villain to make Robin feel better about not having an archenemy? Not a bad idea! It's somewhat in character for Starfire, even if detonating the moon is a bit much (Cyborg: "DON'T YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT THE TIDES?!") and she's actually perhaps at her best this episode due to her caring albeit naïve nature. She wants to help Robin feel better and does so in a very roundabout way that brings more trouble than good, that works. There's a ton of potential in this episode and quite frankly premises like this is the kind of stuff I wanted to see more in TTG before I watched it. But they just muck it up with a few things that I just can't overlook.

Okay first off, hello, Slade? Does Slade exist? He has yet to be introduced in TTG though his face is on Robin's punching bag (unless it's Deathstroke?) and Deathstroke's daughter Ravager appears at one point without even mentioning Slade. Is he in this canon? Because him being Robin's archenemy was kind of the major driving point of Teen Titans for a while. If Slade does show up at some point this episode might shoot itself in the foot, I hope this show's aware of that and establishes what's up with that major character from the source material.

Also Starfire's transition to actual villain was fast and awkward with no epiphany to show why she was suddenly able to be more harsh to her allies. Kind of a nitpick but it just feels like there's a missing scene or something.

But the worst part of this episode is definitely the ending. As I said in Matched, this show is terrible at romance. Sometimes Starfire likes Robin back and sometimes she refuses to entertain the thought of dating him. Here she's implied to like him, but if that's the way they want to go with their subplot...YOU SURE AS HECK DON'T HAVE THE LOVESTRUCK GUY PUNCH THE GIRL WITH A MOTORCYCLE. I mean let's not ignore that, Robin straight up hit the girl he supposedly likes with a motorcycle, and did so happily and intentionally. He woots and hollers after it. Why the HECK am I supposed to want him to get the girl in the end? Why am I supposed to ever want to sympathize with him? There's jerk characters and then there's HITTING YOUR LOVE INTEREST WITH A MOTORCYCLE AND CHEERING ABOUT IT. I know it's easy to read too deeply into kids shows and relate them to abuse and all that and I don't want to go down that route and completely overanalyze the intentions, but it's just a matter of making him an even bigger @$$hole than he already was. The character's already an annoying jerk but come on, he just shrugs off her kindness completely and hits her, why am I supposed to enjoy this guy? There are literally child characters in cartoons right now more mature than Robin. It just annoys me so much that this is a relationship the show sometimes pushes on the audience (and sometimes doesn't) and one of the characters is a complete @$$hole. I mean do I really need to go into detail of why this scene annoys me? It's just so...yucky. And drags down an otherwise okay episode by reminding me, "oh right I hate this guy and he doesn't deserve my sympathy". If the episode changed the ending to make Robin and Starfire learn something I'd like it but man that ending. Humor's okay by TTG standards, Robin's still annoying but not as bad as The Left Leg or Super Robin, and the setup's at least interesting. But that ending just makes this episode leave a sour taste in my mouth.
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Power Moves
Spoiler : Ep.30 - Power Moves :
In a battle with the HIVE, Beast Boy and Cyborg decide to show off what they call "Power Moves", in which they combine their skills into one big attack (including bowling with Cyborg's head or use squid-BB to shoot ink). When Mammoth attacks from behind, Cyborg and Robin accidentally do a power move together in reaction, and the two think it's awesome, but BB gets jealous. Robin and Cyborg begin combining more things for fun while BB tries to get the girls to combine things with him to no avail. After several combinations (including creating a sentient birdarang and boombox which I will get to) Cyborg realizes Robin's gotten obsessed with the aspect of power moves and when he tries to stop doing them, Robin rather creepily says there's still something they can combine. BB speaks to Cyborg about how much he and Robin have been getting along in annoyance, but then it's revealed Robin has forced himself into Cyborg's torso and now controls him from the inside. Robin takes Cyborg and the birdarang and boombox out on a combining montage that lasts too long. Eventually the others try to help the unwilling Cyborg by dragging Robin out, but Robin fights them off using Cyborg's body until BB and the girls finally use an ultimate power move and destroy Cyborg's body, forcing Robin out. Robin then asks if he could join in on their power move and they all leave Cyborg's broken body behind.

A+X=-B, (A+X)+B=Y. It's another plot where someone gets obsessed over a thing they thought was stupid and then things get out of hand with it. Like I said, it's a formula repeated constantly in the series. It gets old fast, you can only do the "character that didn't care about thing escalated it the most" plot so many times before it becomes stale.

For the most part this episode isn't particularly terrible but it has a lot of bad stuff in it. The aforementioned formula rears its ugly head. Robin's not just obnoxious and a pain this episode but seems to have gone slightly mad in his obsession with combining things and forcing that obsession onto others, literally forcing Cyborg to keep him in his torso. And again, he gets no karma for it, only the victim Cyborg ends up getting hurt and put into a bunch of pieces in one of his few tolerable episodes. BB is annoying in his jealousy subplot. The montage is very uninteresting between its length, its predictability, and the only dialogue in it being puns from the birdarang. And OH GOD THE BIRDARANG. The Birdarang and the Boombox for SOME REASON become recurring side characters despite being some of the most annoying side-characters in the series. The boombox doesn't talk it just dances, but the Birdarang (or Bird R. Rang according to the internet) awkwardly delivers one-liners in a strange voice by Scott Menville I can't even describe. They're pointless and quite frankly obnoxious but the show loves them for some reason and I'm a tad spiteful of this episode's creating them. We'll touch more on that later, though.

This episode has a ton of bad trends in the series to a somewhat tolerable extent. It never really aggravated me, but it's full of stuff that usually does, so it's balanced between okayish writing and awful content, making a less than mediocre episode.
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Staring at the Future
Spoiler : Ep.31 - Staring at the Future :
Cyborg and BB piss everyone on the team off by goofing around playing "indoor rodeo". The Titans tell them they need to learn about responsibility, to which they freak out at the very thought of the word and run away to go get pizza. When they reach their last slice, they have a staring contest to decide who gets it. This staring contest goes on for thirty years and they end up in the future...unaged. They go to tell the others they had a 30 year staring contest but find that Robin is now married to Batgirl with a child, and is now named Nightwing. He tells them he can't hang out with them since making dinner is his responsibility, freaking the two out again. They then go to Tamaran where Starfire is now queen, but she also can't hang out with them for her responsibilities. They then go to visit Raven, who defeated Trigon and became a celestial goddess in charge of protecting the universe. She explains that it's a big responsibility, but Cyborg and BB will hear none of it and run off screaming about it. Annoyed at their friends' growth, BB and Cyborg decide to go back in time and change it so the Titans won't have the happy responsible lives they live. The Titans try to stop them from it, but the two fight them off via indoor rodeo. They escape back in time and share their pizza. As a result, 30 years later, they live in an robot apocalypse and the other Titans are miserable, but the two are happy without responsibilities.

...So like. I don't feel I really need to explain much of what's wrong with this one, right? This is one of the most infamous episodes of the show (if you like The Mysterious Mr. Enter's Animated Atrocities series he did a play-by-play review that covered things rather well) and it's the episode people point to for showing how bad a spinoff this show is. This episode borrows heavily from the Teen Titans episode "How Long is Forever?", a heavily emotional episode about Starfire being thrust into the future and finding her friends miserable and broken apart as a team, including Robin moving on to be Nightwing. When she goes back in time, however, she proves the future isn't set in stone and works to keep their friendship together. It's a great episode. This very similar episode is about Cyborg and BB not wanting to have any responsibilities so they ruin all their friends fairly good lives to do so. And they win in the end. This...this isn't how you make fun characters, guys. This is honestly probably Cyborg and BB's worst episode in the entire series, showing them get away with being awful people and win in the end. I mean their goal is to ruin their friends' lives for their own benefit, where is the fun in this?

So another episode focusing on the comic relief heavily revolving around the fact that they're terrible people that get no karmic retribution for their actions. And one that largely takes the premise from a classic beloved TT episode (one of my favorites as a kid, even). It's like this show doesn't WANT the original's audience. But it goes past that. Add to it the asinine logic of Cyborg and BB time travelling by having a really long staring contest and somehow not aging at all for no explained or addressed reason. The rather dull designs of the future Titans (Raven's just a ball of light with a face, Starfire looks exactly the same but taller with a different outfit and vague lines under her eyes, and Robin's just Nightwing with a baby). The fact that the moral is that responsibility is inevitable but the irresponsible people win out so it seems like the show is approving irresponsibility. The only thing I particularly like in this episode is that the Titans actually try to be responsible at some point but the focus on Cyborg and BB makes that sight for sore eyes a rather hollow victory. There's just very little good in this episode.

The passive-aggressive nature episodes like this have towards fans of the original is just baffling. They lose a viable audience by making fun of beloved episodes like this and it doesn't seem like they care, as we'll see down the line. And the fact that they always state they don't want to be connected to the original series but then directly take plot elements and concepts from the original series just makes everything more bizarre. If you're going to insist on spacing a spin-off away from the source material, don't base entire episodes on the original, that should be obvious. The show's haters tend to get flack for saying "It's a disgrace to Teen Titans" and are met with arguments of "But it's totally not Teen Titans, stop comparing them!" People will stop comparing them when they stop directly comparing themselves to it. Saying it's unrelated and actually being unrelated are completely different things, and episodes like this show there is some merit in comparison when the original did the plot so much better.

Staring at the Future is one of the most infamous episodes of the series and perhaps the one that stirs up the most hate amongst fans of the original. While I prefer not to go to the "disgraces the original" statements, I agree that it's hard to ignore the obvious comparisons and that this episode is still incredibly obnoxious regardless with Cyborg and BB being just awful people throughout it. Easily one of the weakest in the series.
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No Power
Spoiler : Ep.32 - No Power :
Robin designs an obstacle course for the team to do, but when they all use their powers to cheat to the end when Robin finds it difficult without them, Robin calls them out saying they can't go a full day without using their powers after seeing how lazy they are. He even says anyone who lasts the day will become leader of the Titans. They all immediately try to use their powers and fail in their day to day activities, with Robin stopping them at every attempt. They begin to sympathize with Robin until the HIVE attack and they have to fight without powers. However, they start using common objects as weapons and easily defeat the HIVE, getting an ego about how easy it is. Annoyed, Robin storms off, but later sends a message of distress saying he's tied to a bomb in the obstacle course. Robin insists they use their powers to save his life, but they think they can get through without them. They do not. Robin explodes into pieces. Yaaay. But it's revealed it's a robot. Boooo. Robin was just trying to get them to forfeit the competition, and sadly admits that he was just bothered by how easy a time they were having. The others comfort him saying he's their leader, but then the timer runs out and the others cheer about how they're the new leaders now.

"They all immediately try to use their powers and fail". Note that phrase. Th-They fail like immediately and for some reason Robin doesn't count that against them. They literally all use their powers but Robin just says "haha see" instead of actually counting it. Why did they win in the end they lost almost immediately. Why am I the only one noticing this. And also they completely failed the obstacle course without powers when Robin was able to just barely get through it before. Doesn't that prove he's better without powers than they are and that they need powers to survive dangerous situations? This is one of the few times I WANT Robin to win because the others all had a huge ego about everything and were incredibly condescending but the episode puts him in the wrong despite the fact that he was TOTALLY RIGHT ON MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS, WHY DOES NOBODY BRING THESE THINGS UP.

So yeah this episode is filled largely with contradictory logic (big things like those or little things like Starfire calling Robin's staff and grappling hook "common objects") and plotholes, as well as plenty of Titan ego trips. I mean when Robin's still being an @$$hole and yet is the most sympathetic character in the episode...yeah, no, I'm not digging it. The Titans are just all condescending and obnoxious this time around and I can't find myself wanting anyone to succeed in the end, especially when it's obvious who will win even when Robin technically DID. It's just bitterness from both sides this episode and full of so many contradictions it just adds up to an episode that just gets annoying and predictable. I guess nothing's at its worst this episode, but it's just bad enough that watching it can get fairly aggravating.
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Sidekick
Spoiler : Ep.33 - Sidekick :
Robin emphasizes to the others how he'll be off on a secret mission, emphasizing when they act apathetically that it's at the Batcave. Robin heads there while mocking his jealous team, where it's revealed he's just cave-sitting for Batman. The other Titans arrive as well when Robin leaves the door open, much to Robin's chagrin. They begin snooping and messing around, despite Robin's constant paranoia about them breaking things. And they proceed to break things. Cyborg and BB eventually come across the Ultimate Batarang, Batman's most prized possession. So they take it as a frisbee. Robin's resulting panic attack makes the others pester him about being Batman's sidekick. They're suddenly alerted to an attack from the HIVE, and the Titans aside from Robin begin stealing Batman's equipment to mess with in the fight, despite their leader's frantic objections. Robin tries to get back all of Batman's equipment as they're used against the HIVE, as the Titans get everything wrecked and Robin's interferences get them defeated. HIVE gets their hands on the Ultimate Batarang, but when they use it they discover it simply activates a laser lights and fireworks show. Robin, less scared of Batman now, begins using his equipment to defeat the HIVE. Robin acts confidently as the others fail to fix anything, but his reaction to a shadow makes it clear he's still scared of his boss, so he just blames the wreckage on the Joker and escapes.

Similarly to No Power...Robin is weirdly the most likable character in this episode. The premise of this one and his behavior is very interesting and fitting for his character in this incarnation. He even has some fairly funny moments this time around, including a scene in which he's panicking and playing a scene out between himself and Batman that's actually fairly amusing and well-timed comedically. He's even sympathetic in this episode for the most part, bar maybe the ending where he just graffitis "Joker wuz here" on the Batmobile and splits or is getting in the way of the fight to recover equipment (though that's hard to blame him for really). He's actually a *gasp* tolerable character!

Sucks that everyone else is awful!

I've never liked episodes where the group screws things over at their friend's job and makes them scared of getting in trouble, it always just paints the friends unsympathetically and obnoxiously. And the Titans spend most of this episode just screwing things over for Robin not paying attention to his pleas, breaking his stuff, etc. When annoying characters are written in a way to intentionally emphasize their annoyance, you'd be surprised that the result is generally an annoying episode! The setup's nice but the Titans just make it all harder to get through, and past saying they'll stay with Robin when Batman returns they never really make up for their behavior. They're just a pain in an otherwise not bad episode. Other things bother me, like the show's tendency to rely on Batman cameos a lot without really doing much with him, or the fact that Robin drools and oggles Starfire when she puts on Batgirl's outfit and says it's too tight-fitting for her to remove (oh right I forgot Robin's a creep well that takes another point off this one doesn't it). It's an episode that has so much potential, like Starfire the Terrible or Driver's Ed, but just gets bogged down by the superfluous amounts of Titan immaturity.
That's all for now, but trust me: there'll be more to come!
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Hersh/Fiendy has credit for the amazing GiGi pics and enigma has credit for the adorable Kenshin Mega Man sprite!

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PhoenixRises123
Posts: 97
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:25 pm
Gender: Male
Spoken languages: English

Re: Got Reviews ALL of Teen Titans Go!

Post by PhoenixRises123 »

I really hope so, then we can have our own SP-P-P-P-PECIAL!
Spoiler : :
That was a reference to a TTG episode, yes I did watch Teen Titans GO! And regretted it for the rest of my life... :(
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