[7.1/10] Teen Titans isn’t exactly subtle. The show goes over the top when communicating that Robin is too deep in the weeds with Slade. He’s taking on too much on his own and not ringing in his teammates, out of a fear of them potentially getting hurt. The episode hammers this home time and time again, with the rest of the Titans telling their fearless leader (I think?) he needs to chill.
But of course, Robin is a chip off the ol’ bat-block, so he’s incapable of chilling. Instead he just goes extra-hard at Slade, until he realizes he’s fallen into the evil mastermind’s trap and put his friends in danger anyway. I don’t like the mechanics of that move. Robin getting sidetracked with Cinderblock again and the rest of the Titans facing an ersatz Knightboat is pretty boring. If that weren’t enough, Slade’s taunting fight with Robin is fairly generic for something that’s supposed to be so momentous. It was too easy for me to lose interest.
But as unsubtle as it is, I like that overarching idea. Robin wanted to stop Slade from unleashing the chroton bomb, only to accidentally play right in his hands. Buy trying tog o it alone to protect his friends, he ended up losing his agency and putting them in danger.
There’s a strong sense of irony to the reversal, and nuanced or not, it’s good storytelling. I doubt that Robin as Slade’s apprentice will last more than an episode, and I can’t imagine the “Slade hass nano probes he can use to destroy the rest of the Titans at the touch of a button” will last too terribly long either. But it puts Robin in a compromised situation, making his worst nightmares come true, because he worked so hard to avoid them. The dramatization of all that is pretty simple, but there’s a strong core to it which gives this episode a boost.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-27T20:55:06Z
[7.1/10] Teen Titans isn’t exactly subtle. The show goes over the top when communicating that Robin is too deep in the weeds with Slade. He’s taking on too much on his own and not ringing in his teammates, out of a fear of them potentially getting hurt. The episode hammers this home time and time again, with the rest of the Titans telling their fearless leader (I think?) he needs to chill.
But of course, Robin is a chip off the ol’ bat-block, so he’s incapable of chilling. Instead he just goes extra-hard at Slade, until he realizes he’s fallen into the evil mastermind’s trap and put his friends in danger anyway. I don’t like the mechanics of that move. Robin getting sidetracked with Cinderblock again and the rest of the Titans facing an ersatz Knightboat is pretty boring. If that weren’t enough, Slade’s taunting fight with Robin is fairly generic for something that’s supposed to be so momentous. It was too easy for me to lose interest.
But as unsubtle as it is, I like that overarching idea. Robin wanted to stop Slade from unleashing the chroton bomb, only to accidentally play right in his hands. Buy trying tog o it alone to protect his friends, he ended up losing his agency and putting them in danger.
There’s a strong sense of irony to the reversal, and nuanced or not, it’s good storytelling. I doubt that Robin as Slade’s apprentice will last more than an episode, and I can’t imagine the “Slade hass nano probes he can use to destroy the rest of the Titans at the touch of a button” will last too terribly long either. But it puts Robin in a compromised situation, making his worst nightmares come true, because he worked so hard to avoid them. The dramatization of all that is pretty simple, but there’s a strong core to it which gives this episode a boost.