[6.6/10] I read elsewhere that this was originally intended to be the first episode of Teen Titans, and I can see why. This works as a much better introduction for the team, if only via the opening fight, than anything in “Final Exam”. We get a better sense of their personalities and powers, for one. That mainly comes in the form of thumbnail sketches; Starfire is bubbly in demeanor but stilted in speech; Raven is monotone and morose, etc. But it’s all enough to set the stage for the Titans and what their dynamic is better than the in medias res introductions in the first two episodes.
My problems with the series abide though. Again, the story here is very simple. Fight with bad guy goes bad. Robin and Cyborg squabble. Cyborg walks off in a huff. The team mopes a bit. Then they fight another bad guy and win when Cyborg returns to help. There’s no real complications to why Robin and Cyborg got testy with one another for a simple mid-battle mishap. There’s no real explanation for why Cyborg returns other than the generic team loyalty thing. Does it work okay as a story? Sure. But there’s zero depth or character to it, just a generic tiff with a convenient end.
The action underwhelmed me too. The team working together to subdue the Clayface knockoff was alright, and there were some interesting designs on that goo monster’s constituent parts. For the most part though, the skirmishes were forgettable. We’re also back to doing those exaggerated, wacky anime faces, particularly in Robin’s and Cyborg’s fight, that just come off too cheesy to take seriously.
The one thing I did like here is Slade, who is being portrayed as something of a villainous Batman type, which makes for an appropriate adversarial archetype for a group led by Robin. His “villain in the shadows” routine is fairly stock, but that’s alright on a kids show.
Overall, this one still isn’t great, or even good, but it feels more solid as an entree to the world and team of Teen Titans than prior outings.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-17T22:06:15Z
[6.6/10] I read elsewhere that this was originally intended to be the first episode of Teen Titans, and I can see why. This works as a much better introduction for the team, if only via the opening fight, than anything in “Final Exam”. We get a better sense of their personalities and powers, for one. That mainly comes in the form of thumbnail sketches; Starfire is bubbly in demeanor but stilted in speech; Raven is monotone and morose, etc. But it’s all enough to set the stage for the Titans and what their dynamic is better than the in medias res introductions in the first two episodes.
My problems with the series abide though. Again, the story here is very simple. Fight with bad guy goes bad. Robin and Cyborg squabble. Cyborg walks off in a huff. The team mopes a bit. Then they fight another bad guy and win when Cyborg returns to help. There’s no real complications to why Robin and Cyborg got testy with one another for a simple mid-battle mishap. There’s no real explanation for why Cyborg returns other than the generic team loyalty thing. Does it work okay as a story? Sure. But there’s zero depth or character to it, just a generic tiff with a convenient end.
The action underwhelmed me too. The team working together to subdue the Clayface knockoff was alright, and there were some interesting designs on that goo monster’s constituent parts. For the most part though, the skirmishes were forgettable. We’re also back to doing those exaggerated, wacky anime faces, particularly in Robin’s and Cyborg’s fight, that just come off too cheesy to take seriously.
The one thing I did like here is Slade, who is being portrayed as something of a villainous Batman type, which makes for an appropriate adversarial archetype for a group led by Robin. His “villain in the shadows” routine is fairly stock, but that’s alright on a kids show.
Overall, this one still isn’t great, or even good, but it feels more solid as an entree to the world and team of Teen Titans than prior outings.