[8.1/10] Terra is my favorite character on Teen Titans so far, because she has the most interesting motivation. On the one hand, she’s deeply insecure about people leaving her, rejecting her, even hating her, because she can’t control her powers, and so wherever she goes, destruction follows. We see in more detail here that because of this, she’s become a wanderer, never having a real home, going where the road takes her just long enough to stay without causing a scene. It’s terribly sad.
It leads her to trust Slade, who helps her control those powers and then persuades her to believe that she owes him for it. She feels like she has to do his bidding, because he’s fixed this problem that’s caused so much trouble in her life. So she agrees to worm her way into the Titans’ good graces, learning their weakness and transmitting them to her benefactor, unraveling their security system so that he can send his minions to attack. Why shouldn’t she, after all, since in her mind, at least, they proved untrustworthy.
But then a funny thing happens; She finds herself believing them. She spends time with the Titans and realizes that they genuinely like her. She genuinely likes them. She feels part of a team and like she has a real home for the first time in her life. ANd she cares for Beast Boy, someone who genuinely wants to be with her and spend time with her, who says he likes her for who she is, no matter what. That tears at two sides of her.
In short, she’s conflicted. She has a job to do, one that’s less than scrupulous but against a group she thought she couldn’t trust. Only then she finds that they’re a bastion of support she’s needed, particularly Beast Boy, and she doesn't know how to resolve her obligations to these two opposing forces that can each lay claim to her mind and her heart in some form or fashion. That's good stuff.
The fighting’s not bad either! While the ferris wheel and the hall of mirrors have become clichés, Teen Titans does well with each of them, creating an exciting clash between Beast Boy and Slade on the one hand, and a psychodrama reflective of Terra’s inner turmoil on the other. Likewise, the remaining Titans fighting off Slade’s mecha-goons in the Tower makes for some strong scenes as well, selling the desperation and exhaustion of our heroes in a way that most fights don’t.
I also enjoyed the time Terra and Beast Boy spent together. I’ll confess to still finding beast Boy pretty annoying. In fact, his agonizing over how his asking Terra out went was unbearably broad and grating. But once they went on an actual date together, the montage of their misadventures was adorable, and sold me on the two of them as a couple in a matter of minutes. That’s no easy feat.
But it makes it all the more devastating when Beast Boy learns the truth about Terra’s mission and feels just as betrayed as she did back in “Terra”. He’s left to assume that all of the rapport they built, all the mutual affection they seemed to share, was part of the lie, breaking the very “extra” yet earnest kid’s heart. This episode sells that emotion, which is a rarity, and one that comes at the perfect time.
On the whole, you feel for Beast Boy, but you also feel for Terra, a victim of forces beyond her control, doing what she feels she has to, while pulled back from it by the buoying connections she makes with the people she's supposed to be duping. It’s an old story, but an effective one, and I can’t wait to see where Teen Titans ultimately goes with it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-15T02:49:20Z
[8.1/10] Terra is my favorite character on Teen Titans so far, because she has the most interesting motivation. On the one hand, she’s deeply insecure about people leaving her, rejecting her, even hating her, because she can’t control her powers, and so wherever she goes, destruction follows. We see in more detail here that because of this, she’s become a wanderer, never having a real home, going where the road takes her just long enough to stay without causing a scene. It’s terribly sad.
It leads her to trust Slade, who helps her control those powers and then persuades her to believe that she owes him for it. She feels like she has to do his bidding, because he’s fixed this problem that’s caused so much trouble in her life. So she agrees to worm her way into the Titans’ good graces, learning their weakness and transmitting them to her benefactor, unraveling their security system so that he can send his minions to attack. Why shouldn’t she, after all, since in her mind, at least, they proved untrustworthy.
But then a funny thing happens; She finds herself believing them. She spends time with the Titans and realizes that they genuinely like her. She genuinely likes them. She feels part of a team and like she has a real home for the first time in her life. ANd she cares for Beast Boy, someone who genuinely wants to be with her and spend time with her, who says he likes her for who she is, no matter what. That tears at two sides of her.
In short, she’s conflicted. She has a job to do, one that’s less than scrupulous but against a group she thought she couldn’t trust. Only then she finds that they’re a bastion of support she’s needed, particularly Beast Boy, and she doesn't know how to resolve her obligations to these two opposing forces that can each lay claim to her mind and her heart in some form or fashion. That's good stuff.
The fighting’s not bad either! While the ferris wheel and the hall of mirrors have become clichés, Teen Titans does well with each of them, creating an exciting clash between Beast Boy and Slade on the one hand, and a psychodrama reflective of Terra’s inner turmoil on the other. Likewise, the remaining Titans fighting off Slade’s mecha-goons in the Tower makes for some strong scenes as well, selling the desperation and exhaustion of our heroes in a way that most fights don’t.
I also enjoyed the time Terra and Beast Boy spent together. I’ll confess to still finding beast Boy pretty annoying. In fact, his agonizing over how his asking Terra out went was unbearably broad and grating. But once they went on an actual date together, the montage of their misadventures was adorable, and sold me on the two of them as a couple in a matter of minutes. That’s no easy feat.
But it makes it all the more devastating when Beast Boy learns the truth about Terra’s mission and feels just as betrayed as she did back in “Terra”. He’s left to assume that all of the rapport they built, all the mutual affection they seemed to share, was part of the lie, breaking the very “extra” yet earnest kid’s heart. This episode sells that emotion, which is a rarity, and one that comes at the perfect time.
On the whole, you feel for Beast Boy, but you also feel for Terra, a victim of forces beyond her control, doing what she feels she has to, while pulled back from it by the buoying connections she makes with the people she's supposed to be duping. It’s an old story, but an effective one, and I can’t wait to see where Teen Titans ultimately goes with it.