[7.4/10] I liked this Mad Mod episode much better than the last one. It has the same major pro that the last episode starring the British baddie did: some excellent and creative animation and design work. I love using real black and white photos of London, replete with a British Flag blotting out the sky, to represent Mad Mod’s takeover of the Teen Titans’ city. At the same time, there’s fun tributes to other british iconography throughout, especially The Beatles (naturally), which makes for a fun game of “spot the reference” in a series of creative montages.
I also just appreciate the goofiness of this one. Mad Mod trying to declare American an “unruly colony” and take it back to install himself as king is a loony concept. I’m on board with it as theoretically high stakes, but so silly as to be really low stakes. Him stealing Robin’s life force to get young does create some dramatic tension, but it’s mostly there to just be a part of the show.
I also enjoy the theme of this one. It’s been trickier in recent years to not let patriotism get conflated with jingoism, but I like what Teen Titans does with the animating American ideas here. The concept of “out of many one” and finding ways to compromise works as commentary on the country (albeit at a high level, which is fine for a kids show) and on the Titans themselves being at odds. Their decision to find a way to meld all of the team members’ pans is a fun illustration.
Also, this may be the most I’ve enjoyed Beast Boy on the show. His comical misunderstanding of history got a laugh out of me. His devotion to his gerbil assault plan is ridiculous, in a good way. Heck, I even liked the stretch where he’s stuck being British.
On the whole, this is the rare Teen Titans comedy episode that really won me over, with its inventive visual flair, light but quality commentary on the “spirit of the season” for Independence Day, and some good goofy laughs.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-26T22:53:04Z
[7.4/10] I liked this Mad Mod episode much better than the last one. It has the same major pro that the last episode starring the British baddie did: some excellent and creative animation and design work. I love using real black and white photos of London, replete with a British Flag blotting out the sky, to represent Mad Mod’s takeover of the Teen Titans’ city. At the same time, there’s fun tributes to other british iconography throughout, especially The Beatles (naturally), which makes for a fun game of “spot the reference” in a series of creative montages.
I also just appreciate the goofiness of this one. Mad Mod trying to declare American an “unruly colony” and take it back to install himself as king is a loony concept. I’m on board with it as theoretically high stakes, but so silly as to be really low stakes. Him stealing Robin’s life force to get young does create some dramatic tension, but it’s mostly there to just be a part of the show.
I also enjoy the theme of this one. It’s been trickier in recent years to not let patriotism get conflated with jingoism, but I like what Teen Titans does with the animating American ideas here. The concept of “out of many one” and finding ways to compromise works as commentary on the country (albeit at a high level, which is fine for a kids show) and on the Titans themselves being at odds. Their decision to find a way to meld all of the team members’ pans is a fun illustration.
Also, this may be the most I’ve enjoyed Beast Boy on the show. His comical misunderstanding of history got a laugh out of me. His devotion to his gerbil assault plan is ridiculous, in a good way. Heck, I even liked the stretch where he’s stuck being British.
On the whole, this is the rare Teen Titans comedy episode that really won me over, with its inventive visual flair, light but quality commentary on the “spirit of the season” for Independence Day, and some good goofy laughs.