[8.7/10] Teen Titans rarely feels this disturbing and intense. I like the choice to center Raven here. She’s obviously the most goth-oriented Titan, so this story of an old villain coming back from the dead to taunt her fits with her whole vibe. The show sticks with that from beginning to end, getting darker and spookier than the usual bright tone to make this feel like serious business.
The idea of an impending doomsday at Raven’s hands works well as both a plot engine and a character focus. In terms of the plot, we get Slade coming back to be the herald for a demonic presence. (The show strongly implies who that presence is, but I’ll hold off going into more detail for now.) If there’s one thing Ron Perlamn’s good at, it’s speaking dialogue in a haunting, unnerving fashion. So hearing him talk about the end of the world on the horizon, in that chilling near-monotone of him, sells the stakes of what our heroes are up against.
But at the same time it works as character building material for Ravne. She clearly recalls this prophecy that something terrible would happen on this birthday, and the news that she will be the doom-bringer certainly qualifies. You can feel her trying to run away from this, trying to wait it out, only to be forced to face her worst fears about herself. I’m sure the show will explore it more, but in this early stage I like it as an outsized version of young people’s insecurities, worrying that they’ll have to become something they don’t want to be or be forced to make terrible mistakes or otherwise see their worst fears about themselves realized. Raven’s a good conduit for that kind of story, and I like the show following up on those types of concerns we’ve seen for sometime now.
My one beef with this episode is the focus on a bond between Raven and Robin. HWe haven’t seen them interact very much at all, to be honest. The show makes reference to the time when Raven entered Robin’s mind last season, which was certainly significant. But we’ve never seen any great bond between the two characters. We’ve had episodes where Beast Boy and Cyborg delve into Raven’s subconscious, and a good episode where Raven and Starfire switch bodies and come to know one another better, and so literally any of the other Titans would seem closer to Raven than Robin here. I like the show developing the relationship between the two of them, but pretending that they already have a close bond justrings false.
Last but not least, the animation and design work on this one is stellar. The Titans fight Slade in yet another giant warehouse, and as silly as those repeat settings are, you can understand why the show keeps going back to them. It’s a great chance for outsized designs. Likewise, Raven freezing time while she and Robin fight Slade across a city that’s perfectly still makes for some cool images. And finally, the images of death and destruction, alongside with the demonic inscriptions that appear on Slade and Raven add to the apocalyptic, hellish bent to the whole half hour.
Overall, this is an easy high point for Teen Titans, which promises an intriguing (hopefully) season arc to come.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-08T18:52:53Z
[8.7/10] Teen Titans rarely feels this disturbing and intense. I like the choice to center Raven here. She’s obviously the most goth-oriented Titan, so this story of an old villain coming back from the dead to taunt her fits with her whole vibe. The show sticks with that from beginning to end, getting darker and spookier than the usual bright tone to make this feel like serious business.
The idea of an impending doomsday at Raven’s hands works well as both a plot engine and a character focus. In terms of the plot, we get Slade coming back to be the herald for a demonic presence. (The show strongly implies who that presence is, but I’ll hold off going into more detail for now.) If there’s one thing Ron Perlamn’s good at, it’s speaking dialogue in a haunting, unnerving fashion. So hearing him talk about the end of the world on the horizon, in that chilling near-monotone of him, sells the stakes of what our heroes are up against.
But at the same time it works as character building material for Ravne. She clearly recalls this prophecy that something terrible would happen on this birthday, and the news that she will be the doom-bringer certainly qualifies. You can feel her trying to run away from this, trying to wait it out, only to be forced to face her worst fears about herself. I’m sure the show will explore it more, but in this early stage I like it as an outsized version of young people’s insecurities, worrying that they’ll have to become something they don’t want to be or be forced to make terrible mistakes or otherwise see their worst fears about themselves realized. Raven’s a good conduit for that kind of story, and I like the show following up on those types of concerns we’ve seen for sometime now.
My one beef with this episode is the focus on a bond between Raven and Robin. HWe haven’t seen them interact very much at all, to be honest. The show makes reference to the time when Raven entered Robin’s mind last season, which was certainly significant. But we’ve never seen any great bond between the two characters. We’ve had episodes where Beast Boy and Cyborg delve into Raven’s subconscious, and a good episode where Raven and Starfire switch bodies and come to know one another better, and so literally any of the other Titans would seem closer to Raven than Robin here. I like the show developing the relationship between the two of them, but pretending that they already have a close bond justrings false.
Last but not least, the animation and design work on this one is stellar. The Titans fight Slade in yet another giant warehouse, and as silly as those repeat settings are, you can understand why the show keeps going back to them. It’s a great chance for outsized designs. Likewise, Raven freezing time while she and Robin fight Slade across a city that’s perfectly still makes for some cool images. And finally, the images of death and destruction, alongside with the demonic inscriptions that appear on Slade and Raven add to the apocalyptic, hellish bent to the whole half hour.
Overall, this is an easy high point for Teen Titans, which promises an intriguing (hopefully) season arc to come.