Holy crap.
That has gone really well.
Uh, thank you so much for all the support on Patreon.
It's--It's incredible to see.
I don't know how to put into words how thankful I am but I am incredibly thankful.
I'm also just thankful for all of you who had words of kindness and support in the comments
below of the last video and, I mean, obviously not everyone can give money, not everyone
wants to give money, and that's totally fine.
But just that supportiveness, just that kindness, just that . . . all that stuff.
It means a lot.
It's incredibly motivating.
Yeah, I don't what words to say except just "thank you."
And I hope this video lives up to your expectations.
OK hold up.
I recorded that a few days ago, but the copyright situation just changed today.
If you supported me on Patreon or are considering doing so, I recommend that you listen to this,
but if not you can just skip past this to the time code on screen to watch the video:
So, Warner Bros first doubled down on parts 2 and 6 of my Teen Titans series, before I
put up Part 7.
This basically means that I disputed their copyright claim and they came back to me and
said, "No, we stand by our decision."
This led me to believe they would do that for all the videos.
However, just a couple days ago, they released their copyright claims on every video.
I am really surprised that they decided to do that, but hey, I'm not complaining.
I honestly thought there was no chance they would do that.
This includes parts 2 and 6, which I re-disputed.
Anyway, I wanted to let you all know, since I want you to have all the information if
you were considering backing me or if you already have.
While more issues may pop up in the future, this has ended up being not nearly as bad
as it seemed, at least for the time being.
Regardless of if you decide to still support me financially this way or not, thank you
so much.
The fact that so many of you cared enough to back me on here . . . it's amazing.
Now, once again, I hope you enjoy the last part of this Teen Titans analysis.
In this season of Teen Titans, things change.
In terms of structure, this season is wildly different from the previous seasons in ways
that make analyzing and discussing it an overall different process.
This season is far less focused on individual episodes that explore thematic concepts intermingled
with a character-based arc, and instead has nearly every episode of the season tie in
with the central conflict in some manner.
In concept, this is a great idea, and something I've wanted since I started watching this
show.
Sure, some of the episodic episodes have been great—"Haunted" and "Nevermore"
immediately pop into my head, but there are a number I could mention here—but, regardless,
it's neat to have it link together with an over-arching plot that, generally, isn't
horribly intrusive and doesn't disturb the episodes' individual plots.
However, this is more complex than it at first seems.
This isn't a completely positive change.
Some very big problems reveal themselves with this new structure, and some strange decisions
are made that, in some ways, result in a season that manages to be more cohesive than any
previous season while also feeling more rushed than any season that precedes it.
So, naturally, let's start at the beginning and go from there.
It is immediately obvious that this is meant to be a Beast Boy-centric season and we quickly
get some important character development for him.
This group that he used to be a part of—the Doom Patrol—clearly cares for him, but their
leader Mento is harsh and, even when Beast Boy is excited about some improvement with
his powers, Mento chastises him for not following orders.
Suddenly, Beast Boy's want for attention and his want to make others laugh is put into
a new context.
It's actually quite sad.
While his old group doesn't seem to have been particularly cruel to him or anything
like that, they were certainly unkind in some respects, and their leader placed their goal
of defeating the Brotherhood of Evil above everything else.
Importantly, this includes their friendship and bond with one another.
Both at the beginning and the end of the episode we are reminded of this, when Beast Boy chooses
to save his friends when he could instead try and stop the Brotherhood of Evil.
This also adds a lot to Beast Boy's relationship with Terra.
While it always made sense on a basic level that Beast Boy would like to have someone
laugh at all his dumb jokes—I mean, who doesn't want people to laugh when they tell
a joke?—the fact that she cared so much for him, the fact that he meant so much to
her . . . well, it would mean even more to someone who has struggled with being accepted.
It would mean even more for someone who has failed and who hasn't been treated like
an equal by his past group.
This, of course, adds more to his relationship with the other Titans as well.
It's also clear that he hasn't move past this yet.
His dialogue with the Doom Patrol makes it clear that he still wants to impress them,
that he wants them to take him seriously and treat him as an equal.
However, the Doom Patrol doesn't take the Teen Titans as a whole very seriously, and
believe that they will get in the way or that they simply shouldn't get involved with
this conflict between them and the Brotherhood of Evil.
In the second episode of this conflict, this is made even more apparent, as Mento doesn't
want the Teen Titans coming along with them.
Even more telling, perhaps, is that he won't listen to any of Beast Boy's suggestions,
and leads his team foolishly, without a plan, into a confrontation with the Brotherhood
of Evil, no matter how much Beast Boy tries to tell them that they're too tired and
weak to do this on their own.
It's interesting to see this side of Beast Boy—a side that is relatively pragmatic
when compared with the other characters surrounding him.
Up until now, he's mostly been a comic relief character or, when not occupying that role,
someone who deals with situations as they come to him.
In other words, he isn't exactly concerned with planning or with what could go wrong.
Here though?
Well, he has to be.
This gives off the impression that he is a rather adaptable and a selfless character.
What I mean is that he changes to suit the role he's needed for—with the Teen Titans,
he needs to be that silly side that keeps them from getting too serious; with the Doom
Patrol, he needs to be more serious and realistic, and he even ends up coming up with a plan
to help him and Mento get into the Brotherhood of Evil's base.
One thing here is that I'm a little fuzzy on the details of Beast Boy's plan.
Sure, it's clear that they're being a bit more cautious and intelligent here, and
that Mento is actually listening to Beast Boy's suggestions which is leading them
to greater success, but it would have been nice to get down to the details of this.
If Beast Boy's going to come up with a plan, I think it would be good to see that plan
in full, to see every angle of it.
As it stands, it seems that his plan wasn't all that great anyway, as the Teen Titans
have to get in there and help them, along with the other members of the Doom Patrol.
Personally, I think it would have been best if Beast Boy and Mento had gone back and forth,
each giving ideas of what they could do, with Beast Boy ultimately deciding on the final
course of action.
Still, I like the ideas that these episodes have tackled, and what they bring to the table
when considering Beast Boy's character.
Overall, these are two pretty strong episodes that set up the whole season's conflict.
After all, now the Brotherhood of Evil has their eyes set on the Titans, and that's
going to be clear throughout the entirety of this season.
I also like that we start off with this two-parter that explores this dynamic between Beast Boy
and the Doom Patrol.
It's the first time the series has ever started a season off like this, and it's
nice that we get to carry all this Beast Boy development with us throughout the rest of
the season.
Now, episode three is where things get a bit odd, as we spend most of our time here focusing
on Hot Spot, who is being chased by Madam Rouge.
Madam Rouge.
Sorry.
I went all Canadian on your for a second.
Regardless of my Canadian-ness though, the Brotherhood of Evil wants his communicator,
as this will allow them to find all the Titans.
First off, I like how this episode handles its tension, with Madam Rouge needing to try
and trick Hot Spot.
It helps to break up the more action-oriented scenes and, honestly, I found the dialogue
a bit more exciting than the action.
It got really hard to tell, at some points, if Hot Spot was going to hand over his communicator.
The weird part, however, is that up until now we've hardly seen Hot Spot.
While I don't dislike him, I also don't really know much about him, and I think it
would have been wise to either spend more time focusing on him earlier, to give us more
of a reason to care about him in this episode, or to have Madam Rouge go after a different
hero.
At times, I just found it a bit hard to care about Hot Spot, since we know only the most
basic thing about him: that he's a hero.
That's basically it.
He doesn't have any horribly defining characteristic other than that and we don't know anything
about his own goals or philosophies.
It's a bit of a shame, because I actually like the idea of the story cutting away from
the central characters to explore some other perspectives in a new locale—it makes this
conflict a lot more epic in scope—but I think that Hot Spot's character could have
been handled much better here, in order to give us more of a reason to care specifically
about him.
One other complaint I have is very subjective.
Well, I mean, most of this stuff is subjective, but this in particular stands out to me.
I just don't like that Robin fell for this.
After all, he knows that Madam Rouge can shape-shift at this point, and he still gives his communicator
over to her when she's disguised as Hot Spot.
From how I understand his character, it seems unlikely that he would do this, and like he
would probably ask to see Madam Rouge first.
Of course, everyone makes mistakes though, so some might argue that this lapse in judgement
is totally reasonable and I can't really argue with that.
It just frustrated me, personally, that Robin fell for this.
Overall, I like the concept behind this episode, but I don't think it was handled all that
well.
If we're going to take time away from the central characters, it better be to focus
on someone who we can really care about, or who we really want to see more of.
For me, Hot Spot didn't end up being that.
Episode 4 also doesn't focus on the main group of Titans and instead opts to explore
the Titans East.
For now, I'm going to only talk about how I feel about this episode on its own, and
not within the context of the whole season.
I'm going to save the part where I talk about this season as a whole for closer to
the end.
On its own, this is a solid episode.
Right away, the music captured me, with this scene where Control Freak roams through Titans
Tower, the guitar sometimes matching up with his steps and the way that it matches his
intensity and disappointment as he tries to challenge the Titans and realizes they aren't
there right now.
Of course, they aren't there because they're off fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, which
is why the Titans East come to watch the city.
Overall, this episode is focused on developing the Titans East through showing how people
don't really know about them, at least not as much as the main group we've grown accustomed
to.
The elements of this episode all tie together with this central idea really well: At first,
no one recognizes the Titans East; Control Freak creates challenges for them because,
well, he's an obsessive individual; other people become more enamoured with and interested
in these people; and they succeed and defeat Control Freak.
Simple stuff, but all narratively effective.
While there isn't a central theme here, there doesn't need to be: This episode is
far more concerned with building up characters than with communicating a lesson to its audience
and I have absolutely no problem with that.
Considering the scope of this season's conflict, it's important to do this sort of thing—to
take a step back and focus on different conflicts in different places with different characters.
It's simple, so I don't have that much to say about it, but I enjoyed it quite a
lot.
Episode five focuses on Starfire and Red Star.
For this, all you really need to know about Red Star is that he's an individual who
has hidden himself away due to an uncontrollable power.
Here, we actually see a side of Starfire that I don't recall seeing before: Her anger
with someone who is afraid or, in other words, how upset she can get with people for being
cowardly.
She gets very aggressive with Red Star, yelling at him and getting him a bit riled up.
At first, I thought that this seemed contrary to her character, but when I thought about
it more it seemed in line with her personality.
After all, we haven't seen her face a character like this before—a character who has given
up on trying to fight and who has resigned themselves to hiding.
Based on what we know about her, she's a character who generally wants to fix problems
and who wants people to work together.
Sure, we've seen some moments where she's personally upset and not immediately open
to this, but you know what I mean.
She tends to bring others together and she pretty much never gives up.
So it adds depth to see her get upset like this, when she encounters someone who outright
refuses to try anymore, and who trusts themselves so little that they are willing to give up.
Part of this is that Red Star has been mistaken this whole time: He may have believed that
he could stop his power from harming others just by hiding from it, but sure enough it
has been leaking out into the world without him even knowing.
Metaphorically, I think this shows how bottling up what we perceive as something negative
about ourselves, that ignoring some part of ourselves that is hard to control and that
hiding from conflict doesn't generally work.
If we don't deal with it, these negative things can seep out, and still affect our
lives in ways we might not immediately see but that will, all the same, be destructive.
In addition to this, we see that some of the blame is on the people who didn't try to
help Red Star sort through this and who made him into an outcast.
So it's also important to try to, on some level, help those who are going through hard
times—at least from a broad perspective, when we consider a whole society rather than
an individual.
What I mean is that no individual in this group is blamed for rejecting Red Star; instead,
the whole group is chastised.
This immediately made me think specifically about mental illness and of how we need systems
properly put in place to help people who are depressed, bipolar, or whatever it may be.
One thing is that I feel that this conflict could have used a bit more time to develop.
As it stands, it's just a bit too rushed for my taste.
In particular, I wish we had seen more of Red Star before he hid himself away, that
we had gotten a better understanding of his relationship with these other people.
Sure, his arc is effective in that I can dig into the ideas on display without much difficulty
and discuss them with you, but I'd be lying if I pretended that I found this very gripping.
I simply didn't care all that much for Red Star.
Since he's the main character who receives development in this episode, I think it would
have been better to spend more time on him.
Although, with the run time and episode number that the creators were provided, it's obvious
that there wasn't much choice in the matter, and I think they did a pretty solid job with
what they were given.
Now, maybe I missed something here, but at the end I thought the implication was that
Red Star died.
But then closer to the end he's just . . . okay?
That struck me as a bit odd, but I'll come back to that more later.
Next up is this episode where the Titans run into Kole and Gnarrk while trying to fight
Dr. Light.
This is another episode where the Teen Titans don't change much.
What I mean is that their characters and relationships aren't explored; rather, the effect they
have on another character is explored.
Here, that character is Gnarrk, who must overcome his fear of modern technology and people from
outside in order to save Kole when she gets kidnapped by Dr. Light.
To be honest, I wasn't particularly pleased when I realized that we were going to be focusing
on another side character again like this.
Honestly, I just didn't care.
Sure, it works in that it sets up some new players for the grand finale, but do we really
need new players?
We already have so many heroes that have been introduced to us but not explored much at
all.
I would rather have a smaller-scale conflict that's fully explored, where maybe there
are ten or so Titans in total, including the regulars, than continually introduce new people
who just don't get to be explored much.
Obviously, whether or not we care about a character is going to be incredibly subjective,
so this isn't to say that jumping from person to person is necessarily a bad idea; I just
think that the new people who are introduced could have used two episodes worth of time
to get us to really care about what's going on with them, or that some things needed to
be reworked to have us care faster.
I think part of it is that this is a bit of a retread of what we just saw: If we boil
this down to its most basic elements, the Titans meet a character who is afraid to leave
a certain place, but then they are forced to because of a dangerous force and the Titan
help them out, both emotionally and physically.
Now, we can often boil down stories like this and they'll sound similar—if the stuff
that can't be boiled down is different enough, that's totally fine.
But there isn't much on top of this to dig into.
It's very barebones.
If any of you really enjoy this one and have a more interesting take on it, I'd love
to hear it though.
For me, episode seven is more enjoyable but comes with its own problems.
Here, Raven has to take care of three children, all of which have powers, and try to get them
somewhere safely because the Brotherhood of Evil is after them.
As one might expect, Raven isn't good with kids so this causes some problems.
I like the central idea here enough.
Seeing such different people interact—these overall loud and dependent children and this
individual who wants peace and quiet as much as possible—is bound to bring some interesting
situations.
And it does.
I in particular like when Raven calls Beast Boy and asks for help and he tells her a joke
and she just spits it out really fast at the kids and when she tells the kids a bedtime
story about when Trigon tried to end all mortals.
These are funny, endearing moments—and there are more of them, like how Melvin tries to
tell her things she should do to take care of kids.
One more serious aspect of this dynamic is that Raven has to learn to trust these kids
and to listen to them.
This is mainly shown through Melvin telling Raven about her invisible friend Bobby, who
Raven believes is imaginary.
Of course, he's not, and that's part of what saves them in the end.
That part of this is fine enough.
In fact, considering how terrible Raven's childhood likely was, it makes sense that
she might need to learn how to deal with these young folks.
But I think this could have been handled better.
While Melvin does plenty of nice stuff for Raven and tries to help her out, the other
two consistently bother her with no real sign that they're going to stop.
Sure, Teether gives her this soother, I guess, but other than that?
Not much nice from them—which I don't blame them for; they're just kids, after
all.
But I find it strange that Raven ends up suddenly caring about them a lot when she drops them
off—I mean, she cares about them so much that she calls them "my kids" when she
goes to rescue them.
To me it really didn't feel like the episode built up to that.
I think there should have been more moments where she saw something useful in the children,
or where they did something that made her kind of happy.
Maybe more of a focus on Raven's past and childhood here could have helped that out,
though it would have been hard to squeeze that in with this runtime.
So this is another case where the general idea here is fine, but where things are too
rushed for my taste.
I think more time should have been spent on what is unique about these kids, when we only
got that for Melvin.
Teether is just a baby, so he doesn't do much which, I guess, you know, fair enough—but
Timmy Tantrum over here?
It would be nice if he had some characteristics that got explored other than the fact that
he spends most of his time shrieking.
This might be a lot of bias on my part though, since I don't tend to enjoy being around
kids—so maybe if you're more inclined to like kids you would be able to appreciate
this one better than I do.
It's by no means bad; I just don't enjoy it very much personally.
Now, episode eight is a neat one.
I finally get to see why people were so adamant about Jinx being an interesting character
and you know what?
After this, yeah, she is.
I certainly wasn't expecting quite this sort of development for her, but it's nice
to see such a simple character get thrust into a new situation where they're at the
centre of the episode.
She's fairly smart, snarky, and—in a way that isn't all that different from the Titans
East—wants to be taken seriously.
In this case though, she of course wants to be taken seriously by Madam Rouge and the
Brotherhood of Evil, though she comes to realize that these people won't be impressed by
her, that they won't give her the acceptance she wants, and ends up turning against them.
Alongside this, we see Kid Flash trying to convince her that she can be something more.
I really like their dynamic, with how he'll say things that are true, and she knows it,
and she'll start agreeing with him and get annoyed by that.
It's a lot of fun to watch them just talk.
And there's more to it than it just being fun.
As she says, "I'm bad luck.
Good was never an option for me."
So she just needed someone to give her the chance, to giver the benefit of the doubt,
to believe in her.
In some ways, this isn't all that different from what Raven needed.
This is another one of those episodes that is handled well enough that there's little
to critique and also little to say.
The premise of this episode is simple but unexpected and its execution is effective.
It also adds a lot to the epic nature of this conflict—this isn't just about the regular
Titans anymore; it's about all these people they have met and will met.
But this is what I meant when I said it would be better to focus on previously established
people, as opposed to bringing new people into the mix.
Jinx is a good example of this, in that they've done a great job here of changing who she
is, but I would also like to see more of that—to see more of her changing and more of what
she does.
Maybe there could be an episode where she begrudgingly teams up with the Teen Titans
about something because they and Kid Flash need her help, and by the end she realizes
that they have more in common than she initially expected, and they come to a mutual understanding
of one another.
As it stands, we see the beginning of her journey to becoming a good person, and we
miss out on all this other stuff that could have been very interesting.
Still though, this is an outstanding episode in and of itself.
Episode 9 is another comedic episode and one that I liked quite a lot.
Here, the Ding Dong Daddy has stolen some secret item from Robin, and he challenges
the Titans to a race to get it back.
Along the way, many villains join in on the race and try to get it as well.
While this episode is essentially one long chase scene, it manages to keep things fairly
fresh by jumping between multiple characters, all of which find themselves in different
situations.
Robin encounters Red X, Cyborg and Beast Boy are being chased by a group of minions that
are trying to deconstruct their car, and Raven and Starfire end up disguising themselves
as villains in order to get on a bus full of them.
Now, I personally felt that the Cyborg and Beast Boy section went on a little bit too
long, but this is by no means a major complaint and the episode moves along at a fast pace
overall.
Meanwhile, the idea of what's actually in the case kept me interested in the end of
this episode; after all, what is it that Robin could be hiding?
He may be a pretty secretive person, but he seems particularly concerned about this.
So, while this moment when all these other villains arrive is comedic, it's also a
genuine escalation of a genuine conflict for Robin.
Whatever this is, it's clearly important to him.
When Robin finally does get the case, I love this moment where his friends tell him that
he doesn't need to show them because it's fine to have secrets.
Whenever stuff like this happens, it reminds me of how far they've come since the first
season, since the first episode, and of how subtle and gradual some of the changes in
their dynamics have been.
However, the writers decide to troll us here, which I imagine ticked a lot of people off.
And I'm not sure how I feel about it.
On one hand, the idea that we don't get to see this item is a bit funny to me—but,
overall, I think it's more annoying than it is humorous.
I like to have questions answered.
But having an open-ending like this still makes some sense.
After all, this is a secret that he's going to share with his friends, not with the audience.
Still, I think it would have been better to show us this, so we could gain a better understanding
of Robin's character.
On top of that, well, this is the last time we're going to see Red X, which means that
we never get to know who he is either.
Obviously, people are going to have mixed feelings about this, too.
The idea of having him always be a mystery isn't necessarily bad, and I can see why
they didn't have time to delve into that in this season, but it is one loose end of
the story that never gets tied up.
Personally, I hope that they'll put more focus on Red X in season 6 (assuming that
actually happens).
I feel as though that villain could suit a Starfire-centric conflict quite well.
But for now?
Yeah, Red X just doesn't get the time I feel he deserves.
Also, Ding Dong Daddy is really creepy.
Even just that name.
Someone needs to call the police.
Now onto episode 10, which is one of my favourite episodes in this season.
Also, it should have been the first episode in this series, since it's where we see
the Titans meet.
When I said that I wanted some context for their relationship, this is really all that
I meant—I wanted just a little bit of who they were before meeting.
And this episode makes it clear just how much of a group of misfits they are and how they've
each, for some reason or another, been somewhat isolated from other people.
Robin seems to have done this by choice, but the others?
Not so much.
So seeing how they come together—how they each support each other so quickly and find
commonality in their differences . . . it's quite touching.
Beast Boy longs to be accepted so he's quick to accept Cyborg; Cyborg feels like a freak
so he understands what it's like to feel isolated, like Raven is; and Raven is just
looking for the opportunity to be the best person she can be and she finds that in these
people.
Meanwhile, Robin finds his skill as a leader here, after believing that he needed to move
on and work alone.
Through forming this group, they all find acceptance in one another, and build a friendship
that, ultimately, will allow them to save the world.
One smart move here is that they are all going after Starfire, who is destroying the city.
Of course, based on what we know of Starfire so far, this is not something we would ever
seen her doing.
So one strength of having this episode later on is that it makes us consider who Starfire
becomes later, and how her friends have such an impact on her personality.
A little bit of kindness goes a long way for Starfire.
Obviously, we would have still been able to see this if this came first, but thinking
back gives a certain sense of surprise in the opposite direction.
We're surprised at who Starfire once was (assuming we haven't read the comics).
There are several things going on here: First, the power of language is explored, in that
Starfire is at first unable to conceptualize "nice" because she's never heard of
such a thing before.
Without language, she is unable to properly explore this concept or to act based upon
it.
Second, once again, we're seeing how Starfire is at the centre of this group . . . and maybe
it's a good time to explore Starfire's character specifically.
Raven and Starfire are my two favourite characters in the series and yet they are probably the
most different.
While Raven, in my opinion, changes more than any of the main five in the series, Starfire
changes the least.
However, it isn't necessary for a character to change in order for them to be interesting,
and while I've already discussed why I like Raven, Starfire has been somewhat pushed to
the side because of her lack of an individual arc within the show and because it's very
different to discuss a relatively constant character.
When I said earlier in this series that Starfire is a "simple" character, what I meant
is that she is very consistent and, by extension, an emotionally powerful individual.
While other characters have some level of change that is focused on, Starfire isn't
so much about a large change; instead, her strength comes from the effect she has on
others around her.
Now, while complexity is generally perceived as one of the things that makes a character
good, it's not actually necessary.
There's nothing worse about a relatively simple character who has an affect on the
world.
In fact, a lot of heroes in stories are like this, and we often see story structure where
a major character will affect side character by upholding certain ideals consistently,
or by just being a consistent person.
There is an equal amount of enjoyment that can be found in these character; in fact,
sometimes I like them more.
In some sense, they ground the story, and provide a comfortable sense of familiarity,
where other things may change but they will remain unchanged.
This often ends up feeling like a testament to the human spirit (or, in this case, the
alien spirit—but you know what I mean).
These characters can be very motivating.
However, to say that Starfire has no complexity would be blatantly false.
She does.
She has developed in a few ways throughout the series: Mainly, these changes boil down
to her growing closer with her friends, and down to her trusting them and becoming surer
of herself and of their relationship.
In particular, we've seen a number of times where she becomes upsets with her friends
and stops talking to them—but these times are few and far between and I don't believe
that we see a single instance of this in the final season.
She's grown past this, and become even more entrenched in her ideal—in her ideal that
they should always work to get along, that they should never stop fighting for one another,
and that they need to stick together.
Even here—even before she has begun to embody these ideals—she still stands for that in
the show.
After all, in an accidental way, she is already that thing which all the other members of
the group can form around, that person who keeps them together.
It's nice how thematically consistent her place in this show is.
It's endearing and one of the reasons why I love her character so much.
Now, let's talk about the end of this season's major arc, where the Titans come together
to fight the Brotherhood of Evil.
This is where things get particularly messy this season, where it becomes exceedingly
clear that something went wrong and that this story is meant to be something that it isn't.
First off, approximately the first half of this episode is spent on busywork, wit the
Titans going to round up some new heroes.
The problem here is that we already have enough new and old players involved in this conflict.
We don't need more.
Sure, if there was more time then that could work, but with thirteen episodes?
There just isn't enough time, and the fact that many of the heroes who join up with Beast
Boy in the next episode are ones that are only introduced here only makes it worse.
These characters get pretty much no time to develop, even though, based on their powers
and designs, they seem like they could be interesting.
Ultimately, that's what all the major problems I have here boil down to: There isn't enough
time.
While this moment where the Titans fail as the Brotherhood of Evil launches their assault
is really well done in terms of direction, music, visuals, and tone, it doesn't work
for me on an emotional level.
What I mean is that this moment relies on its build-up, as pretty much all big moments
in stories do, and I don't care enough about many of these characters.
Instead of going, "Oh no!
What's happening to all these characters I care about?"
I couldn't help but look at many of them and go, "I don't really care about them"
or "Wait, who is that?" or "I wish that character had a bit more time to develop before
this."
This perplexed me.
How could this moment, on its own, be so competently made, but be so out-of-place in this plot?
How did they nail the moment itself, but screw up the build-up?
My immediate theory was that this was originally supposed to be a longer plot that got trimmed
down due to an unexpected episode limit.
And what I found is an interview with Glen Murakami, one of the major people who worked
on the series, is that I was correct.
In this interview, he says that this season was supposed to have twenty episodes, not
thirteen, but that it ended up getting cut down to thirteen.
Obviously, I'm assuming that this interview I found is accurate, but I don't see why
it would be fabricated and this idea that this was supposed to be a longer series certainly
explains some things about the end product.
After all, then we probably would have had time to get a proper introduction to more
of these heroes.
I mean, I'm assuming that's what those extra seven episodes would have been spent
on.
Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about episode eleven beyond that though.
Despite its good idea and strong execution at some points, it is an overall rushed endeavor,
where new players who feel unnecessary are brought into the story way too late into the
arc.
Episode twelve is where a lot of Beast Boy's development is meant to lead.
This is where he adapts to a seemingly hopeless situation and devises a plan based on a limited
group of people who are, at least as far as we can tell close to the start of this episode,
the only ones to have escaped the Brotherhood.
Once again, the Brain has a fantastic segment where he narrates about the Titans' demise,
with outstanding music and visuals complimenting it, and once again I'm ticked off that we
will never see this arc as it was originally envisioned.
My first problem with this episode is that we didn't previously see this secret base,
as far as I can remember.
If some of the Titans are going to come and hide out here at this crucial point in the
story, this should be have been brought up earlier in some capacity, and we should have
seen that this was some sort of back-up plan that they had.
My second problem is that, while this is meant to be Beast Boy's moment, it just doesn't
turn out that way, in my opinion.
Sure, he comes up with this plan to get into the Brotherhood's base, but the part that
determines whether they win he fight with the Brotherhood itself involves outside individuals
coming in to help.
Now, I have no inherent problem with these others coming to help.
My problem stems from the fact that we don't see how they got here.
Did they all have secondary communicators or trackers with them?
It seems like they might have, based on the red light that flashes on Beast Boy's costume
as he goes to the secret base.
If that is the case though, this takes away from Beast Boy's own part in this arc, as
he doesn't really do anything to bring them together, even if he does come up with a bit
of a plan for how he can get in to the base with this specific group.
In other words, this isn't about Beast Boy bringing the group together, at least as far
as we can tell.
They're brought together by a previously established tool and the other members of
the Titans just somehow get inside.
It's all quite arbitrary and undefined and, rather than making Beast Boy seem impressive,
it makes the Brotherhood seem incompetent.
After they get into the base, the episode is basically a big fight scene where the heroes
end up winning.
While it is kind of neat to see them all fighting like this, I would have much preferred something
on a smaller scale that felt more personal—like Beast Boy having a lengthier confrontation
with just the main members of the Brotherhood.
As it stands, I just don't find this fight scene nearly as cathartic as it could have
been—and it could have been really cathartic.
After all, the Brotherhood has caused so many problems in Beast Boy's life.
In many ways, they are central to the way he often acts, to the way that he searches
for acceptance.
This is Beast Boy's time to shine, but instead the spotlight is cast out on a wide cast of
characters, some which we know well, some that we hardly know at all, and one that I
thought was dead?
I mean, how'd Red Star get back here?
I do understand that themes about friendship are also central here, but I feel that, by
extending outward so much—by including so many people—this season features a broad
conflict that ultimately lacks focus.
There may be a lot in the picture, but the whole thing is a bit blurry.
I respect that the creators went for something so ambitious here, but the result is unfortunately
disappointing to me.
So, with that, let's move onto the final episode in this series: Things Change—an
episode that is emotionally and symbolically rich, but which is, from the perspective of
discussing plot, a disappointing end to the series.
First, this episode brings in a lot of new questions and leaves some other questions
I already had going into it unanswered.
Chief among these is: how did Terra come back?
Or, perhaps, is this even Terra at all?
There is no definitive answer to this question in the episode itself, though regardless of
whether this is or is not Terra, this character's role within this episode is clear: She is
meant to embody the idea that things change, that we must at some point move on from the
past, from that which we are used to or that which we expect, and go on to different things.
This is a theme that's generally easy to relate to; I mean, we all need to move on
from some things in our lives at some point.
Sometimes, the world is not what we expect it to be or what we thought it was.
This is an aspect of the episode that is similarly explored through the fact that, when the Titans
have gotten back to their city, a lot of what they enjoyed about it is gone.
It is also explored through the strange villain of this episode, who can change what matter
it's made up of; in other words, it's in a constant state of change.
Basically, almost everything in this episode is involved in that idea that things will
change.
There's no running away from that.
On a meta level, this is a commentary on the viewer's experience with this show itself:
There is no choice.
They need to move on, just as Beast Boy needs to move on from Terra.
It's a crushing character moment that matches a similarly crushing moment for the audience:
It's over.
This chapter of the story is closed.
But there are other possibilities that exist beyond that.
Just as Beast Boy runs through this door and into the white light, so will the audience
find new possibilities and new things to enjoy.
It is representative of all the possible paths that lie before him and us.
It is representative of the journeys that life may bring.
It's powerful stuff.
However, despite how much I respect this representation of the central theme of this episode, and
despite how emotionally resonant it is, I found myself ultimately disappointed that
this is the end of the series.
Of course, if there is a season six, this will change—but, for now, I'm going to
assume that this is the end.
My main issue is that Slade is just gone.
A decent amount of time in the last season was dedicated to an interesting plot where
he comes back to life—so, where is he now?
If that was the action, where's the consequence?
Also, what's up with this robotic Slade who Beast Boy fights?
Where di that come from?
Is Slade messing with them again?
And who is this new villain, beyond its symbolic space within the show?
Sure, if something works on a symbolic level, that's cool—but it would also be nice
if it had a meaning on a literal level, too.
Overall, based on all my complaints thus far, I don't consider this season to be a satisfying
conclusion to Teen Titans.
It has been messy, rushed, bloated, and thematically unfocused, despite some interesting ideas
and a lot of potential.
I really hope that season six arrives, as another season would do a lot to fill in the
gaps this season has left and could make returning to this one more satisfying, as well.
Still, I probably should take a moment to reflect on "Things Change" some more.
After all, it's oddly pertinent to the central question of this video series: Is Teen Titans
2003 as great as we remember?
Well, it's definitely changed—so the last episode of the series is right about that.
Or, well, it hasn't really changed.
I'm the one who's changed.
My perception of it has changed.
I never would have though, back then, that I would end up making an eight-part series
about it, that I would hyper-focus on background details and discuss thematic consistency or
stuff like that.
And perception is a big deal.
The context wherein we experience a show can really change everything about our understanding
of it.
But I'm getting off track.
The question is simple: Is it as great as we remember?
First off, I can't answer that question for you.
The "we" aspect of that statement is meant to be about us all discussing this together,
about your individual comments being equal in importance to my opinions that I've expressed
in video form.
But I can answer this question: Is it as great as I remember?
As much as I'm tempted to toe the line and give a response that ultimately can't offend
anyone, I'm going to give an actual answer.
If you've watched this whole series, I owe you that much, I think.
So, honestly?
No.
I don't think it is.
Back then, when I was younger, it was so different from the other cartoons I was used to—from
Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents and even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
It was, as far as I can remember, my first real experience with super heroes, with this
type of character that has had a massive cultural impact.
That's special.
That will always be special.
But it is no longer that unique thing it once was.
Now, it is a solid show that I enjoyed thoroughly but that I also have significant problems
with that I never would have considered when I was younger.
It will always hold that fond, nostalgic place in my heart, but I can never go back to that.
Things have changed, for better and for worse.
So no.
It's not as great as I remember.
But it is more interesting—and it is more rewarding, in some ways.
I never would have thought so much about season two's take on Terra back then, for example,
and I never would have thought about Raven's plot in season four the same way I did now—hell,
I didn't even see the whole plot back then, at least not as far as I recall.
In some ways, this means that it reached higher heights for me now than it ever did before,
despite the lows that I also never thought of as lows as a kid.
So I guess it was a more inconsistent experience now, too—but that that isn't always a
bad thing.
Regardless though, whether it was better or worse or as great was never really the point.
The point was to talk about this show that meant a lot to me and that still means a lot
to me, to go through it with all of you and to have a good time doing it.
So let me know whether you think it's as great as you remember in the comments; let
me know about your favourite seasons and favourite moments; and let's all hope that season
six manages to get created.
Thank you so much for going through this whole thing with me.
It's been a great time.
So, you might be wondering what the next series is then.
Well, I held a vote over on Patreon and the majority agreed: The next series is going
to be on Avatar: The Last Airbender and boy oh boy am I excited to talk about that one.
Also, if you want anymore videos on Teen Titans, I've linked to a couple in the description
below that you might enjoy.
Lastly, thank you to all of you on Patreon who were able to support me in the creation
of these videos and in the creation of future videos.
It's amazing that this is going to be able to be my part-time job during University this
year.
Just . . . it's not something I would have expected to happen like this.
I didn't expect this sort of jump.
But I just feel so fortunate and happy and thankful about this Youtube thing, and it's
all because you enjoy the videos and because you support me.
So I can't say it enough: Thank you.
You're the best.
And I hope you have an awesome day.
Bye-bye for now, and see you again soon.
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