Teen Titans: The Complete Fifth Season Review (Spoilers)
Well, this is it. I have to confess that when I watched these episodes over the air I was unimpressed but they are actually MUCH better upon a DVD rewatch instead of waiting week to week and becoming increasingly frustrated at all of the Titans being separated over so many episodes. Outside of Revved Up there really isn't an episode on the set I outright dislike.
I really wish Starfire had gotten her own season on the show but Beast Boy owned this season in a way he never did in season two. Season two while good was overwrought and I love how in this season Beast Boy is the hero and Robin of all people is the idiot. I loved watching Robin's reaction when he realized the Titans getting picked off one by one was all his fault. Because it was.
I loved the Teen Titans Unlimited vibe and unlike the first season of JLU the show wasted NO time setting up a smackdown between all of the Heroes and almost every single member of the Titan's rogue's gallery. I adored Glenn Shadix (Beetlejuice's Uncle Otho) as the Brain and Monsier Mallah. Very creepy and hilarious at the same time. Kid Flash was adorable too and I love how he actually managed to reform Jinx which was a pleasant surprise.
Still not crazy about Titans East. I wish Control Freak had gone up against OUR Titans just one more time.
I'm glad they finally did an origin episode for the Titans and I think I agree with the producers in the special features, that it made it that much more cool and rewarding, that they did it in season five, rather than season one.
Best episodes of the season are the too-cute Raven spotlight Hide and Seek, Kid Flash's debut Lightspeed, the origin episode Go!, and the two part finale Calling All Titans/ Titans Together. Weakest episode of the season is the idiotic and frustrating Revved Up and the Two Part season Premiere Homecoming isn't that great either. A really nice way to finish off the series though. I would complain that Things Change makes a weak last episode but we got Trouble in Tokyo a year later so it's all good. Season Overall: ****.
Homecoming: Part 1: The two Part season premiere isn't all that great and I imagine a BIG part of the reason fans were so leery of this season was because of it. The premiere's biggest flaw was setting up the Doom Patrol as supposedly the greatest heroes ever when it was obvious right away they Mento was a HORRIBLE leader with misplaced priorities, and the team couldn't count on him. I know this was to build up the Titans' aspect that they worked together but it was a serious miscalculation on the writer's part. There really IS no conflict for Beast Boy to go up against (from the audience's perspective). Because Mento is SUCH a flawed leader we don't cheer when Beast Boy stands up to him, we grumble that he didn't do it sooner. **1/2.
Homecoming: Part 2: Better than Part 1, if only because it focused more on the Brotherhood of Evil instead of the Doom Patrol. The last shot of all of the heroes on the video-screens and pretty much every secondary Titans Villain EVER made you really want to see the rest of the season even if the episode itself didn't. ***.
Trust: This was okay. Notable for being the ONLY episode of the series without chibis or anime exaggerations. But really, Robin IS an idiot. I was annoyed at first but as the season finale established that Beast Boy was the hero I actually find it amusing now. ***.
For Real: This is pretty good but I think it is VERY overpraised. I think fans were clamoring for a funny episode so badly that when this episode aired they thought is seemed great next to Homecoming and Trust. If this episode was made to make the audience think Titans East were cool it failed because I really wanted to see Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven's reaction to Control Freak's latest insanity. ***1/2.
Snowblind: A little bit boring when it first aired this is much better upon a rewatch. This episode is also a first in animation history: the ONLY Jason Marsden voice that I don't find annoying. ***1/2.
Kole: This is actually really good and underrated in my book. Kole is just SO dang cute and G'Nark is really funny. Plus they had Dr. Light as a credible threat without once pretending he wasn't really lame and pathetic. That's a tough balancing act the series pulled it off admirably. ****.
Hide and Seek: Excellent Raven spotlight just because the idea of Raven babysitting is money in the bank and you wonder why they didn't think of it sooner. VERY rewarding to see Melvin, Timmy, Bobby and Teether show up in the season finale too. The dialogue is also unusually strong this episode. The only other episode I can think of with dialogue this good is Birthmark. "Ask Starfire. She likes... people". *****.
Lightspeed: It was a blast hearing Micheal Rosenbaum voice Kid Flash just because of the continuity issues it raised in relation to the DCAU. A couple of years later however I don't think the show IS DCAU canon just because The Batman had characters voiced by their DCAU counterparts in The Batman/ Superman Story two parter and that obviously isn't canon either. The stuff with the Hive Five was only passable but it was the Jinx and Kid Flash adorability that made the episode. I especially liked Flash asking why they were called the Hive Five when there were six of them. ****1/2.
Revved Up: I think the absolute worst thing about this show is it's knack for raising mysteries and never even bothering to solve them. This isn't Pulp Fiction. We NEEDED to know what was in that briefcase just because not knowing made the whole episode pointless. We never even got any closure with Red X either and we still don't know who he was. There were also a group of producers back in the day who made up mysteries as they went along and screwed over the audience. They produced a show called Twin Peaks. *.
Go!: Very clever and rewarding origin episode just because they managed to twist everybody's expectations and show contrasts that couldn't have been done earlier in the show's run. And when I first saw the episode at the beginning I was just SURE Batman was gonna show up. Yes, I'm a sap. ****1/2.
Calling All Titans: The build-up to the final battle with the Brotherhood of Evil is so intense and cool because we are introduced to about a bazillion new characters, good and evil. Excellent. *****.
Titans Together: The best and most epic fight scene the show has ever done is a big part of the reason this is the best "season finale" the show has ever done. Zero cop-outs, Beast Boy ownage and surprises galore (who DIDN'T cheer when Kid Flash and Jinx showed up?) this (and part one) is one of the very best episodes of the series. *****.
Things Change: I'm willing to give the show credit for trying something different with what ultimately turned out to be the series finale but this was ultimately VERY unsatisfying. I was excited to see Slade again but he turned out to be a robot version. They never explained how or why Terra came back. And we never saw the Titans defeat the final villain of the series. The show almost ends on a cliffhanger of sorts and at least Angel's Not Fade Away (while ultimately unsatisfying too) was a thrill ride from start to finish. This, not so much. I'm glad we got Trouble in Tokyo because if we hadn't I would think this was the worst possible finale for the series even if the episode itself isn't bad. ***.