Hello again D- ah, wait, sorry. For some reason this series gives Bruce Timm a producer credit but does not, in fact, adopt the DCAU canon. Weird.
Okay so this series is definitely a slow starter. I commented around episode 4 or so to the effect of "Oh Hynden Walch, you're the only good thing so far". The team wants to have a very en media res going on which... if I'd been watching this in first run television I'd have dropped the show by episode 2 frankly. Like dude. You can't start the show by having two main characters have a huge falling out when we haven't even been introduced to the characters! Actually hold up.
Weakest Episode- Divide and Conquer. I don't even remember who the villain is in this game and it so doesn't matter because Cyborg getting into a pissy fit with Robin and leaving the team in Episode Fucking 1 is amazingly stupid. Like, THAT'S the first impression you want me to take from this show? The cast is a bunch of self important cry babies who fight among themselves constantly? In a super hero team show? The fuck.
Sisters being basically about one member feeling neglected and jealous only reinforces that trend. And think, that's about Starfire, so they're dinging the best part of the show in the process!
Okay you can argue that Slade is better, let's not slight Ron Perlman, but still.
Now once we get past those episodes (I'm in awe of the incompetence of the first four episodes as a creative decision, seriously how are you trying to sell the show at this point that you end up with these four episodes?), we get the first set of character focus episodes. Those are all pretty good. Cyborg's is a bit rote, but hey, neat B plot. Nevermore is the first real suggestion that this show has some wit and talent going on behind the scenes. Actually...
Best Episode- Nevermore. Of course CK likes the mindscape episode. Don't be silly. More than that it's one of those episodes a budding series should always have, where it lays seeds for plotlines they don't have plans for... yet. Especially in a superhero story, you need to make your world seem bigger than it is. And y'know, beyond that it's just fun to see the rainbow Ravens and how the rest of the team actually does, in fact, give a fuck.
Switched and Masks are also good times. Deep Six is a bit weaker but still enjoyable.
90% of the time the show gives me the distinct impression that they're blowing the entire budget on character animation and have one dude do all the backgrounds in MS Paint. The other 10% is Detention, a 22 minute tribute to Yellow Submarine. I approve.
But yeah, it's a strange show. Rarely have I covered something where I actively thought multiple episodes were actually bad, so this is a first. Once it gets going and focuses on the characters as people rather than its weird, misguided attempt to, uh, put the Teen into the Teen Titans I suppose you could say, it's pretty good. Not super awesome, but good.
Rating- 6/10.
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