TEEN TITANS, SEASON TWO (2004)

                                   

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*

MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, psychological*                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Season Two of the TITANS wasn't slow to follow up on the obsessive relationship between Robin and the show's faux-Deathstroke Slade. Slade apparently gives up on trying to convert Robin and turns his attention to new Titans member Terra. The writers made huge revisions to the original comic-book story of Terra and Deathstroke, which I reviewed here. More on those alterations later.                                         

                                                                                                  POOR (On reconsideration, I did think some of the comedy episodes this season were subpar)                                         EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY-- when Beast Boy happens to change himself into a dog, a goofy alien mistakes the hero for his own pet, who's gone missing on Earth. The other Titans have to bring owner and pet together to free their friend.                                       FRACTURED-- The Titans have the pleasure of meeting an other-dimensional duplicate of Robin, who takes the name "Larry." I wonder whether the writers had some notion of introducing a Robin-centered version of Bat-Mite from the comics. While the later BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD managed to pull off this silly conceit, FRACTURED is just a jigsaw with a lot of pieces missing. The episode introduces recurring foe Johnny Rancid.                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                  FAIR                                                                                                                                                                                                        HOW LONG IS FOREVER? -- The always bubbly Starfire often finds it hard to cope with her more fractious partners, but never more than when she gets to see a future without Titans. During a battle with a time-traveling villain named Warp, Starfire's flung into that future, where she finds that all her old friends have gone their separate ways, whether because of age, declining expectations, or general cynicism. She inspires the Future Titans to come together once more, and then returns to her own time, not knowing if she's changed the undesirable events to come.                                          ONLY HUMAN -- Cyborg faces off against the super-strong robot Atlas and finds that his cyborg body can't "give more than 100 percent." Can he figure out a way that his human mind and spirit can compensate for the strength differential?                                WINNER TAKE ALL -- The three male Titans are whisked to an alien world by the Master of Games, who persuades them and other fighters (including their earth-enemy Gizmo) to contend with one another for fun and prizes. It's not clear why the Master only selects males for this contest, for after he fails to benefit from the first game, the episode ends with his convening Starfire, Raven and various unnamed female contestants for another go-round.       FEAR ITSELF-- Recurring foe Control Freak makes his debut but plays second fiddle to horrors conjured up from the depths of Raven's demonic consciousness.                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                    GOOD                                                                                                                                                                               TRANSFORMATION-- Also known as, "the one with Starfire's zit." This script could have devolved into a lot of ponderous drivel about Starfire succumbing to societally dictated body images, and I'm sure the writers did have in mind the hormonal transformations of adolescence. Admittedly it's not clear why the alien girl didn't learn as a child about her race's proclivity to manifest weird temporary mutations. But then, Earth children are usually told what they have to expect, and the "changes" still have all sorts of emotional impact anyway. One of the better "team building" stories.                                                                                                                                   DATE WITH DESTINY-- Killer Moth unleashes huge mutant insects on Jump City, and he demands a ransom. That ransom includes getting a young swain to escort his teenaged daughter Kitten to prom, and she's decided she wants Robin as her escort. When the Teen Wonder reluctantly goes along with the charade to buy time, Starfire is duly enraged-- and though the script doesn't say this explicitly, some of her ire must stem from the fact that she and Robin have not had a date together at this time. DATE is intentionally wacky. culminating in Starfire brawling with Kitten amid messy food-fights-- but it doesn't entirely get lost in silliness, contributing to the romantic arc expected by insiders.                                                                                                                          TERRA/TITAN RISING/BETRAYAL/AFTERSHOCK 1-2 -- These five mostly non-consecutive episodes all deal with the advent of Terra, a teenage girl with the power to manipulate solid earth. Whereas the Terra of the comics was written as a "bad seed," this character is more a tormented girl with an unspecified "checkered past." Beast Boy almost immediately falls in love with the newcomer, and all of the Titans welcome Terra to the team, though Raven has an intrinsic distrust of her. Terra's rampant insecurities lead her to want to betray those who succored her before they have a chance to betray her, and the arch-tempter Slade is on the scene to make sure he falls under his power. Inevitably, Terra finds that being Slade's apprentice is no bed of roses, and their conflict seems to result in their mutual extinction-- though of course, death is no barrier to revival in cartoons any more than in comics.