Teen Titans:S5

Teen Titans has always been a strong series. This fifth and final season is a particular favorite of mine in that it features the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil (BoE is in a number of episodes throughout the season). Now, I was not a Doom Patrol fan prior. In fact, I've never even read a Doom Patrol comic. Regardless, I simply love the characterizations of the team in the show, especially Negative Man's deadpan delivery of his lines, as is so befitting his name.

Likewise, Brain having the Hawking'esque voice is beyond perfect. Here we have a brilliant and evil mind with no body to speak of that commands immeasurable power. I love the taunting coming from Brain sounding like a late 80's computer attempting to create speech. It has a menace to it that one wouldn't expect.

With the Brotherhood of Evil, and the Doom Patrol playing such a large roll in this season, the feel of the overall story arc feels a lot more Silver Age, DC Comics than the previous seasons, which for me is a good thing. While the Slade arcs are excellent, there is something I like about two super teams duking it out, 60's style. There's a grandness to that just feels, I don't know . . . heroic in that romantic, adventure movie kind of way.

There are some other really great episodes as well. In particular, I enjoyed "Go!," a prequel episode that details not only how Starfire came to Earth, but also how the Titans originally formed their team. It's great.

DC/Marvel has had an incredible run of quality animated hero shows, going all the way back to "Batman: the Animated Series" and this season of Teen Titans delivers as well. If your looking at a review for season five, I'm going to presume you've seen the show and like it, so I am probably preaching to the choir. It's great. You know it. What else is there to know?

BTW, why in the world doesn't every DVD box set/series in universe simply list the frickin' episodes in the description? It always falls to a reviewer to actually tell prospective buyers what the heck they are considering buying. Does this strike anyone else as a bit stupid?

To that end, here's a list of episodes contained within the series:

1. Homecoming Pt 1 (Intro the Doom Patrol and the Brotherhood of Evil)
2. Homecoming Pt 2
3. Trust
4. For Real
5. Snowblind
6. Kole
7. Hide and Seek
8. Lightspeed
9. Revved Up (This one seemed REALLY odd and jarringly outside the Titans Universe, but whatever)
10. Go!
11. Calling All Titans
12. Titans Together
13. Things Change

it's the final season in the series, and they finished off great. i love the titans. BB is my favorite, and this one was pretty much chock-full of him, his origins, Terra's return and his reaction, him kicking Slade's butt alone, and a few other connected episodes where Beast Boy saved the day without the other (original) Titans around to help. of course it shows Starfire's origin, they all meet and the forming of the Titans, how Jinx (formerly of the H.I.V.E. FIVE) becomes an honorary Titan, and other little things...

...and they finished off strong, with virtually every villian any of the Titans have taken on coming after them all at once, taking the Titans (full and honorary) down one or two at a time. once again, BB came to the rescue, calling on the few remaining allies he had to help him launch a final attempt to save the others from their enemies. in the end, over 140 Titans stand against the remaining villians and come out on top. yay!!

so... basically, i was in cartoon heaven. now i'm just waiting to see exactly how they plan to bring the Judas Contract story arc of the Teen Titans to dvd. (Terra & Slade's story was already told, and if i remember correctly, that WAS the original Judas Contract in the comic books.) maybe (now that Terra and Slade are both back) the continuation of that story will pick up in the new movie (if they ever get around to doing it). either way, can't wait to find out.

Titans Go!

This is the final season of the hit "Teen Titans" show and it certainly doesn't downgrade in quality, despite what some say. On the contrary, it's one of the best seasons in my opinion. The final season's episodes mostly focus on a single threat, the Brotherhood of Evil and their aim to eliminate all Titans globally. For once episodes not only follow the main Titans but also feature other Titans as well. It's a nice change once in awhile to follow other Titan's adventures besides the main group just for new perspectives offered by other heroes.

If you liked the previous seasons of Teen Titans, then definitely pick this up. You won't be disappointed, as it's on par with the other seasons.