Episode Rankings: Teen Titans

The original Teen Titans is such a blast. It exudes early 2000s style and manages to juggle comedy and weirdness with some incredibly well-executed drama. The characters are super likable, each season amps up the stakes, and the show's willingness to experiment really helps it hold up after all these years. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Haunted (S3.05)
2. The End: Part 2 (S4.12)
3. Aftershock: Part 1 (S2.12)
4. Birthmark (S4.03)
5. Titans Together (S5.12)
6. The End: Part 3 (S4.13)
7. The End: Part 1 (S4.11)
8. Apprentice: Part 2 (S1.13)
9. Go (S5.10)
10. Aftershock: Part 2 (S2.13)
11. Betrayal (S2.10)
12. Things Change (S5.13)
13. The Prophecy (S4.07)
14. Apprentice: Part 1 (S1.12)
15. X (S3.02)
16. Don't Touch That Dial (S4.01)
17. How Long Is Forever? (S2.01)
18. Mad Mod (S1.10)
19. Calling All Titans (S5.11)
20. Date With Destiny (S2.06)
21. Terra (S2.03)
22. Switched (S1.07)
23. Stranded (S4.08)
24. Bunny Raven Or How To Make A Titanimal Disappear (S3.11)
25. Lightspeed (S5.08)
26. Deception (S3.01)
27. Titan Rising (S2.08)
28. For Real (S5.04)
29. Titans East: Part 2 (S3.13)
30. Spellbound (S3.06)
31. Fear Itself (S2.05)
32. The Quest (S4.02)
33. Nevermore (S1.06)
34. TROQ (S4.06)
35. Homecoming: Part 1 (S5.01)
36. Winner Takes All (S2.09)
37. Masks (S1.09)
38. Wavelength (S3.08)
39. Revved Up (S5.09)
40. Sisters (S1.02)
41. Homecoming: Part 2 (S5.02)
42. Cyborg The Barbarian (S4.04)
43. Titans East: Part 1 (S3.12)
44. Revolution (S3.07)
45. Sum Of His Parts (S1.05)
46. Betrothed (S3.03)
47. Hide And Seek (S5.07)
48. Employee Of The Month (S4.05)
49. Final Exam (S1.01)
50. Only Human (S2.04)
51. Trust (S5.03)
52. Can I Keep Him? (S3.10)
53. Transformation (S2.07)
54. Forces Of Nature (S1.04)
55. Snowblind (S5.05)
56. Overdrive (S4.09)
57. Every Dog Has His Day (S2.02)
58. Car Trouble (S1.11)
59. The Beast Within (S3.09)
60. Divide And Conquer (S1.03)
61. Kole (S5.06)
62. Crash (S3.04)
63. Deep Six (S1.08)
64. Fractured (S2.11)
65. Mother May-Eye (S4.10)

Teen Titans (Season 5)

Nowadays, Teen Titans is known as one of those shows that ended prematurely on an unsatisfying cliffhanger. And while I'd love a Season 6 (Starfire hasn't gotten her season yet!), I actually think this season works pretty well as the big finale to the series as well as one of the show's better seasons.

It would be hard to top the world-ending stakes of Season 4, so this season's main storyline goes all in on the superhero action. Nearly every episode this season introduces a bunch of new superheroes as the Titans travel the world to recruit people to defeat the main antagonist of the season, a conglomerate of all of the villains from series past. This overarching conflict may not be as personal or dark as something like the Slade or Trigon arcs, but having all of the show's heroes get together and fight all of the show's villains just feels so climactic and spectacular, a love letter to DC that perfectly fits a final season. Even more, since nearly every episode fits the story arc, it means that this is probably the show's most consistent season. There aren't any hit or miss standalones this time around, and as a result, there aren't really any episodes I dislike. Beast Boy also gets a pretty great character arc this season as he deals with his past in the Doom Patrol and proves himself as a leader. The whole season has this overarching theme about the characters proving themselves that I thought was really cool.

However, the heavy focus on superheroes other than the Titans is definitely noticeable, with multiple episodes where the show's central cast doesn't even appear, sometimes with the exception of a single character. While I definitely admire the world building here, and some of the side characters like Jinx, Kid Flash, and most of the Titans East are definitely likable, it also means that we just don't get to spend as much time with characters like Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire. In addition, while the lack of standalone episodes means we don't get too many bad episodes, it also means we don't get many experimental gems (outside of Revved Up and Go!) that we'd get in some of the other seasons. Episodes like Mad Mod, Haunted, and Don't Touch That Dial are pretty much nonexistent here, which does remove a bit of the charm. As for the finale, I kinda liked it and I wouldn't call it an underwhelming cliffhanger. It's a somber and thematic episode that resolves Beast Boy's character arc, probably one of the highest points of the season, but I'll elaborate more on it later.

There were a lot of great episodes in Season 5, especially near the end:

For Real/Lightspeed: I'm clumping these episodes together since they both faced a few similarities, each focusing on a different team than the Titans as they try to prove themselves as either heroes or villains. For Real is hysterical as the Control Freak finds a new enemy in the Titans East who realize that no one knows who they are. Lightspeed focuses on HIVE as they fight with Kid Flash, who's trying to convince Jinx to turn good. Both episodes are a ton of fun and nice changes of pace, and it helps that Lightspeed onwards is a pretty much flawless streak of episodes.

Go!: It's always cool to see how the gang gets together in the first place (Firefly did this really well), and this episode does it especially well. The attention to detail in Go! is just so good, I love how Robin is still using some of Batman's weapons, Beast Boy is still wearing his Doom Patrol outfit, and Cyborg is still keeping his robotic body hidden. It was fascinating to see the team unite to fight and eventually save Starfire, and all of their dynamics developed incredibly naturally throughout the episode. Oh, and shy Raven is adorable.

Calling All Titans: This episode signals the first half of the big final battle with the Brotherhood Of Evil, and it's pretty great. It starts off fairly lighthearted as we get to meet a bunch new heroes that just got recruited, only for them to nearly all get picked off by the Brotherhood in a pretty devastating second half. The ending is a great cliffhanger as only Beast Boy and a few remaining heroes are left...

Titans Together: What a massive final battle! Titans Together did an amazing job with feeling like both the climax of Beast Boy's arc and the climactic final battle of the whole series. It was really cool to see Beast Boy use his knowledge from the Doom Patrol to fight the Brotherhood, and the big Endgame-esque finale with all of the heroes fighting all of the villains was just so amazingly epic.

Things Change: Okay, time for my paragraph on why this finale is great. On a presentation level, I love how different this episode feels. The more orchestral score and long shots create this somewhat surreal tone that perfectly fits the episode. The visuals are just so good, especially that traffic light shot when Beast Boy was talking to Terra. I also like the themes this finale is going for. The obvious one is the fact that things change. Sometimes your favorite store closes, sometimes your friend wants nothing to do with you, and yes, sometimes your favorite show ends. It's not the only theme this episode is dealing with though, it touches on Beast Boy's arc about dealing with his past, along with how important he is to the Titans. As for Terra, I didn't really feel like it was all that unsatisfying. When you think about it, Terra was freed when Raven reverted the world back to normal in The End. Whether or not she remembers being a Titan, it's obvious that she wants to lead a normal life, and I like that Beast Boy ends up accepting it. There's so much more to unpack here, but this paragraph is as long enough as it is. So yeah, I thought this was a great finale even if I get why a lot of people didn't. As a fan of ambiguous and theme-heavy series finales, this was right up my alley. It's mature, thought-provoking, and emotional, and I'm glad the show runners took a risk by ending the show with this one.

Overall, Season 5 worked as a final season for me. Its main storyline was a bit uneven, but between the massive roster of villains, incredibly strong latter half, and dramatic final episode, I'd definitely call this one of the better seasons of the series.

4/5 Stars

My ranking of the Teen Titans seasons is:

4 > 5 > 2 > 3 > 1

My ranking of the Teen Titans finales is:

4 > 2 > 1 > 5 > 3

Favorite Episode: Haunted

Teen Titans (Season 3)

After the iconic Terra arc and the (supposed) death of the show's greatest villain in Slade, Teen Titans had a lot to live up to. And while I don't quite think it lived up, this season had a lot to love in its own right.

The main arc of Season 3 revolves around Cyborg this time around and his fight with the villain Brother Blood, and it was kinda uneven. On one hand, I really like Cyborg and think he has a lot of potential for a great character arc. The struggle between his robot side and humanity has always been super compelling in wherever he appears, and it applies here too. However, Brother Blood is quite simply just not a good villain, especially not compared to Slade. Slade had an intimidating design and chilling voice performance, he demanded your attention whenever he was on screen. Brother Blood just isn't as compelling. He had a solid start in the premiere where he promises to restore Cyborg's body, but eventually, he kinda just lacked any interesting goal outside of fixing his school, and his fascination with Cyborg was nowhere near as compelling as Slade's interest in Robin. This season also introduces the first different team of superheroes in Titans East, which was actually pretty cool. It fleshes out the world a bit and lets us spend more time with some of the other superheroes. Bumblebee was particularly entertaining, especially her dynamic with Cyborg.

The Brother Blood arc is pretty weak and doesn't get too much focus this season, only being in three episodes (Deception, Wavelength, and Titans East). However, this season makes up for it with some surprisingly great standalone episodes, mostly because this season doesn't feel like it has to make all of them purely comedic. While we did get some fun and wacky stuff like Revolution and Bunny Raven, we also got much darker fare like X, The Beast Within, and especially Haunted. X and Haunted are especially great as they deal with the fallout of the events in Season 1 in ways that makes Robin a much more compelling character. However, something that I noticed about this season is just how much stronger the first half was than the second. The first few episodes gave us Deception, X, Haunted, and Spellbound pretty close together, all great if not amazing episodes. The second half generally had the weaker standalones of the season (The Beast Within was a mess and Revolution was a pretty weak successor to Mad Mod), with just one episode I really loved, Bunny Raven. Even the finale Titans East, while not bad, wasn't nearly as dramatic or satisfying as finales like Apprentice and Aftershock.

While the arc may not have been as good, this season still had some great episodes:

Deception: Despite my gripes with the story arc, this episode was pretty great. HIVE finally got some screen time after being absent since the premiere, and I love how the episode establishes the season's main villain and Cyborg's conflict at the same time. It also just has a lot of funny moments thanks to the Cyborg dummy.

X: This episode was just jam-packed with good ideas. I love how RedX ended up becoming an actual villain and how it forced Robin to reflect on his actions during Season 1, and it was great how they got to team up by the end. I also quite like how we never learn who RedX actually is, it's just such a fun thing to speculate about.

Haunted: This was easily the best episode yet, like there's no contest. It's dark, intense, and kinda screwed up. I love how it shows how the events of Apprentice did have an effect on Robin, and watching him beat himself up was just rough. This episode was jam-packed with amazing moments though, from Beast Boy's funny cold subplot, to Raven using astral projection, to Starfire having to shoot Robin, to the thought-provoking cliffhanger. Seriously, I want more dark episodes like this, Haunted was amazing! 

Bunny Raven (Or How To Make A Titanimal Disappear): Most of Raven's episodes have been pretty serious so far, so this was a cute change of pace. I don't think I need to explain why Bunny Raven is such a funny premise anyway, but frankly the whole episode is packed with inventive imagery and some of the sharpest comedy in the series. It definitely rivals Date With Destiny in terms of sheer funny factor.

Overall, Teen Titans' third season had a fairly weak arc and peaked pretty early on, but it made up for its weaknesses with a strong focal character and some of the best standalone episodes in the series.

3/5 Stars

Teen Titans (Season 2)

Teen Titans's first season had a ton of potential, but the way it executed its story arc left a lot of room for improvement. Will its second season be any better? Oh, hell yeah.

The main story arc of Teen Titans' second season is about a girl named Terra who has the power to move the earth, but she's insecure about her powers. She first appears early on in the season and almost joins the team, but eventually runs away due to her insecurity and paranoia. She reappears soon after and joins the team, but she has been working for Slade who has manipulated her into joining. I actually really love the Terra arc, it's a massive improvement on the Slade arc from Season 1. Terra is a genuinely complex and fascinating character, and it shows in how much debate her role in this season has spawned. But what makes this season so compelling in the end is just how much of a tragedy it is, you can really see Terra become a great member of the Titans, but her actions ended up resulting in her death at the end of the season. I don't think this storyline is perfect, however. It feels a bit compressed in the length of a short thirteen-episode season as Terra jumps between good to bad to better to worse to redeemed. I also feel like some exploration of Terra's backstory could help the audience get a better sense of who she is and why she makes the decisions she makes. Despite my gripes, though, I still generally enjoyed this tragic storyline and found it to be a compelling improvement on Season 1's story arc.

But it's not just the arc itself that was an improvement, the structure of Season 2 is also far stronger this time around. Rather than just two episodes that focused on the story arc like in Season 1 (Masks and Apprentice), Terra's arc took up around half the season, resulting in a stronger balance between arc-driven episodes and standalone episodes. And while the standalone episodes were still a bit hit or miss, there were far more great ones like How Long Is Forever?, Date With Destiny, and Fear Itself. This season also bumped up the references like in the FLCL-inspired Transformation and the Mortal Kombat-inspired Winner Take All. As a whole, Season 2 was far more consistently strong and it balanced out its arc episodes better so that it generally felt like it was going somewhere. As for the non-Terra characters, they were still pretty great. Starfire is as enjoyable as ever, even moreso after How Long Is Forever? which solidified her as the glue that holds the team together. I still think that she's easily the best-written character in the series in terms of her dialogue, as her oh-so-slightly broken English makes even the simplest of exchanges hilarious. But this season also focused a lot more on Beast Boy and showed how inside his goofy exterior, he has some serious heart. I ended up really caring about his (and Raven's to a lesser extent) relationships with Terra, which made the end of the arc far more impactful.

As an improvement on Season 1, this season of Teen Titans had far more high points:

How Long Is Forever?: I wasn't sure about this one at first. AU episodes are always annoying for me since their events never end up with ramifications for the future. However, I ended up really liking this one. Not only does it show how Starfire is the heart of the group and how they'd split up if it weren't for her, but the Bad Future this episode shows is fascinating and heart-breaking. And that's not even bringing up the big reveal of Nightwing, which absolutely caught me off-guard (really goofy hair though).

Terra: Just expect me to put most of the major Terra episodes on here. This is a strong introduction to the character that did a great job of establishing the story arc for the season. Once again, I think more delving into Terra's past could have helped a bit, but I generally ended up loving how dramatic this one was.

Date With Destiny: This might be the funniest episode in the series, at least up to this point. While the concept is funny, Kitten could have been really annoying if it weren't for Tara Strong's hilariously hammy performance. She didn't need to go this hard, yet she did! Even more, Starfire's jealousy is a lot of fun too, and the animation is packed with funny gags (Kitten briefly turning into a cat girl left me in stitches). I also just really like Killer Moth, so it's cool to have an episode with him.

Betrayal: Terra's betrayal was just so painful, especially since it had to happen during a date with Beast Boy! It's a heartbreaking downer going into the finale, made even worse by the fact that Slade left Titans Tower pretty much destroyed (though it ends up suddenly fixed by the next episode). Also, that Hall Of Mirrors scene was so good.

Aftershock: This finale was amazing, maybe even better than the first because it actually had ramifications on the future of the show, with Slade and Terra both presumably dead by the end of it. It's also just a climactic finale that brings together a bunch of old villains, packs in the personal final battle with Terra along with her redemption, and has some really great action scenes like the mud fight.

Overall, Season 2 of Teen Titans was a massive improvement on the first, with a stronger story arc, a complex main character, and a better balance between arc and standalone episodes. It didn't execute Terra's storyline as well as it could've, but as a whole, this was a very tight and enjoyable season.

4/5 Stars

Teen Titans (Season 1)

I've always thought the Teen Titans were a really cool team, and it has some of my favorite superheroes (Raven, in particular), yet I've never actually seen the series that popularized the team to begin with (I'm not watching Go, don't worry). So far, I'd say it's alright, but it still has a lot of room to grow.

Teen Titans is a show about the titular superhero team, with this season being about their battle with Deathstroke (known in this show as Slade because they won't say the word "die" for some reason). I really like Slade, he's a cool and intimidating villain with a pretty interesting plan in the season finale. However, the fact that we don't learn what Slade's plan is until the end of the season makes it feels a bit aimless at times, especially in the mostly episodic first half. The first few episodes pretty much just has the central team fight a random villain without much meat to the story. And while the latter half does have some pretty good episodes along with a few more episodes dealing with the Slade arc and a strong finale, even it had some pretty weak standalones like Deep Six and Car Trouble. Teen Titans has its strong points, particularly when it focuses on its characters like in Nevermore or when it focuses on its central arc like in Masks, but that's about half of the season. The rest is pretty standard villain-of-the-week fare.

The thing that definitely got me to stick with the show even in its rough start was definitely the characters. I really like the whole cast of Teen Titans, each member of the team has their own cool powers and enjoyable personalities, along with some great chemistry right from the start. Raven has always been my favorite of the team, partially because of her cool design and powers and partially because I like edgy and aloof characters, but I do like everyone. Cyborg and Beast Boy also get a lot of great material, but I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Starfire. It made me realize how much I enjoy alien/robot characters adjusting to humanity (Penny from RWBY is another good example), and her dialogue was easily the most consistently funny out of the team. The animation was also pretty good, especially the energetic and expressive characters. It's not perfect, I think the characters and background don't mesh together the best, but it's also stylish and fun to watch. And between the painted backgrounds, the FLCL-like characters, and the eclectic music, I get some serious early 2000s vibes from this show's presentation that I quite like.

Despite the rough start, there are some pretty good episodes in this season especially in the second half:

Switched: I'm not a big fan of body swap episodes, but this was a lot of fun, especially since it focused on two of my favorite characters. Raven and Starfire struggling to use each other's powers was neat, especially with how they had to learn to understand each other despite their polar opposite personalities, and it was cool to see some of the Teen Titans be antagonists this time.

Mad Mod: The animation in this show is weird sometimes. Actually, it's weird a lot of the time, but doubly so in this episode. There's no character work here nor any Slade progress, but this bizarre episode was just a joy to watch from the inventive illusions to the bonkers chase scene to the random Japanese vocal track by Puffy AmiYumi?! Seriously, could this show get more early 2000s? Anyway, this episode was just so random and strange, but it ended up being the most memorable episode of the season for me.

Apprentice: While most of the season felt a bit aimless, this finale put all of the pieces into place. The reveal that Slade wanted Robin to be his apprentice put his actions into context, and the higher stakes and intensity really made this two-parter feel like the climactic ending the season deserved. The final battle with Slade was great, the moody atmosphere was chilling, and everything was resolved in a satisfying manner. Also, the Batman references left me stunned.

Overall, Teen Titans has a likable main cast, a stylish animation style, and a solid central arc, but its abundance of dull and basic villain-of-the-week episodes drag down a large portion of the season.

2/5 Stars