Contrary to popular belief, life as a Fanboy Planet writer is not nearly as illustrious as one might suspect. Sure there are the parties, the women (WHAT THE -- ? -Derek), and the countless comps and perks, but lets face it, the job just doesn’t pay very well. So needless to say, I haven’t joined the Tivo revolution, yet.

Unfortunately, living in the dark ages of VCR technology means sometimes succumbing to the unavoidable tape break or programming error. Sitting down to my weekly Teen Titans episode Sunday evening I discovered a half hour’s worth of Food Network in place of my highly anticipated Titans episode.

So, sorry folks, Mad Mod will have to wait until next week. I did, however, learn how to make a pretty mean Ham and Fontina Frittata.

Instead, lets take a look at the Season One finale: a two-part episode entitled "The Apprentice."

Robin is suffering from performance anxiety after his last run in with Slade in "Masks" (For those keeping score, that was Episode 9 and is yet to be reviewed here at Fanboy Planet). Robin has become increasingly more obsessed with Slade, so much so that he has become a regular in Robin’s dreams.

Robin’s dreams are more like nightmares. Episode 11 opens with a sample concluding in an unmasking of Slade only to find that under the mask is Robin’s own visage staring back at him, laughing maniacally.

Needless to say, Robin has issues.

It’s during such a nightmare that Robin is awakened to Slade’s early morning wake up call. Seemingly frustrated that the Titans have not sleuthed out the true intentions behind Slade’s criminal activity, he opts for spelling out his plot to the teens as a lure.

Slade has pieced together a Chronotron Detonator, a device that essentially stops time, forever. One moment of hilarity comes when Slade reveals the device and each Titan knowingly gasps in response. Beast Boy feigns worry, then immediately follows up with, “What’s a crouton detonator?”

Annoying as he may be, Beast Boy cracks me up.

Robin sets the team in motion while rest of the crew feels Robin should sit this one out, but stubbornly the Boy Wonder insists that he will maintain self-control when it comes to Slade.

That, of course, is a lie. Robin’s obsession with Slade leaks onto the battlefield as he proceeds to step all over his teammates to track down Slade. Hot on the tail of the detonator, Cinderblock intervenes and Robin decides to hold off Cinderblock while the rest of the team continues to track down the time-stopping device.

Echoes of "Divide and Conquer" surface here, with Robin’s pride leading to his own downfall. He makes short work of Cinderblock, then instead chooses to pursue Slade on his own.

The Chronotron Detonator is merely a decoy for the ultimate prize, Robin himself. Slade explains that he has been looking for an Apprentice, and he has selected Robin to suit that role. Lucky him.

The real joy in these episodes comes from seeing some of the themes that have served as lessons in previous episodes surface here in more subtle yet substantial fashion. As mentioned before, the pride issue plays a role in snaring Robin, but in addition so does friendship and the bonds established between the team members themselves.

Aptly, the season opened with "Final Exam," an episode that not only introduced us to the team members, but also established the Titans’ reliance on Robin as the leader of the team.

The Titans have been tested throughout the season mostly at the hands of Slade himself, and he has taken effective notes. It is almost as if he had been sitting at home watching each episode unfold throughout the season, taking in each “lesson” learned in hopes of exploiting these as weaknesses in the future.

And exploit them he does. Knowing Robin’s loyalty to his teammates, Slade uses this as a means to snare Robin and hold him captive.

When the Detonator proves to be a fake, the rest of the team is doused in a shower of rays consisting of nanotechnology designed to attach to the red blood cells, waiting to attack at the press of a button. Guess whose finger is on the button.

That’s right, let's take a second to do the math. Slade uses his knowledge of Robin’s hubris to lure him away from the group, and then he uses his loyalty and devotion to his teammates to force him to work for him in order to spare them their lives. Genius.

The rest of the team is confounded by Robin’s sudden change in alliance, but cannot figure out what would prompt such a switch. Slade’s threat to kill the remaining Titans should Robin so much as speak to his former teammates prevents him from explaining the situation.

It’s this dynamic that proves so interesting. Slade’s hold over Robin hinges on isolating him from his teammates long enough to convince him to give into his enjoyment of the thrills of combat. Robin, like Slade, hates to lose and prides himself on his combat skills. Slade’s plan is banking on turning Robin onto the thrills that enticed Slade himself to go over to the “dark side.”

Dressed as Sherlock Holmes, Beast Boy comes up with theories involving Robin being replaced by a killer robot, or becoming possessed by mind controlling zombies. Take note of the “Vault of Horror” style comic Beast Boy uses as explanation.

In the comics Robin was the only Titan that Deathstroke the Terminator respected. This was partly due to the fact that he was the only Titan that avoided capture by the H.I.V.E. during the team’s betrayal at the hands of Terra.

Deathstroke’s admiration in the form of adversarial respect easily translates into Slade’s animated infatuation with the Boy Wonder. Slade even goes so far as to suggesting that Robin look to him as a father. Robin responds with, “I already have a father,” accompanied with a flurry of bats in the night sky.

Robin’s comic book background is closely tied to his role as ward to Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. Wayne served not only as a mentor to Robin, but also acted as a father figure to the orphan.

As Robin plays Luke Skywalker to Slade’s Darth Vader, he ends up breaking into a Wayne Enterprises building in attempts to steal something for his new “master.”

The parallels between Batman and Slade are undeniable. Slade’s level of detail in calculated plotting is the Yin to Batman’s Yang. He is cool and collected, and not to mention resides in a cave-like dwelling full of monitors. Slade would make an ideal mentor to supplant Batman if it weren’t for Robin’s loyalty to the forces of good.

In the end, Robin’s loyalty to his teammates proves to be more of a strength than a weakness. The Season couldn’t be concluded in a better fashion. Not only does this two-part finale recall the majority of the themes explored in the first ten episodes of the series, but it also pulls considerably from the comic book canon that makes up these characters’ backgrounds.

Next Week: Really. One of the Titans earliest villains, Mad Mod (voiced by Malcolm McDowell), makes his animated series debut in an episode aptly titled, “Mad Mod.” That’s right, gather your droogs and join me back here next week for a glass of Moloko Plus with knives in it. Until then, viddy well, my brothers, viddy well.

Mario Anima