Now
we’ve seen everything. Yes, the unthinkable has happened
Titans fans, our beloved Teens have included a musical number
in one of their episodes.
As if
it were any real surprise, "Bunny Raven" is pretty
much a throwaway episode. It isn’t really groundbreaking,
because we’ve seen this device used before in better
circumstances. During a battle with The Amazing Mumbo, the
Titans find themselves sucked into Mumbo’s trick hat.
Cue zaniness.
To add
to our teens’ troubles, Mumbo transforms each of them
into an animal, or more aptly put “Titanimal,”
and plans to make the teens disappear for his final act.
Raven, as you may have guessed, becomes a bunny and is subject
to more personal attention from Mumbo than the rest of the
team. Starfire becomes a cat, Robin a monkey, and Cyborg
a bear in a tutu. Of course, Beast Boy already shape shifts
into varied animals, so Mumbo is forced to change him into
inanimate objects. Hilarious, no?
The
episode is riddled with references to the Muppets, both
with a Kermit-style puppet who introduces segments of Mumbo’s
act and a couple of familiar crotchety old critics in a
balcony watching the performance. This is amusing, but otherwise
there is very little substance here.
Fun
and games are fine enough, but it would seem that the series
is relying more and more on these types of episodes to fill
in the holes. So far we haven’t really seen a master
scheme come to fruition on behalf of Brother Blood, and
compared to Slade, Blood is not proving to be much of a
mastermind. I understand the need to doctor Blood’s
character to suit the intent of the show, without raising
the concern of critics in regards to decency.
The
fact that there is even a character named Brother Blood
on this show is a testament to creative reworking and tiptoeing.
All of this aside, Blood doesn’t have to be barely
visible throughout the season. He is still, after all, a
villain. Therefore he should have something up his sleeve,
and undoubtedly fans would be more likely interested in
seeing what Blood would pull out of his hat than any of
The Amazing Mumbo’s tricks, no matter how excellent
the referential material may be.
In one case,
the materials referenced are related to the “New Teen
Titans” comics. In issue #15 of the series the Titans
were subject to a devolving pit at the hand of General Zahl.
In the pit, the Titans were transformed into animals. Robin
and Starfire’s transformations at the hands of the
Amazing Mumbo resemble their transformations in the devolving
pit, which is far too coincidental to be just happenstance.
Of course, Raven
somehow manages to overthrow Mumbo and the team escapes
his hat before any serious danger ever comes to fruition.
This brings up an interesting complication within the episode,
which Cyborg points out at one point. Essentially Raven
is trapped within Mumbo’s hat. The team must grab
the hat and free Raven, but the problem is that the hat
with Raven in it is trapped inside Mumbo’s hat with
the rest of the team. If you’re saying “huh?”
then you aren’t alone. It’s an attempt at pulling
off a “hat within a hat” style conundrum, but
ultimately it doesn’t make any sense and is never
really answered within the episode. Truth is, it doesn’t
really have to be in order to work.
This
episode is fun at times, but ultimately a disappointment
because it leaves us with two episodes left in an already
rocky Season Three. Very little time left for the unfolding
of a truly sinister plot at the hands of Brother Blood.
The Titans are above this as a series, and they deserve
to face a larger than life villain, as opposed to the continual
retread of the “Mad Mod” conceit. Although these
episodes are fun, fans enjoy the twists and turns they’ve
grown accustomed to in the previous seasons’ closing
episodes. Have as much fun as you desire, but give us the
goods in the end!
Think back, Season
One we were staring down the barrel of Robin leaving the
team to become Slade’s apprentice. Did we have filler
episodes thrown in to loosen things up on occasion? Sure!
Did it work? Absolutely. However behind the scenes we never
lost track of the fact that Slade was lurking about with
a plan, ready to pounce at any moment. Season Two also played
these notes to perfection, in some opinions to better effect
than the preceding season. Here we had Terra as a focal
point, and the drama was steeped in action and treachery.
Priceless.
One cannot imagine
what the two-part finale of Season Three will hold for the
Teen Titans, but at this point it remains doubtful that
anything truly shocking will be unleashed on the team. Hopefully,
something will come of this whole sordid affair, but until
then we are left to wonder what could be. Let’s just
hope we won’t be wondering what “could have
been” after the finale has aired.
Next
Week: The season comes to a close with Titans East
Part I. Anything involving the setup of a coast-to-coast
Titan operations is intriguing, and the return of Aqualad,
Bumblebee and Speedy is welcomed. Let’s just hope
there is enough plot to keep this one afloat.
