[note: it pains me to bring up such disappointing news but perhaps there is no better time to bring this up then at the start of the review for the first truly disappointing episode of Season Five. After months of rumors and speculation the Cartoon Network has officially passed on a sixth season of the Teen Titans Animated Series, according to reports from the Teen Titans Animated Site.

This comes as a great surprise because the current season has successfully broken ground for the series by establishing a continuity within the series, acknowledging the continuity from the comics, and managed to remain fun to boot. It's sad to hear this, and fans surely hope that Cartoon Network will reconsider, or perhaps someone else will consider picking up the series, although one would be hard pressed to come up with a better home for the series than at the Cartoon Network.

If anyone is interested in attempting to save season six, the good folks over at the Teen Titans Animated Site have put together a letter writing campaign in hopes of urging the network to reconsider. So rally the troops and get those pens and pencils working overtime fanboys and fangirls.]

It was bound to happen. So far, Season Five has been nothing short of amazing, weaving together episode after episode that would have amounted to little more than filler and fodder in previous seasons and somehow managed to make each episode count in the grander scheme of things. Now granted, perhaps this is jumping the gun. Perhaps this critical undertone is a tad bit presumptuous, considering that the season hasn’t even completed its arc yet.

That said, "Hide and Seek" fails to connect in the way previous episodes like "Kole," "Snowblind," and "For Real" succeeded, and the underlying reason lies in the new characters created specifically for this episode: Timmy Tantrum, Teether, and Melvin.

Our poor and unfortunate Raven is charged with the task of babysitting these brats on a trek across the Alps while the rest of the Titans are wrapped up in more serious and exciting battles with members of the Brotherhood of Evil. Of course, this situation is meant to evoke the situational humor of the emotionless Raven being left to tend to three overly annoying, nerve-wracking, and cringe inducing children manufactured for the sole purpose of creating tension.

Raven isn’t the only person whose nerves end up frayed in the process, as viewers surely suffer alongside the beloved child of Trigon. The only glimpse of hope for the episode at all comes from the persistent pursuit of the troublesome triplets by Monsieur Mallah, whose each previous appearance evoked such feelings of pure dread and terror. All he had to do was show up and brood and it was enough to send chills up and down viewers’ spines.

And here lies the issue, even Mallah can’t take away from the sheer shtick and chicanery that drags this episode into the ground. It isn’t enough that Raven is stuck babysitting a group of brats that act as the animated equivalent of a cheese grater taken to nerve endings, but to watch the absurd rambunctious fervor with which the whole episode plays out just seems to add insult to injury.

Just when we thought the series was taking a step forward, a progressive attempt to maintain the fun factor while pleasing fans of quality storytelling and continuity, the whole thing goes into full retrograde.

Granted, this isn’t as criminal as some of the more embarrassing episodes of previous seasons. In fact, it is a far cry from those. Perhaps the fact that such strides were being made, not to mention successful ones at that, somehow makes this episode feel more illicit in retrospect. Either way, the one true positive remains that perhaps the series has gotten its “stinker” episode out of the way, and just in time too with the highly anticipated Kid Flash episode, "Lightspeed," right around the corner.

Hopefully, future episodes in this season will buck this temporary slip and finish up strong because with a plot arc including The Doom Patrol, The Brotherhood of Evil, and the most ambitious storyline of any Titans season to date, the series…nay, the fans and the Titans themselves deserve better.

Next Up: After a brief Holiday hiatus the Teen team returns with a much anticipated cameo episode featuring Kid Flash. This isn’t your Smallville Flash kiddos, this is Grade-A Wally West sporting the yellow and red tights. So strap on your running shoes and get ready tap into the speed force with Lightspeed.

Mario Anima