Each
season has had a lame one, so it was only a matter of time
before it finally reared its ugly head in season four. Funny
how these episodes always seem to be bunkered next to the
season finale, isn’t it?
In what can only
be compared to other seasons’ Mad Mod and Larry the
Titan episodes, one can’t help but draw correlations
between Mother Mae Eye and Marvel’s own morlock “mommy
by any means necessary,” Annalee.
Yes,
I was also a fan of the Power Pack in my day.
The Titans awake
one morning to find themselves in the hopeless care of what
appears to be a cross between Strawberry Shortcake and a
fairy godmother and goes by the name Mother Mae Eye. This
newfound surrogate mother keeps the team safe by catering
to their every need, even the ones they weren’t aware
of.
As you can probably
guess, Mother Mae Eye’s mysterious arrival and constant
coddling is a recipe ripe with bad news for our dear teens.
When the H.I.V.E. is detected by the Tower’s computers,
the team springs into action, only to be stopped by Mae
Eye who insists that the team be properly prepared to go
outdoors and “play.”
This,
of course, means that the team members need their mittens
and sweaters, and let us not forget our galoshes while we’re
at it. Mind you, its hilarious to see Cyborg, oh wait…excuse
me…Borgy-Boo, dressed to the hilt in a yellow rubber
rain slicker, complete with matching hat. One of the more
impressive bits is Robin’s new and improved Mae Eye
hairdo a la Jason Todd. Only someone made of pure evil would
be capable of conjuring up that wretched coiffure.
Beast
Boy in a pink bunny suit, Raven in a dress with pigtails,
and Starfire in an oversized sweater round out the rest
of the team with pure absurd mirth. Watching the teens fail
miserably against the H.I.V.E. teens, whose criminal activity
seems to fumble at common thievery without Brother Blood
at the helm, was nothing short of pathetic. This was, necessary
of course, but predictable nonetheless.
Despite
the amusing start to this episode, things drop off rather
quickly once Mother Mae Eye is revealed to be an evil being
which thrives on the love of those she turns into unwitting
zombies at her disposal. You see, Starfire’s biological
makeup, namely her eight stomachs, somehow allows her to
resist Mother’s hypnotic spell, which is administered
to the teens via massive homemade pie intake.
An episode
such as this is funny, but hardly adds to the overall story
in play. It's one thing to take a break from the season
long story arc in exchange for further developing one of
the team members, but to completely derail for no other
reason than sheer insanity remains questionable logic.
Yet
"Mother Mae Eye" still manages to squeeze out
one of the most humorous lines in some time. Before Raven
can contest wearing a dress, Mother informs her in a sing
song voice, “Just because you’re evil on the
inside doesn’t mean you have to look that way on the
outside:
Next
Week: We continue to delve deeper into the Season
Four season finale by cracking into :"The End."
