Once again, we are dealt a solid hand of filler that works perfectly into continuity, yet surprisingly the Brotherhood of Evil, the Doom Patrol, and the threat of the season arc is hardly ever mentioned throughout the entire episode.

Here we are given a Starfire tale, even if the rest of the team co-stars heavily in the process. The Titans are called to Russia seeking out a distress signal. Upon arriving, the team learns of destruction of an entire city brought upon by a creature of pure energy. They are told that he was once one of the villagers, but that something horrible had occurred which both outcasted their former comrade and caused the city to be reduced to rubble.

The team sets out amidst a snowstorm only to confront a mysterious figure in the distance emitting large traces of radioactive waves. The figure and the Titans engage in an exchange of plasma fire before ultimately the figure escapes into the forest. Unable to make out anything amidst the flurry of snow, Starfire decides to follow the figure in hopes of getting more information for the team. Being Tamaranian, Starfire’s body is immune to radioactive material, so the rest of team is forced to let her go.

Eventually, Starfire succumbs to the intense weather, and she is retrieved by a Russian man named Red Star. We learn that Red Star has isolated himself from the village, after a series of tests to turn him into a super soldier backfired, and caused a large explosion that destroyed the city. He must periodically drain his powers into a reactor chamber in order to prevent any further destruction, but as many may guess, this process is flawed.

The rest of the team eventually comes across a source of radioactive material in the form of runoff from something, perhaps Red Star related? Of course! Following the runoff to its source leads the team to Red Star’s home, and their reunion with Starfire is cut short when the creature, a byproduct of Red Star’s leaky reactor core, turns up to cause more trouble.

Ultimately, the episode plays out as one would expect, which isn’t to imply that it is any less enjoyable to watch. Beast Boy once again takes on the roll of comic relief, which works fine for the episode at hand, but sort of undermines the effort to up his role on the team in previous episodes. All in all, you can’t force him to be serious all the time, even the Gar of the present comics continues to provide a childlike humor at every turn. If only someone could explain the humor in hiring Rob Liefeld for that Gail Simone arc, but let’s digress.

Imagery is increasingly more and more engaging in this series, and the sequence in which Raven utilizes her powers to create a bubble shield around the team is one of significant creepiness. It isn’t so much her use of her powers or the manner in which they are brought to life, but the manner in which the radioactive figure attempts to walk through the bubble that proves hauntingly effective.

In fact, many of the aspects, as routine as they may become in the end, are so spot on in reference to the comic book continuity of the series that “Snowblind” remains one of the more enjoyable filler episodes to date.

For instance, Red Star’s outfit is perfectly rendered to his comic book origins. Eventually Red Star switched up to a more “spandex-clad” ensemble, but his initial togs are represented here to near perfection. Although his costume rings true, his origin has been reworked a bit in the process. Here his powers are purely a side effect of meta-human enhancements intending to create a super-soldier in the vein of Captain America. Although there is an aspect of this in Red Star’s origin, the true source of his powers came from an encounter with a mysterious meteor that crash landed on Earth, which turned out to be an alien space craft.

Okay, undeniably a touch hokey, but an origin is an origin, so the difference is worth noting. However, by shifting Red Star’s origin over into more of a super-soldier-centric angle, especially with the appearance of Professor Chang, one has to wonder whether or not things may tie together more neatly later on in the season. After all, Chang is in cahoots with the Brotherhood, but let’s save speculation for a later date.

Another excellent touch is the irradiated runoff creature itself, which is a fairly reminiscent counterpart to the “powers in transition” Red Star from one key arc in the comics. Essentially, Red Star’s powers would turn him into a being of white hot irradiated energy capable of extreme destruction. Sound familiar? That’s good plotting, ladies and gents.

As promised, this episode does feature a clash between two Starfires. How? Well, originally Red Star went by the handle Starfire as well, until he changed it to either avoid confusion, or association with communism, or both.

Next Week: What do the Artic Circle and Dr. Light have in common? Why, an opportunity to introduce Kole and Gnarkk, that’s what. Tune in next week and see if the Titans can keep the streak alive by going six for six!

Mario Anima