Teen Titans

What better way for two characters with dynamically varied personalities to learn about each other than having them switch bodies and spend some time walking a mile in each other’s shoes? Yes, dear fans, this episode has bad era Depeche Mode written all over it.

All jabs at the lead single from Songs of Faith and Devotion aside, this episode takes a tried and true formulaic approach to building a bridge between the series’ most unlikely couple, Raven and Starfire. Let’s face it, if it worked for Jodie Foster and Jamie Lee Curtis in your choice of Freaky Friday installments, then it should work here, right?

What better opposites than Raven and Starfire? One, the offspring of a demon from another dimension, and the other eternally optimistic despite being sold off into slavery, these two were destined to conflict from the start.

Raven is prone to isolation, darkness, and would likely be a fan of nearly any era Depeche Mode. Well, maybe Joy Division is a better bet. Starfire on the other hand enjoys conversing, giggles incessantly, and would likely be caught with a Britney Spears album in her discman.

These two go together like a cheerleader and a goth, and this is precisely the depiction Glen Murakami and company wish to hammer home.

Starfire, descended from a race of beings that naturally express their emotions in a very open and candid fashion, senses a rift between herself and Raven. The boys in the Tower get together without a hitch, but Raven appears to be nothing short of disgusted at every effort Starfire makes to try and befriend her teammate.

The more Starfire attempts to get to know Raven, the more she pushes her away. As life lessons learned on television have instilled since my childhood, one should be wary of what one wishes for.

Starfire’s chance to bond with Raven comes when The Puppet King hatches a plot that basically consists of trapping each Titan’s aura in a wooden puppet that he sends to the Tower as gifts to the team. This leaves their human bodies in his control, which leaves the criminal possibilities nearly endless.

The girls are too late the save their teammates, but manage to disrupt The Puppet King in the process of capturing their auras. Raven tosses out a spell in enough time to send their auras back to their bodies, but not to the correct bodies.

The two must learn to cooperate in order to escape The Puppet King, but they must learn about each other to harness their new bodies’ powers in order to save their teammates.

The rest of the episode consists of the human Titan puppets chasing Starfire and Raven as they attempt to get to know one another better.

As with all body-switching comedies, the two victims gain a newfound appreciation for one another in the process of saving the day. In the end, Raven assumes that Starfire will continue to rudely interrupt her meditation efforts, but is surprised to find that Starfire actually wishes to join her daily rituals. In exchange, Raven decides to join Starfire in a trip to the mall.

Sure, this episode is cute, but it left me desiring a bit more. Overall the message is genuine, but these characters have so much more depth, even just from what we’ve seen in the series thus far, that fans will likely be left wanting a bit more.

One example is evident when the girls sit down and decide to start sharing their backgrounds, which I felt was a key opportunity to accentuate these characters basic differences based on their personal histories. Instead of delving into this, the episode cuts to a commercial, and returns after the two have presumably bonded.

My personal feeling is that in an episode that centers on bringing two characters together on common ground, we should see these two bond together no matter how saccharine the show risks becoming.

The Puppet King is no doubt based on the comic villain named The Puppeteer, who while in cahoots with the H.I.V.E. managed to turn Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Starfire, and Cyborg against their teammates. Although The Puppeteer was never a major player in Titan lore, this episode still feels like something is missing in regards to the villain by the end of the show.

Perhaps this stems from a personal dislike that happens so often in adapted comic books. I refer to this as the “Villain-must-die” phenomena, and basically it’s the practice of killing off a villain in place of devising a creative climax and denouement.

This happens less often in animated adaptations and is found mostly in films. Hollywood suits seem to feel that audiences won’t feel like things have come to a close unless the villain is six feet under. This can be found in many comic-to-film adaptations ranging from Batman to Spiderman.

Well, here we are faced with The Puppet King being returned to a lifeless marionette, and call me crazy, but it just seems better to build a healthy Rogues Gallery before you start killing off your villains.

In the end, there are a few comedic quips along the way. Beast Boy was displayed at his “wanna-be loverboy” best in this episode, which provided some pretty good laughs.

Did anyone else notice that upon receiving the Titan puppets at the Tower, Beast Boy inspects his by pulling the elastic waistband of the puppet’s shorts out and sneaking a peek at the marionette’s “package” while declaring the likeness to be “all wrong?” That Beast Boy is always the charmer.

The action is heavy throughout the episode, even if it is primarily versus their zombie teammates’ bodies. However, we could have easily traded some of the action sequences in place of some character background as mentioned before.

Next Week: Buckle up kids! Marv Wolfman, yes THAT Marv Wolfman, lends his pen to scribble up an episode for the animated series, which just so happens to feature Wil Weaton as Aqualad. So, practice your deep breathing and meet me back here next week for “Deep Six!”

Mario Anima