Wow. If you missed this weekend’s Teen Titans episode, then frankly, you missed the best episode of the season.

That’s right, as if the return of Brother Blood, not to mention a cogent story arc, wasn’t enough, the team behind the series cranked it up a notch with the return of Aqualad (voiced by Wil Weaton).

These two appearances coupled with a riveting storyline would have been enough to please this viewer, but hold on, there’s more! The H.I.V.E., using blueprints stolen from Cyborg during his stealth infiltration of the Academy way back in the season opener, has constructed an underwater base housing a secret weapon of mass destruction based on Cy’s technology. Fans of the Titan’s comic rejoice, “H.I.V.E.” and “underwater base” were just used in relation to one another.

Okay, so maybe it’s not as much a staple to others as it is to me, but one of my favorite arcs from the Tales of the Teen Titans surrounded those two key plot phrases.

Moving right along. Aqualad sets everything in motion, alerting the Teens to the H.I.V.E.’s plans gathered by in an informant on “the inside,” and the danger these plans pose to the city. Cyborg feels responsible for the potential danger, so he is out to settle things once and for all with Blood “mano y machina.”

The problem is, Cyborg’s strengths lay in other assignments within the mission. He is the only team member with the ability to shut down the massive weapon designed to send sound waves which will convert into actual ocean waves large enough to engulf the “City by the Bay.”

Robin doles out the tasks needed to each faction of the team. Aqualad and Beast Boy must infiltrate a separate area of the installation and dismantle the force shield power generator so that Cyborg may shut it down. Raven, Robin, and Starfire must seek out Brother Blood. Of course, this is the task that Cyborg wishes he could do on his own. Naturally, he intends to do just that: take out Blood before reaching the weapon in time to dismantle it. Of course, Blood has other plans.

Trapping Cyborg in an arena, Blood pits him against his other “star pupil” Bumblebee, who made a sneak appearance in the season opener. This time around, Bumblebee is up to the task of taking down Cyborg, and the two make a show of their individual powers and fighting prowess.

Bumblebee is an interesting character to me. I was never really too attached to her in the comics, but I must say, she certainly rocks in the animated show. The writers have developed her as a take charge superhero. She has the ability to talk smack and back it up, which is always a plus.

Cy hold his own for a bit, but she appears to have the upper hand at times, using her force blasts to repeatedly shower him with her assault. At one point she even shrinks down to actual “bee-size” and packs a whallop of a punch. It’s funny, it’s fun and by the end we love her sass.

Perceptive readers and fans of the comics will immediately pick up on the purpose behind Bumblebee’s presence in the episode, and it fits right into her initial interactions with the group in the comics. She seemed like an odd choice for a cameo at first, but in the end she is a welcome addition to the show.

Blood and Cyborg get their chance to face off, and it’s a doozy. Blood seems far more powerful than initially thought in the series, and this is a nice touch. It was especially cool when he used his index and ring fingers to sear a hole through Cyborg’s armor. Truly powerful indeed.

Blood is still not the same Brother we know from the comics, but his cult status remains intact. We covered this before, but it’s a pleasure just having him in the villain’s fold all together. Remember, he could have been re-named Brother Brood or something far worse.

So a couple cameos, witty dialogue, and an intense villainous threat make up the best effort of the season thus far, its just a shame it comes at well past the halfway point. Of course this all comes down to laying the groundwork for the coming episodes, including the two part season finale entitled Titans East. No doubt we should be seeing more of Bumblebee, Speedy, and Aqualad to say the least in those episodes, but what about the remaining three before the finale?

My guess is that we will all have to brace for more filler, but hopefully a few surprises will be thrown in to help balance it all out.

Next Week: Beast Boy becomes Beast Man when he “hulks out” and wreaks havoc in the tower. Maybe Cy should have thought twice about calling him “tofu-boy” all the time. See ya next week!

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Mario Anima