hey so right now im going through the original teen titans. i picked up a box set on amazon for real cheap and i figured id list my thoughts? expect updates i guess

divide and conquer - so this one was a weird one to start with. I had always figured there was a different first episode, so I was really surprised to have it start with a Cyborg/Robin beef episode? but i ended up looking it up and it turns out the box set i got actually lists all the episodes in production order instead of airing order. I always thought that was weird. Anyway, in terms of episodes.. this one is fine. It's a little bland, but it only makes sense considering this was the studio feeling the space out, and wanting to start with something a little more low stakes.

sisters - a big one considering it is the second episode no matter which order you watch. blackfire is cool, i think, but i never understood the hype around her. i guess i was always surrounded by people who were the exact kind of mean and fake that blackfire was. i like that the issue wasn't starfire not being believed by her friends, but her friends not seeing her barely hidden discomfort, and acting on it as soon as they realized. the first inklings of robin/starfire shipping, which i never got into-- i mostly just never saw any of the interactions between the titans as romantic, just a friend group that's gotten to that level of closeness, y'know?

final exam - this one was known to be the first episode to a lot of people, which is crazy. instantly assumes you know a bit about the teen titans, or at the very least puts a lot of stock into its own usage of the iconic characters that it would assume you'd get the picture real fast. good episode, i think this one made me realize how much my tastes had changed since i was a little girl. littler girl. i used to think gizmo was super cool, then when puberty set in jinx hit me really hard in the 'why do i want to look like you *and* kiss you' way, but looking back.. i really like Mammoth? he knows what he's about. i like a guy with muscles bigger than his brains. It felt cool seeing the titans lose for a bit. You almost never see that. But all in all, the whole episode felt like a setup to the "who's slade?" moment right at the end. it worked though, so whatever.

forces of nature - i dunno. this one felt like one of those weirdly forced 'moral' episodes. i liked how long they actually drew out beast boy being able to apologize. it feels real to the character of a 14 year old boy. he's a bit of an asshole! i liked him here. slade putting on an old chinese man mask on top of his other mask felt *crazy* though like why did he do that??

sum of his parts - SO FUCKING COOL?? i always found cyborg really cool i think, but only now do i realize how well written he is. he's a cool, emotionally mature jock, sure, but i feel like people miss out on the aspect of his character in his disability. He runs out of battery mid-party *and* mid-fight! that's disabling! point is tom kenny was really cool as fixit here and cyborg being shown to not be flawless and in fact have his own struggles that he tries hard to manage himself is really interesting for his character and turns him into one of my favorite titans, narrowly beating out beast boy.

nevermore - so fun fact, my friend came over right as i finished this episode, and then she asked if i "had the raven plural episode," and got super giddy as i put this one on for the second time in a row. I didn't mind. I think the parallels she (as a person with DID) pulled from the episode were really interesting and it makes a lot of sense.. but personally, seeing all these aspects of Raven behind the singular kinda bleak-speaking voice spoke to me personally with my BPD. It felt cool to see aspects of mental illness represented here, right down to the daddy issues being tragic and horrible but still being an aspect of you. good episode. also the way cyborg said "getting to know each other" at the end would have made me, as robin, immediately suspect they were fucking.

switched - this was the most "they should lez out" episode ever. realizing that both of them have their own individual struggles and then making efforts to participate in each other's activities felt really good and cool. very 'girls should be friends' kind of episode without being forced.

deep six - i didnt really like aqualad. sorry. clancy brown as trident was cool, but most of the episode was beast boy and aqualad bickering. and whats with the weird swooning raven and starfire both had for him? were mermaids hot in 2007?

masks - SO COOL??? Introducing Red X as this, like, alter ego that Robin puts on, and showing how *dangerous* he'd be if he ever *did* heel-turn? immaculate setup. Slade was SO great here, obviously. this whole episode felt like amazing setup for one of the best characters in the entire show.. and for some reason, they brought him back in the harley quinn show and made him stupid and lame. UGH!!! red x is so swoonworthy!! i used to draw his little xes everywhere and i thought i was so cool i want 900 red x plushies NOW!!!!!!!!