[7.1/10] The ideas in this one are solid. Starfire bringing the rest of the Titans to her home planet has an outsized “taking your friends to meet your parents” vibe to it. The Tamaranian comedy gets a little broad, as you might expect from Teen Titans, but I like the general awkwardness of welcoming familiar people to an unfamiliar environment, and the low-key friction and discomfort that causes.
THere’s also a compelling throughline for Starfire here. It’s a cliché, but her ‘WHat i really want vs. what’s best for people” princess dilemma is a venerable one for a reason. It’s plain how unhappy she is to marry a giant green farting gas bladder, but her quiet resignation to do so despite her clear melancholy about it is admirable and endearing.
Hell, I even enjoyed the show teasing the Starfire/Robin attraction here. No one ever comes out and says it, but Robin’s distress over Starfire's betrothal is akin to Starfire’s getting upset when Robin had to be Killer Mother’s daughter’s prom date. The show isn’t exactly subtle about it,(especially with that closing “Maybe I'll even find a groom on Earth” line followed by Starfire’s nanny looking on at her and Robin walking away together with a smile). But Robin seems extra into stopping these proceedings, for reasons even he may not admit to herself, and it works.
The problem is that all of these ideas are done at a very surface level. All of the major players’ motivations are clear and the conflict is thought out. There’s just not much depth to it. Blackfire is a conniving villain as usual, and it’s not like the rest of the Titans’ detective work requires a heck of a lot of cleverness. There’s the expected big battle and setting everything right again, but the story just never finds another gear.
I did like the designs on Starfire’s home play, with some particularly gross looking food items adding to the aliens of the place. Likewise, while it was pretty heavily telegraphed, her handing over rulership of the planet to her Nanny/Uncle was a sweet gesture.
On the whole, this one squeaks into “good territory” by having good bones and good ideas, even if the rendition of them is a tad rote and surface-level.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-21T20:16:07Z
[7.1/10] The ideas in this one are solid. Starfire bringing the rest of the Titans to her home planet has an outsized “taking your friends to meet your parents” vibe to it. The Tamaranian comedy gets a little broad, as you might expect from Teen Titans, but I like the general awkwardness of welcoming familiar people to an unfamiliar environment, and the low-key friction and discomfort that causes.
THere’s also a compelling throughline for Starfire here. It’s a cliché, but her ‘WHat i really want vs. what’s best for people” princess dilemma is a venerable one for a reason. It’s plain how unhappy she is to marry a giant green farting gas bladder, but her quiet resignation to do so despite her clear melancholy about it is admirable and endearing.
Hell, I even enjoyed the show teasing the Starfire/Robin attraction here. No one ever comes out and says it, but Robin’s distress over Starfire's betrothal is akin to Starfire’s getting upset when Robin had to be Killer Mother’s daughter’s prom date. The show isn’t exactly subtle about it,(especially with that closing “Maybe I'll even find a groom on Earth” line followed by Starfire’s nanny looking on at her and Robin walking away together with a smile). But Robin seems extra into stopping these proceedings, for reasons even he may not admit to herself, and it works.
The problem is that all of these ideas are done at a very surface level. All of the major players’ motivations are clear and the conflict is thought out. There’s just not much depth to it. Blackfire is a conniving villain as usual, and it’s not like the rest of the Titans’ detective work requires a heck of a lot of cleverness. There’s the expected big battle and setting everything right again, but the story just never finds another gear.
I did like the designs on Starfire’s home play, with some particularly gross looking food items adding to the aliens of the place. Likewise, while it was pretty heavily telegraphed, her handing over rulership of the planet to her Nanny/Uncle was a sweet gesture.
On the whole, this one squeaks into “good territory” by having good bones and good ideas, even if the rendition of them is a tad rote and surface-level.