[7.6/10] It’s fascinating to me that two major story arcs in Teen Titans (and for my money, the best two so far) have both been rooted in abuse metaphors. With the Terra/Slade story, we saw the duo’s relationship coded as that of an abusive parent. And the final chapter of “The End” trilogy takes it a step further with Raven and Trigon.
There’s a lot of the fighting and fireworks you expect from a season finale here. But the cru of this episode is Raven rejecting Trigon as her father. Rather than believing the debasing lies he’s told her as a means of control, she accepts that her power comes from herself, not from within. She calls him out for not being a father, even if he’s the one who “sired” her. She pulls a “my friends” are my power with the rest of the Titans, affirming them as one of those found families so much of T.V. traffics in.
This is familiar territory for Teen Titans and television writ large, but there’s a reason for that. It’s compelling. It’s rousing. It’s even a little inspiring. In terms of story mechanics, I’m always a little leery of the “Hero conveniently discovers even greater magical powers that allow them to stop the otherwise unstoppable villain” trope. But I’m 100% on board with the symbolism of Raven finding her inner strength through the support of her friends, which allows her to fully and firmly reject an abusive and demeaning parent. The heart of this one works, which makes any missteps forgivable.
To the point, “The End pt. 3” spends a good amount of time spinning its wheels. We get more of the Starfire/Cyborg/Beast Boy vs. their doppelgangers fight, without much new material. Their solution -- to rotate the combatants among the three of them rather than just fight their doubles -- is fine enough, but scans more like wheel-spinning than a similar psychological breakthrough.
Slade’s fight with a demonic keeper of souls is a little more exciting. In truth, there’s not much depth there either. But there’s a sheer cool factor of watching a skeletal bad guy saunter into the gates of hell, slay its guardian, and free the souls trapped within to regain his fleshy form. The fact that Deathstroke returns at an opportune moment to turn the Guardian’s weapon on Trigon himself, slicing off a horn in the process, only sweetens the deal.
That said, the intervening material with Robin and a young-seeming Raven didn’t do much for me. The show hit a lot of the same beats over and over again before the final battle unfurled. It’s nice that Robin believed in Raven, even when she didn’t believe in herself, but there’s no new insights into the character there and I stand by that Robin’s an odd choice to be the team’s envoy to Raven. Still, it’s a nice way to dramatize that Raven has her friend’s support, and they help her to see herself as she really is, not the view offered by someone who only wanted to use her.
There’s a saying I’ve come to appreciate -- some people in your life will always see you as you were when they had power over you. That’s Raven and her father to a tee. Trigon rejects his daughter’s changes and good deeds. But the Titans are there to show their friend that his view of her is not true or inevitable. She is, as Robin says in the end, a paragon of hope, striving to do good even when she thought a bad end was unavoidable. Her personal breakthrough in averting disaster and saving the world is a wonderful landing spot for Teen Titans’s resident goth kid. And this story gives her depth, and underscores her connection to her friends, in a way that makes it one of the show’s grandest triumphs.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-18T23:02:38Z
[7.6/10] It’s fascinating to me that two major story arcs in Teen Titans (and for my money, the best two so far) have both been rooted in abuse metaphors. With the Terra/Slade story, we saw the duo’s relationship coded as that of an abusive parent. And the final chapter of “The End” trilogy takes it a step further with Raven and Trigon.
There’s a lot of the fighting and fireworks you expect from a season finale here. But the cru of this episode is Raven rejecting Trigon as her father. Rather than believing the debasing lies he’s told her as a means of control, she accepts that her power comes from herself, not from within. She calls him out for not being a father, even if he’s the one who “sired” her. She pulls a “my friends” are my power with the rest of the Titans, affirming them as one of those found families so much of T.V. traffics in.
This is familiar territory for Teen Titans and television writ large, but there’s a reason for that. It’s compelling. It’s rousing. It’s even a little inspiring. In terms of story mechanics, I’m always a little leery of the “Hero conveniently discovers even greater magical powers that allow them to stop the otherwise unstoppable villain” trope. But I’m 100% on board with the symbolism of Raven finding her inner strength through the support of her friends, which allows her to fully and firmly reject an abusive and demeaning parent. The heart of this one works, which makes any missteps forgivable.
To the point, “The End pt. 3” spends a good amount of time spinning its wheels. We get more of the Starfire/Cyborg/Beast Boy vs. their doppelgangers fight, without much new material. Their solution -- to rotate the combatants among the three of them rather than just fight their doubles -- is fine enough, but scans more like wheel-spinning than a similar psychological breakthrough.
Slade’s fight with a demonic keeper of souls is a little more exciting. In truth, there’s not much depth there either. But there’s a sheer cool factor of watching a skeletal bad guy saunter into the gates of hell, slay its guardian, and free the souls trapped within to regain his fleshy form. The fact that Deathstroke returns at an opportune moment to turn the Guardian’s weapon on Trigon himself, slicing off a horn in the process, only sweetens the deal.
That said, the intervening material with Robin and a young-seeming Raven didn’t do much for me. The show hit a lot of the same beats over and over again before the final battle unfurled. It’s nice that Robin believed in Raven, even when she didn’t believe in herself, but there’s no new insights into the character there and I stand by that Robin’s an odd choice to be the team’s envoy to Raven. Still, it’s a nice way to dramatize that Raven has her friend’s support, and they help her to see herself as she really is, not the view offered by someone who only wanted to use her.
There’s a saying I’ve come to appreciate -- some people in your life will always see you as you were when they had power over you. That’s Raven and her father to a tee. Trigon rejects his daughter’s changes and good deeds. But the Titans are there to show their friend that his view of her is not true or inevitable. She is, as Robin says in the end, a paragon of hope, striving to do good even when she thought a bad end was unavoidable. Her personal breakthrough in averting disaster and saving the world is a wonderful landing spot for Teen Titans’s resident goth kid. And this story gives her depth, and underscores her connection to her friends, in a way that makes it one of the show’s grandest triumphs.