[7.5/10] I’m a sucker for villain episodes, if only because the bad characters often get to have a bit more fun, and because it’s interesting to see how the other half lives. Teen Titans does quite well with the idea, as we follow the “Hive Five” for an episode in lieu of our usual titular Titans.
In the process, they turn Jinx, a character who I did not care about at all going into this one, into a well-rounded, sympathetic character! We get background! She feels that since her powers are based on bad luck, she has to be a bad guy. We get wants and aspirations! She wants to join the Brotherhood of Evil, particularly to be able to rub elbows with her idol, Madame Rouge. We get foe-mance! A debuting Kid Flash flirts with her and tells her she doesn’t have to go down this path, even as she hopes to capture him to earn her ticket into the villain superteam.
That’s good writing and good character work! The actual nuts and bolts of the episode are okay-not-great. In fairness, it requires a big willing suspension of disbelief to buy that any version of Flash wouldn’t just mop the floor with the baddies from beginning to end. But here, whether Kid Flash is able to stop the HIve Five without breaking a sweat or roundly thwarted by them seems random.
That said, the Hive Five are a fun group. Billy Numerous continues to be a hoot, and I like the utter bizarreness of the eyeball-based villain. Plus we get some odd counterpart to Raven called Kid Wicked who looks like a mini-version of Nite Owl. Their dynamic is fun.
Still, the heart of the piece comes when Jinx gets what she thinks she wants -- an audience with Madame Rouge and a superhero to trade in -- only to find that you should never meet your heroes, especially if they’re villains. It’s a good arc of maturity and realization for the character, who decides to free Kid Flash and go on her own.
I wasn’t asking for a Jinx redemption story, or any Jinx story really. But “Lightspeed” made me glad we got one.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-28T16:30:55Z
[7.5/10] I’m a sucker for villain episodes, if only because the bad characters often get to have a bit more fun, and because it’s interesting to see how the other half lives. Teen Titans does quite well with the idea, as we follow the “Hive Five” for an episode in lieu of our usual titular Titans.
In the process, they turn Jinx, a character who I did not care about at all going into this one, into a well-rounded, sympathetic character! We get background! She feels that since her powers are based on bad luck, she has to be a bad guy. We get wants and aspirations! She wants to join the Brotherhood of Evil, particularly to be able to rub elbows with her idol, Madame Rouge. We get foe-mance! A debuting Kid Flash flirts with her and tells her she doesn’t have to go down this path, even as she hopes to capture him to earn her ticket into the villain superteam.
That’s good writing and good character work! The actual nuts and bolts of the episode are okay-not-great. In fairness, it requires a big willing suspension of disbelief to buy that any version of Flash wouldn’t just mop the floor with the baddies from beginning to end. But here, whether Kid Flash is able to stop the HIve Five without breaking a sweat or roundly thwarted by them seems random.
That said, the Hive Five are a fun group. Billy Numerous continues to be a hoot, and I like the utter bizarreness of the eyeball-based villain. Plus we get some odd counterpart to Raven called Kid Wicked who looks like a mini-version of Nite Owl. Their dynamic is fun.
Still, the heart of the piece comes when Jinx gets what she thinks she wants -- an audience with Madame Rouge and a superhero to trade in -- only to find that you should never meet your heroes, especially if they’re villains. It’s a good arc of maturity and realization for the character, who decides to free Kid Flash and go on her own.
I wasn’t asking for a Jinx redemption story, or any Jinx story really. But “Lightspeed” made me glad we got one.